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Measure regulating loan rates to go before House committee this week

THE House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries will discuss a bill this week that proposes amendments to the Usury Law that will cap interest rates for credit cards and otherwise set a prescribed range of fixed rates for various forms of lending.

The Committee Chairman, Quirino Province Representative Junie E. Cua, said the measure will set rates by law. Rates are currently only regulated by memorandum orders of the central bank and Supreme Court decisions.

“The idea is to set a cap on interest especially on credit cards. It will also apply to all lending services,” he said in an interview with BusinessWorld on Sunday.

Bataan Rep. Geraldine B. Roman filed House Bill (HB) 7967 on Nov. 6 as proposed amendments to the Usury Law.

HB 7967 sets the maximum interest rate for credit card charges and other cash advance arrangements at 12% annually, or any such rate prescribed by the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, subject to some constraints.

The limitation on the Monetary Board-set rate on loan, forbearance agreements, and credit card charges is “not more than the three percentage points higher than the rate of 91-day treasury bills in the quarter preceding the monetary board’s imposition of the said maximum rate.”

The Monetary Board is also authorized to prescribe maximum rates for the various types of borrowing, subject to the limits described above.

Ms. Roman in the bill’s explanatory note said the proposed amendments will “benefit individual borrowers who are especially vulnerable to the economic impact of the pandemic.”

Mr. Cua said there will be a hearing on the matter Friday, and invited the financial industry to make known their positions.

“I don’t want to pre-empt the stakeholders who have yet to submit their positions… Consumers want something fixed while these businesses want something flexible,” he added. — Gillian M. Cortez

DENR shutters Pangasinan sanitary landfill

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has closed an 18,000-square meter sanitary landfill in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan on Friday, after the facility failed to address its violations within the deadline set for it.

In a statement issued over the weekend, the DENR said that its Region 1 Director Maria Dorica Naz-Hipe and local environment officials served the cease-and-desist order (CDO) on the sanitary landfill in Barangay Catablan.

In January, the Urdaneta landfill received two CDOs for violating the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and the Philippine Clean Water Act. The landfill had until February to improve its facilities by “adding a water treatment facility, siphoning garbage seepage and identifying a new ideal cell, among others,” DENR Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda said.

At a follow-up inspection on March 1, the DENR found out that the facility was still not in compliance. “There was no action taken by the local government unit. (Mr.) Antiporda said that the engineered sanitary landfill was given a grace period to correct the necessary violations, but they were not able to do so,” the department said in a statement.

Mr. Antiporda said that although sanitary landfills were “better alternatives to open dumpsites,” this alone did not immediately guarantee a permit to operate.

“With the marching orders of DENR Secretary (Roy A.) Cimatu to close all dumpsites by end of March, the demand for SLFs increased significantly in several areas across the country… We want to send a strong message to all those who take the reminders for granted,” he was quoted as saying.

Open dumps are sites where solid waste is deposited without planning and consideration for the environment and health standards. They are illegal to establish or operate. At present, there are some 169 open dumps that are still operating nationwide. A sanitary landfill is a waste disposal site where possible significant environmental impacts are controlled, according to the environment depart ment. — Angelica Y. Yang

GOCC subsidies top P230 billion in 2020, up more than 14%

SUBSIDIES PROVIDED to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) rose 14.34% in 2020 to P230.418 billion, with close to half going to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Social Security System (SSS), which implemented a wage subsidy program designed to keep workers employed during the pandemic.

The subsidy totals were released by the Bureau of the Treasury over the weekend.

The overall subsidies exceeded the reduced P191-billion budget for the year by 53%.

In December, subsidies rose 68% to P42.561 billion.

Some P113 billion went to PhilHealth and the SSS, with the former receiving support for its increased coverage for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and the pension fund implementing the wage subsidy program.

Subsidies to PhilHealth amounted to P62.397 billion, down 14% from a year earlier.

The SSS received P51 billion in budgetary support last year, as opposed to zero subsidies a year earlier.

The ramped up support for the state pension fund more than offset the reduced funding for GOCC subsidies last year, when the government diverted funding to support the pandemic containment effort.

The government subsidizes state-run firms to cover operational expenses not supported by their revenue.

The National Irrigation Administration received subsidies worth P33.677 billion, down 8%.

The Land Bank of the Philippines received P23.3 billion, down 24%.

Subsidies to the National Housing Authority rose 31% to P18.14 billion, while support given to the National Food Authority rose 50% to P10.522 billion.

Subsidies to the National Electrification Administration totaled P6.3 billion (up 29%), Light Rail Transit Administration P3.5 billion (down 5%) and Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. P3.164 billion (down 20%).

GOCCs receiving at least P1 billion in subsidies last year were the Bases Conversion Development Authority, National Power Corp., Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine National Railways and People’s Television Network, Inc.

The five state-owned firms at the bottom of the subsidy table were the Philippine Ports Authority (P3 million), Philippine Tax Academy (P18 million), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (P31 million), Philippine Center for Economic Development (P34 million), and Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (P42 million).

