Quick rollout, quicker Delta variant

August 5, 2021 | 7:13 pm

There’s a new game in town. This is going beyond what every country normally aims to tame the coronavirus pandemic. Bloomberg reported the other day that Indonesia ditched herd immunity as whole-of-nation goal. The pandemic continues to surge and circulate “even if everyone in the country gets immunized.”

Indonesia realized that herd immunity at 70% of its population is not robust enough to control the rapid spread of the virus and its new variants. Its target now is to reduce the virus’ reproduction rate to 0.9 by October to trigger the drop in the overall number of infections. Indonesia’s vaccination record is quite good. It administers 2.5 million vaccines per day and given its large population, 8% of its people have already been fully jabbed.

In addition, vaccination has to be supported by regular health protocols on the ground including mask mandates and mobility restrictions.

This problem is not unique to Indonesia.

Many countries are faced with a similar problem. In the case of the US, the estimate is that the herd immunity benchmark has to be upped to 90% to achieve broad protection. This is the new proportion of the US population that should constitute herd immunity rather than the old 70%. This new benchmark has its own built-in sensitivities due to various risks and uncertainty including breakthrough infections, and new and more potent variants. Vaccine hesitancy is no doubt a great handicap, thanks to purveyors of unproven approaches and conspiracy theories.

For Indonesia, herd immunity should be around, believe it or not, 154% if using Sinovac or 128% if Pfizer. Bloomberg calls it “an impossibility.” Herd immunity is possible only at this incredibly high proportion of its population because based on Indonesia’s modelling, Delta’s reproduction rate is 6.5 or for every 10 infected people, some 65 others could in turn be infected.

This continuing upsurge is also felt in Israel, one of the fastest in making it to the old benchmark of herd immunity. Two days ago, it had to reimpose public health measures as new cases hit a high of 4,000 daily. Only vaccinated people are allowed to attend indoor gatherings of 100 people or more and face masks are required again. Traveling into Israel would also require both vaccinated and unvaccinated to complete a two-week quarantine starting next week.

China is also struggling with the Delta variant. A success story in curbing the original virus, China has already decided to lock down key cities, preventing inter-city travels and people from leaving their homes. Aggressive testing is in full swing. Delta has spread to 15 out of 31 provinces and autonomous regions of China. The country’s “containment-based” strategy is now challenged because it could be costly in the long run and Sino vaccines are now claimed to be less effective against the Delta variant.

This new game in town changes the whole dynamics of pandemic management in the Philippines, and the prognosis of economic growth.

First, we might have to target a higher standard of herd immunity. This means we need to inoculate perhaps 10 million more than the old target of 70 million. As of Aug. 3, we were told that we had given one dose to around 12.1 million people and two doses to 9.8 million people at the rate of 700,000 per day. This is less than tenth of our people. Doing the math tells us we need around six months to administer enough doses. This means we can deliver mass protection only by around January 2022, unless the pace gathers more speed.

As the Delta variant stalks the land and more mutations evolve, our health authorities should advise us whether we should go for another 10 million more vaccinations given the increasing reproduction rate of the virus. Needless to say, we need money to keep the vaccines coming in for sustained administration. Any slippage could reduce the daily rate and the number of people to be vaccinated. We might find ourselves farther away from our indicative target of January 2022.

Second, we need good specific direction from the health authorities as to what kind of additional supportive measures we should be doing — keeping our masks and shields on, restricting our mobility, prohibiting large gathering, and lengthening the curfew hours. If people don’t want to get the jab, they must have the swab. Indonesia’s experience is very telling. Even 100% vaccination may not be enough. A third dose, or a booster is crucial to gain more effective protection.

Third, our health authorities should immediately transcend their slow-burn standard but absolutely necessary prevent-detect-isolate-treat-reintegrate strategies. But it is most disappointing to read the recent news the other day quoting the Contact Tracing Czar, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, announcing that “all COVID-19 data in the Philippines, including vaccination records and contact tracing information all over the country, will be collected and analyzed by a national digital warehouse to make decision-making more efficient amid the threat of the more transmissible Delta variant.”

As we wrote in another column, a digital data warehouse on the pandemic is to be launched after a year and a half into the pandemic?

We need something more than intent, we need to see a fast and furious response to the pandemic. A sense of utmost urgency is healthy. True to its name, the Delta variant is no joke; it could spell change, not for better, but for worse.

