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Moratorium on new land transport regulations

Since 1999, or 22 years ago, Congress legislated Republic Act (RA) No. 8750 or the Seat Belts Use Act; Republic Act No. 10586 or the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act; Republic Act No. 10666 or the Children’s Safety on Motorcycles Act; and Republic Act No. 11229 or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act (mandatory use of car seats for children).

Over the same period, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has also overhauled the licensing system; required license applicants to secure certificates from privately operated driving schools; required emission tests for vehicles for registration; and, starting this year, require vehicles for registration to be inspected by privately owned motor vehicle inspection centers.

These laws and regulations have also allowed authorities — for over two decades — to impose higher fines and penalties on motorists who fail to follow them. It can be alleged that the same regulations have also become a source of corruption. However, I am not privy to this and do not have any evidence to support this claim.

All these regulations, of course, were intended to be proactive and preventive solutions to land transportation safety. They all aimed to make our roads safer for all users. Better safety was expected to also result in fewer accidents, and injuries and death, related to motor vehicle accidents.

From where I sit, however, it doesn’t seem like our roads have actually become safer in the last 20 years. One report indicates that the number of motor vehicle accidents in the country have actually doubled to 116,906 incidents in 2018 from 63,072 in 2007. An estimated 12,000 Filipinos die on the roads every year. I am uncertain if the number of deaths and injuries have gone down over the years.

I am not against these laws. In fact, I support them. However, I also believe they all require tweaking. It is in this line that I also support the calls of several senators for a suspension or moratorium on the implementation of new regulations in land transportation, to allow for their thorough review.

While safety is a major concern, the attempt to ensure safety should also be tempered with compassion. After all, we are still at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people have lost their livelihood, and even more are having difficulty making ends meet. And among those severely affected is the transport sector.

It has now become terribly difficult for people to move from one place to the other. Public transportation remains scarce, and those allowed to resume operations are at limited capacity. Workers have resorted to bicycles and scooters just to get to work. Provincial buses, and many city buses and jeepneys as well as shuttles have all been gathering dust, still unable to ply their routes.

Those who own motorcycles and cars have been lucky. They still get to move around with some ease. And these same vehicle owners have managed to provide services to their countrymen by allowing themselves to be hired as private shuttles or car pools, particularly for workers.

People are very concerned about their health and safety, and taking public transportation — if at all it is available — is a major risk for commuters despite all the mandatory health protocols now in place. Public health officials are just as concerned as enclosed public transportation allows for greater transmission of viruses like COVID-19.

So, the least that LTO officials can do in the meantime is to give a break to motorists and commuters. At least while the pandemic rages on. Lack of transportation was among the biggest bottlenecks to reviving the economy in 2020, and possibly in 2021 as well. With new impositions on motorists, which ultimately impact commuters and the public, the LTO is unintentionally making things harder on everybody.

Perhaps when the pandemic ends, or when people have been vaccinated, and with more vehicles and people going out due to work and school, maybe then the government can insist on all its new land transport regulations, to ensure greater safety on our roads as people move about. Perhaps 2023 can be a target date.

But first review these regulations again. Like in the case of RA 8750 or the seatbelt law, why are seat belts required only for front seat passengers in Public Utility Vehicles? Why are buses and jeepneys, as well as tricycles, selectively exempt from the seatbelt requirement for all passengers?

As for Republic Act No. 11229 or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act, if the intent of the law is to promote child safety in motor vehicles — regardless of type and ownership of vehicle — then all types of conveyances must be required to use child safety seats. Why are motorcycles and bicycles exempt? Child safety seats are actually available for two-wheel vehicles. Yet, only car owners with children must have them?

A “child” below 18 years old may board a motorcycle if he or she can comfortably reach his/her feet on the standard foot peg; his or her arms can reach around and grasp the waist of the motorcycle driver; and, he or she is wearing a government-approved helmet.

Based on these conditions, a child as young as 10 years old, with a height of about four feet, can already back-ride on his dad’s motorcycle with only a helmet as a safety requirement. That same child, however, is deemed by law as unsafe inside a car with standard seat belts unless he or she is in a government-approved child car seat.