This year, the government budgeted P148.188 billion for GOCC subsidies, down 22%. — Beatrice M. Laforga

ADB sets $80-billion climate financing target

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Friday that it has set a target of $80 billion worth of climate financing by 2030.

The ADB is committed to helping its member countries access clean and reliable energy, ADB Chief of the Energy Sector Group Yongping Zhai said.

“Our target is to reach $80 billion in climate financing for 2019-2030. From 2009 to 2019, our clean energy financing totaled $23 billion,” Mr. Zhai told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview Friday.

On its website, the bank committed to ensure that at least 75% of its projects will address climate change mitigation and adaptation by 2030.

The ADB said 86% of projects it funded last year are expected to contribute to mitigating climate change.

On Wednesday, a newly-formed international coalition of civil society organizations and people’s movements called on the ADB to end the funding and support for gas, coal and oil. The “Fossil Free ADB Coalition” claims that the bank has “spent around $10 billion on fossil fuel projects since 2009.”

“The ADB’s continued support for fossil fuels undermines its mission to achieve a ‘prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and resilient’ Asia and the Pacific and undercuts its commitment to climate action,” the Fossil Free ADB Coalition said in a statement.

ADB has said that it is in the process of revising its 2009 energy policy, which will guide its investment decisions until 2030.

On Friday, ADB’s Mr. Zhai said that the bank has conducted three rounds of consultations with non-governmental organizations on its updated energy policy, and will continue to consult with stakeholders.

“The new policy will reflect the global commitments on climate and sustainable development and will support our Asian developing members in their low-carbon transitions,” he said. — Angelica Y. Yang

A better working world where #SheBelongs

Today, as we celebrate International Women’s Day, we continue to recognize that women’s advancement is an economic imperative for increased prosperity, stronger communities and a key factor in building a better working world. Women all over the globe continue to demonstrate their crucial role in keeping the wheels of society turning, as well as breaking down traditional gender stereotypes.

SGV & Co., as a member firm of EY Global, will be initiating a series of activation campaigns and communications that focus on women empowerment and appreciation in line with an EY global campaign that rallies the advancement of women in the workplace. We wholeheartedly support EY’s timely message that gender equality is not a problem that needs to be solved, but a solution to the most complex challenges faced by businesses and society. The key campaign narrative articulates the vital importance of making sure that #SheBelongs across all levels of an organization and is closely involved in decisions, design and execution of value-creation operations.

In line with our long-standing value of meritocracy, SGV has always recognized the importance of advancing women and institutionalizing gender equality in the workplace. Not only is this part of our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda, but it is also in alignment with our purpose of inclusively nurturing leaders, regardless of gender. Moreover, it is an integral element of our focus on sustainable development, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, REGARDLESS OF GENDER
This parity-based culture has been embedded in the firm since its earliest years. SGV was one of the earliest Philippine companies to admit a woman into the partnership, Linda Villanueva, in 1961 and one of the first to elect a woman chair and managing partner, Gloria Tan-Climaco, in 1992.

As of the beginning of FY 2020, women comprised 60% of our people, exhibiting a strong gender diversity across the talent pipeline. It is proof that SGV provides the necessary policies and support to foster a secure working environment where women can thrive as they pursue their careers. As of Jan. 1, 2021, the gender statistics within the firm saw women comprising 47% of the leadership and 49% of the partnership. Our dynamic female partners rose through the ranks on their own merit and deliver valuable contributions to the firm. They possess a deep understanding of the career journey for women in SGV and are in the position to mentor more future women leaders in the organization.

As proof of its commitment to close the corporate gender gap and promote diversity and inclusiveness (D&I) in the workplace, SGV was the first EY member firm and the first professional services firm in Southeast Asia to obtain the Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE) Assess-level certification through the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE) in 2018. EDGE is the leading global assessment methodology and business certification standard for gender equality. It measures where organizations stand in terms of gender balance across their pipeline, pay equity, effectiveness of policies and practices to ensure equitable career flows, as well as inclusiveness in their culture.

ADVANCING WOMEN BEYOND THE FIRM
SGV is also an active supporter of various organizations that focus on advancing D&I and gender equality.

The firm celebrates women in its programs, such as when Socorro Ramos, the founder and general manager of National Bookstore became the first woman to win the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines (EOYP) in 2004. She was followed by Natividad Cheng, chairperson and CEO of Multiflex RNC Philippines, Inc. (Uratex), who won Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines in 2017. The EOYP program also dedicates a category to recognizing outstanding woman entrepreneurs.

In addition, EY has the Entrepreneurial Winning Women (EWW) program, which identifies ambitious women entrepreneurs from around the world whose businesses show potential to scale. This customized executive leadership program provides them with the resources they need to achieve their full potential. This includes an elite global network of high-growth companies led by women, where participants can expand their knowledge with the latest executive dialogues and research about business practices and strategies.

