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Revisiting the manner of tax filings and payment

Earlier this month, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 4-2021, which lays down the guidelines for the filing of tax returns and attachments, as well as the payment of the taxes due. The RMC did not, essentially, introduce any changes to the prescribed manner of filing and payment of tax returns, but it is nevertheless important to refresh ourselves on these guidelines to ensure proper compliance and avoid unnecessary penalties and inconvenience.

ELECTRONIC FILING AND PAYMENT OF TAX RETURNS
The electronic mode of filing of tax returns can either be via the eBIR Forms or the Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS) Facility. Several regulations were previously issued by the tax authority, which identified taxpayers for whom the filing of tax returns using these electronic filing platforms is mandatory. Nevertheless, other taxpayers may also opt to voluntarily file their tax returns electronically.

Under existing regulations, the following taxpayers are required to use the eBIR Forms in filing their tax returns:

1. Top withholding agents;

2. Accredited tax agents/practitioners and all their client-taxpayers;

3. Accredited printers of principal and supplemental receipts/invoices;

4. One-Time Transaction (ONETT) taxpayers who are classified as real estate dealers/developers; those who are considered habitually engaged in the sale of real property who are using/filing BIR Form No. 1606 together with the BIR Form No. 2000OT and regular taxpayers already covered by eBIR Forms;

5. Taxpayers who are filing for a “No Payment Return”;

6. Government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs);

7. Local government units, except barangays;

8. Cooperatives registered with National Electrification Administration and Local Water Utilities Administration.

In case of filing of “No Payment Returns,” note that once the taxpayer filed using the eBIR Forms, it shall continue to file its subsequent tax returns via the platform whether or not there are any tax payments due. However, manual filing for “No Payment Returns” shall be allowed for the following taxpayers:

1. Senior Citizen or Persons with Disabilities filing their own returns;

2. Employees deriving purely compensation income from two or more employers, concurrently or successively at any time during the taxable year, or from a single employer although the income of which has been correctly subjected to withholding tax, but whose spouse is not entitled to substituted filing; and

3. Employees qualified for substituted filing that opted to file for an annual income tax return and are filing for purposes of promotion, loans, scholarships, foreign travel requirements, etc.

The payment of taxes due on returns filed via the eBIR Forms shall be made through any of the following:

1. Authorized Agent Banks (AABs) under the jurisdiction of the concerned Revenue District Office (RDO) where the taxpayer is registered.

2. Revenue Collection Officers (RCOs) under the RDO where the taxpayer is registered through the Mobile Revenue Collection Officer System (MRCOS) in areas where there are no AABs.

In manually paying its taxes through RCOs, taxpayers shall take note that cash payments are allowed only up to a maximum of P20,000 per return. Therefore, in case the tax payable for a single return exceeds P20,000, the taxpayer shall prepare instead a check for payment, which in most cases shall be a manager’s or cashier’s check.

3. Electronic payment via the following channels:

a. GCash or PayMaya;

b. Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Pay Tax Online — for taxpayers who are holders of Visa/Mastercard Credit Card and/or BancNet ATM/Debit Card.

c. Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) Link.Biz Portal — for taxpayers who have ATM accounts with LANDBANK and/or holders of BancNet ATM/Debit/Prepaid Card or taxpayers utilizing the PESONet facility for depositors of RCBC, Robinsons Bank and Union Bank.

d. Union Bank Online Web and Mobile Payment Facility — only for taxpayers who have accounts with Union Bank of the Philippines.

On the other hand, filing and payment of tax returns via the eFPS are mandatory for the following taxpayers:

1. Large taxpayers;

2. Top 5,000 individual taxpayers and top 20,000 private corporations as notified by the BIR;

3. Taxpayers under the Taxpayer Account Management Program (TAMP);

4. Insurance companies and stockbrokers;

5. Government bidders;

6. National government agencies;

7. Government offices, in so far as remittance of VAT withheld and business tax is concerned;

8. Accredited importers and prospective importers;

9. All licensed local contractors;

10. Corporations with paid-up capital stock of P10 million and above;

11. Corporations with complete computerized accounting systems (CAS); and

12. Enterprises enjoying fiscal incentives (e.g., PEZA, BoI, various zone authorities, etc.).

As stated in the RMC, in case those taxpayers required to file and pay their tax returns via the eFPS are not yet enrolled in the system or its application for enrollment with an eFPS-AAB is not yet completed, such taxpayers shall file their tax returns using the eBIR Forms and pay the corresponding taxes via any payment facilities available. The same manner of filing and payment of taxes applies in case of newly created tax returns which are not yet available in the eFPS facility but are already available in the eBIR Forms.

MANUAL FILING AND PAYMENT OF TAX RETURNS
Taxpayers who are not required to file their tax returns electronically shall manually file their tax returns using the electronic or computer-generated returns or photocopied returns in their original format in a folio or legal-size bond paper. Payment of the corresponding taxes due shall be made through either of the following:

1. AABs under the jurisdiction of the concerned RDO where the taxpayer is registered.

2. RCOs under the RDO where the taxpayer is registered through the MARCOS in areas where there are no AABs.

SUBMISSION OF REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS TO THE TAX RETURNS
Pursuant to the RMC, the following shall be observed as regards submission of the attachments to the tax returns.

1. Tax returns filed and paid electronically with no required attachments need not be submitted further in printed copy to the Large Taxpayers Service or Revenue District Office where the taxpayer is registered.

2. All required attachments such as the Monthly/Quarterly Alphalist of Payees (MAP/QAP), Summary List of Sales, Purchases and Importation (SLS/SLP/SLI), and Summary Alphalist of Withholding Agents of Income Payments Subjected to Withholding Tax (SAWT), which are prepared using the Data Entry Module and RELIEF shall be submitted via e-mail through esubmission@bir.gov.ph.

3. For quarterly and annual income tax returns (ITR) which were electronically filed, taxpayers have the option to submit the required attachments using the Electronic Audited Financial Statement (eAFS) system, which can be accessed via the BIR website. Note, however, that in case of the Information Return on Related Party Transaction (BIR Form 1709), which is a new required attachment to the annual ITR, the submission of which shall be made manually pursuant to Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 76-2020.