Better yet, based on existing laws, a child as young as 10 years old, with a height of about four feet, can legally back-ride on his dad’s bicycle on public roads without any safety gear — not even a helmet. His father need not be licensed, either. And, they are not compelled to use the bicycle lane. In short, this father-son biking tandem is deemed beyond the scope of the law, and thus, arguably, perhaps “safer” than any child on a motorcycle or a car. Otherwise, why aren’t they regulated?

Moreover, the implication is that as presently configured, or without government-approved safety seats for children, motor vehicles are generally unsafe for children 12 years and below. Why then do we sell them to families? Also, the legal requirement for child safety restraints should cover all child passengers in both private and public vehicles. Type of ownership and use should not be determinants.

In this line, will child safety restraints also be required of for-hire vans, jeepneys, taxis, Grab Cars, and public buses? Or, will passengers be required to bring their own? If the intent of this law is to ensure child safety in motor vehicles, then it should not single out privately owned vehicles. No motor vehicles, including motorcycles and tricycles and PUVs (public utility vehicles), should be exempt from the requirement. The requirement should be imposed on all, and at the same time.

In the case of car rentals, will they also be required to supply child safety seats to customers with children 12 years and below? How about hotel cars, airport cars and taxis, and commercial vehicles like small delivery vans of small private businesses? Can they allow children to ride without the appropriate child safety seat?

Incidentally, there are thousands of bicycles and electric bikes and electric scooters now on our streets — used for delivery, for going to work, for making short trips from home — and all these are unlicensed and mostly unregulated. Driving school certificate, license and registration, and safety gear not required. And their “vehicles” don’t need to pass government “inspection.”

 

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

matort@yahoo.com

The nicest Clubhouse on the Internet

IN THE TECHNOLOGY world, this may be remembered as the month when Clubhouse started to matter. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg made appearances on the service. For a short time, Chinese-language discussions dealt with the Xinjiang issue in a frank and open manner, attracting wide public attention.

If you don’t already know, Clubhouse is a year-old social media service consisting of virtual “rooms” where people can talk to each other — by voice. That may not sound impressive, but many users swear by it, seeing it as a communications platform that could help restore peaceful discourse and civility rather than exacerbate tensions. I think of Clubhouse, which I joined last summer, as somewhere between talk radio and a dinner party.

Back in the 20th century, famed communications theorist Walter J. Ong suggested that oral cultures are more aggregative, more redundant, more conservative, and more openly questioning and dialogic. Given the social turmoil and polarization that the US is going through, that all sounds pretty good.

To me, a lot of Clubhouse sounds like elders chatting around a traditional campfire, with many of the younger people listening in (noting that “elder” here is defined more by status than by age). Extra points go to those who are genuine, engaging and good at thinking out loud and leading a group. There is a subtle but definite set of hierarchies, though to the benefit of the conversation.

Tech is a major topic on Clubhouse, but there is also chatter about the NBA, South Asian cuisine, Nigerian politics, and dating advice, as well as many other topics. If you are a member, you can start your own room. Black voices are prominent.

Many of the virtues of Clubhouse stem from its software. Although the company has only about 10 people, the user experience is fun and empowering. For one thing, you can be involved immediately by the mere push of a single button, a kind of “one-click” listening.

Unlike a Zoom call, there is no video option, so it is more relaxing (or you can do the dishes while listening). The audience is represented by tiles with photos, so speakers feel the force of the crowd, which further encourages pleasant behavior. Room moderators can decide who has speaking rights and who does not. Practices of calling on people, and granting speaking rights, produce orderly discussions, though there are also more rowdy rooms with 30 or more people with speaking rights.

Members participate by invitation only, although membership has become increasingly easy to obtain since the service’s debut in spring 2020. Through access to your address book and the list of people you “follow,” Clubhouse connects you to conversations and people in a way that Zoom does not.

