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Regional Updates (03/24/21)

2 more Abu Sayyaf members in abduction of Indonesians killed

ANOTHER two members of the Abu Sayyaf who were involved in the kidnapping of five Indonesians in January last year were killed Tuesday afternoon in post-rescue operations, the military reported. Their leader Majan Sahidjuan was killed over the weekend in an island in Tawi-Tawi, a province in the country’s south. Several other members of the kidnap-for-ransom group were killed Thursday last week when three of the abductees were rescued. The latest two fatalities, along with the last of the Indonesian captives who has been rescued, managed to escape during the weekend encounter but were later tracked and killed in a gunfight. The four rescued Indonesians were flown to Manila and handed over on Tuesday to Indonesian Embassy officials. The first three victims told the military one of them was killed by their captors while trying to escape during an encounter between their kidnappers and government forces in Patikul, Sulu in September. They were kidnapped in January last year from a vessel in waters off Malaysia. Lt. Gen. Corleto S. Vinluan, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, lauded the troops and acknowledged the contribution of other sectors. “We also have to give due recognition to the support of the local government officials, our partners from the PNP (Philippine National Police), and community who directed our troops to the terrorists’ location,” he said. The Abu Sayyaf group first became notorious for hijacking and kidnapping activities, but later became involved in terrorism and linked with the extremist Islamic State. — MSJ

Supreme Court orders further reduction in onsite manpower

THE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered to “drastically reduce” the number of onsite personnel in all courts within the National Capital Region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal from Mar. 24 to 26, following a directive to operate with a 30% to 50% skeletal workforce from Mar. 23 to 31. The order cites the “alarming increase” of coronavirus cases in these areas, which have been placed under more stringent restrictions by the national government until Apr. 4. The high court said the number of personnel who will work onsite should just be “as sufficient to attend to all urgent matters, preferably by videoconferencing.” In another circular also released Tuesday night, Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta allowed all courts and offices in Metro Manila and the four surrounding provinces to maintain less than 30% of staff until Apr. 16. All judges in the area are allowed to conduct fully-remote videoconferencing hearings as an alternative without the need for approval from the Office of the Court Administrator. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago

Phivolcs warns of increased Taal Volcano seismic activity

STATE scientists on Wednesday warned of increasing seismic activity at Taal Volcano, which heightens the possibility of a magmatic eruption. “Overall seismic energy release has markedly increased since yesterday afternoon compared to previous seismic swarms. Sulfur dioxide gas emission in the previous week has been generally high with a peak of 1,184 tons/day on 21 Mar. 2021,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in an advisory released at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. “The above parameters indicate that magma has been migrating across shallow depths beneath Taal Volcano Island, increasing the possibilities of magmatic eruption.” Phivolcs maintained the alert level at 2 out of five levels. “Alert Level 2 (Increased Unrest) is currently maintained over Taal Volcano but that unrest has been elevating and is under constant evaluation,” Phivolcs said, “sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions, volcanic earthquakes, minor ashfall, and lethal accumulations or expulsions of volcanic gas can occur and threaten areas within and around” the island. Taal Volcano, which last erupted in January 2020, has been exhibiting “unrest” since Feb. 13 this year with 2,015 volcanic tremors recorded. — MSJ

Keep ears to the ground to come up with helpful solutions, Filipina tech leaders say

Keeping your ears to the ground and sincerely listening to what people say allows you to come up with helpful solutions, according to Filipina tech leaders who participated in a forum organized by local startup enabler QBO Innovation Hub. 

“I really empathize with women who have to juggle responsibilities. It is a struggle,” said Grace T. Vera Cruz, president of mobile technology company Grab Philippines. “I love compassion as a word, and we live it [at Grab].” 

Grab employees with children can talk about coping mechanisms, working from home, and other concerns in a forum called Parents at Grab. Drivers can also check in and discuss their concerns through Zoom calls and Facebook live events. 

Telecommunications company PLDT, Inc. meanwhile, asked employees what they needed and gave them what they asked for: vitamin C and masks, early in the pandemic; chairs, when the disadvantages of not having a proper home office started surfacing.  

“Six months into the pandemic, everyone asked for chairs,” said Katrina L. Abelarde, first vice-president and head of PLDT-Smart’s International Carrier Group. “Apparently, a lot were sitting on beds and it was giving them backaches. We tried morning workouts but that didn’t work out, so we gave away chairs.” 

Reaching out also proved beneficial to Frontlearners, said Elaine P. De Velez, co-founder and chief executive officer. The education technology (edtech) company tweaked its e-learning content and learning management system to make it more relevant to its school clientele. 