SGV Senior Adviser, Ambassador Delia D. Albert, is also an exemplary woman leader, with a career that includes being the first female diplomat to serve as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines and the ASEAN region. Spurred by her concern for the welfare of the thousands of overseas Filipino women workers, she initiated a resolution to promote and protect these women’s rights at the Geneva Commission on Human Rights in 2004.

SGV & Co. is also a founding member of the PBCWE, which was launched in 2017 through a partnership between the Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PhilWEN) and Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian government. The coalition is made up of influential businesses that are large employers who will take appropriate steps to improve gender equality in their own workplaces and influence other businesses to become better employers of women. SGV alumna-partner Ma. Aurora D. Geotina-Garcia is the chair of PhilWEN and co-chair of PBCWE.

ENSURING THAT #SHEBELONGS
Celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women around the world allows us to drive discussion around initiatives that accelerate gender equality and promote inclusion. We cannot wait for years to close the economic gender gap, and every small action taken now can make a difference towards positive and meaningful change.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional advice where the facts and circumstances warrant. The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of SGV, the global EY organization or its member firms.

 

Maria Vivian C. Ruiz is the Vice Chair and Deputy Managing Partner of SGV & Co.

The risk of regression

A reality I have come to accept is the painfully slow pace at which social change usually takes place — and the backslides and regressions that often occur after a seemingly game-changing reform or breakthrough.

Take, for example, the inadequacy and unevenness of our progress in terms of gender equality and women’s rights. In high school, when I first wrote a paper about rape culture for English class, I couldn’t wrap my head around the mentality of people who blamed women for their own sexual assault. I was baffled as to why it had taken so long for people to challenge this outdated, illogical way of thinking.

But eight years after I first researched for that paper, even as the Philippines is labeled as a progressive country for women, rape culture persists. When the general public’s immediate reaction to an alleged rape-slay earlier this year was to blame the victim for drinking with men, it was made clear that we still have not done enough to eradicate rape culture and misogyny.

For as long as people justify rape and refuse to hold perpetrators accountable, the Philippines is not a safe place for women; nor are we a beacon of gender equality.

In 2020, the Philippines ranked 16th on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. This means we’ve been doing well in closing the gender gap when it comes to economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Although the proportion of female representation in the Cabinet and Congress fell between 2017 and 2019, we were still the only country in Asia to be included in the top 20 of the gender gap index. But despite the apparent parity, Filipino women still lack the opportunities and choices needed to live empowered and meaningful lives. Progress has been slow and immensely uneven.

Women and girls’ pre-existing vulnerabilities are amplified these days, due to the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Studies show that there is a significant risk of the pandemic slowing and even reversing the progress of women and girls around the world.

A 2020 study by Plan International shows that COVID-19 exacerbates inequality and poverty for low-income Filipino girls and young women. COVID-19 brings about many issues — the inability to continue their education, food insecurity, income loss, and greater tensions at home which could lead to more gender-based violence.

Even before the pandemic, reproductive health care was inaccessible for many Filipino women. The Reproductive Health Law has yet to be fully and properly implemented in the entire country, and its gaps hinder poor, young, and disadvantaged women from accessing contraceptives.

COVID-19 and its effects on our healthcare system make it even more difficult for women to access family planning, maternal health and newborn health services. As a result of this, unintended pregnancies in 2020 may reach 2.56 million, according to the United Nations Population Fund. The Commission on Population and Development reported that young adolescent pregnancies are at an all-time high — in 2019, at least 2,411 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth, a threefold increase from the previous year. A total of 62,510 Filipino adolescents became young mothers in 2019. This is estimated to rise even more in 2020, due to the pandemic.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day today, we need to acknowledge the ways in which women at the margins are put at an even greater disadvantage during this pandemic and recession. Particularly concerning is the rise of teenage pregnancies. If we want to avoid the reversal of the gains we’ve achieved in the past years, women’s issues need to be put at the forefront of our efforts to recover from the pandemic.

Gender parity and representation in politics are clearly not enough for us to claim victory. There’s so much to be done — we need to dismantle harmful cultural mindsets and remove barriers to basic services so that more Filipino women are given full autonomy on their bodies and their lives. We have a long, long way to go.

 

Pia Rodrigo is the youngest member of the policy advocacy team of Action for Economic Reforms. She is a political science graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, with interests in women’s health and development.

Who gets vaccinated first and how?

By piecing together, the various messages of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), the Office of the President, and vaccination czar Carlito Galvez, Jr., I have come to understand that the goal of the National Vaccination Program is to vaccinate between 50 to 70 million Filipinos within the year or the equivalent of 60% of the population. This will be enough to achieve herd immunity. Government has arranged to import 140 million vaccines from seven suppliers: Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Novavax, Sinovac, Gamaleya and Johnson & Johnson. Each person requires two jabs so this inventory is sufficient for only 70 million Filipinos.

We expected 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines to arrive last month under the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program. This should have kicked off the government’s vaccination effort. Unfortunately, the shipment was put on hold due to the government’s failure to pass legislation indemnifying Pfizer against lawsuits. We were also expecting 526,000 jabs from AstraZeneca. This too did not arrive due to shortages in supply. Instead, what we received was 600,000 jabs of Sinovac followed by the 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca from the COVAX program.