Recording conversations is against the rules. That lowers the risk of being canceled for a wayward remark. People still say bad things on Clubhouse, of course — but the people who get upset tend to go to Twitter to complain. The expectation is that moderators will restore order, and disgruntled listeners can just leave the room.

Clubhouse is well-designed to create buzz and a sense of excitement — it was a genuine surprise when Elon Musk showed up to question Vlad Tenev, the chief executive of Robinhood, about recent trading suspensions on that platform. Who knew what was going to happen next?

One of the great strengths of Clubhouse is its celebrity-friendliness. If you are a major tech executive, why not speak in a Clubhouse session rather than to a journalist? The assembled crowd will spread your message, and can vouch for what you said and its context. It would not surprise me if Clubhouse soon becomes the major conduit for news about tech and tech executives, perhaps for Hollywood stars too. The one group that seems most out of place on Clubhouse are the journalists, who possess no special status and are discouraged.

So far there are about 3.4 million downloads of Clubhouse, with about 900,000 of those coming just last month. The service probably will not remain open to China once the censors consider it more seriously, but at a suggested $1 billion valuation it has a bright future, even though the revenue model has not yet been pinned down.

My personal frustration with Clubhouse is simple. Often when listening I long for something more rapid and more informationally dense, as I can find on Twitter. Like most people, I do not like the nastiness frequently found there, or elsewhere for that matter. But I am learning that, in open systems, information density and nastiness may come bundled together.

So maybe Clubhouse’s niceness isn’t always for me. But at the margin, I am quite sure that America needs more of it.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Beyond due diligence

ACQUIRING an operating company involves the determination of its fair market value. This accounting approach is further affected by the buyer’s appetite and the seller’s desperation, especially when the business is swimming in red ink.

“Due diligence” is a process that determines the value of an asset, especially to the buyer. Aside from the usual accounting approach, there is the search for hidden risks, like inventory that is overvalued or booked assets belonging to the sellers of the company in a personal capacity. Should human resources also be considered in the valuation? What is the cost of early retirement for some?

Fair market value after due diligence can be a moving number, until the deal is sealed. And in the case of a listed company, the stock price tracks the possibilities, usually betting on a high number.

Are social mergers, like engagements and marriages, also subject to due diligence?

What can be more deserving of objective assessment than a lifetime union? Dynastic families with comparable net worth tend to move in the same circles and very early in the lives of their progeny, parents plan out mating arrangements. Also, individuals who spent childhoods together due to friendship of families have their built-in knowledge of possible mates and their rising (or falling) net worth.

Social distancing in the last year may have changed practices of courtship and even the celebration of matrimonial ties. But the vetting process for mating still applies.

In the new world of social media, old social barriers of socio-economic status have fallen, making entries and exits of once sacrosanct enclaves more porous. The new fortune-hunters, who are also technologically savvy, are no longer dance or even TV starlets. They can be chat mates, personal trainers (less influential in the pandemic), or party animals booked in a hotel for their own fireworks.

One school of thought ascribed to the liberally inclined consider the past almost irrelevant. Thus, an eligible lady in her late twenties, having no current spouse in the appropriate jurisdiction and even living with or without a love child from a previous relationship is accepted by the social liberal on an as-is-where-is basis, just like a previously owned vehicle. Hopefully, the maintenance cost too is manageable.

It is a presumption in this case that the current relationship is the beginning of a life together. It is Day One in the emotional calendar. Any entanglements of either party before the current relationship have already been disentangled, even if still a bit messy as when a former partner still sends text messages of concern — I still dream of you, Sweetie. These periodic interruptions are relegated to the dustbin of old affairs and treated like clothes that no longer fit and already set aside. Rule Number One: Do not read each other’s text messages.

The other school presents a more traditional approach, short of hiring a detective. The ultra-possessive mate wants to know every detail of past relationships, including the circumstances of previous encounters — what were you wearing after you took off your earrings? (I was wearing nothing but a smile.) A mature girl, now ready to settle down with an earnest suitor who offers marriage, may feel compelled to be totally honest with her new mate and tell him everything — this is a terrible decision that can only end in grief, mostly hers.