It is important that taxpayers are well aware of the manner of tax filing and payments they are required to observe, as doing otherwise will be considered tantamount to wrong venue filing which is subject to a penalty of P1,000 per return and a 25% surcharge of the tax due to be paid. Nevertheless, in special circumstances, such as the unavailability of electronic filing platforms, taxpayers are advised to observe the procedures in manual filing and payment of taxes. In such cases, it is also good practice for taxpayers to keep proof of the unavailability of the eFPS or eBIR Forms, such as screenshots of errors encountered in the filing or payment using these platforms, or a copy of the duly released advisory from the BIR, to support the alternative means of filing and payment of return that was observed.

Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.

 

Arianne Cyril L. Mandac is a manager of the Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.

pagrantthornton@ph.gt.com

Manila frowns at China law on firing at sea

THE PHILIPPINES on Monday said the use of force is prohibited under international law, as China passed a law allowing its coast guard to fire at foreign vessels in the South China Sea.

“The use of force is generally prohibited,” presidential spokesman Harry L. Roque told an online news briefing. States may use force in self-defense or when authorized by the United Nations (UN) Security Council, he added.

Any laws passed by nations must be according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which China had agreed to, Mr. Roque said.

“Hopefully, no country involved in the issue of the West Philippine Sea would worsen the situation,” he said in Filipino, referring to parts of the disputed way within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte wants claimants to disputed areas in the South China Sea to finish a proposed code of conduct and adhere to it to ease tensions, Mr. Roque said.

“It’s not amusing that in the middle of the pandemic, China passed such law,” Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel told an online news briefing in Filipino.

“While China peddles coronavirus vaccines as a global public good, it trashes the remaining peace in the West Philippine Sea,” she added.

The National People’s Congress standing committee of China passed the Coast Guard Law that will allow its coast guard to use “all necessary means” against foreign vessels that threaten them, according to the South China Morning Post.

Ms. Baraquel said the measure would escalate tensions in the disputed waterway. “Once they do that in line with military practices, it can only further harm, not help the improvement of the atmosphere of problem-solving through political and diplomatic means.”

She urged the Philippine military to plan a strategy should there be threats to the Philippines.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 favored the Philippines in a lawsuit that rejected China’s claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea based on its nine-dash line drawn on a 1940s map.

China has rejected the ruling but continues to negotiate with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations to come up with a code of conduct.

China has been building artificial islands in the disputed Spratly Islands and setting up installations including several runways.

The Philippine Foreign Affairs department last year filed diplomatic protests against China over a naval weapon-pointing incident and an attempt to set up two new districts within Philippine territory in the South China Sea.

VACCINE DIPLOMACY
“We must not allow China to shake our hand on vaccine procurement, but stab us in the back on the West Philippine Sea,” Ms. Baraquel said.

The senator last week said China’s vaccine diplomacy might be in exchange for the Philippines’ interest in the South China Sea.

The Foreign Affairs department and vaccine Czar Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. have both assured the senator that the vaccine donations were not tied to territorial considerations.

The United States in November reaffirmed its stance to maintain order in the Indo-Pacific region.

Former White House National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien said there was a consensus among US republicans and democrats on the US stand against China’s aggression in the region.

Mr. O’Brien said there was a bipartisan consensus on China’s unfair trade practices and its attempt to coerce its neighbors and other areas including Taiwan.

The US had donated precision-guided missiles and munitions, including 100 TOW-2A missiles, 12 ITAS, and 24 MK-82s worth $18 million to the Philippine military.

Mr. O’Brien reaffirmed the US commitment to activate the Mutual Defense Treaty in case the Philippines is attacked by an enemy.

He said the US in July aligned its official position on the 2016 United Nations arbitral ruling on the South China Sea.

The resources in the disputed waters “belong to the Philippine people,” Mr. O’Brien said.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February 2019 said any attacks on Philippine aircraft or ships in the South China Sea would trigger a response from the US under the Mutual Defense Treaty.

His comments sought to reassure the Philippines amid China’s island-building activities in the South China Sea.

Three American aircraft carriers patroled the Indo-Pacific waters for the first time in nearly three years in June, a massive show of naval force in a region roiled by spiking tensions between the US and China.

The patrol of the three warships, accompanied by Navy cruisers, destroyers, fighter jets and other aircraft came as the US escalated criticism of China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, its moves to impose greater control over Hong Kong and its island-building activities in the waterway. — Norman P. Aquino, Charmaine A. Tadalan and KATA

No new cases of coronavirus strain, according to DoH

By Vann Marlo M. Villegas, Reporter
and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

THIRTY-FOUR people who had close contact with a dozen patients infected with a more contagious coronavirus strain have tested positive for the virus, but six were negative for the new variant, according to Philippine health authorities.

There were now 17 confirmed cases of the new virus strain in the Philippines.

The Department of Health (DoH) on Monday said 116 of 144 close contacts of the 12 people from Bontoc, Mountain Province in the country’s north who carried the strain first detected in the United Kingdom had been tested.

The index case for the UK variant cases in Bontoc was a migrant Filipino who arrived in the Philippines on Dec. 13 and tested negative upon arrival and went home to Bontoc the following day, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire told an online news briefing.

Ms. Vergeire said they celebrated Christmas and had a tribal ritual on Dec. 26. The patient showed symptoms on Dec. 29.

She also said authorities had identified three clusters of infection but there was nothing definite yet. “We’re still studying all the details we’ve gathered.”

Ms. Vergeire also said four of the 97 contacts of a patient who was infected with the UK coronavirus strain from La Trinidad, Benguet had tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus.

They were household members of the patient — the mother, father, sibling and grandmother. She did not say which virus type they had.

Meanwhile, health authorities have found the person with the new variant from Iloilo City who arrived on Dec. 29 from Lebanon, Ms. Vergeire said. Another passenger from Rizal was still being verified.

A patient from Calamba, Laguna had also tested for the coronavirus strain.

The first Filipino who tested positive for the UK strain was a 29-year-old Filipino male who arrived on Jan. 7 from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

DoH reported 1,581 coronavirus infections on Monday, bringing the total to 514,996. The death toll rose by 50 to 10,292, while recoveries increased by 13 to 475,422, it said in a bulletin.

There were 29,282 active cases, 84.3% of which were mild, 8.6% did not show symptoms, 4.1% were critical, 2.6% were severe and 0.51% were moderate.

Quezon City reported the highest number of cases at 89, followed by Cebu City at 88, Cavite at 80, Davao City at 78 and Cebu at 50.

DoH said 14 duplicates, 13 of which have recovered, and 190 cases found to have tested negative were removed from the tally. Of the 190 cases, 189 have recovered. One recovered patient was reclassified as a death.

