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Free public Wi-Fi spots rose to 7,556 — DICT

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said the number of free public Wi-Fi sites rose to 7,556 at the end of 2020, after the addition of 4,305 new hot spots last year.

“With these additional 4,305 sites, the DICT has in one year more than doubled the total number of sites deployed throughout the entire country, as compared to its deployment in 2016-2019,” the department said in a statement late Monday.

It said it utilized about 93.89% of the budget for the Free Wi-Fi for All Program, first released in 2019, the validity of which was extended by law to the end of 2020.

Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II said the Free Wi-Fi for All Program is “instrumental to fulfilling the marching orders given by the President to DICT, upon our assumption last July 2019, which includes connecting every Filipino to each other, to their government, and to the world.”

The department has set a target for 5,100 new hot spots this year, including government hospitals, national and local government offices, public libraries, public parks, plazas, public schools, state universities and colleges, TESDA institutions, and transport terminals.

Free Wi-Fi is one of the DICT’s flagship programs. — Arjay L. Balinbin

DoTr seeking bids for Mindanao Railway consultancy services from Chinese shortlist

THE Transportation department has invited shortlisted Chinese consultants to submit bids for the project management consultancy services contract of the Mindanao Railway Project (Tagum-Davao-Digos segment).

The Department of Transportation (DoTr), “pursuant to the applicable executive agreements between the government of the Philippines and the government of the People’s Republic of China, intends to apply the sum of P3,094,251,412 being the approved budget for the contract to payments under the contract for the project consultancy services of the Mindanao Railway Project: Tagum-Davao-Digos Segment,” according to the department’s General Bid Bulletin No. 2020-01, posted on its website.

The department said offers received in excess of the approved budget for the contract will be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Detailed design and works must be completed within 17 months, the DoTr said, with 33 months set as the period for the contractor to be engaged in pre-construction activities and the defects notification period.

“Bidders should have completed a contract of similar nature and side to the project,” it said.

The shortlisted consultants are: China Railway Design Corp. and Guangzhou Wanan Construction Supervision Co., Ltd. Consortium; China Railway Liuyuan Group Co., Ltd.; and CCCC Railway Consultants Group Co., Ltd.

Bidding would be conducted through limited competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion, according to the Dec. 9 notice of eligibility and shortlisting addressed to the shortlisted consultants.

“A complete set of bidding documents may be downloaded free of charge from the website of the DoTr from 09 December 2020 until 9:00 a.m. of 04 January 2021, provided that bidders shall pay the non-refundable fee… in the amount of P75,000 not later than the submission of their bids,” the notice said.

The railway project, one of the Duterte administration’s priority infrastructure projects, was originally scheduled to start construction in January 2019 but right of way issues, mainly in Davao City, held back the timetable.

The P82.9-billion railway’s first phase, covering the 100.2-kilometer Tagum-Davao-Digos segment, is financed through an official development assistance package from the Chinese government. — Arjay L. Balinbin

NTC to unify all LGU emergency hotlines into national 911 system

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has asked local government units (LGUs) to migrate their emergency hotline systems to a unified national 911 hotline within six months.

The migration requirement was contained in NTC Memorandum Circular No. 03-12-2020 issued in December, a copy of which was posted on its official website.

“All LGUs shall be informed of the assignment and use of code ‘911’ as the only emergency hotline number in the country,” the commission said in its memorandum.

“Other than the code 911, special or short codes for emergency hotline number issued to all LGUs are recalled; and through the public telecommunications entities, all LGUs shall migrate to the nationwide emergency hotline number code ‘911’ within six months from the effectivity of this circular,” it added.

In 2019, the Emergency 911 Commission, which serves as the policy-making body and overseer of the Emergency 911 National Program, approved a resolution directing the NTC to order “all public telecommunications entities to inform all LGUs of the assignment and use of code 911 as the only emergency hotline number in the country.”