If she is very pretty, she may have enjoyed an active lifestyle before deciding to settle down with the wealthy suitor. Her single life may have involved short-term arrangements, featuring a much older partner — he liked me to wash his hair privately in a hotel suite in the afternoon. (He brought his own shampoo. We had room service.) Such sketchy narratives can only raise more questions — did you have café latte?

Requiring too much information of a partner constitutes undue diligence. Let her keep her secrets as their original intensities must surely have faded with time and been replaced by the more stable (and less fiery) situation.

Social mergers, especially those involving asymmetrical net worth, have also assumed a more corporate form with the prenuptial agreement which can dissolve the partnership under certain conditions — who gets what and how much. In both social and corporate cases, highly leveraged relationships with a high level of consumption and expenses can come down like a house of cards. And then the marriage vows click in: till debt do they part.

 

Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Volleyball group eyes changes to how national team is formed

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

LOOKING to strengthen the formation of national teams for international competitions, newly formed Philippine National Volleyball Federation, Inc. (PNVFI) is eyeing changes to the process involved.

Primary among the local volleyball federation wants to see is to have a committee in charge of forming the teams instead of placing the entire task solely on the shoulders of the coaching staff.

“This department will be in charge of this (formation of teams). The coach will no longer be the only one to choose the players,” said Ramon Suzara, PNVFI president, during Tuesday’s online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.

The planned committee, the volleyball chief said, will have a chairman, secretary and five members and tasked to handle the national team for events like the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and other FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) competitions.

This will effectively replace the long practice of having the appointed head coach call for tryouts and name the members of the men’s and women’s volleyball teams.

Mr. Suzara also said they are batting for a bigger pool of players for the national squads, so as to give flexibility in the selection process.

“So, we can change players anytime,” he said.

Shoring up the program for the national team is one of the thrusts of PNVFI as it tries to set in order the affairs of local volleyball.

PNVFI was formed in elections held on Jan. 25, which was overseen by the Philippine Olympic Committee on the request of the FIVB.

Through letters sent by the FIVB to POC President Abraham Tolentino, the international federation reiterated the need to elect a “legitimate” national sports association lest the country risk not being able to send national teams to FIVB-sanctioned tournaments.

The PNVFI took the place of the Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. (LVPI) and Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF), which were in a tug-of-war on the issue of volleyball leadership in the country prior to the election of a new association for the sport.

The new federation has been recognized by the FIVB and Asian Volleyball Confederation following its election.

It was to have its induction on Wednesday.

Stakeholders welcome the PNVFI and are hoping that the much-hoped clarity in the programs will be realized under it.

“We’re happy that there are plans to help the growth of Philippine volleyball. This is just the beginning,” said volleyball star and national athlete Alyssa Valdez, who joined Mr. Suzara in the PSA Forum.

Also present in the forum were PNVFI vice-president Arnel Hajan and board member Charo Soriano, and national athletes Aby Marano and Jaja Santiago.

Mr. Suzara said that the PNVFI under his leadership will push for a 10-point program, which includes the formation of a national league owned by the federation, bringing world-class events to the country and reviving age-group competitions nationwide.

They, too, hope to increase their membership from the current 52 to as many as 82, representing all the different provinces.

Filipino Alex Eala opens France tournament bid with gutsy win

ALEX EALA OF THE PHILIPPINES — RAFA NADAL ACADEMY FB PAGE

FILIPINO tennis ace Alex Eala opened her bid at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) W25 Grenoble in France with a gutsy win over Romanian Laura-Ioana Paar (6-3, 4-6 and 6-4) late Tuesday (Manila time).

Playing in her fourth straight professional tournament, 15-year-old Eala held her own against her opponent who was twice her age in booking the victory in the game that lasted for two hours and 18 minutes.

Rafa Nadal Academy scholar and Globe ambassador Eala rode a strong finish to claim the opening set.

She, however, could not complete a sweep as 32-year-old Paar, the 190th-ranked player in the Women’s Tennis Association singles rankings, charged back in the second frame.