Ms. De Velez said there was a forced migration to digital last year as many schools grasped at learning continuity. For some customers who had been using the platform for years, it was business as usual. For others who had only recently come onboard, the company proved to be a welcome solution. “Some schools had no I.T. (information technology) department,” she added, “whereas others had an I.T. department but no edtech component. We reached out to them in whatever stage of technological adaptation they were in.”

Talking things through with people you trust, enabling people to succeed, and inspiring others by being the best person you can be are among the pieces of advice Ms. Vera Cruz shared at the online event. 

“We want to leverage what we have to empower everyone to fulfill their own missions and also solve the problems they might have in their lives,” she said. — Patricia B. Mirasol

Responsible investing in different cultural contexts 4

(Last of four parts)

Time flies when you are locked down at home — and it has been a nice recollective journey around the globe the past three weeks writing about the state of Sustainable Finance first in the United States and Europe, moving over to Latin America, then Africa, and today circling back home to the Asia Pacific region. Why is it important to examine other geographies before our own? Well, to compare our development of course.

Our region is unique in that while it is raging in growth, it also is home to some of the largest inequal distributions of wealth as well as levels of development that make it exceedingly difficult to form any generalizable statements on the region from an economic perspective. Further, the countries within the region are so culturally diverse with a myriad of languages that do not communicate with each other, making it impossible to really characterize Asian practices in any specific way.

What is common though is that several government owned funds in the emerging economies are leading the Responsible Investment (RI) movement, creating momentum across the region. The Government Pension Fund of Thailand (GPF), a founding member of the PRI, the South Korean National Pension Service (NPS), and Malaysia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Khazanah are examples of regional RI champions. NPS began investing in RI funds in 2006 and more local pension funds have expressed their interest in RI since. Some funds have partnered with those in Europe to invest in things like clean energy and waste-to-energy projects, although this is just a small amount compared to the total investment universe.

Hong Kong and China, however, do not have the same story. The main reason is that corporate pension funds are still in their infancy in China. Signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) in Hong Kong are mostly private equity (PE) firms. Among the PE projects, infrastructure investments are the focus (e.g., social infrastructure including public facilities such as schools and hospitals, utilities such as energy, water and waste management companies, and transport including mass transport systems, toll roads, and railways.) Because of the urbanization of this region, these types of investments are fundamental in growing cities and satellite towns in Asia, where rapidly expanding populations put a strain on local resources and infrastructure.

Due to the high presence of foreign direct investments in the region, those who are driving RI awareness and practice in Asia are foreign fund managers, unlike in Europe and the US where local asset owners are the major drivers in the sustainability market. For instance, BNP Paribas established the first Asian environmental equity fund “Green Tiger” and the first Greater China Environmental Fund. Further, the concept of shareholder activism is not well developed in most Asian jurisdictions. Foreign fund managers usually engage privately, especially in countries where family ownership dominates the business model, as in Hong Kong.

The state of RI in Australia is much more advanced than those of its emerging economy neighbors and is one of the most well-developed globally. Market players come from across the board: government funds, corporate funds, and pension funds and approximately half of the funds under management of Australian asset managers fall under UNPRI commitments to ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance criteria) integration. Australia also boasts a very developed sustainability index market.*

Recently, however, initiatives towards getting the markets more involved have begun. Bursa Malaysia and the Shanghai Stock Exchange recently introduced a mix of best practice ESG guidelines, sustainability indices, awards and specialist market services and 2010 saw the launch of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index (HKCSI) Series covering large and liquid listed companies in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index Fund, which tracks the HKCSI, was launched in 2011. Most recently the Philippine Stock Exchange announced plans for an ESG index by 2022. This trails our first Sustainability retail fund which was launched earlier this year by ATRAM. There thus appears to be a plausible movement towards the creation of funds based on sustainability indices.

This March series has attempted to present how Responsible Investment adoption and practice is largely dispersed and to explain how the types of strategies being used differ based on the cultural context as related to religion, events in the institutional environment, social problems, development levels of the capital markets, and the pace of urbanization. In a similar vein, this chapter has highlighted that the key promoters of RI vary across geographies. In Europe, government-wide initiatives adopted by asset owners are driving a non-prescriptive ESG integration approach. In the US however, RI was born in response to religious teachings and civil societal pressures following catastrophic events, making the landscape more akin to investment considerations based on moral concerns. In Latin America, a largely Catholic region, RI is developing from a philanthropic approach wherein funds donate a percentage of their profits towards charitable purposes. In Northern Africa, negative screening is the norm, which adheres to Islamic finance principles of Shar’iah. In both Latin America and Africa, impact investing plays a crucial role for development. Finally, Asia is an interesting market with differing levels of adoption. In some geographies such as Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand, government initiatives are driving RI whereas in Hong Kong, foreign fund managers are leading the practice. These differences are necessary to consider when studying the phenomenon, in order to avoid strong generalizations, to enable a clear understanding of cultural embeddedness and propensity for change, and to create proper tools, favorable legislation, and successful strategies for each institutional environment. n

*Some examples are ACT Australian Cleantech, ALTEXAustralia, Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI), Ethinvest Environmental Share Price Index, FTSE4Good Australia 30, FTSE Shariah Australia, GS/ASX 300 Socially Responsible Accumulation Index, IPD Green Property Investment Index, Reputex Climate Change Opportunity, Reputex Environment Opportunity, Reputex Future Energy, Reputex Governance Leaders, and Reputex Sustainability 120 Index.