For those unaware, the COVAX program is a global initiative of UNICEF aimed to grant equitable access of vaccines to less affluent countries.

Although the vaccines are arriving in trickles these days, the government expects an acceleration of arrivals in the second and third quarters of the year. Fifteen million doses of assorted vaccine brands on top of 9.2 million AstraZeneca serums from COVAX are due to hit Philippine shores in the second quarter. The vaccine roll-out will go on full throttle by the third quarter as 30 to 50 million doses from the seven manufacturers arrive.

Those eligible for the government’s vaccination program fall into four clusters. The first consists of healthcare workers directly engaged in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The second cluster consists of senior citizens, indigents, and members of the Armed Forces, the National Police, and the Bureau of Fire Protection. The third cluster includes teachers, social workers, government workers, essential workers from the agriculture, tourism, transport, and food manufacturing sectors, people with disabilities, people living in dense areas and overseas Filipino workers. The fourth cluster includes all those not part of the three priority groups.

It is not clear if the government’s vaccination program will be free for all. Although the Department of Health website says it is free for “priority groups,” it does not specify which among the many groups will be exempt from payment. It does say this: “the government is continuing negotiations to ensure adequate vaccine supply for all Filipinos, including those not in the priority groups.” I take this to mean that all medical frontliners, government employees, indigents, and people with disabilities will get their vaccination free of charge. The rest of us will have to pay unless the government has surplus stocks or a sponsor emerges.

Healthy non-senior citizens who work in the private sector and children are the last in the pecking order. They will continue to be exposed to the virus until the fourth quarter of the year, at the earliest.

There are two other ways healthy non-senior citizens and children can get inoculated sooner. The first is through the city in which they have residency. Some cities like Manila, Quezon City, Iloilo, and Davao are importing their own vaccines and will be administering them to their constituencies. Although they too have an order of priority, there is a good chance that there will be enough serum to inoculate all registered residents.

The second way is through one’s employer. Certain entities, like the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) Foundation, have been given permission by the government to import vaccines. The ICTSI Foundation, in particular, intends to import 20 million Moderna vaccines, 13 million of which will be “donated” to the state, while 7 million will be appropriated to institutional buying groups at (supposedly) no profit.

So far, 287 private corporations and organizations have made advanced reservations, mostly consisting of the country’s top conglomerates. Another 480 small and medium scale enterprises have also confirmed their orders.

A total of 3.5 million vaccines are already spoken for as of the end of February.

The cost of the vaccines vary according to the date of delivery. If one places an order for delivery in the second quarter, the jabs will cost $42 per dose. Deliveries for the second and third quarters cost $28 and $24 per dose, respectively. Payments must be made in US dollars and in advance. The ICTSI Foundation offers no guarantee as to how many vaccines will arrive per quarter since this depends on Moderna’s production.

However, whatever stocks that arrive will be distributed on a prorated basis so as to be fair to all.

VAT (value-added tax) and import tariffs do not apply as vaccine importations are tax exempt. However, all orders are subject to a $1.04 domestic storage and logistics cost by Zuellig Pharma, the logistics partner of ICTSI Foundation.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has been appointed the consolidator of pre-orders. Hence, those interested in reserving their share of jabs can contact MAP directly. Bear in mind that vaccines orders must be made in lots of 100 doses. Should problems arise and a buyer refunds his prepayment, the buyer can only get 70% of what was originally paid.

Apart from the ICTSI Foundation, the Ayala Group has also been given permission to import vaccines. However, the Ayala Group’s serums are reserved exclusively for Ayala’s ecosystem.

GoNogosyo is also in the process of importing vaccines to be appropriated to buyers, particularly from the SME sector.

Those included in the government’s priority list and the lucky few who can get inoculated through their cities and employers will be the first to have protection against the COVID-19 virus. The rest of us will just have to wait.

 

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist

andrew_rs6@yahoo.com

Twitter @aj_masigan

It’s time to get serious about gender equality in the workplace 

IT’S NOW more than 100 years since the International Labor Organization (ILO) first established standards on women in the workplace, focusing on maternity protection.

A century on, much has changed, and we can all point to women who are successfully making a living, carving out careers, doing well in business and taking up leadership positions.

International Women’s Day should be the perfect occasion to celebrate this success and to look forward to a bright and prosperous future for all women who wish to work.

Unfortunately the reality for so many women is different.

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is partly to blame, amplifying pre-existing inequalities and often having a disproportionate impact on women’s employment. Women are also more at risk of being pushed out of jobs into the more precarious informal sector or work that matches neither their skills nor aspirations.

However, if we are to be honest, even before the pandemic hit, the situation was less than rosy.

Just over a year ago, before most of us had even heard of COVID-19, ILO’s flagship report “A Quantum Leap for gender equality for the future of work” highlighted how progress in closing gender gaps had stalled, and in some cases reversed.