The commission was also directed to require, through the public telecommunications entities, all existing local coordinating councils of the LGUs using special or short codes for emergency hotline number other than the code 911 to migrate and use the nationwide emergency hotline number, in compliance with Executive Order No. 56 that created the Emergency 911 Commission. — Arjay L. Balinbin

November rice stock rises by 6.6%

THE rice inventory rose 6.6% year on year to 3.16 million metric tons (MT) in November, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In its rice and corn inventory report, the PSA said stocks held by households rose 18.5% year on year to 1.81 million MT, while inventory held by commercial warehouses fell 1.9% year on year to 963.52 thousand MT.

Rice deposited with the National Food Authority (NFA) fell 15.1% year on year to 385.62 thousand MT.

Compared to October, the rice inventory rose 19.3%, with household stocks up 24.8%, while rice held by commercial warehouses rose 0.6%. NFA rice holdings in November rose 60.8% from a month earlier.

“About 57.3% of the total rice inventory was with households, 30.5% with commercial warehouses, and 12.2% with NFA depositories,” the PSA said.

Meanwhile, the corn inventory fell 14.7% year on year in November to 1.02 million MT.

Stocks held by households rose 55.7% year on year to 346.43 thousand MT while inventory in commercial warehouses fell 30.8% to 675.52 thousand MT.

The NFA held no corn during the period.

Month-on-month, corn stocks rose 3.7%.

Household corn stocks fell 17.6% against October while inventory held by commercial warehouses rose 19.5%.

“Of this month’s total corn stocks inventory, 33.9% were from the households and 66.1% were from commercial warehouses,” the PSA said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

GDP share of non-renewable energy resource sector declined to 0.46% last year — PSA

NON-RENEWABLE energy resources accounted for 0.464% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, down from 0.524% a year earlier, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) energy accounts data.

The non-renewable energy resources segment includes coal, oil, natural gas, and condensate.

The economic share of the non-renewable segment was 0.04% in 2000.

The estimates were based on “resource rent” — the value of extracted resources less extraction costs.

Oil accounted for 0.131% of non-renewable energy resource rent as a percentage of GDP in 2019, followed by natural gas and condensate resources with 0.128% and coal at 0.078%.

Over the 20-year period, oil had an average share of 0.193%, followed by natural gas and condensate resources with 0.184% and coal at 0.055%.

The life of the country’s coal resource was estimated at 26 years in 2019, down from 32 in 2018.

Asset life is defined as the ratio of the closing stocks of Class A “commercially recoverable reserves” to the volume of extraction.

Oil had an estimated asset life of 43 years in 2019, up from 27 in 2018.

The asset life of natural gas was estimated at seven years in 2019 from eight in 2018.

For condensate, the estimated asset life was nine years in 2019 compared with 10 in 2018.

In an e-mail, Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces noted that the energy sector faces the “dual challenge” of heavy reliance on non-renewables and an “increasingly heavier energy demand.”

“A push for higher GDP growth — which is a constant target albeit derailed by the pandemic — should drive energy demand higher as both go hand in hand. Thus, there is a need to source diversified sources of fuel to include renewables as demand increases,” Mr. Roces said in an e-mail.

“[A]n energy supply mix should provide this diversification and also support climate-change mitigation strategies while still contributing to GDP,” he added.

The closing stock of coal amounted to 572.21 million metric tons in 2019, valued at P139.15 billion.

Last year’s oil reserves amounted to 97.78 million barrels, equivalent to P250.97 billion.

Natural gas reserves were estimated at 1.35 trillion cubic feet, valued at P121.19 billion.

Condensate reserves totaled 33.08 million last year, valued at P143.36 billion. — Jobo E. Hernandez

Energy dep’t, ERC seek more time to comment on Senate gas bill

THE Department of Energy (DoE) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said that they will submit their detailed comments on the proposed midstream natural gas industry development act or Senate Bill (SB) No. 1819 by Monday.

SB 1819 aims to regulate the midstream natural gas industry, which covers operations like aggregation, supply, importation, receipt, unloading, loading, processing, storage, regasification, transmission and transportation of natural gas in original or liquefied form.