Which is why not too long ago, we raised some reservations against the decision of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) to keep its current growth targets of 6-7% for 2021 and 7-9% for 2022 which are premised on “gradual and safe” reopening of the economy, more widespread rollout of the vaccines, and expansion of health capacity on the health side; and infrastructure on the domestic demand side.

The Delta factor is obviously the elephant in the room. Our weak pandemic mitigation system could blindside us to believe that it does not exist. If our monitoring system is far from robust, we are not surprised even our own health authorities continue to maintain that Delta community transmission is yet to be detected. It is good that even this late, we have decided to go into the much-dreaded ECQ (the strictest level of quarantine) to help break the cycle. We are also encouraged that we are increasing the rate of vaccine rollout. But a potential handicap is vaccine hesitancy which could thwart a more pervasive reach of the vaccines. How we respond to the Delta factor is our glass ceiling.

Our growth assumption is therefore too optimistic. It did not seem to factor in the amazing speed of Delta transmission. With the new and higher standard of herd immunity, the original target of inoculation and its cost would have to be recast. Our own Department of Agriculture was the first to realize the need to lower its own forecast from 2.5 to 2% for the industry due to health challenges. International and regional financial institutions have downgraded their growth forecasts for the Philippines, ostensibly driven by our weak pandemic response and its economic and social scars. Credit rating agencies have raised doubt whether we could keep our growth projections. One of them brought down our outlook from stable to negative.

We cannot agree more with Central Bank Governor Ben Diokno who admitted yesterday in his press statement that “…the country’s road to recovery will not be easy.”

An Olympic race has now begun between the Delta variant which is firing on all cylinders and on override, and our souped-up vaccine rollout.

Diwa C. Guinigundo is the former Deputy Governor for the Monetary and Economics Sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He served the BSP for 41 years. In 2001-2003, he was Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. He is the senior pastor of the Fullness of Christ International Ministries in Mandaluyong.

Manufacturing consent

August 5, 2021 | 7:13 pm

One journalist did say that President Rodrigo Duterte compounded the “lie” about the reason behind the shutdown of the operations of ABS-CBN’s free TV and radio services. But she did not outrightly call him a liar, and neither did the others.

As Mr. Duterte was delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 26, PhilStar.com, online news site Rappler, and Facebook fact-checker Vera Files were tweeting in real time what were false in his statements, with the latter reminding its audience that he had made the same claims earlier and had been proven wrong several times.

Among other corrections, they pointed out that despite Mr. Duterte’s claim that the nightmarish problems of commuting to and from work or school within the National Capital Region and surrounding areas had passed, the truth is that there is not enough public transport available because of the on-again, off-again pandemic lockdowns. Despite his alleging the contrary, getting information such as Mr. Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) from agencies of the executive branch of government is still as problematic as ever despite his executive order that supposedly makes ease of access to government-held information a matter of policy. Among other problems, the Office of the Ombudsman has imposed limits on the media and the public’s right to access the SALNs of executive officials.

After his two-hour and 45-minute SONA, ABS-CBN network, CNN Philippines, and Manila Bulletin online also fact-checked his speech and took issue with his version of his administration’s pandemic response and his allegation that he had dismissed the Bureau of Immigration officials involved in the 2020 “pastillas” scheme in which travelers from China, who were then banned from entering the country, were allowed into it upon payment of a P10,000 bribe.

Mr. Duterte’s claims quite simply fly in the face of reality. The country is still under severe threat from COVID-19 and its variants because, among other reasons, there are not enough vaccines for the 70 million Filipinos who have to be inoculated to achieve herd immunity. Neither is it true that those accused of devising the “pastillas” extortion scheme had been fired; instead many are back in their jobs.

In a separate article on July 27, Rappler’s Vernise Tentuco also noted how Mr. Duterte “amplified the lie” that ABS-CBN was denied the renewal of its franchise last year because it had tax liabilities.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) certified in 2020 that the network had not been remiss in paying government the required taxes. The House of Representatives committee on franchises was looking for any excuse to deny ABS-CBN a new franchise; tax evasion was just one of them. Their real reason for the shutdown was Mr. Duterte and his congressional cohorts’ displeasure with the way the network had been reporting such issues as the extrajudicial killings that characterize the regime’s brutal “war on drugs,” and China’s driving Filipino fisherfolk away from, and occupying, the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea.