Four laboratories failed to submit their data on Jan. 24, it said. About 7.1 million Filipinos have been tested for the coronavirus as of Jan. 23, according to DoH’s tracker website.

The coronavirus has sickened about 99.8 million and killed more than 2.1 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization (WHO). About 71.8 million people have recovered, it said.

Also on Monday, the Budget department said local government chiefs could tap their calamity fund for coronavirus vaccine orders.

The Office of the President would authorize the spending if they have proof that they are in dire need of the shots, Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado told a televised news briefing.

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines earlier asked the National Government to allow local governments to use their calamity funds for vaccine orders.

Mr. Avisado said local governments could buy their own vaccines under a tripartite deal with the central government and drug maker for safety.

“There is no problem with local governments buying their own vaccines,” he said. “That is allowed by President Duterte, but that should be done in a coordinated manner.”

Mr. Avisado said more than 84% of the country’s P82.5-billion budget for vaccines would be borrowed overseas.

He said the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) were on standby to lend money for the country’s immunization drive. The government is expected to inoculate as many as 70 million Filipinos against the coronavirus this year.

Vaccine supplies would not be enough to cover everyone and “it will take years before we achieve herd immunity,” he said in a Viber message.

The vaccine doesn’t have to be given to all Filipinos based on herd immunity, when a large portion of the population becomes immune to the disease, making its spread unlikely.

Violent incidents in Bangsamoro continue to decline, but land ownership sparks new tensions

VIOLENT incidents in the Bangsamoro continued to decline in 2019, the first year of the transition period under the new regional government, according to International Alert Philippines’ latest conflict report released Monday.

The organization’s conflict monitoring system recorded 2,655 violent incidents in 2019, down 9% from 2,910 in 2018. In the two previous years, violent incidents stood at 4,363 and 4,140 in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

The decline was sustained in the first half of 2020 as restrictions were imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak, based on the report titled Conflict Alert 2020: Enduring Wars.

International Alert Philippines Country Director Nikki C. de la Rosa, however, warned of the continued “many pockets and corners” of clan feuds and disputes over resources, especially land.

The monitoring system covers the five Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, including the cities of Cotabato and Isabela.

“The irony is that previous combatants who ought to be retired from decommissioning and normalization processes are instead training their weapons against each other, against indigenous peoples, and against other claimants of land surrounding their previous camps. The combatants who lived in these camps desire permanent rights and ownership and these claims are now exacerbating tensions in the post-conflict normalization process,” Ms. De la Rosa said during an online briefing.

Under the peace agreement signed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government, which paved the way for the establishment of the BARMM, the former rebel group’s camps will be transformed into civilian communities while its combatants will be decommissioned and reintegrated over a three-year period ending in 2022.

“This period of transition-induced violence bears watching and the BTA (Bangsamoro Transition Authority) must act on land related conflicts as a first priority,” said Ms. De la Rosa.

The peacebuilding organization also cited the emergence of a “new form” and more deadly religious extremism, particularly in Sulu, which has remained a stronghold of the Islamic State-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group.

Three suicide bombings were carried out in Sulu in 2019 and 2020, with a combined death toll of 46 and more than 75 others wounded.

International Alert Senior Peace and Conflict Adviser Francisco Lara, Jr., pointed out that these attacks were perpetrated by female, Filipino, and foreign extremists, all with Abu Sayyaf ties.

ELECTION
Meanwhile, International Alert supports pushing through with next year’s elections, seeing it as a platform to strengthen the legitimacy of the new BARMM government that is currently dominated by the MILF.

“We think that it will help strengthen the political legitimacy of the current BTA if there is an election… especially since we all know that during the plebiscite large areas of the Bangsamoro also demonstrated their disagreement with being part of the Bangsamoro. We’re talking about Sulu… Cotabato City,” Mr. Lara said.

“We are also confident that the MILF can win an election in 2022. It’s been shown in historical trends that those people who are in power and those who receive the support of the national government and different development organizations have always been able to hold on to political authority,” he added.

The MILF has established its political party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), to serve as vehicle for its participation in local and national elections.

Mr. Lara also said that a postponement of the BARMM election, which is provided under the Bangsamoro Organic Law, should go through the proper process and is authorized by Congress. — Marifi S. Jara

Nationwide round-up (01/25/21)

Senators call for accountability in tagging people as communists, terrorists

THE military should punish its members who were behind the publication on social media of an unvetted list of people who are alleged members of the communist armed group New People’s Army (NPA), a senator said. “Apology is one thing, but taking action is another. If this goes unpunished, kung walang managot dito, posibleng mangyari lang ito uli (if no one is made accountable, it’s possible that this will happen again),” Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said in a statement on Monday. “Paulit-ulit na lang (It happens over and over again). Bad eggs should never be left unpunished,” he added, noting it was not the first time that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) published an unsubstantiated list. The AFP on Sunday evening released an apology over inconsistencies in the “List of Students who joined the NPA (Died or Captured),” which included mainly students from the University of the Philippines (UP). The article has been taken down and an investigation is underway to determine the personnel responsible. The AFP also said it is reviewing its procedures to prevent a repeat of the incident. Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said he is mulling on including a provision that will criminalize red-tagging in the draft committee report on the recent hearings regarding the issue. “We will have to ask the military to submit additional documents to validate reports on the personalities which they claimed during the committee hearings we conducted were killed, and if they were actually students of the universities mentioned,” he said in a statement. Mr. Lacson also recommended that given the military’s latest gaffe, the Department of National Defense (DND) should suspend the termination of its agreement with UP.