The measure was introduced in light of the imminent depletion of the Malampaya gas project, which provides fuel to five power plants that account for 20% of the Luzon grid’s installed capacity. The bill seeks to allow private sector participation across the value chain, provide flexibility for the government to develop the market, and protect consumers.

In a Senate hearing Tuesday, DoE Assistant Secretary Leonido J. Pulido III and ERC officer in charge for the Investigation Enforcement Division for Generation Companies Leila O. Cirio both asked for more time to submit their respective agencies’ formal comments on SB 1819.

Mr. Pulido said the DoE had sent the “wrong document” to Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy.

“We would like to beg the kind indulgence of the committee on energy and to our stakeholders if we could be given time to file a revised comment on the bill… We would like to apologize for that,” Mr. Pulido said.

The DoE, along with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the private sector, had been due to submit their comments on the bill during Tuesday’s hearing.

Mr. Pulido told Mr. Gatchalian that the agency’s bureaus were still discussing the specifics. “There’s still a bit of healthy internal discussion insofar as the specific provisions are concerned so…we (ask to) be given until Monday next week to submit our formal comments on the bill,” the DoE official said.

During the hearing, Mr. Gatchalian said: “I understand there is no position yet on the bill, or there is a general position but there is no detailed position on the concepts of the bill,” he said.

SB 1819 proposes to give the DoE the authority to supervise and monitor the development of the midstream natural gas industry, prepare a development plan within one year from the act’s signing, and convene a technical working group to ensure compliance with standards and regulations, among others.

Mr. Gatchalian said that after two years of talks, there was some confusion on the Energy department’s position about the proposed bill, which is why he had hoped to get the agency’s inputs during the Tuesday hearing.

Ms. Cirio also asked for an extension on behalf of the ERC.

“If you will allow us to submit our comments within the week or on Monday… to (look at) this provision especially on the powers and responsibility of the ERC,” she said.

SB 1819 puts the ERC is in charge of promulgating the natural gas transmission code once the measure becomes law, issue its “own use and rTPA (regulated third party access) permits to natural gas transmission facilities, and investigate natural gas transmission facilities that fail to comply with the natural gas transmission code, among others.”

Both the DoE and ERC’s comments are scheduled to be tackled in the bill’s second hearing on Jan. 12.

During the hearing, Senator Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel said: “The bill has been in development for a couple of years and in fact, this hearing has been rescheduled twice and certainly, our DoE and ERC resource persons are fully aware of that, so I’m just a bit puzzled about this turn of events.”

Mr. Gatchalian added: (The hearing) was deferred for almost a month and quite sadly, the two main actors in this bill are not ready to discuss in greater detail the concepts of the bill. — Angelica Y. Yang

Complaint portal launched for BIR, BoC employees’ unexplained wealth

THE Department of Finance (DoF) said Tuesday that it is now offering a portal for complaints about unexplained wealth against officials of its various agencies, including the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC).

In a statement, the DoF said the department now has an “Information against Corruption” page for use by members of the public seeking to provide information against government personnel “who might own properties or live lifestyles grossly disproportionate to their lawful incomes,” in a bid to curb corruption.

It covers officials at the DoF, BIR, BoC, Bureau of the Treasury, Bureau of Local Government Finance, Insurance Commission, National Tax Research Center, Central Board of Assessment Appeals, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency, Privatization and Management Office, and Securities and Exchange Commission.

The page can be accessed at https://www.dof.gov.ph/report-corruption/ which contains a form in which the complainant must provide an e-mail address, with the option to omit other identifying details. 

The form asks for the name of the official, the agency, position, place of assignment, the type of property suspected to have been unlawfully acquired, as well as supporting documents that can be uploaded on the website.

Executive Order No. 25 series of 2003 authorizes the Finance Secretary to investigate information provided on possible corrupt practices and submit the findings to the Office of the Ombudsman for appropriate action, including criminal prosecution and dismissal from the service.  

“In light of the memorandum of President Duterte directing the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate allegations of corruption in the entire bureaucracy, this Department shall be pleased to extend its assistance which your department may need,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a letter to Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra quoted in the statement.