The original book chapter from where this series is based is published in Italian: Laurel, D. & Piani, V., 2013, L’SRI nei diversi contesti culturali (Socially Responsible Investing in Different Cultural Contexts) in Creare Valore a Lungo Termine (Creating Long-term Value), eds. Del Maso, D. and Fiorentini, G. EGEA (Milan, Italy).

 

Daniela “Danie” Laurel is a business journalist and anchor-producer of BusinessWorld Live on One News, formerly Bloomberg TV Philippines. Prior to this, she was a permanent professor of Finance at IESEG School of Management in Paris and maintains teaching affiliations at IESEG and the Ateneo School of Government. She has also worked as an investment banker in The Netherlands. Ms. Laurel holds a Ph.D. in Management Engineering with concentrations in Finance and Accounting from the Politecnico di Milano in Italy and an MBA from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Singapore’s shrinking population does not mean economic doom

CHRISTIAN CHEN/WUNSPLASH

IN A GOVERNMENT POSTER from the early 1970s, a young Singaporean mother stands in a laundry-strewn apartment with a screaming infant on her hip. Her toddler is on the floor wailing and her husband stands disapprovingly in the doorway, disgusted by the messy home. A thought bubble appears above the woman’s head: “If only I hadn’t married so early.” The message was part of a campaign to discourage teenage weddings and large families.

When Singapore became independent in 1965, the average mother had at least four children. Lowering the birth rate was considered vital to eradicating poverty, boosting education and healthcare, and moving much of the population from crowded shop houses to affordable public housing — the tenets of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s vision for the city-state. Survival depended upon family planning.

Half a century later, Singapore is very different. After falling steadily for years, its total fertility rate, the number of children a woman has over the course of her lifetime, slipped to a record low of 1.1 in 2020, according to official figures. (A rate of 2.1 is considered the requirement to keep a population steady.) The government now offers baby bonuses worth as much as S$10,000 ($7,430), and the cost of reproductive technology treatment is heavily subsidized. Late last year, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat foreshadowed further incentives.

The government’s latest preoccupation with child-rearing could be interpreted as an attempt to address an overcorrection. It also rests on the premise that more people will boost growth. But this view skates past a certain inevitability: Singapore’s economic star was destined to fade long before its demographic challenges manifested.

In a 1994 essay in Foreign Affairs, Paul Krugman noted that the so-called tiger economies of East Asia were benefiting from a rare surge in the workforce and investment, which would eventually dissipate. In Singapore, per capita income roughly doubled every decade between 1966 and 1990 and gross domestic product rose 8.5% a year, according to Krugman. The share of the population that was employed and the number of people who received secondary education rose dramatically. “Even without going through the formal exercise of growth accounting, these numbers should make it obvious that Singapore’s growth has been based largely on one-time changes in behavior that cannot be repeated,” he wrote.

The most obvious way to mitigate such a decline — more immigration — has met periodic resistance. Historically, the country embraced workers from abroad, who either brought specific skills required by multinational companies or perform roles that don’t excite locals. (A big chunk of foreigners work in construction and food-and-beverage industries.) Amid the COVID-19 downturn, however, ministers have emphasized the need for employers to preserve the “Singapore core.” This attention to domestic sensitivities has been amplified since the general election in July, when the opposition picked up seats in parliament.

You could argue this has always been a latent concern: “Singaporeans have strong reservations about admitting immigrants,” Lee wrote in his book One Man’s View of the World, published in 2013, “but we arrive at this option almost by process of elimination.’’ He continued: “Do we face up to reality and accept that some immigrants are necessary, or do we simply allow Singapore to shrink, age and lose vitality?”

Yet demographic challenges don’t necessarily spell economic hardship. Japan’s population is contracting and aging simultaneously. Despite the caricature of the country as an economic failure in the grip of terminal decline, life goes on. True, growth in overall GDP has been fairly anemic in past few decades, but GDP per capita has held up well. Businesses continue to invest and, prior to the pandemic, Japan began to tentatively embrace immigration as part of the solution to population retreat, as I’ve written. What’s more, the unemployment rate is low — before the pandemic, around 2.2% — and even the ravages of COVID-19 haven’t pushed it much higher than 3%. Prior to the coronavirus, there were multiple jobs in Tokyo for every applicant.