LAWYERS
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) also denounced the inclusion of three lawyers in the list and called on government institutions to establish clear policies against tagging people as communists. IBP President Domingo Egon Q. Cayosa said in a statement on Monday that “false and reckless publications, shortcuts, and questionable means destroy the very rights, public interests or principles that we all seek to protect.” The group categorically denied that lawyers Roan Libarios, Alexander Padilla, and Rafael Angelo Aquino are members of the communist group. “They are responsible and respected Filipino lawyers who serve well our country in various capacities and meaningfully contribute to nation-building,” Mr. Cayosa said. Mr. Libarios, a former IBP national president and chair of its 20th Board of Governors, was previously elected as vice governor and representative of Agusan del Norte. He was also a member of the government peace panel and the Consultative Committee on Charter Change. Mr. Padilla has likewise worked with the government as assistant secretary at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), among other positions in various agencies. Mr. Aquino, meanwhile, was a student leader from UP, a legal counsel of Rotary International District 3830, senior partner for a private law firm, and a volunteer lawyer at the Free Legal Assistance Group. — Charmaine A. Tadalan and Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Trade chief insists economy needs boost from consumer spending

TRADE Secretary Ramon M. Lopez asserted on Monday that lockdown restrictions needed to be eased to boost the economy through higher consumer spending. In a televised press briefing, Mr. Lopez said the government has found a “good mixture between opening the economy and following health protocols,” citing August-December data. The national task force on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response has approved a guideline that will allow minors as young as 10 years old to go to shopping malls in areas under the most relaxed lockdown level. “When families go out, they account for about 30% to 50% of the sales of restaurants or enterprises. They account for a big part of sales,” Mr. Lopez said. A health professional, on the other hand, said it is “beyond questionable” to allow children to go to shopping malls while physical classes are suspended. “It is against logic and dangerous to allow children and more people in general in malls. More risk of infections,” Leonard D. Javier, a member of Health Alliance for Democracy, told BusinessWorld via Facebook messenger. “What we need now is to reframe the pandemic response approach to a medical and public health perspective. We need to still catch up on testing quarantine and isolation,” he said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

House committee approves bill on freelancers’ rights

A HOUSE of Representatives committee approved on Monday a consolidated bill that will strengthen the rights and protection of freelance workers. The House committee on ways and means approved the still untitled measure and will be sending it to the plenary for deliberations. “The bill makes enforcement of the rights of the freelancers easier… it likewise provides civil penalties for those who violate the act,” said Pangasinan 4th District Rep. Christopher P. De Venecia, the bill’s sponsor. He noted that there are up to 1.5 million freelancers in the country who are at risk of getting exploited due to having no knowledge of their legal rights. Many fall victim to payment evasion by their clients, he added. The proposed law makes it mandatory to have a written contract between the freelancer and the client. Mr. De Venecia said this also benefits the contractor as the required services will be specified. — Gillian M. Cortez

Senator calls for DepEd probe on ‘ready-made’ research papers; House tackles shorter probationary period for teachers

THE Department of Education (DepEd) should investigate reports that teachers are buying off-the-shelf research papers to get a promotion, a senator said on Monday. DepEd “should immediately probe incidents of teachers allegedly buying ready-made action research papers for promotion or funding,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said in a statement. He said education agencies should come up with mechanisms that will vet research submitted by teachers. Mr. Gatchalian, who is chairman of the basic education panel, said the government should also introduce reforms that will lighten the workload of teachers to allow more time for research work. “Prior to the pandemic, they are already burdened with non-teaching tasks and the shift to distance learning proved overwhelming,” he said. He also pushed for Senate Bill No. 1887, the Teacher Education Council law, which intends to improve the quality of teacher education and training.

PROBATION
At the House of Representatives, private school and business sector representatives bucked the proposed measure that will shorten the probationary period for teaching personnel to a maximum of one year from the current three years. Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) Governor Antonio H. Abad, Jr. said existing guidelines and Supreme Court rulings provide that each private school “can set its own standards” when it comes to teacher tenure. “Because the quality of the school is dependent on the quality of the teacher and the quality of the teacher determines the quality of the students,” he said in a virtual hearing on Monday held by the House committee on labor and employment. On the agenda were House Bill 508 filed by ACT Teachers Part-List Rep. France L. Castro, and HB 2627, filed by Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza. Both bills seek to provide a probationary period for teachers in line with the Labor Code, which mandates up to six months before a worker should be regularized. “If the period is six months to one year for academic personnel, that would be alright because that follows the law. The law has long been violated… and there are too many policies… but our primary law is our Labor Code,” Ms. Castro said in Filipino during the hearing. The measures will still undergo further committee deliberation. — Charmaine A. Tadalan and Gillian M. Cortez

The need to protect flood-management infrastructure from floods

Eleven years ago in September 2009, Tropical Storm Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) plunged many parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) into waist- to rooftop-level floodwaters. The people of NCR, especially those in the cities of Pasig, Quezon, Manila, Caloocan, Muntinlupa, and Marikina lost their homes and livelihoods. Some, unfortunately, lost their lives. Cold, tired, hungry, and weak, some even had managed to climb the highest parts of their houses, waiting for the flood to cease.

Eleven years later, with the horror of Ondoy still in the consciousness of some, another typhoon struck the capital. Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco), again, brought the people of NCR to another horrendous, heart-stopping calamity.

“Déjà vu? It’s happening again.”

In Quezon City, Ulysses recorded a rainfall intensity of 150 millimeters of rain within a 24-hour period; Ondoy, on the other hand, dumped 411 millimeters within a nine-hour period. Considering this, Ulysses should have been less destructive than Ondoy. Or so we thought.

Despite the smaller total amount of rainfall dumped by Ulysses, we saw major flooding situations in many parts of NCR — especially in Marikina City.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) noted that the occurrence of three more storms before Ulysses contributed to the massive flooding: Typhoon Pepito (Saudel), Typhoon Quinta (Molave), and Super Typhoon Rolly (Goni).

PUMP OUT THE FLOOD
In the 1970s, water pumping stations were built as a solution for NCR’s flood problem. These stations work as a means for pumping out the water from the flooded areas to the river or any body of water. Without these pumping stations doing their jobs, we can be certain that the whole of NCR will be plunged underwater.

Currently, there are 64 pumping stations in the capital according to Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). Because they help the floodwater subside immediately, it is necessary that the pumping stations are working efficiently.

However, considering the extremity of flood problems, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the MMDA, with financial funding from the World Bank, have set up a plan that will improve NCR’s resilience to flooding.

This initiative gave birth to the Metro Manila Flood Management Project. Basically, one of the aims of this project is to improve the urban drainage system, modernize existing pumping stations and construct new ones. The project will modernize 36 existing pumping stations around NCR. It will also put up 20 new pumping stations. This is thought to be a very noble cause since a lot of the drainage pipes and pumping stations were built 50 years ago and need some serious renovation.

OH, THE IRONY!
Water pumping stations are supposed to manage flooding so it is so ironic when they are flooded. Flooding occurs when accumulated garbage clogs the drainage or the river overflows and drenches the stations.

Flooding can damage the mechanical and electrical components of the pumping stations. It can also cause corrosion and leakage. When a piece of equipment is damaged, it needs to be repaired. Repairing requires money to be spent. Repairing requires time to be spent.