In October, President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered a broad investigation into corruption in the government, which will run until 2022.

The DoF, through its Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) team, has investigated 384 employees of the DoF and its agencies since July 2016.

RIPS has the power to look into suspected cases of corruption and file criminal, civil or administrative complaints. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Recovery needs a people-centered and sustainable green economy

In the Stratbase ADR Institute Special Study entitled “The Challenge of Managing 21st Century Pandemics Amidst the US-China Strategic Competition,” trustee and program convenor Dr. Renato C. De Castro emphasized that “while the global society grapples to control and eradicate the COVID-19 virus: it ignores the big picture that pandemics in the 21st century are on the rise, and that the global society needs to contain the process that drives them, not just the individual diseases.”

Climate change has emerged as one of the most critical environmental issues to confront humanity and is striking harder and more rapidly than expected. The World Health Organization considers climate change as “the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century.” Extreme climate swings have affected how the virus spreads and the manner the global economy responds. Likewise, the World Economic Forum Global Risk Report 2020 showed that “failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation” is the most significant risk that will impact us over the next 10 years.

Dr. De Castro stressed that the traditional concept of security must shift from its referent object of state’s security to that of people and must be people-centered. It must include new types and non-traditional security threats — international terrorism, environmental degradation, scarcity of natural resources, the growing population, and changing demographics — that deserve to be considered relevant and pressing to the national security agenda.

These non-traditional threats are very real for the Philippines, which is regarded as one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters and climate-related challenges due to its geographical location in the Pacific Ring of Fire and the Typhoon Belt. This makes the country as the ninth most at risk, worldwide, in terms of the occurrence of extreme weather events and fourth-most affected country in the past two decades, according to the World Risk Index 2020 and the United Nations (UN) Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, respectively.

However, with the systems and mechanisms in place, designed with assumptions of a future climate much the same as decades ago, the country is still unable to properly address not just the underlying driver of these problems, but also the prevailing impacts of climate change on our communities.

During the Stratbase ADR Institute Pilipinas Conference session themed “Towards Green Economic Recovery: Designing Climate Resilient and Sustainable Communities,” Undersecretary Analiza Teh of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources emphasized that “investments in nature-based solutions for resilience, policy reform, and capacity building became more evident and that creating a green recovery should incorporate and focus on the community’s resilience.”

Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso also stressed that creating a green city is “no rocket science.” The government cannot do it alone and must partner with the private sector and technical persons.

Indeed, the private sector needs to actively take the lead as environment champions.

Fortunately, there are those who have led the way in this regard. The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation has a strategic partnership among stakeholders towards building livable and disaster-resilient communities across the country. The Philippine Green Building Council, likewise, has been campaigning for the transformation of building designs and construction into practices that are environmentally and socially responsible.

Coca-Cola Beverage Philippines, Inc., as part of its World Without Waste program, has recently earned the Board of Investment approval of its P2.3-billion PETValue recycling facility project. It also has returned 112% of the water it used in its products to the environment and the community through its water replenishment programs.

Meralco, the country’s largest power distributor, has committed to make sustainability its main agenda as it charts its green journey to help save the environment. Through its Powering the Good Life program, Meralco aims to prioritize five areas: direct emissions reduction, resource efficiency, waste management, community electrification, and workplace excellence.

Global brands like Unilever, have also committed to reduce plastic waste by working to make all of its packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025. This is part of a larger effort captured by the Unilever Sustainable Living Program, which was launched in 2010. In pursuing these commitments, the company has been relentlessly working with the government, academe, industry groups, and various community-based organizations to develop sustainable packaging solutions.

Even the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, through Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM), commits to go beyond its corporate responsibility to uplift people’s quality of life and reduce poverty in their host communities while contributing to the country’s socio-economic development.

Given today’s public health challenges, it can be easy to overlook the importance of the environment and climate change. However, as more people and responsible businesses see the interconnection between sustainability, our economy, and environment, more green investments, models, and initiatives are being integrated. Not only can these generate more jobs, and spur the economy, but also protect the environment in the long-term.