There are numerous factors preventing women from entering, remaining, and progressing in the labor force. Top amongst them is unpaid care work, the burden of which still rests disproportionately on the shoulders of women worldwide. For all the efforts to advance gender equality, between 1997 to 2012 the amount of unpaid care work carried out by women fell by just 15 minutes a day while men did eight minutes a day more. At this rate it will take over 200 years for the gap to close and certainly far longer when the impacts of COVID-19 are taken into account.   

Women continue to occupy fewer jobs and sectors than men. Those working in the same occupation as men are still systematically paid less (approximately 20% less worldwide). Globally, according to ILO data, fewer than one third of managers are women, a situation that has changed very little in the last 30 years, although they are likely to be better educated than their male counterparts. And if this isn’t bad enough, women with children are further penalized with regards to employment, pay, and leadership opportunities. These penalties are carried throughout a woman’s life cycle, often contributing to poverty during elder years, due to a lack of pensions and social safety nets.

Violence and harassment are unacceptable and continue to have a detrimental impact on women’s participation in employment and their ability to reach their potential. It remains a depressingly widespread phenomenon, irrespective of country, position, or sector, often extending beyond physical spaces into the digital world.

Although the challenges are considerable, the good news is, we know what needs to be done.

Gender equality in the world of work requires a “quantum leap” and not tentative, incremental steps. If we are to reap the social and economic benefits this will bring, then conscious, proactive, and concerted efforts are needed. We must all play our part. That means governments, workers’ and employers’, women’s organizations, schools and academia, other key partners, you and me.

Following are four key areas to make transformative change for women in the world of work.

First, we must seek to tackle the huge disparity between women’s and men’s unpaid care responsibilities. Men need to do more and would benefit from a better work-life balance. Increased support and investment at workplace level are also vital, through policies that allow a more flexible approach to working hours and careers, as well as pathways to manage care responsibilities and return to the workforce after care-giving absences, without unfair penalties.

Second, governments need to adopt — or in some cases make sweeping changes to — legislation and policies that enhance women’s access to the labor market as well as higher skilled and better paid jobs and opportunities. This includes investing in publicly funded, accessible, professional care services. Many countries have legislation in place but implementation is weak, so allocating resources, increasing capacity, and holding duty bearers accountable can go a long way.

Third, gender-based violence and harassment, including sexual harassment is unacceptable and must be addressed. ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention provides a clear framework and practical actions in this regard since it was shaped by the world of work institutions. Ratification and implementation of the Violence and Harassment Convention should be at the top of the agenda for every country in the region — following the lead of Fiji, which ratified it in June 2020.

Lastly, steps are needed at every level to support women’s voice, representation, and leadership. Discrimination in hiring and promotion must be removed and affirmative action considered to close stubborn gender gaps once and for all. We must also reach out to women everywhere, including those with compounding identities who often face marginalization, such as migrant workers, members of the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people) community, ethnic minority and indigenous women as well as women with disabilities.

The opportunity loss of failing to tackle gender equality at work is enormous. Despite the cloud cast by COVID-19, there is no time to waste. Now is the time for commitment to be shown and courageous choices to be made. Together we can narrow inequalities and break down barriers. By doing so, women everywhere can realize their full potential in a world of work where no one is left behind.

 

Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa is the ILO’s Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.

The work from home revolution

He is the regional head of a communications company, now working from home since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic quarantine started. She is a Trust and Investment Officer in a commercial bank that has reduced and re-distributed staff to fewer branches; her work is now done from home. A CEO of two call centers works from home now, directing and monitoring her team leaders online. A solo-practice lawyer also works from home, giving virtual (online) consultations for virtual fees (effectively free!) that would have been materially receivable under a proper engagement contract. By the way, the lawyer also teaches online at three law schools.

There oughta be a law, the non-lawyers cry! We are overworked and under-compensated in this work from home mode, where 24/7 we are now on call, day or night, by and for the office. We feel exploited! The physical and mental wear and tear cancel out the supposed advantages of working at home: not spending hours in traffic, commuting to and from work; flexibility in doing your assignment or responsibility when and how, as long as you deliver expected output from you; being with family the whole day instead of barely five waking hours (when home early from work); saving money on executive raiment and accoutrements, expensive after office hours recreation and fellowship with officemates.

We don’t need new laws for our new workplace and work mode, the lawyer says. At the executive level, compensation is output-determined from brainwork (planning, organizing, leading and executing) more than technical skills and physical labor. Work hours of executives are not specified as are the eight hours per day like for rank-and-file (or 12 hours for some service work). There is no contractual security of tenure in employment of officer-level employees, as retention and promotion are qualitatively measured in terms of the trust and confidence of the company board in those in the higher levels of authority and responsibility in the organization.

Labor and employment laws and regulations as these affect employer-employee relationships and company policies and operations might have to evolve for the work-from-home rank-and-file employees. But there would be tedious disambiguation in the laws for these work-at-home rank-and-file employees and those rank-and-file employees in the same company who physically report to office premises. Working remotely works for the IT and services sectors, and not for production/operations workers in a company.