Not only that, the problem escalates when another typhoon surfaces in the midst of repairing a pumping station destroyed by a preceding typhoon. What if a series of typhoons continuously batter the country in just a few months and we are in the middle of repairing a destroyed pumping station? Do you honestly think we can proceed with repairing?

IS MODERNIZING ENOUGH?
Given these, the question about the sustainability of water pumping situations is put into question. One may also ask if it is enough to just modernize them. Floodwater does not choose which pumping stations are “modernized” and which are not. Floodwater does not stop even at the most modern infrastructure. It just does what it usually does — flow toward us and inundate us.

Do you remember Hurricane Katrina that struck the United States in 2005? This Category 5 Atlantic Hurricane damaged a water system that consisted of 125 miles of pipes and 90 pumping stations. A study by Elizabeth Chilsom titled “Impact of Hurricanes and Flooding on Buried Infrastructure” spells the damage that flooding brought to the water system. According to the study, “Flooding exposed pipes to conditions such as subsidence, soil swelling, and the loss of bedding support through the infiltration of water… It took four days to repressurize the water system…”

If this can happen to a developed country, what are the chances of it happening to the Philippines? We cannot be left unguarded to what can happen in the next months and the next years. If Ulysses, which dumped less rain than Ondoy, can cause massive flooding, how sure are we that we will not be flooded by another “ordinary” typhoon? We cannot be sure of anything; we cannot let our guard down.

The Philippine government has done much with this initiative of improving the water pumping systems. However, we should always consider that these stations can also be prone to flooding. Flood-protecting the stations can save the government a lot of worry. It can focus on other matters like providing support to the residents stricken with flood. The government can also save a lot of money because there is no need for unnecessary repair.

BLOCK THE FLOOD
One effective solution for protecting infrastructure is the setting up of barriers. Flood barriers are structures that are put around a house, a property, a building, or a piece of equipment to stop floodwater from getting into it during heavy flooding caused by typhoons or intermittent rain.

Efforts to modernize the water pumping systems — thanks to the DPWH and MMDA, with the World Bank — are good, but they may not be enough. We have to protect the stations. We have to protect the equipment therein. There are many problems that cannot be easily solved by merely “modernizing.”

There is still the issue with garbage. There is still a problem with the river overflowing. There is still a concern about low-lying areas. Modernizing the water pumping stations, as I have mentioned, is a noble cause. But it is not enough.

What we need to do is protect these infrastructures with flood barriers. Only when we protect them can they also protect us against floods. And only when we are protected will we continue protecting our families and our properties. 

This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

 

Dr. Andreas Klippe is the Chair and President of Flood Control Asia RS Corp., Clark, Pampanga. He is responsible for all RS activities in Asia/Pacific, Chair of the North Luzon Chapter of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. He is a speaker, a writer, a German engineer, and a Philippine resident.

map@map.org.ph

a.klippe@floodcontrol.asia

http://map.org.ph

Collective action to combat food waste

THE LATEST Social Weather Stations survey conducted in November 2020 revealed a national hunger rate of 16%, equivalent to around 4 million families — an improvement from the 7.6 million families reported in the September 2020 survey. While this result shows that loosening quarantine restrictions and reopening the economy may have ameliorated hunger, it underscores the challenge we still face.

That there are families that experience hunger while tons of food go to waste each day is a painful irony that we must address. As I mentioned in my previous column, we have a significant food waste problem as we waste more than 900,000 metric tons of rice per year. According to the World Wildlife Fund–Philippines, an estimated 2,175 tons of food scraps in Metro Manila alone are thrown in the garbage every day. When the poorest of the poor are scrounging for recoverable food scraps in garbage bins, this level of waste is criminal.

(An example of food scraps being “recycled” and eaten — and, in some cases, sold — is pagpag. Pagpag is the term used for leftover food from restaurants scavenged from garbage sites and dumps. Pagpag literally means “to shake off,” and refers to the act of shaking off dirt from edible portions of restaurant leftovers. These are either eaten immediately after the scraps are found in the trash, or cooked in different ways after they are collected. The phenomena has been documented by news programs and clips are available on YouTube for those who wish to learn more.)

Food waste is inextricably tied to the problem of hunger; imagine the amount of food wasted that could have otherwise been used to feed hungry Filipinos. It is a problem we cannot and should not ignore — which is why efforts are being made to ensure that we minimize the amount of food waste that we produce.

One of the ways we are aiming to address the problem of food waste is by dovetailing the efforts of the private sector and that of the government; this is where a movement like Pilipinas Kontra Gutom (Philippines Against Hunger) comes in.

Pilipinas Kontra Gutom is a multi-sectoral initiative that addresses hunger on different fronts. We believe that a concerted and programmatic approach from the government, academe, non-profit groups, and corporations can help millions of hungry Filipinos and set the Philippines toward the path of food security.

Food waste is one of the initiative’s strategic pillars. Our country has a huge food surplus that can be repurposed for community kitchens, crisis assistance, or even composting.

MAKING STRIDES
Pilipinas Kontra Gutom — which invited multinational and local companies, as well as non-governmental organizations, to its private sector kick-off earlier this month — has formalized partnerships with more than 30 different groups, including NGOs, large corporations, and tech and media companies.

Seeing the existing efforts presented during the event made me feel confident about our direction and purpose. The Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the largest business-led social development foundation composed of more than 250 member companies, showed us their own initiative, The Hunger Project. This effort, done in partnership with the Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University, provides us with a view of the private sector’s capabilities with regard to an undertaking of this nature.

Crucial to PBSP’s The Hunger Project are its aims to consolidate all private sector initiatives, monitor the results and outcomes of multi-sectoral programs, and ensure the sustainability of the advocacy against hunger.

Another one of our partners, Rise Against Hunger, is making strides in answering the food waste problem. The global hunger relief organization is focused on food banking by tapping manufacturers, restaurants, hotels, farms, and even individual consumers to donate their food surplus to food banks. The excess supply, after quality testing, then goes to Rise Against Hunger’s food assistance partners such as schools, orphanages, and emergency shelters.

Rise Against Hunger accepts food donations in the form of canned or processed food that are near their expiration date, discontinued products, seasonal items, and production overruns, among many others. The structure that they have in place has already resulted in a social enterprise project with the Good Food Grocer, which operates a free grocery in poverty-stricken barangays, while also providing vital nutritional requirements to children, mothers, and senior citizens who are most in need.

