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Abu Sayyaf leader dies in military rescue of Indonesian captive

THE PHILIPPINE military on Sunday said it had killed an Abu Sayyaf leader during rescue operations involving the last of five Indonesians abducted by the Islamic State-linked kidnap-for-ransom group in Jan. 2020.

Abu Sayyaf leader Majan Sahidjuan was killed during an encounter with government troops in Tawi-Tawi province in the nation’s south at the weekend, military commander Lt. Col. Venjie P. Pendon said in a statement.

“He was severely wounded during the encounter last night,” he said. “We tried to save him but his gunshot wounds were fatal.”

Government forces tracked Mr. Sahidjuan and two of his comrades in the village of Kalupag Island in Tawi-Tawi after locals reported the presence of suspicious armed men in the area.

The two fled during Saturday’s encounter, taking with them a 15-year old Indonesian kidnap victim. The victim was rescued on Sunday morning, Lt. Gen. Corleto S. Vinluan, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said in the statement.

Troops rescued three other Indonesian captives on Thursday after the boat they were in capsized near Pasigan Island in Tawi-Tawi. Two Abu Sayyaf sub-leaders were captured.

The Abu Sayyaf men were trying to evade military pursuit operations in Sulu, the stronghold of the bandits.

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.

Military commander Brig. Gen. Arturo G. Rojas said they had been on alert since Thursday and the information they got from locals helped a lot. — Maria Filomena S. Jara

Nationwide round-up (03/21/21)

Health dep’t clarifies vaccine procurement rules not yet final

THE Department of Health (DoH) on Sunday clarified that the administrative order relating to the coronavirus vaccination law is not yet final after getting backlash over proposed restrictions on which companies that can procure doses. The DoH said it is committed to providing equitable access to vaccines and following the prioritization criteria. It also said the development of the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 11525 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Law “is guided by the principles of equal respect, national equity and legitimacy,” following the values framework of the World Health Organization. It also said that any provision perceived to discriminate against any sector “is not considered in any policy, guideline, protocol that shall be issued by this government.” The department said the current draft includes recommendations from various stakeholders. “The DoH together with the government agencies composing the Vaccine Cluster of the National Task Force against COVID-19, as provided for by the law, are still in the process of reconciling the proposed provisions with other existing laws and guidelines,” it said. Senator Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos, in a statement on Saturday citing the draft rules, called out the DoH and the national task force for blocking companies engaged in tobacco, milk, sugar, and soft drinks, among others, from buying vaccines for their workers. Under Section 5 of the proposed administrative order, procurement of vaccines by private entities shall be in coordination with the government through a multi-party agreement. The Health department and the task force will also review the requests of private firms for vaccine procurement to ensure that they are not related to the tobacco industry and other industries in conflict with public health. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Voter registration hours shortened due to rising COVID cases

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday announced it will shorten voter registration hours due to the recent surge in coronavirus cases. In a statement, the poll body said the new schedule is in line with a memo released by the President last week, which called for a 30% to 50% operational capacity for government offices and corporations. From Mar. 22 to Apr. 4, voter registration processing will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m, Mondays to Thursdays. Comelec offices are disinfected on Fridays. Issuance of a voter’s certification will be until 5 p.m., the Comelec said. The registration schedule used to be Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Voter registration for next year’s national and local elections will be until Sept. 30. — Gillian M. Cortez

Justice department lockdown could be extended as more COVID cases recorded

JUSTICE Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said the current lockdown of the department’s main office in Manila could be extended after 17 more workers tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Department of Justice now has 45 active cases. “We may have to extend the temporary lockdown of the DoJ premises unless the rising transmission rate is arrested,” Mr. Guevarra told reporters on Friday. He earlier placed the DoJ on a temporary lockdown until Mar. 23 after 33 COVID-19 cases were confirmed among its personnel from Tuesday to Friday. Mr. Guevarra further said that he is “getting alarmed” with the surge of COVID-19 positive cases in their office. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, which is adjacent to the DoJ office, will hold an on-site flag ceremony on Monday as it will be Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta’s last. The high court’s top magistrate is retiring on Mar. 27. The Supreme Court announced on Saturday that the ceremony will push through on Monday “under very strict health protocols” and limited participants. “Only incumbent Justices, Chiefs of Offices, the Office of the Chief Justice, and officers of the SC Association of Lawyers Employees and (the) SC Employees Association are allowed to physically attend the ceremony,” it said. The ceremony will be streamed live on the SC website (sc.judiciary.gov.ph) and on its YouTube channel. The SC has recorded a total of 37 COVID-19 cases as of Mar. 19. It has been on a 50% on-site workforce arrangement since Mar. 14. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago

Solon optimistic of Senate support on charter change

THE head of the House of Representatives’ charter change panel said he is optimistic that the proposed economic amendments to the Constitution will garner support from the Senate. In a mobile message to BusinessWorld on Sunday, AKO BICOL Party-list Rep. Alfredo A. Garbin, Jr., committee on constitutional amendments chair, said he knows that some senators support only changes relating to economic provisions. “Malaki ang pag asa sa Senado (There is a big chance in the senate) because I don’t think they can turn a blind eye on this meaningful constitutional reform that will help stimulate economic growth and bring more opportunities to our countrymen,” he said. Last week, Deputy Speaker Rufus B. Rodriquez said he is confident that senators will tackle the proposed amendments once the lower house solons pass the measure and transmit it to the upper chamber. He added the amendments can be passed within the year. Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2 was approved by the committee last January and is currently undergoing debates in the plenary. The proposed measure will insert the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to specific provisions of the constitution concerning economic matters. Debates will resume when Congress finishes its recess on May 17. Congress takes a break starting Mar. 25. Mr. Garbin said House Speaker Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco maintains his goal of passing RBH 2 and transmitting it to the Senate by the end of May. “Our timeline as set by the Speaker is to put it on a vote on third reading before the end of the month of May. Meaning, we will transmit the same to the Senate before Sine die adjournment,” he said. — Gillian M. Cortez