For the year 2021, a sustainable and green economy will only be possible by thinking differently. Our traditional and myopic view of our country’s security must expand to consider environment-centered, science-based, and forward-looking issues. Furthermore, without understanding how collaborative action is critical for our economy and environment, dealing with complex issues, such as sustainability and a greener economy, will not be possible.

All of us must embrace this new way of life.

 

Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is President of the Stratbase ADR Institute.

Our damaged culture

In 1987, American journalist James Fallows won an award for writing a long piece in the Atlantic Monthly about the Philippines, where he had spent six weeks as an investigative reporter after the EDSA Revolution. He concluded that our main problem was the lack of nationalism, which would deter progress for our country. He correctly predicted that Korea and our neighbors Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia would do better because of a sense of nationalism. Perhaps he is right in many ways.

Certainly, South Korea, which had been our peer in terms of economic development when Marcos came into power, has more than quadrupled its economy compared to ours today. And Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia, which were behind us in economic development at the time, have out-performed our country in many ways. The corrupt Marcos regime, notwithstanding its authoritarianism was clearly a failure. The aftermath of political and media corruption and weakening of institutions of democracy have continued to this day and clearly is at its worst in our history.

Our young students rank at the bottom among 79 countries in an international reading, mathematics and science exam given to 15-year-olds among participating countries. We were 79th in reading and 78th in mathematics and sciences. Perhaps the test designs were culture bound and that may have affected our performance. But there were 78 other countries in the samples.

Why are we being such sad sacks?

If we go by what Socrates and Plato asserted in their day, that to gain wisdom, we need to know ourselves, it seems to me that is part of the problem. We do not know ourselves.

When we were “discovered” by the Spaniards in the 16th century, we were really a group of islands in an archipelago. The colonists, for better administration and control, in coordination with Catholic missionaries, mobilized populations into towns “bajo de la campana” (under the church bells) where municipal halls, markets, and schools were set up. That is how we began to become a country.

The Americans, who were new at colonialism, tried to turn us into brown Americans. We had to speak English in school, and set aside tribal arts and crafts such as weaving, basketry, and pottery in favor of “modern,” Western-oriented and branded products. We even copied their government structures, and political systems. It should be clear by now that these structures and systems no longer work for us. We are really kind and nice people. Why do we choose rascals and thieves, and even their progeny to run our country? Clearly, we do not think or analyze. We merely express our admiration for celebrities, famous or notorious. And politicians pander to this.

If we come right down to it, who are we, and what are we really good at?

I have recently discovered on YouTube videos featuring Filipino songs sung by non-Filipino choirs in Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, and Texas. Some of the choirs won first place in international contests because the songs they sang (“Rosas Pandan,” “Paro-parong Bukid,” “Leron-leron Sinta,” “Bayan,” and “Anak”) were so melodious, and lent themselves so well to imaginative renditions. Some of our nurses working in other countries have received awards for their outstanding dedication and commitment to their patients, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourists rave about the friendliness and hospitality of our people. We have recently been rediscovering our tribal arts and crafts and beginning to patronize our own attractive fabric designs.

If we go by psychological theories of left and right brain tendencies, it seems to me that we are generally more right-brained than left-brained. “Left brain” refers to tendencies toward logic, methodical analysis, and linear thinking. Better at reading, writing, computations, mathematics, thinking in words, and attention to facts. “Right brain” refers to tendencies toward intuition, holistic thinking, imagination, creativity, rhythm, feelings, non-verbal cues. It is therefore not surprising that we do so poorly in these international exams which measure “left brain” skills. These “right brain” tendencies are probably what make us effective in people-oriented services.