There’s also hope in greater use of robots and automation. Androids have been more visible across Singapore over the past year, from a mechanical dog called Spot that patrolled a popular park to monitor social distancing, to a robot barista and cute machines that help clean hawker centers. But it’s unclear, given the premium now placed on social harmony and protecting jobs, whether the country will go for en-masse deployment of robots anytime soon. In a nod to both technological aspirations and labor-market constraints, officials announced in November a new category of visa for people with a proven track record in this field.

Singapore’s strategy for decades was marketing itself as an efficient, well-regulated and impeccably maintained First-World island — a place that would stand out in a region renowned for sky-high growth rates but beset by straining infrastructure and political volatility. Generations of visitors have marveled at the user-friendliness of its airport, roads, and port facilities. Many chose to root their businesses here.

To a large extent, smaller families are a byproduct of all this prosperity. Unlike the family in the 1970s-era poster, both parents tend to work these days. Locals complain about stress, a national ethos that emphasizes professional advancement, and the pressure to get their child into good high schools and the National University of Singapore. Almost every street corner has a business offering extracurricular tutoring in Math, Science, and English. “The tiger mom concept is so rampant here,” said Anu, a 40-year-old who works in public relations and has one child, lamenting the anxieties parents and children face.

For an updated understanding of modern family friction, a more instructive exercise would be to camp out at the Forum mall on Orchard Road, one of the country’s most iconic streets. On a Sunday afternoon, you can join throngs of families shuttling one or two kids between ballet, music, Taekwondo, and gym classes while trying to avoid vegan ice cream shops and the Toys “R” Us store on the third floor. Singaporeans may be content with fewer kids, but they’re sure ready to spend a lot on them. Welcome to the smaller, richer future. 

BLOOMBERG OPINION

What happened to optimism?

IT’S TRUE that there is very little to cheer about. Just when hope picked up with the vaccine solution, a surge of COVID-19 variants and a rise in hospital bed occupancy has pulled back any bussing optimism. Even in chat groups it’s the prophets of doom, sometimes with old news and fake reports, that dominate the conversation.

Have we become a cheering-impaired nation? Is the feeling of being left behind by the rest of the world in recovering from the pandemic pulling down our hoping mechanism?

Should there be a new corporate position for optimists? The Chief Optimistic Officer (COO) is not to be confused with the second in command. She is mandated to provide exhortation and encouragement to the troops. The vacuum in the optimism needs to be addressed. More people are criticized for what they do wrong than praised for what they do right.

The cheerleader function has not been specified in the organizational hierarchy as this role has been assigned to the CEO whose good cheer is courted hourly by underlings. A kind word in the elevator (nice sneakers) is enough to make the addressed subordinate feel noticed and appreciated.

Cheering as a method of positive reinforcement is prevalent in competitive sports, including gymnastics. Supporters of college basketball teams (when actual presence in the arena is allowed again) entertain the illusion that their presence in large numbers expressed too in rhythmic chanting (one big fight), and led by cheerleaders with their backs to the game, results in unbelievable team performance.

It seems anyway that there are now cheerleaders, especially among senior recruits of troubled companies, that have assumed this hortatory role under the guise of more mundane titles like business development officer — there’s a new market we need to penetrate: the stay-at-homes.

Cheerleaders, as noted above in their counterparts in sports, have their backs to the game. They do not actually dribble the ball or score points. Their sole function is to stir the observers and make them believe that the play in the court is affected by the loudness of the cheers.

The cheerleader likes to call meetings, at least once a month, even if now mostly virtual. She includes everyone in these “town hall” gatherings. The resulting photo gallery of 150 faces shows the wide participation in the cheer rally. She spouts slogans — do not sell advertising spots, sell the company. She peppers spiels with applause lines — you are the best. It just doesn’t show in the numbers… yet. Did you get the snack box we sent out?

Optimism is an attribute of a good leader. Churchill as a war leader continued to rally the besieged nation (we will fight them in the beaches, we will fight them in the streets…) even at the height of the London bombing and the retreat from Dunkirk. The dark clouds of defeat had to lift.

What is the role of a leader, after all, when all he sees is how impossible the situation has become and how death is just around the corner? (The virus is everywhere.) It’s not difficult to be a prophet of doom. All it takes is cynicism and the conviction that survival is impossible. There is enough real (and fake) news to throw in the mix.

In the first two months of the current year, there was a feeling that the tide would turn. Of course, the projections of a research organization again raised the specter of the “second wave” to set us back again in a state of helplessness.