Regional Updates (03/21/21)

Davao City planning office proposes to increase green space requirement

DAVAO City’s planning office is proposing to increase the green space requirement for residential developments to 15% from the current 10% in line with the local climate change action program. “In our proposal for the land use plan, what will happen, there will be a remaining 55% sellable area for the developers. So our subdivisions are not so hot because there are these trees around,” Davao City Planning and Development Office head Ivan Chin Cortez said in an interview. The proposal is part of the city’s Local Climate Change Action Plan 2019-2023, which was approved through Ordinance No. 0475-21 on Feb. 2, 2021. Mr. Cortez said the goal of the five-year plan is to pursue and secure the city’s development gains and sustainability efforts by building disaster resilient, climate change adaptive communities. “We have painstakingly computed where the carbon emissions are coming from, and how through policy directions we can reduce our footprint without halting our journey towards development,” he said. “As much as we will protect our remaining forest from encroachment, we will also move forward to more green space initiatives in our urban areas,” Mr. Cortez said. The updated land use plan will also declare no-build areas that will serve as urban ecological enhancement sub-zones as well as roll out  more greening initiatives such as reforestation and mangrove area restoration. — Maya M. Padillo

Lopez energy company joins initiative to make Ormoc a model city on disaster management

LOPEZ-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has joined an initiative that will help strengthen Ormoc City’s disaster management program and position it as a model for preparedness and resilience. In a press release on Saturday, EDC said that it has inked a memorandum of agreement with the city government, the National Resilience Council (NRC), and the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation through its Adopt-a-City program. Under the agreement, the four parties will work together to help Ormoc “become the country’s model city for resilience and disaster preparedness.” EDC President and Chief Operating Officer Richard B. Tantoco said some of the upcoming activities in Ormoc include the formation of a multi-sectoral forest protection task force, creation of 10 pilot barangay emergency response teams, and the rollout of a city-wide disaster risk preparedness and response information campaign. Mr. Tantoco also offered to expand EDC’s role in disaster management in the province of Leyte. Ormoc is an independent city from Leyte. EDC runs the 588.4-megawatt (MW) Unified Leyte plants in Kananga town and the 123 MW-Tongonan plant in Ormoc.

REBUILDING
“We’d like our geothermal facilities in Leyte to be the most robust power facility in the country so two to three days after a major disaster, the Ormocanons will look up and see that there’s light and know that they can begin rebuilding their lives,” Mr. Tantoco said. Ormoc City Mayor Richard I. Gomez thanked EDC, NRC and the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation for the partnership. “Ormoc is vulnerable to natural disasters, that’s why planning and foresight are very important, and partnerships like this are vital to us. Through this Adopt-a-City program, I know that we will achieve stronger resilience, reduce deaths, and increase development in our city,” Mr. Gomez said. The flash flood in Ormoc in 1991, following the onslaught of tropical storm Uring, with international name Thelma, is considered one of the deadliest disasters in the country’s history with about 8,000 killed, including those whose bodies were never recovered. EDC, a subsidiary of the First Gen Corp., has a 1,200-MW total installed geothermal capacity, which accounts for 62% of the country’s generated renewable energy. — Angelica Y. Yang

Dengvaxia: Knowns and unknowns

In 2018, together with colleagues, I agreed that “vaccine confidence has suffered following the [dengue] vaccine scare, and that trust needs to be rebuilt before the next pandemic.”* As a Jan. 24 South China Morning Post article put it, the “ghost of Dengvaxia controversy lingers.”

The COVID-19 pandemic tells us that vaccination is vital to achieve herd immunity. Dengvaxia problems were not made in the Philippines. Revised recommendations for safe use of this vaccine have been made. To restore confidence in vaccines, it is important to understand the Dengvaxia story in the Philippines, past, present, and future. This is written to support all those whose lives have been impacted by Dengvaxia.

We may benefit from a step-wise review of events and observations in the public domain or published in peer-reviewed scientific journals:

2012: In a Thailand vaccine trial, Dengvaxia showed poor protection against dengue 2 virus.

2015: Dengvaxia completed a phase 3 trial in 35,000 Asian and American children. Two-thirds received the vaccine, one-third, placebo control. Young vaccinated children were hospitalized at a higher rate than controls. Using statistical analyses, Sanofi concluded Dengvaxia was moderately effective in preventing dengue illnesses in children, ages nine to 16.

2015:  Dengvaxia was licensed in the Philippines.

2016: World Health Organization (WHO) expert groups, relying on mathematical models, endorsed Dengvaxia for use in nine to 16 year olds.

2016: Philippines initiated a ₱3.5 billion, school-based dengue immunization program.

2016: Independent expert review of phase 3 data concluded that Dengvaxia protected children who were partially dengue-immune when vaccinated, but sensitized seronegative children (those who had never had dengue before) to breakthrough dengue disease.