In the third set, both players fought hard to seize early momentum.

Ms. Eala dug deep late in the contest and got the leverage she needed from a 4-4 count to win the game.

In the W25 Grenoble tournament, Ms. Eala is looking to build on the good run she had at the ITF W15 Manacor in Spain where she got her maiden pro title and had two quarterfinal finishes.

The third-ranked juniors player in the world, Ms. Eala earned a slot in this professional competition through the junior exempt program of the ITF, which gives top-ranked juniors players the chance to compete in a set number of professional tournaments every year.

Her juniors ranking lets her compete in three $25,000 and two $60,000 pro events this year.

Next for Ms. Eala in Grenoble is seventh-seeded Cristina Bucșa of Spain in the second round. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

World champion Stephen ‘The Sniper’ Loman of Team Lakay to parade wares at ONE Championship

ANOTHER world champion from Team Lakay is set to parade his wares at ONE Championship after bantamweight champ Stephen “The Sniper” Loman signed with the promotion.

Long part of Brave Combat Federation and was the longest-reigning champion there, Mr. Loman last month said that he was going to test free agency.

His move to ONE was confirmed by his coach Mark Sangiao late Tuesday night.

“Stephen Loman is one of the best fighters in the Philippines. His all-around skills will be on full display in ONE Championship,” said the Team Lakay coach.

Adding, “I spoke to Stephen and he’s highly motivated right now. He can’t wait to get in the Circle and put on a show. Of course, I’ll be there for him, as well as all of his teammates at Team Lakay, every step of the way.”

At Brave, Mr. Loman (13-2) was stellar, going undefeated in eight matches.

He won the bantamweight title in 2017 against Canadian-Indian Gurdarshan Mangat and successfully defended the belt four times, the last time against Ilias Sanoudakis of Canada in 2019 by way of unanimous decision.

In 2020, Mr. Loman did not get to see action because of the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s an overwhelming opportunity, but I’m excited to join my Team Lakay brothers in the biggest martial arts organization in the world,” said Mr. Loman in a statement.

“I’m excited to enhance my skills on this platform and showcase my style to millions of viewers across the globe. Of course, fighting in a new promotion and a new environment will be a challenge, but it’s one I’m more than willing to face. I’m ready to show ONE Championship fans the best of Stephen Loman,” he added.

At ONE, Mr. Loman joins reigning strawweight titleholder Joshua Pacio as well as former world champions Eduard Folayang (lightweight), Honorio Banario (featherweight), Kevin Belingon (bantamweight), and Geje Eustaquio (flyweight).

Other Team Lakay members at ONE are flyweight Danny Kingad, strawweight Lito Adiwang, atomweights Gina Iniong and April Osenio, and featherweight Edward Kelly.

It is still to be confirmed, however, if Mr. Loman will fight at bantamweight now that he is with ONE Championship.

He is expected to make his debut later this year. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Third session of PSC’s online national sports summit up

THE third session of the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) online national sports summit takes place on Thursday with the country’s grassroots programs being the focus.

In the latest session of “Sports Conversations,” the PSC shares its programs catering to amateur athletes in the Philippines as the foundation of elite sports excellence.

Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) Dean Prof. Henry Daut will lead the discussion focusing on the nature, status, and challenges of implementing the science-based measures to tap the local rich source of talents.

The PSI has been a key platform for the PSC to enhance further the training of athletes and coaches through various seminars and certification programs and performance updates.

“It is high time that we give educators, athletes, and sports stakeholders a clear picture of what the PSC has been doing through these years to develop the amateur talents we have,” said PSC Chairman William Ramirez of the latest session of the three-phased online sports summit. 

He went on to emphasize the importance of having the youth turn to sports and benefit from the values it teaches that are vital in this time of a pandemic.

Mr. Daut played a role in the PSC’s Sports Mapping Action Research Talent Identification (Smart ID) program and is the third speaker in the summit, following United States Sports Academy President T.J. Rosandich and Davao del Norte Sports and Youth Development Head Giovanni Gulanes, who presided in the two previous sessions of the summit.