Are we advocating self-delusion and shrugging off the nasty numbers? Maybe.

Optimism is like ambition. It is a desire to reach a goal and the conviction that life is great. As children, we were routinely asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. Like the Man from la Mancha, we dreamed impossible dreams of professional achievements, wealth, political positions — certainly a few wanted to be mayor of a big city in the South. Unreachable stars require a hefty dose of optimism, maybe misplaced but still a driving force.

Being immersed in bad news and negative economic numbers and delays in the vaccination program, we can perhaps actually achieve “herd immunity” …unfortunately against the contagion of hope.

 

Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Suez canal snarled with giant ship stuck in top trade artery

A GIANT container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking off one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes that’s vital for the movement of everything from oil to consumer goods.

The hull of Ever Given, one of the biggest container ships in operation, became wedged lengthways across the canal early Tuesday in Egypt, causing a pileup of at least 100 vessels seeking to transit between the Red Sea and Mediterranean, according to ship brokers and mapping data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ever Given “was grounded accidentally after deviating from its course due to suspected sudden strong wind,” Taiwan-based Evergreen Line, the time charterer of the vessel, said in an emailed response to questions.

Evergreen has urged the vessel’s owners to work with “relevant authorities including the canal management bureau to help the ship get out of trouble as soon as possible,” according to an emailed statement from the firm. Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., among those listed as the ship’s owner, declined to comment.

“The salvage operation with tugs is under way, and hopefully the vessel will be freed soon, but it could last days” as checks are made on the damage to the ship, said Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at shipbroker Banchero Costa & Co.

Ever Given was en route from China to Rotterdam. The crew are safe and accounted for, and there have been no reports of injuries or pollution, according to the ship’s manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. Ship tracking data showed the vessel was still in the same position as of about 2 a.m. Wednesday in Cairo. A spokesperson for the Suez Canal Authority couldn’t be reached for comment outside usual office hours.

PILEUP
The blockage has led to a big pileup in other ships in the area. About 42 vessels either in the northbound convoy or arriving to transit the canal northbound are now waiting for the grounded vessel to be re-floated, Leth Agencies, one of the top providers of Suez Canal crossing services, said in a notice to clients. About 64 vessels traveling southbound were also affected. Oil prices briefly rose on news of the disruption before pulling back.

At 400 meters in length, the vessel that was built in Japan about three years ago is longer than the Eiffel Tower laid on its side. Shipping companies have been turning to mega-sized vessels to help improve economies of scale, while some key routes — including the Suez Canal — being widened and deepened over the years to accommodate them.

“It could also take some time to move the vessel given that it would be loaded almost full,” said Park Moo-Hyun, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment Co. in Seoul. “This is going to delay a lot of the goods on one of the world’s busiest trade lanes.”

The 193-kilometer-long (120 miles) Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, is among the most trafficked waterways in the world, utilized by oil tankers shipping crude from the Middle East to Europe and North America. About 12% of global trade, almost 10% of seaborne oil trade and 8% of global LNG passes through the canal.

The canal has been the site of occasional groundings that have halted shipping. Tugboats managed to get the OOCL Japan unstuck a few hours after it ran aground in October 2017, while the containership Maersk Shams was briefly stuck a year earlier. In one of the most serious delays, the canal was closed for three days in 2004 after an oil tanker, Tropic Brilliance, got lodged. The ship was finally freed after 25,000 tons of oil was pumped out.

Any prolonged disruption would mean ships need to reroute, which would likely drive up freight costs, said Chun Hyungjin, research fellow at Korea Maritime Institute. Ships could bypass it by going around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, but that would add about two extra weeks to the voyage from Asia to Europe, leading to significant extra costs and disrupting all schedules, said Banchero’s Mr. Leszczynski.

The shipping industry has had a tumultuous year since the COVID-19 pandemic began roiling global trade in 2020. As countries closed borders to try keep the virus under control, exports from China surged, leading to a dearth of containers and sending maritime rates soaring. The pandemic also exacerbated labor abuse in the industry, with thousands of seafarers stuck on vessels beyond the expiration of their contracts and past the requirements of globally accepted safety standards. — Bloomberg

Brazil sees record COVID-19 deaths as pot-bangers jeer Bolsonaro speech

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil suffered a record 3,251 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths on Tuesday, as pot-banging protests erupted across the country during an address by President Jair Bolsonaro in which he defended his pandemic response and pledged to ramp up vaccinations.

The new record number of daily deaths underlines the scale of Brazil’s outbreak, which is spiraling out of control thanks to a lumpy vaccine rollout and a messy patchwork of public health restrictions that are pushing the country’s hospitals to the breaking point.