2017: Sanofi re-analyzed phase 3 data, finding Dengvaxia protected seropositives, but sensitized some seronegatives to severe breakthrough dengue infections.

2017: The Dengvaxia campaign in the Philippines halted.

2019-20: Sanofi Phase 3 data predicted there would be dengue among Dengvaxia sensitized seronegative Philippine children vaccinated in 2016-17. Dengue experts called for an international effort to assist the Philippines to identify “at risk” vaccinated children.

Beginning with smallpox vaccine in the 18th century, the world entered an age of “vaccine miracles”: live attenuated yellow fever, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chickenpox and Japanese encephalitis vaccines. These are weakened viruses. We know they protect, but do not fully understand why. Not all vaccines have happy outcomes. A killed measles vaccine, licensed in the 1960s, sensitized children to a more severe form of measles. This vaccine was quickly taken off the market. Fortunately, it was replaced by an excellent vaccine.

After 1954, when “H fever” was discovered in the Philippines, it became known that sequential infection with two different dengue viruses was the cause of severe dengue. This information put vaccine makers “on guard” to the possibility that a dengue vaccine itself could act like a first dengue infection, sensitizing to severe disease during a second infection. Vaccine-enhanced dengue may be exactly like H fever.

The immune status of children given Dengvaxia was not known during the phase 3 trial. Breakthrough cases were thought to be “vaccine failures.” The vaccine was declared safe and effective. Public health authorities in the Philippines, acutely aware of dengue’s yearly toll, made the brave decision to obtain Dengvaxia.

The revised phase 3 data were only available after vaccinations had begun. The full story was known only then.

The world is making an effort to share the burden of preventing COVID-19. In this same spirit, help should be offered to the Philippines to lessen the impact of this historically unique vaccine failure.

*Antonio L. Dans, Leonila F. Dans, Maria Asuncion A. Silvestre, Scott B. Halstead & Gordon H. Guyatt, “Cause and consequence of loss in vaccine trust,” Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, Volume 15, Issue 3, 2019

 

Scott B. Halstead, M.D., a 1955 graduate of Columbia University School of Medicine, was assigned in 1961 on active duty in the US Army to open a research laboratory in Bangkok studying Philippine and Thai hemorrhagic fevers. It was there that severe dengue was discovered to be an outcome of a second infection but also accompanied first infections in infants born to dengue-immune mothers. His laboratory studies at Yale and the University of Hawaii resulted in the discovery of the pathogenic mechanism, antibody dependent enhancement. He has been active in vaccine research and promotion. At the Rockefeller Foundation in 1990, he founded the Children’s Vaccine Initiative and in 2003, the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative, funded by the Gates Foundation.

Let forestry be our future

On Oct. 27, 2019, I came out with a BusinessWorld article, “Why Not Forestry?,” arguing that forestry development should be a national priority and should be a focus for generating jobs, protecting the environment, and addressing the insurgency.

Forestry development had been neglected far too long. Nay, not just neglected but abandoned and subjected to all sorts of wrong policies to the extent that the country is now importing most of its wood requirements where once it used to be a major exporter. What a waste and lost opportunity!

Being a tropical country, the Philippines could be a major wood producer and exporter. As a Finnish expert said, Finland, a wood superpower in Europe, can only produce five to 15 cubic meters of wood per hectare while the Philippines could very well produce 100 cubic meters of wood per hectare. We have the climate and the geography but have chosen to waste what God has given us with wrong-headed man-made policies and an uncertain property rights regime.

One of these wrong policies, formulated during the time of former President Aquino, was a total log ban. It can be argued that the government is a poor steward of the forest and that the private sector has better incentives to sustain the forests with the right incentives. Moreover, the other problem with that policy was that it didn’t make a distinction between natural forests and planted forests.

In other words, the regulatory overreach was applied even to what normally would be tree farms. Permits would be required for everything — to plant, to inventory, to harvest, to transport. The result was more extortion and difficulty in doing business. Also, wood processing plants were given only short licenses to operate, with threats of raids and shutdowns, causing tremendous uncertainty among investors. As a result, in the CARAGA region, the number of wood processing plants fell from 23 to three, causing demand for trees to fall, impoverishing tree farmers and contributing to the unrest in the uplands.

However, I’m pleased to report that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) under Secretary Roy Cimatu has seen the light, and, due to the support of several sectors, has issued DAO (Department Administrative Order) 2020-18, titled “Promoting Tree Plantation Development and Liberalizing Harvesting and Transport of Planted Trees and Tree Derivatives for Inclusive Growth and Development.”

The DAO liberalizes the rules on tree plantation, from inventorying and transport, allows qualified foresters to make certifications, and encourages tree farmers to integrate and set up their own wood processing plants.

This DAO is a good first step in attracting more private investments in tree plantation. However, for the forestry sector to truly boom and see the reforestation of millions of hectares of denuded lands, the uncertainty over property rights must be settled. Investment in forestry is truly long term — it takes anywhere from nine to 20 years, depending on the species, to grow trees to maturity. However, no investor in his right mind will invest if just before harvesting, he would not be allowed to harvest. His property rights must be secure.

The first problem is that the DAO doesn’t have the stability of a law. It could very well be that the next DENR Secretary may reverse the Department Administrative Order. Therefore, a new law must be passed to codify the DAO and provide assurances to investors that the policies won’t be easily reversed.