JOINING HANDS
In the next few weeks, we will be holding a series of consultations bringing together the private sector and concerned government agencies so we may coordinate our efforts to address the problem of food waste, to provide support for farmers, and ultimately, to address hunger. We are eager to see what our current team and potential partners can do. We are all here and ready to work: lahat kasali, lahat kasalo.

For more information on Pilipinas Kontra Gutom and how companies or organizations can support its efforts, send an e-mail to pkg@ph.mcd.com.

 

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles is the Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger. Prior to his appointment to the cabinet in November 2018, the former House Appropriations Chair served three consecutive terms in the House of Representatives representing the first district of Davao City.

Subsidies and energy policies under Biden

There are many interesting energy stories recently. Below are some reports published by BusinessWorld in the past two weeks:

1. “Luzon power projects with supporting battery storage, financing estimated at 320 MW” (Jan. 12).

2. “Lawmaker asks Meralco to extend installment payment scheme” (Jan. 13).

3. “Sotto: No need for 3rd stimulus after extension of Bayanihan II” (Jan. 14).

4. “Household electrification rate hits 92.96% in Oct. — DoE” (Jan. 15).

5. “Extended ‘lifeline’ power subsidy for poor passes on 3rd reading in Senate” (Jan. 19).

6. “Priority sought for ‘stranded’ projects as DoE prepares auction for green energy” (Jan. 19).

7. “Meralco sees no impact from lifeline rate extension” (Jan. 20).

8. “ERC taps third-party to audit electric cooperatives” (Jan. 21).

9. “PSALM reduces debt by 9.5% by end-2020” (Jan. 21).

10. “No-disconnection policy extension urged for poor power consumers” (Jan. 22).

11. “DoE clears six firms to serve customers who opt for ‘green’ energy” (Jan. 22).

12. “Manila eyes more projects on clean energy under US President Biden” (Jan. 25).

Stories number 1 and 4 are related. As more intermittent, unreliable, unstable, weather-dependent sources like wind and solar are added to the grid, they will need more large batteries and backup fossil fuel plants which will raise energy costs via ancillary services and higher transmission charge. And even rural villages with electricity will not be assured of 24/7 power but suffer many hours of daily blackouts.

Stories number 2, 3, and 10 are related. Senators Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel and Sherwin T. Gatchalian are pushing for an indefinite no-disconnection policy by using populist but jaded arguments that Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and other distribution utilities (DUs) should extend staggered payment schemes because people “could not yet afford to settle their bills.”

Does this mean the “no-disconnection policy” should be as indefinite as the government lockdown/quarantine policy?

In particular, the extension of Republic Act (RA) No. 11494, or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan II), until June 2021 via RA No. 11519 — note this Section 4, sub-section (vv) of RA No. 11494:

“… the minimum 30-day-grace period and staggered payment… shall apply to all payments due within the period of the community quarantine (CQ) in the entire electric power value chain to include generation companies, the transmission utility, and distribution utilities.”

This is dangerously interventionist. A mandatory staggered payment policy — even just for areas under general community quarantine — means that gencos (power plants), transmission (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines), and distribution (DUs, electric cooperatives [ECs], and retail electricity suppliers [RES]) will not be paid on time.

Congress and the Energy Regulatory Commission should then order that other charges should also not be paid on time — universal charge by the National Power Corporation and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp.; feed-in tariff (FIT) by RE firms; local taxes by local government units; value-added tax and excise tax by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Stories number 5 and 7 are related, amending a portion of RA No. 9136 (the Electric Power Industry Reform Act [EPIRA] of 2001) so that “lifeline” customers or those consuming 100 kilowatt-hour (kWh) per month or less will get subsidy for the next 10 years until 2031. Not really good because not all low electricity consumers are poor.

Consider these three groups: (a) condo residents using more energy-efficient appliances and lights, (b) vacation homes of the rich, and (c) rich households with solar panels on their rooftops, which decrease their grid-connected electricity consumption.

What may stick as a separate issue perhaps is Meralco’s own subsidy scheme for customers using 101–400 kWh per month. Meralco’s distribution charge for residential customers with monthly usage range are as follows: 1–100 kWh (lifeline customers), P1.00/kWh; 101–200 kWh also P1.00/kWh; 201–300 kWh, P1.318/kWh; 301–400 kWh, P1.618/kWh; 401 and higher kWh, P2.1387/kWh.

I hope that Meralco will later reconsider this subsidy for those in the 101–400 kWh per month category because they are subsidized by residents in the 401+ kWh per month category. On the other hand, I understand that they are under constant heavy mortar attacks from left-leaning legislators and NGOs like Bayan Muna, or occasional pressure from populist legislators like Sens. Hontiveros and Gatchalian. So Meralco devises ways to further reduce price pressure on low- and middle-income households.

Stories number 6 and 11 are related, since they are both about the green energy option program (GEOP) under RA No. 9513 (Renewable Energy Act of 2008). This is a voluntary and market-based mechanism that allows consumers with at least 100 kilowatts (kW) per month usage to get renewable energy only from certain retail energy suppliers. We should have more GEOP and no mandatory subsidies via FIT and renewable portfolio standards (RPS).

People should walk their talk. If they support renewable energy only and despise fossil fuels, then GEOP is for them. The rest of the population should not be coerced to subsidize expensive, intermittent, and unreliable wind and solar energy.

Stories number 8 and 9 are somehow related. ECs should not be coddled and regulated by the government via the National Electrification Administration. They should be corporatized and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. We even have many one-person corporations and yet ECs with hundreds or thousands of personnel are not corporatized.

The PSALM, under the EPIRA, should vaporize as all government power plants should be privatized to have more gencos competition. But 19 years after the EPIRA, PSALM appears to be a forever government agency. It holds financial obligations of P381.9 billion in 2020, a bit lower than P422.0 billion in 2019.

Story number 14 is about US President Joe Biden’s climate and energy policies, a form of virtue signaling that may influence many countries, including the Philippines. Before we fall further into the climate alarmism and expensive energy trap, consider this fact: Countries with fast GDP (gross domestic product) growth have small wind-solar generation and countries with low, anemic growth have high wind-solar generation, suffering from high energy prices.

From the top 40 largest economies in terms of GDP size, here are the growth frontrunners and laggards. Data from the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) and BP Statistical Review of World Energy (SRWE). Electricity generation in terawatt-hours (TWH).