Employers would be most concerned about security control with the highly intelligent and technologically savvy, higher-paid remote employees. The ready answer of the techies would be that a log-in/log out on the computer by the online work-from-home employee would take care of administrative monitoring of hours spent, and the output of assigned work and responsibility will be the basis for quantity and quality of work done, as measured and recorded on the computer. Security measures embedded in the exclusive technical design of the company online system will safeguard against tampering with inputs and the data file by the remote employee.

Unauthorized access to layered information will trigger alarms in a well-designed and secured company IT system. Encryption software and remote-wipe apps on devices provided by the company are available, or outsourced virtual private networks can also encrypt data and provide secure access to a remote computer over the internet. These would keep files and data secure yet accessible to work-at-home staff. Employers of work-at-home staff have little to worry about information security risk, in this digital age, experts assure us.

Employers could be enjoying more advantages than their remote staff on the work from home modality urged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Except for the nagging fear of loose control over work-from-home workers, employers have enjoyed the leniency on their doing business while respecting general health restrictions. Calling on force majeure, businesses downsized operations and reduced staff — some even totally closed shop temporarily and some permanently, to cut losses. Even after the heightened restrictions of the Expanded Community Quarantine (ECQ) were downgraded midyear last year to General Community Quarantine (GCQ), businesses continued with their limited operations and staggered staff who were asked to come in only five days a week, every other week, as an example. A restaurant manager was asked how his compensation was affected by this. “No work, no pay” was his tearful answer. He was suffering a 50% pay cut. No choice. Better than no work at all. The waiters suffer the same fate, where their P600 per reporting day would be effectively cut to a measly average P300 per day minus transportation. But they are not work-from-home employees.

That some businesses have already stopped operations and some drastically cut operations down in the harsh scourging of the pandemic would surely imply painful and lasting lessons learned in the trial by fire. Will businesses ever go back to the same practices towards the same objectives and strategies, after the pandemic restrictions and the New Normal is really normal?

It was only last week that the initial batches of vaccines arrived in the Philippines, and symbolic vaccinations on seemingly hesitant health workers were heralded on national television. Almost half of Philippine citizens are not inclined to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot mainly due to safety concerns, according to a survey by pollster Pulse Asia in January. Still, the government aims to vaccinate around 60 million to 70 million of the 109 million population in three to five years; the government is capable of vaccinating only 20 million to 30 million Filipinos a year, the “Vaccine Czar” Carlito Galvez announced (Rappler, Nov. 25, 2020). Does that mean the New Normal would become normal in three to five years yet? The paranoid common people would probably feel that way, and the astute businessman will keep that in mind as a planning parameter on which way his business should go.

Businesses that have undergone downsizing will have realized how lean and mean operations can be effective, and they will henceforth more carefully proportion marginal costs with increasing net profits. The formulae have been loudly suggested by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The concept of “work from home” has been entrenched in the past year, as an efficient and effective way of carrying on the business in a time of physical restrictions of movement and presence. In fact, future hiring of employees will not now be hampered by physical accessibility of office premises to the work-from-home employee, who can be residing in another province, or even living abroad. And perhaps businessmen will now think offices do not have to be in the big cities. Imagine the traffic decongestion on the main thoroughfares in the metropolis!

At the height of the ECQ and the total lockdown, the Lenovo global study revealed that businesses surveyed in the Philippines already required 26% of their employees to work from home as part of the mitigation measures against the virulent flu. In the United States, the number of those regularly working from home had grown by 159%, and the same increase is mirrored in other markets. Technology has been extremely helpful in creating availability of jobs and opportunities despite the isolation and restrictions on both employees and employers. Prior to the COVID-19 restrictions, the Telecommuting Act, Republic Act 11165, was signed in 2018 so employees can work at home or remotely outside the workplace. Quietly, the nation’s “gig economy” that thrives on recruiting workers on a flexible and freelance setup via online platforms has risen to the rank of No. 6 in the world, with a 35% increase in freelance income year on year, per the Payoneer’s 2019 Global Gig-Economy Index report.

As the New Normal eases the anxieties for health and survival, there would be the clearing of minds and the acceptance of inevitable change. It is already a changed world, even now.

 

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

ahcylagan@yahoo.com

Researchers cite surge in coronavirus cases

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

CORONAVIRUS cases in the Philippine capital and nearby cities have been rising faster, hitting levels last seen in July, according to a group of researchers.

There had been 1,025 infections daily in the capital region in the past seven days, 42% higher than a week earlier and more than double the number two weeks ago, the OCTA Research Group from the University of the Philippines said on Sunday.

The number could still go up this month.

“Based on the current reproduction number, the National Capital Region (NCR) is projected to have 2,000 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases per day by March 21 and 3,000 new cases per day by March 31, while the country is projected to have 5,000 to 6,000 new cases per day by the end of March,” the researchers aid.

The virus reproduction rate in Metro Manila during the period was 1.66, which means an infected person can spread the disease to more than one person.