The other huge problem is that there’s a giant cloud of uncertainty governing rights in forestlands. For one thing, the government has been issuing forest tenurial instruments — IFMAs (Integrated Forest Management Agreements), Community-based Forest Agreement (CBFA), Socialized Forest Management Agreement, Private Land Timber Permit — right and left but there’s no central registry of those tenurial instruments. For another, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples has also been issuing Certificate of Ancestral Domain (CAD) titles with no survey and no due diligence on existing rights over the same area. Imagine, you are an investor and tree plantation owner, and then suddenly there’s this ex-military claiming to be from this and that tribe brandishing his CAD title and staking a right over your plantation. You will flee like Speedy Gonzales and abandon the farm to the elements.

What is happening now in the uplands is property rights mayhem, triggering conflicts. In the process, there’s no development and no livelihood, but rather conflicts and unrest. This is one big reason why the NPA has moved into the uplands and is actively recruiting among the lumads. The agrarian unrest that used to stalk the plains of Luzon has been calmed by the land reform program, but social unrest, because of the government’s mishandling of property rights in forestry, has moved into the uplands.

One solution, according to attorney Erwin Tiamson, former head of the Land Management Bureau and a property rights lawyer, is the establishment of a forest cadastre. While a cadastre exists for agricultural and alienable lands in the country, administered by the Lands Registration Authority under the Department of Justice, no such system exists for forest lands. A cadastre is a comprehensive record of all rights, claims, and ownership over a property, in this case, the forest. While theoretically the government owns all forest lands, in reality, it has been using tenurial instruments given to communities and individuals over forest lands and CAD titles as well. CAD titles are qualified titles, i.e., their validity is subject to prior rights, but the holders treat them as absolute.

If a forestry cadastre exists, the whole world would know who has claims over what. It makes forest tenurial instruments bankable because there will be an official public record of all claims and titles. Financial institutions will have access to information to weigh financial risk.

According to Mr. Tiamson, “In addition to the establishment of a forest cadastre, some means of adjudicating claims must also be established in order to resolve conflicting rights. Conflict of rights in forest lands caused by the different policies and issuance of different tenure instruments had caused uncertainty that paralyzed economic activities in the forest. Courts should be the last resort as these are expensive and time-consuming. As the absolute owner of forestlands, the government must be able to adjudicate the claims without judicial intervention.”

Another possible temporary solution prior to the establishment of a forestry cadastre is for the government to pinpoint certain areas and declare them special forest economic development zones. These zones must be cleared by the government of any conflicting claims so that investors can just come in and plant trees.

The future doesn’t belong only to the IT industry, but to forestry as well. Why? Climate change is making forests more critical in environmental sustainability. Forests are carbon sinks, capturing large swaths of carbon emissions. With the US rejoining the Climate Pact, the trading in carbon credits is expected to accelerate. Forests, including planted forests, will become more valuable for the carbon credits that they will generate.

Moreover, forests, for enabling the conservation of water, are vital to agriculture and to life itself. Forest regeneration is also a way to protect the entire planet from future pandemics because denudation exposes the general population to viruses from wild animals which it comes into contact with.

As for fighting rural insurgency, instead of the government spending P16 billion to fund the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELAC), it should instead focus on developing the forestry sector and generating livelihood for upland dwellers.

When we in the Foundation for Economic Freedom met with the Board of Investments (BoI) to discuss putting tree plantation under the Investment Priorities Plan, the BoI officials pointed out that there’s a worldwide shift from plastic packaging, which is non-biodegradable, toward paper packaging and cartons. However, paper comes from trees, but we don’t have enough trees to produce pulp and paper for our own needs, much more, for export.

Let our government leaders, from the President on down, start focusing on forestry. Not just on tourism or rice or car manufacturing. Let forestry be our future.

 

Calixto V. Chikiamco is a board director of the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis.

idea.introspectiv@gmail.com

www.idea.org.ph

Take that jab!

The World Health Organization (WHO), as of March 18, at 2:34 a.m. GMT, tallied 120,383,919 confirmed COVID-19 cases in 223 countries, areas, or territories, of which 2,664,386 victims or 2.21% have died. The Philippines is No. 30 in comparative rank for its 630,321 confirmed cases (about 5.8% of 109.2 million population) and 12,848 cumulative total deaths (2.03%) in the same timeframe of one year since the pandemic was officially announced by the WHO on March 15, 2020.

Why, in that pathetic group of 30 most infected countries, was the Philippines reporting 4,427 new cases per day in the last 24 hours of the cumulative tally, when Spain, for example, which is 8th most infected today, had not had a new infection in the last 24 hours of the WHO tally? China, where the virus originated, and which was at the top of the list of infected countries a year ago at the declaration of the pandemic, has relaxed to near-bottom of the list of 223 infected countries, with 102,433 accumulated confirmed cases (merely 0.008% of 1.3 billion population) since the beginning of the pandemic, with 4,849 deaths and only 22 new cases for the observed 24-hour infection rate.