None of these media organizations challenged the veracity of Mr. Duterte’s claim that, thanks to his so-called “war on drugs,” parents and their children are now safer at night in the mean streets of Philippine cities. The possibility of arbitrary arrest, harassment, or even murder by the police has, after all, been added to fears of being held up, raped, robbed or killed by criminals, even as the drug problem persists.

Neither did they point out that the extrajudicial killing of suspected drug users and pushers has widowed thousands of wives and orphaned thousands more children who, denied the care of their husbands, fathers, and breadwinners face uncertain and bleak futures.

Despite those lapses, the fact-checking the above media groups and practitioners are doing can mitigate the rampant disinformation and misinformation on governance issues among much of the population. It is especially useful in helping voters realize that every administration with an eye on the next elections makes it a point to make itself appear worthy of remaining in power by, among other means, toying with the facts, and the Duterte regime is no exception.

All governments lie, but some need to do it more than others. The Duterte regime’s egregious failures in governance put it in the latter category. It also has to play fast and loose with the facts because of what Mr. Duterte himself has declared is the imperative of his and his clique’s remaining in power so he can, he believes, retain his immunity from suit.

The regime’s keyboard army of trolls and the government media system it controls, together with some of its highest officials’ disdain for the facts, are the principal means through which it spreads its version of events and issues. But what makes their efforts so rewarding is mass ignorance of the governance and political issues that has long been a hindrance to the realization of this country’s democratic pretensions by making the election of false and incompetent leaders inevitable.

Not that mass ignorance does not afflict older, supposedly more “democratic” societies. In 1922, the American journalist Walter Lippmann argued in his book Public Opinion that the world is far too complex for the mass of the populace to understand to enable them to craft the policies that will address society’s problems. A number of scholars, researchers and academics have since arrived at the same conclusion. Some have concluded that that reality makes democracy a farce and not necessarily the best form of government, and have even suggested that only those sufficiently informed on public issues should be allowed to vote.

Nearly a hundred years later and despite this stage in human history’s supposedly being the information age, the same phenomenon persists not only in the poor and underdeveloped countries of the world, but also in the most “advanced” such as the United States, where electing someone like Donald Trump president is possible because of mass ignorance of the needs of society and the means of addressing them.

Lippmann’s “solution” was for those knowledgeable in governance and politics and in social, economic and other issues— “specialists” — to craft the appropriate policies and to propose them to the government, which will then convince the majority to approve them through the media, the educational system and other institutions: to “manufacture” the consent of the governed.

“Manufacturing consent” is a form of manipulation. It empowers a fallible few, and keeps the mass of the populace as ignorant as ever of even the same issues and the policies they are being made to approve.

The democratic solution is to make accurate and relevant information available to as many people as possible through the same institutions as well as through sectoral, mass, and non-government organizations (NGOs).

This is admittedly easier said than done. Both the educational and media systems have problems that in many instances detract rather than add to the sum of public knowledge. Most NGOs are able to reach only a relatively few people. But at least some NGOs and mass organizations, and some sectors of the media and their more responsible practitioners, are doing what they can to combat disinformation and to educate the populace on such issues as the need for the competent and honest leadership that can lift this country out of the pit of poverty and despair and bring it into the ranks of the prosperous, developed and independent nations of the world.

Luis V. Teodoro is on Facebook and Twitter (@luisteodoro).

www.luisteodoro.com

Forcing people to be vaccinated is illegal and wrong

August 5, 2021 | 7:12 pm

Mandatory vaccination is unconstitutional. And any citizen has the right to sue the government (or a private establishment, e.g., businesses or schools) for any act or measure forcing them to be vaccinated or which restricts or discriminates against their constitutional rights because of their decision not to be vaccinated.

CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES
At the outset, mandatory vaccination (and measures related thereto) is defined here as compelling every citizen to be vaccinated against the coronavirus subject to imprisonment and/or heavy fine, including broad loss of rights, employment, travel or access to any establishment, education, or benefits provided by law, regardless of whether such compulsion is done by the government or private sector.