Mr. Bolsonaro is under mounting pressure to control the outbreak, after repeatedly playing down the virus, sowing doubts about vaccines and fighting state and local lockdown measures.

In his brief televised address, Mr. Bolsonaro said his government had never failed to adopt measures to combat the pandemic and said he would make 2021 the year of vaccinations.

However, in cities across Brazil, loud pot-banging protests echoed through the night as many voiced their anger at his handling of an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 people.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro swore in cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as his fourth health minister since the pandemic began, in a closed ceremony. Tapped by Mr. Bolsonaro on Mar. 15, Mr. Queiroga replaced Eduardo Pazuello, an active-duty army general who has overseen most of the pandemic response.

It remains to be seen what path Mr. Queiroga will chart as health minister. Mr. Pazuello’s two predecessors both left government after clashing with Mr. Bolsonaro’s views on COVID-19.

Mr. Bolsonaro has gained international notoriety for his efforts to fight lockdowns, dismiss mask mandates and advocate unproven remedies such as hydroxychloroquine.

On Tuesday, he received a fresh setback when Brazil’s Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal against several states’ measures restricting economic activity to slow contagion, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Mr. Bolsonaro also received a setback when the country’s Supreme Court ruled his fierce political rival, former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, had not been treated impartially in graft probes that led to his convictions. The decision appears certain to ensure the far-right former army captain will face Mr. Lula in next year’s presidential vote in which they are both expected to run.

VACCINE WOES
Despite Mr. Bolsonaro’s newfound focus on vaccines, the reality remains challenging for Brazil.

The country’s federally funded Fiocruz Institute, which is producing the AstraZeneca vaccine that serves as the cornerstone of the government’s vaccine rollout, said on Tuesday it would only deliver 18.8 million shots in April, down from an initial forecast of 30 million.

Only 2.6% of Brazilian adults have so far received two vaccine doses, according to a Fiocruz survey, while 7.6% of the population, or 12.1 million people, have received one shot.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for the Americas, Carissa Etienne, said on Tuesday the virus is surging “dangerously” across Brazil, and urged all Brazilians to adopt preventive measures to stop the spread. — Reuters

Kings, Dyip rookie picks look to make it work with mother teams

FILIPINO-FOREIGN PLAYERS JOSHUA MUNZON AND BRIAN ENRIQUEZ (inset) were the top picks in the first and second rounds of Terrafirma Dyip and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, respectively, in the recent PBA Rookie Draft. — PBA IMAGES

SELECTED by the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings and Terrafirma Dyip, respectively, in the recent Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft, Filipino foreign players Brian Enriquez and Joshua Munzon begin the process of finding their place and making it work with their mother teams.

Part of a record 65 rookie hopefuls picked in the draft proceedings, both incoming PBA freshmen shared that they are happy with where they landed at and excited to take on the challenge that lies ahead.

Mr. Enriquez, 25, was the first pick in the second round of the virtual rookie draft on March 14 by reigning Philippine Cup champion Barangay Ginebra.

In selecting the six-foot-three Filipino-American player, Kings coach Tim Cone said they were thinking of getting a player who could be a defensive wing stopper, similar to what former Barangay Ginebra stalwart Sol Mercado brought to the table.

The multi-titled coach said they liked what they saw in Mr. Enriquez when he got to work out with the team and grabbed at the opportunity to pick him 13th overall.

“We like his size and especially his strength plus we feel he’ll be a great teammate and chemistry guy,” Mr. Cone was quoted as saying by pba.ph of their rookie pick.

Mr. Enriquez, who was supposed to play for the University of the East as a one-and-done until the pandemic derailed his plans, appreciates the confidence given to him by the Kings and vowed to work and earn his keep in an already-loaded squad.

“I had a feeling that after my workout that there was a chance I could fall to them. Just wasn’t sure what round it would be,” said Mr. Enriquez, who played collegiate ball at William Woods University in the United States.  

“I just feel blessed and grateful for the opportunity given to me by Barangay Ginebra. I’m looking forward to learning from the team and the Philippine basketball culture,” he added.

Mr. Enriquez is the second player taken by the Kings in the draft after big man Ken Holmqvist who went 12th overall.

MUNZON
Meanwhile, Mr. Munzon, 26, was the top overall pick in this year’s rookie draft.

In Terrafirma, the 6’4” do-it-all player, who is also the country’s number one-ranked 3×3 baller, will be one of the key cogs bannering the regrouping Dyip.

Prior to the draft, the Dyip traded away league scoring champion CJ Perez.

Mr. Munzon said he is looking forward to beginning his PBA journey with Terrafirma and immediately went to work, joining the team in its cluster individual workouts a day after being drafted.

“Everything is positive so far. I’m looking forward to expanding my relationship with everybody,” Mr. Munzon said to the official website.