In the first six months of the pandemic, the battle cry railed by health experts was “Flatten the Curve”! The infected countries who obediently followed the WHO recommendations for quarantines and lockdowns to “flatten the curve” by restricting social contact which would spread the disease benefitted much from the “non-invasive” intervention of isolation and the wearing of protective masks. The best example of this successful strategy is China, whose autocratic leadership imposed its iron-fist total lockdown on Hubei province, where the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was first identified in the Wuhan marketplaces. That self-discipline is what brought China down very fast on the list of infected countries. Compare that with the observed initial resistance of the US (during the term of President Donald Trump) to quarantines and the wearing of protective masks: by the first half of the pandemic year, the US was at the top of the COVID-19 infection list, never yet to have “flattened the curve,” with now 29,208,543 confirmed cases (8% of 328.2 million population), 530,815 deaths, and infections within the last 24 hours at 49,651 new cases, according to the WHO. Two strong-man presidents, Chinese and American, with opposite strategies for the pandemic.

In the miserable one year of on-and-off lockdowns, countries struggled to balance urgent economic survival with the obviously more urgent health and physical survival of the people. And so, the vaccines meant to snuff out the fire of the virus had to be hastily delivered to the world by epidemiologists, even while these “emergency use” vaccines have yet to be fully tested and cleared in laboratories (that will take years more), as vaccines take time to develop (as long as seven years, medical experts say). Governments were ordering vaccines despite initial doubts on claimed efficacies by manufacturer-suppliers. A hysterical cry of “Take that jab!” has drowned the more passive “Flatten the curve.”

Even as vaccine manufacturers insist on governments providing indemnities to protect them, the vaccine manufacturers, from any present and future claims from those who may suffer adverse reactions from the “jab” (inoculation), governments must queue in humbling mendicancy for a quota to be allocated to those countries who ordered their vaccines earlier. And sustainable supply is not even guaranteed, in the mad rush of urgent humongous demand.

Yet the proportion of the population that must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to begin inducing herd immunity is not even known, according to the WHO. Herd immunity against measles requires about 95% of a population to be vaccinated; the remaining 5% will be protected by the fact that measles will not spread among those who are vaccinated. For polio, the threshold is about 80%, the WHO explains. For COVID-19, the jabbing would be conditional and the threshold estimated. People will have to wear protective face masks for heaven knows how many more years to come, until it will have been determined by epidemiologists that herd immunity for the world has been safely established. Maybe in five to seven years, they say.

Herd hysteria in the world seemed to have peaked as the first anniversary of COVID-19 came just this month, and still nothing was clear as to what can be hoped for and who can be trusted to guide and guard all towards some light at the end of the tunnel. The almost-unbelievable but almost-palpable 180-degrees about-turn of the world from distrusting and spurning the vaccine to now fighting to “get that jab” has reminded all of the basic praxis of survival versus theory and the mind — you gotta live with what you have. Or simply put, “You just have to live, period.”

Those deeply religious have sublimated their fears and doubts to faith and trust in God Almighty who absolutely loves and cares for His creation. In the end, Good will triumph, and peace and harmony will cover the universe. That is universal Truth. But the mystic rationale for living in spiritual peace might unintentionally lull to slothful complacency and numbness to the reality of the physical world where daily living with its individual motivations and objectives might not harmonize with the collective consciousness. “Life goes on” is a personal declaration.

Observing the enmity and evil still going on in various countries undeterred by the “slight” (probably in their eyes) inconvenience of the pandemic, it becomes evident to even the most hopeful and optimistic that “Life goes on” can be misinterpreted as license by some in our shared world for the end-justifying-the-means towards personal ambitions and continued pursuits of power and wealth. After all, the powerful and the rich are the least affected by the constraints and dangers of the pandemic, and their advantages before COVID-19 are even more enhanced by their possession and control of resources made even more scarce to the less privileged in the time of the pandemic.

The pandemic has renovated social and political norms and relationships by its virulent threat to basic survival. Autocracy has been needed even in consultative democracies to enforce control and administration of pandemic strategies, and in the first year of necessary strong-man rule that political leaders have assumed, habits and ways have changed and formed. Look at what happened in the struggling democracy of Myanmar, which suffered a brazen coup d’état of Feb. 1, led by commander-in-chief (since 2011) Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, a day before the winners of the November 2020 democratic elections — members of Myanmar’s ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) — were to be sworn in to the new government. President Win Myint was charged with breaching campaign guidelines (electoral fraud) and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was charged with breaching emergency COVID-19 laws under section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law, and charged with intent to incite public unrest. As of March 16, at least 184 people have been killed in subsequent protests against the coup and at least 1,700 have been arbitrarily detained. Three prominent NLD members also died while in police custody in March, according to Reuters and other news agencies.

The tug-of-war between the military and the civilian leaderships in Myanmar has been there since it declared independence from Britain in 1948. Through the ensuing turbulent years, the military assumed leadership of a caretaker government to resolve perennial political infighting. Despite several democratic elections, the military has stepped in when civilian rule was seen to be weak. What better time to take over, in the role of the needed controlling government, than in the siege of the COVID-19 pandemic?

But the democratic Myanmar elections and its reversal by a forceful coup d’état is balanced by the democratic US elections in the same fitful month of November 2020, when Americans spoke their minds about preferring a truly democratic leader with no autocratic tendencies, who would lead their country through the COVID-19 pandemic and on to economic health and survival in the world New Normal — at least for the next four years of the new US President Joe Biden. No strong-man needed.

Philippine national elections will be held in May 2022 — most probably still under the gray haze of COVID-19.

Get that jab (get vaccinated) and be healthy of body and mind to keep to moral choices in our fight to keep our rights and liberties in a truly free and happy life!