The PSC national sports summit is aimed at taking insights of different sports stakeholders and using those as foundations in crafting a sustainable and workable short to long-term plan for Philippine sports.

The sports body said all data gathered from the Sports Conversations series will be processed and studied to create a new set of resolutions to be presented to sports leaders for action. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

US safety board cites poor pilot decisions as probable reason for Kobe Bryant fatal crash

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday cited the pilot’s “poor decision making” as the probable cause of the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed retired NBA star Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others, saying the pilot became disoriented and did not follow rules for flying in cloudy weather.

The NTSB cited pilot Ara Zobayan’s “poor decision to fly in excess of airspeed.” It said the weather conditions were inconsistent with adverse weather training and resulted in the pilot’s “spatial disorientation and loss of control.”

The board also cited Zobayan’s “likely self-induced pressure” to complete the flight.

Zobayan told air traffic controllers that his helicopter was climbing out of heavy clouds when in fact it was descending, immediately before slamming into a hillside near the town of Calabasas in California, the agency said. Zobayan was among those killed in the crash of the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter outside Los Angeles in hilly terrain.

Bryant, 41, an 18-time National Basketball Association all-star with the Los Angeles Lakers, was traveling with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, two other girls and several friends to a youth basketball tournament at the time of the crash. The accident prompted an outpouring of shock and grief from sports fans worldwide.

The NTSB also cited the company operating the doomed helicopter, Island Express Helicopters, for “inadequate review and oversight of its safety management processes.” Lawyers for the company did not immediately comment.

The board said previously an examination of the helicopter’s engines and rotors found no evidence of catastrophic mechanical failure.

NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Zobayan should not have flown into the clouds.

“Unfortunately, we continue to see these same issues influence poor decision making among otherwise experienced pilots in aviation crashes,” he said. “Had this pilot not succumbed to the pressures he placed on himself to continue the flight into adverse weather, it is likely this accident would not have happened.” — Reuters

Serena sweeps into third round

MELBOURNE — Serena Williams overcame a spirited Nina Stojanović (6-3, 6-0) on a sun-drenched Rod Laver Arena to reach the third round of the Australian Open for the 19th time on Wednesday.

The American, again sporting her distinctive one-legged leotard, needed to find her best game at times in the first set against a Serbian 15 years her junior who was playing in her fourth Grand Slam.

Ms. Williams has won seven major titles at Melbourne Park alone, of course, and ramped up her serve to see off the danger before putting the pressure back on her opponent with some booming service returns.

“She pushed me really hard and played well throughout the match,” the 39-year-old said.

The second set was one-way traffic and Ms. Williams fired down her sixth ace of the contest to seal a date with Anastasia Potapova, taking another step on the path she hopes will end with a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was sent packing from the Australian Open on Wednesday after a (6-4, 1-6, 6-1) second-round defeat by Romanian Sorana Cîrstea.

Ms. Kvitova jumped out to a 2-0 lead but could not keep a lid on her errors as Ms. Cîrstea converted each of her three breakpoint opportunities to claim the opening set.

Ms. Kvitova, who finished runner-up at Melbourne Park two years ago, showed glimpses of her powerful ball-striking as she raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set before levelling the match when Ms. Cîrstea handed her a third break with a tame double fault.

Ms. Cîrstea, however, turned the tables on the Czech in the final set and claimed victory on her third match point with Ms. Kvitova hitting a forehand long. — Reuters

The food of the future is mostly plant-based 

The typical dinner plate in 2050 should be diverse and mostly plant-based, with less rice and highly processed grains, according to academician Eufemio T. Rasco, Jr., chair of the Agricultural Sciences Division of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Philippines.

To ensure that the Philippines is adequately fed 30 years down the road, NAST envisions a system, dubbed “Feeding Metro Manila 2050,” that nurtures the health of the people and the planet, adapts to the changing climate, and is sensitive to the diversity of food culture. 