“I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to be the top pick. I’m thankful my basketball journey led me up to this point. I’m ready to come and get to work,” he added.

Apart from Mr. Munzon, Terrafirma tapped big man James Laput as the eighth overall pick.

Both players were recently signed by the team to three-year contracts. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

ONE representing Asia through The Apprentice

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition had its Asian television premiere last week, expanding the sports media property’s roster of offerings and ONE’s push to represent the region in more ways than one.

A 13-episode fare, the show chronicles ONE’s search for a new member of its front office, working under the group’s chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong in their Singapore headquarters.

Sixteen candidates from different parts of the world, including the Philippines, and various backgrounds are vying for the $250,000 job offer.

Makers of the show, which was filmed entirely in the city-state amid the pandemic, touts this latest iteration of the popular TV program as the hardest to date as it not only tests the participants’ skills in the boardroom, but it also measures them up physically through challenges done with top athletes of the promotion.

ONE said making the show was very challenging given the existing conditions in these trying times, but it made the group all the more determined to see the project completed.

It added that the program goes beyond just providing reality television entertainment and filling up a position in its group.

The show, ONE said, is also geared towards celebrating Asia, what it is about and what it offers in various aspects vis-à-vis the rest of the world.

“If you look historically in terms of content, Hollywood has been exporting content, the West has been exporting content into the East… But yet there are four and a half billion [people] in Asia, 60 percent of the World’s population is here. There is massive underrepresentation of Asia, of Asian heroes, of Asian business leaders, of Asian sports heroes, of content of any kind,” said Mr. Sityodtong in a recent panel discussion with global media.

“It’s generally about celebrating the best of humanity. This is what ONE Championship is about. That’s why our hashtag is #WeAreONE because we want to unite humanity through our values, heroes and stories but at the same time as an Asian leader. I do take it very seriously as I want to show the world the greatness of Asia, that we have the power and the ability to create incredible content that inspires the world and genuinely unites humanity,” he added.

To see their vision for the show through, ONE made sure it tapped like-minded global broadcast partners.

“The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition will be the most watched Apprentice in history full stop because of our global distribution, because of our Asian distribution, because of our incredible broadcast partners. The US will have its version, UK will have its version, Australia will have its version,” he said.

Adding, “This is a seminal moment for the media industry for Asia and I am so proud to be part of the Singapore media industry representing the little red dot on the global stage of business on the global stage of the entertainment business. This will change history.”

ALVAREZ ESCAPES ELIMINATION
Meanwhile, on the premiere of the show, Philippine representative Lara Pearl Alvarez escaped elimination.

Ms. Alvarez, who hails from Baguio, was one of the first three candidates to be sent to The Boardroom, alongside fellow Team Conquest members Alvin Ang (Singapore) and Nazee Sajedi (United States).

The Filipino candidate admitted that she could have done better in their first business challenge — building a “ONE at Home” essentials kit, a marketing plan, and a product prototype to be pitched to the hosts.

Ms. Alvarez said her decision to shy away from the background may have been her undoing, something she promised to change moving forward.

Luckily, the challenge was a non-elimination one.

Apart from Ms. Alvarez, also representing the Philippines in the show, is former mixed martial arts champion and corporate executive Louie Sangalang.

The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition is broadcast every Thursdays at 8:40 p.m. on AXN Asia and every Mondays at 9 p.m. over One Sports.

Manila Chooks TM tries to enter Doha Masters tourney via backdoor

THE REVAMPED MANILA CHOOKS TM SQUAD will try to enter the 2021 FIBA 3X3 World Tour Doha Masters by way of the qualifiers against tough opponents.

THE revamped Manila Chooks TM squad will try to enter the 2021 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 3X3 World Tour Doha Masters by way of the backdoor against tough opponents.

The team from the Philippines, now composed of 5-on-5 veteran Chico Lanete, scorer Mac Tallo, post-creator Zachy Huang and stretch big Dennis Santos, vies for a spot in the main draw of the tournament in the qualifiers at the Al Gharafa Sports Complex in Qatar.

Manila Chooks TM will slug it out against Austria’s Graz and home team Doha for a spot in Pool D of the Masters happening on March 26 to 27.

Graz is headlined by Austria’s no. 4-ranked player Matthias Linortner and no. 11 Moritz Lanegger. Completing the squad are unranked players Fabricio Vay and Filip Krämer.

Qatar’s no. 14 player Babacar Dieng, meanwhile, leads the home team together with no. 11 Faisal Abuissa as well as Abdelrahman Yehia Abdelhaleem and Souley Ndour.

The Manila team admits height will be a challenge for it, but it is looking to compensate for it through “speed and shooting” and a go-getting mind-set.