“The last time the region had seen this rate of increase was in July 2020,” the researchers said.

They noted a surge in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila on March 6, when the Department of Health reported (DoH) 1,464 new infections. This could be due to the spread of coronavirus variants that are more contagious, they said.

OCTA Research said the infection surge in Metro Manila could undermine the government’s vaccination program.

“The original strain does not spread this quickly considering the health guidelines in place,” it said.

The group said the percentage of those infected increased to an average of 8% the past seven days. The World Health Organization has recommended that the rate be maintained below 5%.

DoH reported 3,276 coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the total to 594,412. The death toll rose by 51 to 12,516, while recoveries increased by 10,516 to 545, 853, it said in a bulletin.

There were 36,043 active cases, 2.2% of which were critical, 90.6% were mild, 4.2% did not show symptoms, 2.1% were severe and 0.91% were moderate.

DOH said two duplicates had been removed from the tally, while 13 recoveries were reclassified as deaths. Seven laboratories failed to submit data on Feb. 16.

OCTA Research said Pasay, Makati, Malabon and Navotas were high-risk areas. Pasay had the highest daily attack rate at 30 for 100,000 people.

Makati City had used 80% of its hospital beds, while Quezon City, Taguig, Malabon, Muntinlupa and Pateros had used more than 60%, OCTA said. Las Piñas and Mandaluyong exceeded 70%.

Metro Manila’s overall hospital bed occupancy was 44% 53% for its intensive care units. Only Valenzuela showed a decline in infections from Feb. 28 to March 6, it said.

Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Davao City were on a downward trend. Baguio City, on the other hand, faces a surge in infections.

CINEMAS
Meanwhile, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez on Sunday rejected calls for Metro Manila to return to a stricter lockdown amid a surge in infections.

The government should impose localized lockdowns, he told reporters in a Viber group message, adding that the country “cannot afford to go back to a wide lockdown.”

Health department data showed new COVID-19 cases reached 3,439 on Saturday, the highest since Oct. 12.

The government has allowed more businesses to operate in areas under a general quarantine including cinemas, arcades and tourist attractions after economic managers and business groups sought the easing to aid economic recovery.

The Trade department would increase monitoring in workplaces to check for compliance with public health rules, Mr. Lopez said.

Health protocols in communities and public areas should be strictly enforced, he said, adding that private gatherings should be avoided. Workplace protocols include wearing of face masks, physical distancing and sanitation.

DoH on Friday reported 52 more infections involving the more infectious South African variant, bringing the total to 58.

Also on Sunday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said mayors in the region were expected to pass a resolution on Monday seeking to pause cinema operations due to a spike in coronavirus infections.

MMDA Chair Benjamin de Castro Abalos, Jr. said the mayors agreed at the weekend to shut down cinemas after a four-hour meeting with DoH officials and medical experts.

The ban may last three to four weeks, he said by telephone. “They will have to observe first the progression of the case. We have to observe the upsurge first.”

He said the presence of two coronavirus variants in the capital region had forced them to close down cinemas.

The DOH has said both the COVID-19 variants from the UK and South Africa are more contagious. The South African variant also can vaccine efficacy.

In a related development, Moderna, Inc. on Sunday said it had signed a supply agreement with the Philippine government for 13 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine.

Under the terms, deliveries will start in mid-2021 the company said in a statement. Moderna’s vaccine is not yet approved for use in the Philippines, and it said it would work with regulators to pursue approvals before distribution.

It said it expects a separate agreement with the government and private sector for the supply of seven million more doses.

“We remain committed to making our vaccine available on every continent to help end this global pandemic,” Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel said in the statement. — with Norman P. Aquino

Analysts say civic groups must make gov’t accountable

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

CIVIL society groups will play a key role in seeking accountability in the government’s pandemic response before President Rodrigo R. Duterte steps down in 2022, political analysts said on Sunday.

Nonstate actors and institutions must evaluate the government’s pandemic efforts, Human Rights and Peoples Empowerment Center Executive Director Bryan E. Gonzales said in a Facebook messenger chat.

“Our social and political movements achieve more victories when they work together,” he said.

Out of all Southeast Asian countries, Filipinos were most disapproving of their government’s response to the pandemic, according to a study by the ASEAN Studies Centre.

Based on the survey that involved 1,032 people living in Southeast Asia, 53.7% of Filipino respondents thumbed down the government’s handling of the health crisis, making them the most dissatisfied.

Several countries including the Philippines have used the pandemic to harass journalists, activists, health workers and “anyone else who dares to criticize the official response to the coronavirus,” according to Human Rights Watch.

More than 120,000 violators of quarantine protocols had been arrested in the Philippines since Mr. Duterte locked down the entire Luzon island in mid-March last year.

They included aid distributors, jeepney drivers, rallyists and others critical of the government’s slow delivery of social services during the pandemic, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said last year.

In mid-2020, the tough-talking leader railed against medical workers for criticizing his government’s pandemic response, daring them to stage a revolution.