 

Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

ahcylagan@yahoo.com

The birth of an opposition coalition

I feel betrayed by the Liberal Party (LP). Don’t you? As the predominant opposition party, it is their duty to mitigate the policies, decisions, and actions of the executive branch and their allies in the legislature. But this has not been the case. Due to fear of persecution, fear of being investigated for past abuses, for turncoatism and downright spineless leadership, the LP have been rendered benign. The President and his allies have been allowed to carry out their agenda with practically no checks and balances and we have become a weaker nation for it.

Not only have the liberals become inconsequential, they have also allowed themselves to be abused by the dominant party. They are insulted, verbally attacked and vilified and it is only Vice-President Leni Robredo and Senator Frank Drilon who fight back. Under unremitting attacks, the Vice-President has displayed courage, focus, wit, and, above all, dignity. Mr. Drilon out-wits and out-smarts his detractors at every turn. As for the rest of the liberals, they cower in fear, afraid of meeting the same fate as Senator Leila de Lima. As an opposition party, the LP is a national shame. I have never seen an opposition party so weak.

The absence of a functioning opposition has led civil society to take things into their own hands. Last Thursday, a new political coalition called 1Sambayan was launched. I learned that the name is an amalgamation of three Filipino words — “isa” (one), “samba” (worship), and “bayan” (country), which, taken together, means a united country in prayer. The name is akin to a plea to God for a decent, competent leader.

1Sambayan is a coalition that unites all democratic forces spanning the extreme right (the Magdalo Party) to the extreme left (Bayan Muna Party) and all those in between. It counts among its members the Catholic church, Born Again groups, Muslim groups, the academe, the youth, the urban poor, medical frontliners, NGOs, women’s groups, and the LGBTQ+ sector, among others. 1Sambayan is the largest multi-sectoral coalition organized since the Laban movement of the 1980s. By default, it is now the dominant opposition group positioned to challenge the Duterte camp.

The personalities behind 1Sambayan are known oppositionists with stature. Its board of convenors consists of: former Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario, former Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, former Commission on Audit (CoA) Chief Heidi Mendoza, lawyer Howard Calleja, Philippine Navy Admiral Rommel Ong (ret), Father Albert Alejo, former Congressman Nery Colmenares, former Governor Lito Coscolluela, labor advocate Rene Magtubo, and Rickie Xavier.

Mr. Carpio delivered the keynote address and explained the group’s purpose. At the heart of the 1Sambayan initiative is to restore good governance in the land. To this end, the group will embark on a consultative selection process to form a complete slate of presidential, vice-presidential, and senate candidates — all of whom represent good governance, honesty, competence, adherence to the rule of law, and fear of the Almighty. A big factor too is the candidate’s position on China’s creeping invasion. He/she must maintain a strong position opposing China’s advancing territorial grab.

To win the 2022 elections, there has to be only one opposition. Unity is key to defeat the “forces of tyranny,” said the former Chief Justice. This is what 1Sambayan is positioned to be. Everyone is welcome to join the coalition, including those from traditional political parties.

1Sambayan unequivocally rejects authoritarianism, dictatorships, extra-judicial killings, and political revenge since all these will backfire in the long-run. As it stands, the Philippines has already plunged in nearly all development indices under President Duterte’s watch, be it in economic competitiveness, corruption perception, press freedom, soft power, innovation index, educational standards and even in anti-COVID-19 response. There is no substitute for good governance, Carpio stressed. It is the only way we can put the country back on the path of high growth, to restore economic competitiveness, inclusiveness, and national pride.

Unlike traditional political parties where the bigwigs of the group handpick candidates based on winnability, 1Sambayan is taking an inclusive approach. It will embark on an online survey to find out who the choices of the people are and why. This will be complemented by surveys, polls, and analytics. The next phase is the screening of candidates. Those short-listed will be evaluated according to their body of work, record of honesty, leadership, stands on certain issues, reform agenda, and political platform. Based on the information gathered, the Board of Convenors will form its ticket of candidates.

During the open forum, an audience member asked if they already had some candidates in mind. The Chief Justice was candid enough to name those they had already interviewed. Among them is the opposition figurehead, VP Robredo. They also admitted to speaking to Isko Moreno, Grace Poe, Sonny Trillanes, and Nancy Binay. The vetting of candidates is still in its initial stage and the board expects to speak to more aspirants as we approach the official filing of candidacy in October.

As for the billions of pesos required to wage a decent campaign, 1Sambayan expressed confidence that the funding will come so long as a viable set of candidates are presented. Yes, 1Sambayan will take responsibility over fund-raising and forming a political machine to organize grassroots sorties and guard against electoral fraud. There is a clamor for change, said Mr. Carpio, and history shows that big business and private citizens can be counted to donate financial resources and time to ensure the victory of the good, the competent and the honest. To this, former CoA Chief Heidi Mendoza chimed-in to say that every centavo will be accounted for and transparency in spending will be assured.

Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales delivered a spirited speech that brought to light the worsening corruption in the country. She lamented how certain political “pets” have used the pandemic as an opportunity for self promotion and how Malacañang indulged in political revenge during a national crisis. She protested the bigotry against women and the LGBTQ+ community. She further said that all those who committed crimes in this administration will be made accountable according to the law, but all are assured of due process.