If we are to go by what we are good at, what can we do to turn our right brain tendencies to our advantage in improving life for our people? Certainly we should raise consciousness among our people and the rest of the world about our talents in music, arts, and crafts, and reinvigorate our now confused appreciation for beauty. International beauty contests where contestants wear bathing suits should not be our standard for measuring our own good looks. Tourism has been good for our economy and its employment generation potential has been proven at the community levels. Pride of place and own culture will help enhance our people’s sense of self and help direct their energies into positive accomplishments. Constructive tribalism, instead of being a divider, should become an enricher of our sense of nationhood. We can be awakened Cebuanos, Tagalogs, Bicolanos, Ilocanos, Kalingas, Pampangos, Pangasinenses, Warays, Boholanos, Maguindanaos, Maranaos, Tausugs, Higaonon, T’boli, etc. while being Filipinos.

Meanwhile, our educators can look at how they can contribute to how their communities can get to know and enhance their own cultures, by documenting and promoting their music, arts and crafts to their own people, and to the rest of the country. Their students and teachers can lead the effort at documentation and promotion of these indigenous arts and crafts. At the same time, educators can enhance left brain skills at reading and analysis in order for their students to become competent at relating to the rest of the country and the world. But they should not forget who and what they are. Sharper thinking and analyzing skills should enable our voters to see through the nonsense peddled by our exploitative politicians.

The nation will become stronger as its members are awakened to who they are; and become better able to build on their own talents and skills. Community leaders should support the effort. We need to build our nation at community levels. We have barangays that can help respond to this need.

Small is beautiful, and in our context, often more effective. Let our communities sing our songs, and patronize, produce, enjoy and take pride in our varied and multicultural arts and crafts. This, to me, is what our nationalism should be about.

 

Teresa S. Abesamis is a former professor at the Asian Institute of Management and Fellow of the Development Academy of the Philippines.

tsabesamis0114@yahoo.com

A better normal for women and girls after COVID-19

THE YEAR 2020 was synonymous with the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented crisis it brought across economic, social, and health dimensions; 2021, on the other hand, is already being associated with the promise of the next normal.

For the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UN Women, our new year’s resolution is that we see more COVID-19 recovery strategies that prioritize the needs of women and girls in order to create a better and more egalitarian normal.

The Asia and Pacific region is providing some inspiring and concrete lessons on how a new normal can be more effectively achieved when gender equality is fully integrated into strategies, policies, and investments.

Governments across the region have shown that taking decisive and proactive actions can mitigate short-term effects and pave the way toward a better normal for women. An ADB-UN Women high-level ministerial event held in fall 2020 for Ministers of Finance and Gender, and other senior representatives from Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Samoa, and Thailand, shared good practices and policies to ensure women remain at the center of COVID-19 response and recovery.

The Indonesian government’s approach to implementing direct cash transfers encourages families to use maternal health and nutrition services, and motivates them to send children to school and focus on financial management. Similarly, in the Philippines, psycho-social support and specialized training for health sector workers includes recognizing  and treating domestic violence, and providing referral advice.

In India, the government’s investments in digital infrastructure over the last six years have enabled 400 million citizens to open a bank account for the first time in their lives. Those bank accounts were leveraged during the pandemic to ensure direct cash transfers to the accounts of 220 million women. This principle reminds us to “leave no one behind” as we look to rebuilding our economies.

Still, there is a great deal of work to be done. A UN Women survey found that more women in the region were likely to have experienced job loss and reduced paid hours than men. This is in line with other data indicating that women are concentrated in the most hard-hit sectors of the pandemic, such as tourism, manufacturing, textiles, and garments. In some countries in the region, nearly half of women working in the particularly vulnerable informal sectors have lost their jobs since the outbreak began — more than double the rate of men.

Women’s difficulty maintaining their paid work is further exacerbated by the increased time they are spending on unpaid care work, such as caring for their families and households. Before the pandemic, the International Labor Organization estimated that men in Asia and the Pacific performed the least amount of unpaid care work globally (average of 64 minutes per day). As a consequence, women in the region worked the longest hours in the world when their paid (262 minutes per day) and unpaid work (201 minutes per day) are combined.

Women spent an average four times longer than men on unpaid care work like taking care of children and family members and domestic chores. With the COVID-19 lockdown, the volume of unpaid care work has exponentially increased for both women and men, however, women still shoulder most of the burden.