Legislating staggered energy payments and an indefinite no-disconnection policy (along with an indefinite lockdown policy) are wrong. Even tomatoes and onions in public markets are paid for in cash, not in delayed or staggered payments. Why should the government push installments for a very important service like electricity?

When the government forces businesses to carry the obligations of individuals without concern for the day of reckoning, when all these bills pile up and the customers cannot pay, the government is courting the risk of household and corporate default.

 

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Storm damage worsens in a warming world

BARCELONA — More powerful storms are battering people and economies harder, with the poor suffering the worst losses, an annual climate risk index showed, as leaders were urged to ramp up their response to climate change impacts at a global adaptation summit on Monday.

The index for 2019, from research group Germanwatch, showed that Mozambique and Zimbabwe were the two countries hardest-hit by extreme weather. Both were struck by Idai, the deadliest and costliest cyclone recorded in the southwest Indian Ocean.

Just this weekend, central Mozambique was hammered again by another tropical storm, Eloise, which wrecked thousands of buildings, ruined crops and displaced almost 7,000 people.

Storms and their effects — strong winds, heavy rainfall, floods and landslides — were the major cause of extreme weather damage in 2019, Germanwatch said. Of the 10 most-affected countries, six were pounded by tropical cyclones.

The Caribbean island nation of the Bahamas was the third worst-hit, due to devastation from Hurricane Dorian.

The United States was not included in the 2019 index due to data problems.

Recent research suggests the severity and the number of strong tropical cyclones will increase with every tenth of a degree in global average temperature rise, Germanwatch said.

In 2020 — one of the three hottest years on record — the global average temperature was about 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

David Eckstein, a Germanwatch policy advisor, said the climate risk index showed poor, vulnerable countries face particularly large challenges in dealing with the consequences of extreme weather events.

“They urgently need financial and technical assistance,” he said, noting they had yet to receive the full $100 billion a year in climate funding promised by wealthy countries.

Richer nations agreed to build up to providing that sum each year, starting in 2020, to help poorer countries adopt cleaner energy systems and adapt to the impacts of planetary warming.

Of the nearly $80 billion raised in 2018, the latest figures available, only about 20% was allocated for adaptation, despite repeated calls for that share to be raised to half.

The climate adaptation summit starting Monday “must address these problems,” Mr. Eckstein added.

Research out last week from international aid agency CARE suggested the actual amount of donor money going to adaptation could be even lower than reported.

Working with other organizations, CARE assessed 112 projects in Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Nepal and Vietnam, representing 13% of total global adaptation finance between 2013 and 2017.

It found 42% of the money was spent on activities that did little to help communities build resilience to climate change, including a “friendship bridge” and an expressway in Vietnam and a post-earthquake housing reconstruction project in Nepal.

Report author John Nordbo from CARE Denmark said rich nations had not only failed to deliver enough adaptation finance, but had also tried to give the impression they are providing more than they do.

“This injustice must be corrected, and a clear plan must be presented to show how they intend to live up to their commitments with real money — and no reporting tricks,” he added in a statement.

FORECAST-BASED ACTION
Ahead of Monday’s summit, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) announced plans to at least double the size of a fund which it uses to support communities before climate disasters hit, to reduce losses.

IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said expanding the fund was part of a broader effort by the Red Cross to respond to an increasing case-load of emergencies caused by climate change.

The IFRC aims to grow the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund, now at 30 million Swiss francs ($34 million) a year, to 60 million a year in 2021 and 100 million by 2025.

In the past 30 years, Mr. Chapagain noted, the average number of climate and weather-related disasters per decade has increased nearly 35%. They accounted for 83% of all disasters in the past decade alone, killing 410,000 people and affecting 1.7 billion.

The IFRC’s new loss-prevention approach, now gaining ground among donors and aid agencies, is known as “forecast-based action” because it is triggered by weather predictions.

Under the approach, money is made available to people imminently at risk from a coming weather threat, to help them move their families, livestock and goods to safety or otherwise take measures to protect them, as well as recover afterwards.

The Red Cross used it six times in 2020 to protect at-risk communities in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Mongolia and Mozambique, through measures such as early evacuation or reinforcing homes.

“By doing this, we are definitely saving lives,” Mr. Chapagain told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The Red Cross now aims to scale up forecast-based action in partnership with local governments, he added.

As climate threats accelerate, the Red Cross head urged vulnerable countries to implement laws that improve how they manage disasters, and put in place systems to provide early warning, evacuate people and reduce losses from extreme weather. Mr. Chapagain urged leaders at the summit, hosted by the Netherlands, to acknowledge the need to take urgent steps to help communities cope with global warming impacts, while ramping up efforts to cut planet-heating emissions at the same time.

“If we don’t adapt now, it is just going to be much, much worse,” he said. — Thomson Reuters Foundation

US to escalate tracking of COVID variants as confirmed cases top 25M

WASHINGTON — The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is stepping up efforts to track coronavirus mutations and keep vaccines and treatments effective against new variants until collective immunity is reached, the agency’s chief said on Sunday.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky spoke about the rapidly evolving virus during a Fox News Sunday interview as the number of Americans known to be infected surpassed 25 million, with more than 417,000 dead, just over a year after the first US case was documented.

Ms. Walensky, who took over as CDC director the day President Joe Biden was sworn in, also said the greatest immediate culprit for sluggish vaccine distribution was a supply crunch worsened by inventory confusion inherited from the Trump administration. “The fact that we don’t know today, five days into this administration, and weeks into planning, how much vaccine we have just gives you a sense of the challenges we’ve been left with,” she told Fox News Sunday.

Mr. Biden’s transition team was largely excluded from the vaccine rollout deliberations for weeks after his election, as then President Donald Trump refused to concede defeat and permit access to information his successor needed to prepare to govern.

In a separate interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Ron Klain, Mr. Biden’s chief of staff, said a plan for distributing the vaccine, particularly beyond nursing homes and hospitals, “did not really exist when we came into the White House.”

Ms. Walensky said she was confident the government would soon resolve supply questions, and go on to dramatically expand vaccine production and distribution by late March.

Uncertainty over immediate supplies, however, will hinder efforts at the state and local levels to plan ahead for how many vaccination sites, personnel and appointments to set up in the meantime, exacerbating short-term shortages, she added.

RACE AGAINST VARIANTS
Vaccination has become ever more urgent with the recent emergence of several coronavirus variants believed to be more transmissible, and in the case of one strain first detected in Britain, possibly more lethal.