The country’s current linear food system of food production, marketing, and consumption, is unsustainable. Waste management, underpinned by responsible consumption, is key to a nourishing and regenerative food system. 

Metro Manila was targeted specifically because of its role as a cultural trendsetter in the country. The team believes that if the food system is fixed in the capital, the rest of the Philippines will follow. 

Solutions to support this vision include aquaculture (the cultivation of marine or freshwater organisms under controlled conditions), aquaponics (a system that combines conventional aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment), mixed crop-livestock systems (the management of animals and crops on the same land with most of the crops fed to the animals), biotechnology applications, nutrient-fortified food products, and a change in consumer behavior.

Fisheries is key to sustainability, said academician Mudjekeewis D. Santos, a member of NAST’s Agricultural Sciences Division. He pointed out that Metro Manila is bounded by Manila Bay, Laguna de Bay, and Taal Lake. 

“The bodies of water can be a source of sustainable fish supply—but only if we’re able to manage and reap the benefits from the ecosystem services these offer.” he said.  

Aquaculture and aquaponics both hold opportunities in this regard. Technology such as algorithm-based forecasting of fish kills and toxic blooms is a way forward for the former, as is addressing nitrogen use efficiency and nutrient limitations for the latter. 

The livestock industry, meanwhile, should shift to a mixed crop-livestock system, said fellow Agricultural Sciences Division member and academician Arnel N. del Barrio.

An example of such would be the rice-dairy production model where rice straw is enriched and utilized as animal feed instead of just burned. “We need to consolidate farmers so business will become sustainable and profitable,” said Mr. del Barrio. 

He added that animal production needs to be improved. “Hindi pa ayos breeding program natin [Our breeding program has not been optimized yet]. Buffalos, for instance, only produce four to five liters of milk. More animals means more land and more needed feed. We want to produce animals that are more productive and efficient, with less feed needed to produce a kilogram of milk, so carbon footprint is reduced.”

Biotechnology applications such as breeding animals for thermotolerance was also cited as a way to improve productivity and efficiency, and to make farming resilient against climate change. 

Consumption plays a central role in shaping the food system. The Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), which promotes its mandate in part through innovations such as optimized brown rice (with a 9–12 month shelf life) and calabasa (squash) pancit canton, noted that malnutrition still persists among all age groups.

“Fruit and vegetable consumption is declining over the years,” said Imelda A. Agdeppa, FNRI director. “Despite the insufficiency, we still encounter plate waste. The total plate waste is 66.8 grams, or about 15% of the total dietary requirement of a person.”

Among the FNRI’s suggestions are packing sari-sari stores (local neighborhood stores) with fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and partnering this action with simple messages at the grassroots level. Sari-sari stores were found to be the main source of food, as per the institute’s food environment survey.

“Dietary patterns can cause epigenetic changes that can be passed to offspring for several generations,” Mr. Rasco Jr. said. “If our grandchildren are sickly, they will blame our eating habits.”

Support will be needed from various sectors and government offices for the proposed system to be realized. Food system education has to be integrated in the school curriculum, coupled with research and development support on the food delivery system. The diet must also be incorporated as a component of universal health care.

“This will require a carefully calibrated response from the agriculture sector, because any change in diet will change the demand aspect of agricultural crops,” said Mr. Rasco — Patricia B. Mirasol

AI startup raises $4 million in seed round, partners with LBC Express

Expedock moves thousands of freight containers a week. Its software converts paper-based documents or scans into structured data for freight systems and eliminates unwanted costs due to manual errors.

Expedock, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered supply-chain startup, raised $4 million in its seed round and closed an enterprise deal with LBC Express. 

The startup will use its AI technology to automate the booking process between containers and carriers in order to expedite the movement of international goods. 

These developments follow a $2.5 million investment led by Ali Partovi, chief executive of “communal” venture fund Neo, who has previously backed Airbnb, Dropbox, Facebook, and Uber. 

Expedock is also backed by executives at eBay, Foodpanda, coins.ph, Salesforce, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. The funding will be used for expansion and for product development to accommodate its growing number of international clients. 