“The mere fact that the government has taken advantage of the current health crisis to quell critics is proof that dissent among sectors most affected by the ongoing pandemic and recession has become too loud to ignore,” Mr. Gonzales said.

“Our civil society did not take these issues sitting down,” he added.

Mr. Duterte in August placed the capital region under stricter quarantine status after 80 local groups representing 80,000 doctors called for tighter health protocols.

Mr. Gonzales said it would be “pointless to concentrate on coalition-building efforts on the major political blocs of the opposition.”

“We’ve seen dozens of coalitions emerge across the years but hostilities among conflicting political blocs have created cleavages in these alliances,” he said. He cited the need to focus on homeowners’ associations, transport and other sectoral groups.

“Let’s look at the unaffiliated groups and associations in our communities,” Mr. Gonzales said. “Let’s look at the younger generations. If we can build a broad coalition with these people and create with them a new message and a new politics of change, the warring groups in the opposition will have no choice but to tag along.”

He said the 2022 elections would become a referendum on the work of social and political movements.

“It does not help that the political class always sees civil society organizations as critics and adversaries,”  Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a research fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University Policy Center said in a Facebook messenger chat.

“This administration in particular has always been suspicious of civil society organizations,” he said. “The latter’s reputation as government watchdogs has made some politicians wary of dealing with them on a professional level, specifically in terms of exacting or ensuring accountability.”

The Duterte administration has tagged humanitarian organizations and workers as communist fronts.

Citing Congress’ oversight function under the 1987 Constitution, Mr. Yusingco said legislators must “put more effort in exacting accountability.”

“This is their constitutional duty after all,” he said. “If lawmakers fail in doing this job, then voters must make them pay in 2022. Citizens must not relent in making sure our lawmakers fulfill this constitutional mandate.”

InfraWatchPH convenor Terry L. Ridon said voters must know whether the government made real gains in making corrupt officials accountable.

”In order to convince the public that the President is serious and sincere in exacting accountability, we would like to see cases filed against people accused by the President of corrupt activities.”

Mr. Ridon said civic groups should continue to seek social accountability, especially in infrastructure projects involving the involuntary resettlement of urban poor families.

“It is the government that should keep an open mind on the importance of civil society not only in exacting accountability, but also in governing the nation,” he said.

Nationwide round-up (03/07/21)

House leaders vow to act fast on amnesty resolutions for former rebels

LEADERS of the House of Representatives have filed a resolution calling for swift congressional action on granting amnesty to former rebels. In a statement Sunday, House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said he, along with House Minority Leader Joseph Stephen S. Paduano, and House Speaker Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco filed House Concurrent Resolutions 12, 13, 14, and 15 that called for an immediate review and decision on the proposed amnesty coverage for specific members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Moro National Liberation Front, Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade, and the Communist Terrorist Group that includes the New People’s Army. “We commit that the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, will work towards the timely adoption of these amnesty resolutions in line with the government’s peace program,” Mr. Romualdez said. President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued Proclamation Nos. 1090, 1091, 1092, and 1093 in early February, which grant amnesty to members of the rebel groups who committed crimes punishable under the Revised Penal Code and special penal laws in line with their political beliefs. A list of those who will be covered by the amnesty program are subject to congressional concurrence. An Amnesty Commission will be formed to handle the final review of the amnesty applications. — Gillian M. Cortez

Human Rights Watch calls for probe on Sunday’s raids in PHL

INTERNATIONAL GROUP Human Rights Watch on Sunday called on the Philippine government to investigate the simultaneous raids conducted by police in several areas where five members of left-leaning legal organizations were killed and several others arrested. The group said the string of police raids conducted in the neighboring provinces of Laguna, Rizal, Batangas and Cavite are “clearly part of the government’s increasingly brutal counter-insurgency campaign aimed at eliminating the 52-year-old Communist insurgency.” Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson, said in a statement, “It is not a coincidence that these deadly raids happened two days after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered police and military to ‘kill all’ communists and ‘don’t mind human rights’.” He also said, “The fundamental problem is this campaign no longer makes any distinction between armed rebels and noncombatant activists, labor leaders, and rights defenders.” Local group Kapatid, composed of family and friends of political prisoners, confirmed the killing of Manny Asuncion, Bayan-Cavite coordinator; Michael Dasigao and Mark “Makmak” Lee Corros Bacasno, urban poor leaders in Montalban; and Chai Lemita-Evangelista and Ariel Evangelista, fisherfolk leaders in Nasugbu, Batangas. Those arrested were Nimfa Lanzanas, a human rights worker; Steve Mendoza, executive vice-president of Olalia-KMU and former union head at F-Tech; and Elizabeth Camoral, spokesperson of Bayan-Laguna, according to Kapatid. Human Rights Watch noted that the raids occurred in provinces overseen by Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., who has been known for tagging groups and individuals as communist members or supporters without legal evidence. At least 188 human rights defenders have been killed under the Duterte administration while 426 activists and community organizers were arrested, according to Karapatan, an alliance of human rights groups in the Philippines. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

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