The squad that survives the qualifiers advance to the tournament proper and join NY Harlem and Princeton, both of the United States, in Pool D. The two teams are no. 4 and 5, respectively, in the world club rankings.

Manila Chooks TM will play Graz on March 26 at 7:30 p.m. (Manila time), and Doha at 8:05 p.m. Pool games will also be played on the same day.

The matches of Manila Chooks TM will be shown over the Facebook pages of FIBA 3×3 and Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas.

Liman (Serbia), Piran (Slovenia) and Sakiai Gulbele (Lithuania) play in Pool A while Pool B has Riga (Latvia), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Edmonton (Canada). Pool C has UB (Serbia), Novi Sad (Serbia) and Lusail (Qatar).

The FIBA 3X3 World Tour Doha Masters is a maximum-level (level 11) event. The champion will be awarded $40,000. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Online summit seeks to explore esports opportunities

EXPLORING various opportunities in esports and connecting various stakeholders in Asia are at the center of an online summit happening next month.

KK Fund, a venture capital fund investing in seed stage Internet and mobile start-ups across Southeast Asia, will be holding the eSports X Business Asia Summit (EXB Asia Summit) on April 21-22.

The two-day summit, the organizers said, will focus on the business aspect of esports in partnership with Thai start-up Infofed and global media agency dentsu X.

It, too, is geared towards accelerating growth of the Asian esports ecosystem by virtually bringing all stakeholders together to examine the latest industry trends, provide education for endemic and non-endemic brands, network with industry peers, and unlock brand sponsorship opportunities.

“Asia has the world’s largest audience of esports players and fans and has generated nearly half of all global esports revenue thus far. Though there is significant growth potential, the esports industry in the region is still young. The summit is therefore a concerted effort to kick-start better collaboration, communication and education to further develop the ecosystem,” said Koichi Saito, founder and general partner of KK Fund, in a release.

Expected to participate in the summit are major game publishers, game developers, media and broadcasting platforms, esports associations, government agencies, esport businesses and tech brands.

They include renowned industry names such as Tencent Games, SEGA, Garena, ONE Esports and Razer; and government agencies such as the Thailand E-Sports Federation, the Singapore Esports Association and the Japan eSports Union.

For the event, guest speakers are to talk about topics such as in-game monetization, esports sponsorships and mapping brand positioning with professional esports players. They will also examine case studies on building an esports ecosystem, and pioneering esports sponsorships through gaming gear collaborations.

The speakers include Haruki Satomi (chairman and CEO of SEGA Holdings Co.), Andrew Manugian (head of gaming operations at Tencent Thailand), Carlos Alimurung (CEO of ONE Esports), Lance Quek (founder of Gamerforce Ventures), Chandra Firmanto (founder of Indogen Capital), Mr. Saito, Yoshi Nakano (partnership director of dentsu Tokyo), and Om Kaosa-ard, COO of Infofed.

While the summit is a two-day event, it also features single-day activities, including the start-up pitching session happening on April 21.

In the pitching session, five selected esports start-ups will have a chance to pitch their businesses to corporates, venture capitalists and government bodies across Asia to secure potential investment.

EXB Asia Summit will be broadcast through DealRoom and EXB Asia’s social media channels.

Registration for the sessions, which is free of charge, runs until April 2, 2021. For more information, check the EXB Asia Summit website: https://www.exbasia.com/. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Brandon Ingram, NO Pelicans too much for depleted Lakers

BRANDON Ingram scored 36 points and Zion Williamson added 27 as the host New Orleans (NO) Pelicans routed the depleted Los Angeles (LA) Lakers (128-111) on Tuesday night.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 18 points, Kira Lewis, Jr. had 16, Jaxson Hayes had 15, and Steven Adams scored 12 as the Pelicans ended a seven-game losing streak against the Lakers.

New Orleans won its second straight game despite the absence of point guard Lonzo Ball (hip flexor strain) for both games.

Lakers was playing its second consecutive full game without LeBron James, who suffered a high ankle sprain in a loss to Atlanta on Saturday. The Lakers lost at Phoenix (111-94) on Sunday.

Former Pelicans forward Anthony Davis has missed the last month because of a calf strain and is expected to be re-evaluated on Friday by the Lakers.

Montrezl Harrell scored 18 points, Kyle Kuzma had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Markieff Morris scored 16, Dennis Schroder had 15, Wesley Matthews 14, and Alex Caruso gained 10 for LA, which shot 42.4%.

Ingram had seven points and an assist, and the Pelicans made their first six shots of the third quarter to take a 72-55 lead.

Hayes converted a three-point play, Lewis made back-to-back 3-pointers, and Alexander-Walker added a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 96-66. — Reuters

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