“We’ve seen firsthand how the errors in the first mile of shipping lead to costly corrections amounting up to $25,000. Freight forwarders have had to manually encode and process significant amounts of paperwork which, with one mistake, could cost a company thousands of dollars to correct,” said co-founder King Alandy C. Dy in a press statement. “Our technology comes in to convert any paper-based documents or scans into structured data for their freight systems. Our software provides the infrastructure for their data, thereby eliminating unwanted costs due to manual errors.”

Its system, Expedock Nuance Technology, performs tasks by simulating human intelligence and removing the need for manual data entry and processing via workflow automation. The huge volume of data and documentation needed to move products from Point A to B previously made manual data entry and extraction cumbersome for businesses in the supply chain industry. Expedock’s technology eliminates the need for data extraction and data entry work, decreases turnaround time by up to ten times, and improves data accuracy. 

Co-founded in 2019 by Filipinos Dy and Jeff Tan, together with AI specialist Rui Aguiar, the company moves thousands of freight containers a week and counts a.hartrodt, Rose Containerline, Premier Services Italia, Andalin, Fremura, CNT and MHM Global among its international clients. — Patricia B. Mirasol

COVID may have taken ‘convoluted path’ to Wuhan, WHO team leader says

It will probably take years to fully understand the origins of COVID-19, said an infectious disease expert. Computer-generated representation of COVID-19 virions via Felipe Esquivel Reed / CC BY-SA

WUHAN — The head of a World Health Organization-led team probing the origins of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) said bats remain a likely source and that transmission of the virus via frozen food is a possibility that warrants further investigation, but he ruled out a lab leak.

Peter Ben Embarek, who led the team of independent experts in its nearly month-long visit to the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak first emerged at a seafood market in late 2019, said the team’s work had uncovered new information but had not dramatically changed their picture of the outbreak.

“The possible path from whatever original animal species all the way through to the Huanan market could have taken a very long and convoluted path involving also movements across borders,” Mr. Embarek told a nearly three-hour media briefing.

Mr. Embarek said work to identify the coronavirus’s origins points to a natural reservoir in bats, but it is unlikely that they were in Wuhan.

Investigators were also looking for Chinese blood samples that could indicate that the virus was circulating earlier than first thought, he said.

“In trying to understand the picture of December 2019 we embarked on a very detailed and profound search for other cases that may have been missed, cases earlier on in 2019,” he said.

“And the conclusion was we did not find evidence of large outbreaks that could be related to cases of COVID-19 prior to December 2019 in Wuhan or elsewhere.”

The possibility the virus leaked from a lab—which has been the subject of conspiracy theories—was extremely unlikely and did not require further study, Mr. Embarek said.

Liang Wannian, head of China’s expert panel on the outbreak, said there was evidence of coronavirus infections that could have preceded the first detected case by “several weeks”.

“This suggests that we cannot rule out that it was circulating in other regions and the circulation was unreported,” he told the briefing.

FROZEN ANIMALS?
Mr. Embarek said the team had identified market vendors selling frozen animal products including farmed wild animals.

“So there is the potential to continue to follow this lead and further look at the supply chain and animals that were supplied to the market,” he said.

China has pushed the idea that the virus can be transmitted by frozen food and has repeatedly announced findings of coronavirus traces on imported food packaging.

“We know the virus can survive in conditions that are found in these cold, frozen environments, but we don’t really understand if the virus can transmit to humans” or under which conditions, Mr. Embarek told the briefing.

The team arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 14 and after two weeks of quarantine, visited key sites including the Huanan seafood market, the location of the first known cluster of infections, as well as the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been involved in coronavirus research.

Members of the team sought to rein in expectations for the mission, with infectious disease expert Dominic Dwyer saying it would probably take years to fully understand the origins of COVID-19.

The United States said China needed to be more open when it comes to sharing data and samples as well as allowing access to patients, medical staff, and lab workers. Beijing subsequently accused Washington of politicizing a scientific mission. — Josh Horwitz and David Stanway/Reuters

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