There are many other negative pandemic effects on gender equality, including increased rates of domestic violence, maternal and infant mortality, and more girls dropping out of school, to name just a few. Female morbidity rates are lower, but the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts seem to be affecting women and girls more, with both short- and long-term consequences. 

Development partners like the ADB and UN Women play a critical role in supporting governments to achieve a gender equality-focused recovery. For this reason, ADB and UN Women are recommitting to strengthen our existing partnership in key areas needed to build back better.

This includes sex-disaggregated data collection to better inform national and regional recovery policies; gender-responsive budgeting to ensure accountability and transparency toward gender goals; gender-responsive procurement to enable more women-owned businesses to access markets, working closely with both private and public sectors to develop tools and knowledge to prioritize gender equality in business and investment decisions; and combating increased gender-based violence, one of the pandemic’s most destructive consequences.

Many Asia and Pacific countries are showing that setting strong targets for women and girls in response and recovery programs, and developing specialized activities to mitigate COVID-19 effects are both realistic and necessary. In all of ADB’s emergency COVID-19 pandemic response packages, gender targets have been integrated across health, economic resilience, and social protection domains, reflecting the reality that recovery is not possible if half the population is left (further) behind.

We encourage all governments and development partners to make similar New Year’s resolutions to put gender equality front and center of their COVID-19 recovery. Let’s make sure that 2021 really does usher in a better normal for women and girls.

 

Bambang Susantono is the Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development of the Asian Development Bank.

@bsantono

Anita Bhatia is the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

@abhatiaunwomen

Combat sports thrive amid virus

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

WHILE the year 2020 was a rough one for Philippine sports and athletes, combat disciplines somehow proved resilient despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and even managed to squeeze in performances to cheer about and be hopeful for moving forward.

Boxing, mixed martial arts (MMA) and karate were just some of the combat sports that provided cheer to Filipinos amid what was a down year for sports.

“It’s already an overstatement to mention that the local scene has been greatly affected by the pandemic. By March, it all came into a screeching halt. Fortunately, other athletes were given the opportunity to compete overseas,” said local combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano in an online interview with BusinessWorld.

He went on to say that there were actually a lot of standout moments in 2020 for combat sports despite the seeming limitations the year presented.

“There were a lot, to be honest. There’s Reymart Gaballo, who took a short-notice fight against Emmanuel Rodriguez and won the interim WBC bantamweight championship. John Riel Casimero turned a lot of heads lately with his antics both in and outside the ring. His marketability skyrocketed. It is fascinating because Mr. Casimero broke the mold of a typical Filipino boxer,” said Mr. Icasiano, also one of the hosts of Tiebreaker Vods’ The Hit List podcast.

Mr. Gaballo took over from compatriot Nonito Donaire Jr., who had to pull out from the Rodriguez fight after he contracted the coronavirus two weeks prior to the event itself. But despite that, Mr. Gaballo made a good account of himself, doing enough to edge Mr. Rodriguez and become the latest Filipino world boxing champion.

Reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion Mr. Casimero, meanwhile, made it a successful first title defense in September, defeating Duke Micah of Ghana by technical knockout in the third round. The Filipino champion was supposed to face undefeated International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association champion Naoya Inoue in a unification bout before it was scrapped because of the pandemic and he had to wait for a long time after to find a new opponent. But the Leyte native made it worth the wait with a top-class performance.

“In MMA, you got Rolando Dy who moved up in weight, won two late-notice fights in a new division, was coming off two heartbreaking defeats, didn’t have an established team to prepare him for these fights, and clinched the Fighter of the Year honors [in Brave Combat (CF) Federation]. But the biggest winner in 2020 was [karateka] James Delos Santos. He just raised the profile of forms, which many look down on as an aspect of competitive martial arts,” he added.

Mr. Dy had two straight victories in September and November after months of going without a fight en route to willing himself as one of the noteworthy fighters in Bahrain-based Brave CF and a contender in the lightweight division. His efforts did not go to waste as he was named Brave Fighter of the Year.