Poet and priest Albert Alejo, SJ, delivered a moving sonnet. He bellowed at how cussing invectives, cursing, and threats of murder are applauded by many. He wailed at how President Duterte ceded swaths of our territory in the West Philippine Sea to China, including Scarborough shoal, without much of a fight. He cried at how the nation’s Chief Executive has an unexplainable devotion to China, sometimes even at our own country’s expense.

The inaugural ceremony ended with much optimism and surge in patriotic sentiments.

Indeed, we are at a critical point in our country’s development. On the shoulders of the next President will be the task of rebuilding the economy following the blowback of the pandemic; solving unemployment which now stands at 17% of the workforce; solving poverty which is at an alarming 25% of the population; uplifting our decaying educational system whose standards have plummeted to be the second lowest in the world; solving malnutrition and healthcare; preparing our industries for the 4th industrial or digital revolution, among many more.

In all honesty, I cannot say that the present leadership nor its alter-egos are up for the job. Numbers don’t lie and, as mentioned earlier, we already dropped in most development indices under President Duterte’s watch. We need change.

Until last Thursday, I was worried that we did not have a credible opposition to challenge the incumbent. Now, there is hope that a viable candidate can emerge and will be backed by a coalition with gravitas.

 

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist

andrew_rs6@yahoo.com

Twitter @aj_masigan

China, US set to work on climate

BEIJING — China and the United States will set up a joint working group on climate change, China’s official Xinhua news agency said, in a potentially positive takeaway from what was an unusually rancorous high-level meeting.

The top Chinese and US diplomats, in their first meeting of Joseph R. Biden’s presidency on Thursday and Friday, publicly rebuked each other’s policies at the start of what Washington called “tough and direct” talks in Alaska.

But the Chinese delegation said after the meeting the two sides were “committed to enhancing communication and cooperation in the field of climate change,” Xinhua said on Saturday.

They would also hold talks to facilitate the activities of diplomats and consular missions, “as well as on issues related to media reporters in the spirit of reciprocity and mutual benefit,” the report said.

The US Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Sunday.

Last year, as tensions between Beijing and Washington worsened dramatically, the two countries expelled journalists and the United States shut China’s consulate in Houston, prompting China to shut the US consulate in Chengdu.

The talks in Anchorage, headed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, had a fiery kickoff, in front of TV cameras, and had appeared to yield no diplomatic breakthroughs.

But the Chinese delegation said “both sides share the hope of continuing such type of high-level strategic communication,” Xinhua reported.

“The two sides also agreed that they … will maintain dialogue and communication, conduct mutually beneficial cooperation, avoid misunderstanding and misjudgment, as well as conflict and confrontation, so as to promote sound and steady development of China-US relations.”

China and the United States also discussed adjusting travel and visa policies according to the coronavirus pandemic situation, “and gradually promoting the normalization of personnel exchanges between China and the United States,” the report said.

After the meetings, Mr. Yang told China’s CGTN television that the discussions had been constructive and beneficial, “but of course, there are still differences.” — Reuters

Billionaire scores 3,000% gain through e-vehicle SPAC

DENIS SVERDLOV, a former Russian deputy minister, was already a wealthy man from a telecom startup when he turned his attention to electric vehicles and founded Arrival Ltd. in 2015.

Four years later, he’d injected about $450 million in the truck and bus maker through an investment firm. Then in November, he merged it with CIIG Merger Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. — or SPAC -— led by Peter Cuneo, the former chief executive officer of Marvel Entertainment.

Arrival, which has yet to begin full production, is now worth $15.3 billion, more than double its valuation at the start of last year. Mr. Sverdlov, 42, who’ll control most of the London-based company’s stock once the deal is completed, will soon have a net worth of $11.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

An Arrival spokesperson declined to comment on Mr. Sverdlov’s wealth. CIIG shareholders voted Friday to approve the merger.

SPACs — listed cash-shell companies that merge with private businesses in order to take them public — have raked in about $85 billion this year. Athletes and entertainers like Alex Rodriguez, Shaquille O’Neal and Sammy Hagar have started blank-check firms, along with a host of the ultra-rich, including hedge fund manager William Ackman and former Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. President Gary Cohn.

Arrival isn’t the only firm seeing huge gains from SPACs. Air taxi start up Archer Aviation’s valuation rocketed from $16 million in April 2020 to $3.8 billion through a merger announced last month with a blank-check firm. The implied valuation of electric-vehicle maker Lucid Motors, Inc., which recently agreed to combine with a SPAC led by ex-Citigroup, Inc. banker Michael Klein, exceeded $55 billion after the deal was announced, more than Ford Motor Co.’s market value.

“SPACs are a bonanza for those arranging them,” said Keith Johnston, chief executive officer of SFO Alliance, a London-based investment club for single-family offices.

US listings have dominated the SPAC boom, but Europe’s stock exchanges are now playing catch up. The phenomenon, though, is starting to show cracks. The IPOX SPAC Index — which tracks the performance of a broad group of blank-check companies — has fallen almost 20% from a February high. Many see the proliferation of such firms as an outgrowth of central banks flooding economies with new money during the pandemic.

Some recent SPAC mergers have met a tepid response from investors. Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. and Motion Acquisition Corp. were both trading below the traditional SPAC IPO (initial public offering) price of $10 after announcing mergers last week.

Arrival’s valuation stems partly from the giddy assessments of electric-vehicle makers in the past year, though rising bond yields in recent weeks have weighed on the industry.

CIIG shares have fallen by more than a fifth since hitting a record high in December. Until the firms’ announced merger, Mr. Sverdlov had mostly funded the venture himself.