“We are now scaling up both our surveillance of these and our study of these,” Ms. Walensky said, adding that the CDC was collaborating with the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and even the Pentagon.

The object, she said, was to monitor “the impact of these variants on vaccines, as well as on our therapeutics,” as the virus continues to mutate while it spreads.

Until vaccines can provide “herd” immunity in the population, mask-wearing and social distancing remain vital to “decrease the amount of virus that is circulating, and therefore, decrease the amount of variants,” Ms. Walensky added.

Although British officials on Friday warned that the so-called UK variant of the coronavirus, already detected in at least 20 US states, was associated with a higher level of mortality, scientists have said existing vaccines still appeared to be effective against it.

They worry, however, that a more contagious South African variant may reduce the efficacy of current vaccines and shows resistance to three antibody treatments developed for patients.

Similarities between the South African variant and another identified in Brazil suggest the Brazilian variety may likewise resist antibody treatment. “We’re in a race against these variants,” said Vivek Murthy, nominated by Mr. Biden to become the next US surgeon general, on ABC’s This Week program on Sunday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, said in late December he was optimistic the United States could achieve enough collective immunity to regain “some semblance of normality” by the fall of 2021.

But Mr. Murthy said getting to herd immunity before a new school year begins in September was “an ambitious goal.” Nevertheless, Mr. Murthy suggested the government may exceed Mr. Biden’s objective of 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days of his presidency, telling ABC News, “That’s a floor; it’s not a ceiling.”

Mr. Fauci, appearing separately on CBS News’ Face the Nation, said the 100-million goal includes those who may have received both injections of the two-dose vaccines and those who only got the first.

About 21.8 million Americans, or about 6.5% of the population, have received at least one dose of vaccine to date, of the 41.4 million doses shipped, CDC data showed on Sunday. — Reuters

Australia says ‘inevitable’ Google will have to pay for news

AUSTRALIA’S Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said it’s “inevitable” that Google and other tech behemoths will have to eventually pay for using media content, responding to the internet giant’s threat to disable its search engine in the country if it’s forced to pay local publishers for news.

Google said Friday that a proposed law, intended to compensate publishers for the value their stories generate for the company, is “unworkable,” opposing the requirement it pay media companies for displaying snippets of articles in search results.

As Google escalates a months-long standoff with the government, Mr. Frydenberg said Australia could either be a “world leader” in pushing for the code or wait to follow others in passing similar legislation.

“It seems that digital giants did themselves a big disservice last week when they very openly and publicly threatened the Australian public with pulling out of Australia effectively with search if the legislation proceeds as it currently stands,” Mr. Frydenberg said.

The threat is Google’s most potent yet as the digital giant tries to stem a flow of regulatory action worldwide, but such a radical step would hand an entire developed market to rivals. At least 94% of online searches in Australia go through the Alphabet, Inc. unit, according to the local competition regulator.

Still, Google’s market share puts the company in a position to boost revenue in other businesses to make up for higher costs.

“The company’s product lead in search over rivals such as Yahoo, Microsoft’s Bing and DuckDuckGo makes it unlikely that advertisers and publishers could move to competitor platforms for driving referral traffic in the near- to medium-term,” according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Matthew Martino. “The company could offset this by raising ad prices and by lowering traffic acquisition costs paid to mobile network carriers.”

Facebook, Inc., the only other company targeted by the legislation, also opposes the law in Australia. The social media platform reiterated at Friday’s hearing it’s considering blocking Australians from sharing news on Facebook if the law is pushed through.

Mr. Frydenberg also accused the tech giants of shifting the goalposts when it came to expressing their resistance to the code, after they first rejected a final arbitration model, to now opposing the idea of paying for any clicks displayed under the search results.

“If the clicks for media content is such a small proportion of their overall clicks on their search, then ultimately, the independent arbiters will find that it should reflect that payment for content — reflecting the benefit to Google, to Facebook from having that media content on their sites,” he said.

The legislation is designed to support a local media industry, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., that has struggled to adapt to the digital economy. Google’s tougher stance drew rebukes from lawmakers at the hearing, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying Friday that “we don’t respond to threats.”

“It’s about control and power,” said Johan Lidberg, an associate professor at Melbourne’s Monash University who specializes in media and journalism. “They’re signaling to other regulators they’ll have a fight on their hands if they do this.” — Bloomberg

Chiefs’ Mahomes and Bucs’ Brady set for 55th Super Bowl

THE Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have something going for them no other team has had in 54 previous Super Bowls, home field advantage when they take on defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League (NFL) championship game on Feb. 7.

Long before quarterback Tom Brady chose this season to leave the New England Patriots for the Buccaneers, Tampa Bay had been selected as host city for Super Bowl LV, but the future Hall of Famer ensured he would own another line in the history books after leading his team to a 31-26 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in the NFC title game.

“We’re coming home, and we’re coming home to win,” said Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians, as Tampa becomes the first team to host and play in a Super Bowl.

The Buccaneers return to the Super Bowl for the first time since winning the Lombardi trophy in 2003, while Brady will be making his 10th appearance in the championship game seeking a seventh ring.

Kansas City earned their second straight trip to the Super Bowl with a dominating 38-24 win over the Buffalo Bills, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, showing no lingering affects from the concussion that knocked out of last week’s divisional playoff contest, tossing three touchdowns.

Home field, however, will not be quite the advantage it might have been for the Buccaneers with COVID-19 restrictions limiting attendance at the 65,000 capacity of Raymond James stadium to 22,000.

Also, the Buccaneers have proven to be the ultimate road warriors this postseason, winning three away contests starting with a 31-23 wild card victory over the Washington Football Team followed by a 30-20 win over the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round and Sunday’s decision over the Packers at Lambeau Field.

“To go on the road and win another road playoff game is just a great achievement and now, a home Super Bowl for the first time in NFL history, I think puts a lot of cool things in perspective,” said Brady. “Anytime, you are the first time doing something it is usually a pretty good thing.”

In contrast, the Chiefs will head out on the road for the first time this postseason after a first round bye and then eliminating the Cleveland Browns (22-17) and the Bills at Arrowhead stadium.

The Super Bowl will also be a showdown of generational quarterbacks and most valuable players who have led their teams to the last two Super Bowl titles.

Mahomes, league MVP in 2018, led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl last season while Brady, the 2017 MVP, took the Patriots to the title in 2019. — Reuters

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