Mr. Delos Santos, for his part, was a winner through and through on his way to becoming the world’s number one eKATA player, with 15,710 points. He won a total of 36 gold medals, while scoring hat tricks in e-tournaments he competed in along the way.

Also making waves in 2020 were Olympics-bound boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno, who booked spots in the rescheduled Tokyo Games in March. Mr. Marcial also made his professional debut in December and was a unanimous decision winner over American Andrew Whitfield.

Featherweight boxer Mark Magsayo also returned to the ring in October after more than a year of inaction, winning by split decision over Mexican Rigoberto Hermosillo. It was also a winning start for the Bohol fighter with Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions with whom he signed with last year.

Female MMA fighter Denice Zamboanga had two impressive victories in ONE Championship in 2020, making her the number one contender in the promotion’s atomweight division.

Her brother, Drex, meanwhile, made his ONE debut last year and won in impressive fashion, scoring a submission win (rear-naked choke) over Thai Detchadin Sornsirisuphathin.

Moving ahead, Mr. Icasiano said it will still be a slow move back to normalcy for combat sports, but ongoing developments on that front are welcome signs.

“The Games and Amusement Board is now coordinating with several boxing promotions. Pedro Taduran, the IBF minimumweight titlist, will be challenged by Rey Mark Cuarto on Feb. 27 in General Santos City. His stablemate Michael Dasmariñas is now on the radar of Naoya Inoue. That can happen in the first quarter of 2021,” Mr. Icasiano said.

“Jerwin Ancajas, who is now in the States, might share the ring with Kazuto Ioka. On the other hand, Mr. Casimero may be pitted against Guillermo Rigondeaux in a unification early this year. There a lot of things to look forward to when it comes to boxing. In MMA, there are rumors that Joshua Pacio will defend his title against Yosuke Saruta in a rubber match in ONE. Meanwhile, Brave CF is already looking for a dance partner for [Filipino bantamweight champion] Stephen Loman.”

Stephen Curry tallies another 30 as Golden State routs Sacramento

STEPHEN Curry followed up a career-best 62-point effort with 30 more in just 31 minutes on Monday night, propelling the Golden State Warriors to a second straight run-away win, 137-106 over the Sacramento Kings in San Francisco.

Seven Warriors, including three reserves, scored in double figures. Golden State tied the franchise record for points at home team in the 2-year-old Chase Center — set one night earlier — while snapping a three-game losing streak against the rival Kings.

Harrison Barnes, a member of Golden State’s 2015 championship team, had 18 points for Sacramento, sharing team honors with De’Aaron Fox.

Riding the momentum of a 137-122 home win over Portland on Sunday, the Warriors wasted no time blitzing the Kings 24 hours later, scoring the first eight points of the game on 3-pointers by Draymond Green and Kelly Oubre Jr. and a 2-pointer by James Wiseman. They never looked back.

Curry, who had 30-plus points in each half of his performance on Sunday, totaled 23 in the first 24 minutes this time, helping Golden State run up a 68-48 advantage.

The second half was never appreciably closer, with the Kings suffering a third consecutive loss in the process.

Curry shot nine-for-18 overall and five-for-12 on 3-pointers for the Warriors, who at 4-3 went above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season.

Oubre, who had made just two of his first 30 3-point attempts as a first-year member of the Warriors, finally caught fire with four in six tries en route to 18 points, while Andrew Wiggins (16), Eric Paschall (14), Michael Mulder (12), Kevon Looney (11), and Wiseman (10) also scored in double figures for Golden State.

Mulder did all of his scoring on four-for-four shooting from beyond the arc, helping Golden State go 23-for-43 to outscore the Kings 69-30 from deep.

Buddy Hield was a third King to score in double figures with 10 points as Sacramento capped a winless trip that began with consecutive losses in Houston.

Barnes and Marvin Bagley III shared game-high rebound honors with Curry with nine apiece, while Fox collected a team-high seven assists, one fewer than Curry’s game-high total.

The Kings had swept last year’s three-game season series among the NBA’s two Northern California teams. — Reuters