Arrival, which plans to begin testing some of its vehicles on public roads this year, has said it can avoid the financial pitfalls that most vehicle makers encounter by building tiny factories that cost a fraction of those constructed by large, commercial car makers. The start up intends to have 31 plants by 2024, and hopes to begin generating a profit even earlier.

“There are more than 560 cities in the world which have a population of over 1 million people, and each of these cities could have a microfactory producing 10,000 vehicles specifically tailored for the needs of that market,” Mr. Sverdlov said recently. “This model can be as scalable as McDonald’s or Starbucks.” — Bloomberg

Holidays abroad this summer unlikely for most Britons, scientist warns

LONDON — Holidays abroad are “extremely unlikely” for most Britons this summer due to the risk of importing new variants of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a scientist who advises the government said on Saturday, leaving airlines and travel companies bracing for a second lost peak season.

Britain has banned travel for most people during the current lockdown and has said overseas holidays will not be allowed until May 17 at the earliest.

But Mike Tildesley, a scientist on a government advisory body, said the risk of importing vaccine-resistant variants back into the UK would likely scupper the nation’s annual getaway.

“I think international travel this summer is, for the average holidaymaker, sadly I think, extremely unlikely,” Mr. Tildesley, a professor of infectious disease modeling at the University of Warwick, told BBC Radio on Saturday.

There are growing concerns about a new wave of infections across Europe, with rising cases in countries like Germany, France and Italy potentially deterring the UK from re-opening travel routes in May.

Asked about international travel, health minister Matt Hancock said on Saturday that the government would say more on Apr. 12, when it is due to present the details of how and when travel can take place.

“We’ll look at the rates both here and abroad and the impact of new variants to understand whether its safe to make that move,” he told Sky News.

Any ban on travel beyond May 17 would be a further blow for the aviation industry’s recovery prospects.

Airlines and holiday companies such as British Airways (part of International Consolidated Airlines), easyJet and TUI are desperate for travel to resume after a year of COVID-19 restrictions.

Mr. Tildesley is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group which reports into the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

“We are running a real risk if we do start to have lots of people going overseas…because of the potential for bringing more of these new variants back into the country,” Mr. Tildesley said. — Reuters

Victorious debut for Team Lakay’s Olsim at ONE in Singapore

TEAM Lakay women’s strawweight fighter Jenelyn Olsim made it a rousing main roster debut in ONE Championship, fashioning out an impressive third-round submission victory at “ONE: Fists of Fury III” on Friday in Singapore.

Fighting for the first time after over a year, Ms. Olsim, 23, a product of the ONE Warrior Series, hardly showed rust as she dominated number five-ranked contender in the division Maira Mazar of Brazil throughout the contest en route to submitting the latter by way of a power guillotine.

Ms. Olsim paraded her patented Team Lakay wushu skills in the early goings of the fight, keeping Ms. Mazar at range with her crisp striking combinations.

The Brazilian tried to shorten the distance and grapple, but the Filipino defended well against her opponent’s moves.

In the third and final round, Ms. Olsim secured a power guillotine against the Circle Wall, pulling guard to force Ms. Mazar to tap.

The win took Ms. Olsim’s record to 4-2 while sending Ms. Mazar (7-4) to her fourth career defeat.

The victory also got the Team Lakay fighter back on the winning track after a defeat in her last fight.

Ms. Olsim now hopes to build on the momentum she got from the win as she positions herself as another contender for the hardware currently held by “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan of China.

Also winning at Fists of Fury III were Regian “The Immortal” Eersel of Suriname and Janet “J.T.” Todd of the United States.

Mr. Eersel successfully defended the ONE lightweight kickboxing world championship by unanimous decision over challenger Mustapha “Dynamite” Haida of Italy while Ms. Todd was also a unanimous winner over Australian Alma Juniku in their atomweight muay thai encounter.

Next for ONE Championship is “ONE on TNT I” on April 8, which will be headlined by the mixed martial arts flyweight world championship clash between champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes of Brazil and challenger Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson of the United States.

TEAM LAKAY FIGHTERS IN APRIL FIGHTS
Meanwhile, Team Lakay’s Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang and Eduard “Landslide” Folayang are set for ONE action in April.

Mr. Adiwang (12-3) will face American sensation Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks on April 15 at “ONE on TNT II” while Mr. Folayang, a former two-time lightweight champion, will take on Japanese Yoshihiro Akiyama on April 29 at “ONE on TNT IV.” — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

PSC national summit tackles sports and coronavirus

THE pressing concern involving the coronavirus will be the focus of the eighth session of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) online national summit on Thursday, March 25.

International orthopedist and sports medicine Dr. Randolph Molo will lead the lecture-forum centering on how stakeholders can operate in a safe environment amid prevailing conditions brought about by the pandemic.

Dr. Molo, the current head of the PSC’s Medical Scientific Athletes Services Unit and an International Football Medicine and Doping Panel member of the FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has overseen many programs, including current training “bubbles” of some national athletes.

He is to share valuable lessons and guides on how one can function and do sports despite the challenging times. The topic on sports and the coronavirus will be the latest featured in the three-phased national sports summit since it started in January.

Originally scheduled last year, the 2021 PSC national sports summit has been readjusted.

It aims to take insights of different sports stakeholders and use them as foundations in crafting a sustainable and workable short to long-term plan for Philippine sports.

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

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