In any event, there are two principles worth mentioning here and both are fundamental under our constitutional system: subsidiarity (by which the most basic political entity — the individual — has primary responsibility to decide on issues) and the common good (“a set of conditions which enables the members of a community to attain for themselves reasonable objectives, or to realize reasonably for themselves the value[s], for the sake of which they have reason to collaborate with each other [positively and/or negatively] in a community” — from John Finnis, underscoring provided) provides for individual liberty and responsibility as the default when confronting societal issues.

A third are the inherent rights found in the Bill of Rights, particularly with regard to due process (both procedural and substantive) and equal protection. There are also issues relating to religious freedom, academic freedom, and contractual rights but such will not be discussed particularly here.

All the foregoing concepts found their way into the Constitution and are essentially manifestations of natural law.

POLICE POWER
Such may serve as exception to the foregoing but only if such measures have a lawful subject and lawful means. As for the latter, the Supreme Court described such as “means employed [that] are reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of the purpose and not unduly oppressive on individuals.” Such must also not violate the Constitution, i.e., must not violate due process and equal protection.

The primary branch of government that can issue police powers is the legislative branch. The Congress has not made any law providing for mandatory vaccination. The Executive can exercise it but by way of legislative delegation. Congress has not made a delegation regarding mandatory vaccination. The misnamed “Mandatory Infants and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011” (RA 10152) does not force people to be vaccinated and contains no penalty for those refusing to be vaccinated.

LAWFUL MEANS AND THE BURDEN OF PROOF
The burden of proving that mandatory vaccination is constitutional falls on those proposing the measure.

Thus, they must prove that such is “reasonably necessary” and “not unduly oppressive on individuals.” The facts that are available to us now however indicate that mandatory vaccination measures contemplated categorically fail on both counts.

Data — both locally and abroad — from 2020 to present have been consistent: healthy younger people are not seriously affected by the coronavirus and that such a virus seriously affects those 60 years old and above (as well as those with co-morbidities).

In the Philippines, 62-65% of deaths come from the 60 years old and onwards (constituting 7% of the population). Those of the 0- to 29-year-old age group (which comprise more than 53% of the population) constitute 5% of overall deaths. For anyone 0- to 29-years of age, if one focuses on the recoveries and deaths within that age range: the mortality rate is 0.3-0.5%. Take away those with co-morbidities, then the COVID-19 death rate for the 0-29 age group is practically zero.

More children die daily from malnutrition. More youths die from suicide, which saw a 26% increase in 2020.

No studies have been made showing the COVID-19 vaccine is proven safe from long-term effects. Which is natural for a drug that didn’t even exist a few months ago.

Effectiveness must also be addressed: despite the years, flu vaccines have been shown to be merely 50-60% effective, tuberculosis (which is more transmissible than COVID-19) perhaps 80%. Both the flu/pneumonia and tuberculosis have killed much more Filipinos than COVID-19 in 2020 (see PSA official data).

Finally, note that even vaccine supporters argue that it’s significance lies not really in blocking transmission of the virus but as protection against the severe effects thereof, which effectively precludes the argument that vaccinating the young would serve as protection for the elderly or those with co-morbidities.

EQUAL PROTECTION
Which leads also to the question of equal protection, where those within the same category must be treated equally.

If official government data has shown that TB and flu/pneumonia have killed more people consistently (including 2020 when COVID-19 showed up) then why was mandatory vaccination not made considering that the vaccines for those two diseases have a more proven and examinable record? Incidentally, dengue is perhaps more lethal to young people and yet schools were not closed despite that as is the case for COVID-19 (which, as facts show, generally do not seriously affect healthy young people).

Why has mandatory vaccination not ever been made at all? The Philippines has never done it, despite more lethal epidemics that it faced in the past. The US has not. Caution must be made on relying on the US Supreme Court case of Jacobsen v. Massachusetts. The questioned measure was not actually mandatory (as defined above): an individual can refuse to be vaccinated by simply paying a $5 fine.

Furthermore, Jacobsen involved smallpox — a disease with a case fatality rate of 30%. Smallpox alone killed 500 million people in the last 100 years. This despite there being a vaccine (invented in 1796). Incidentally, the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu pandemic killed 50 million worldwide and had a fatality rate of 2.5%. COVID-19 is being shown to have a case fatality rate (CFR) from between 0.1% and 2% (Philippine CFR hovers around 1.5%).

There is, admittedly, the case of Zucht v. King, where the US Supreme Court allowed the barring of a high school girl from attending public school. Nevertheless, this must again be used with caution and for five reasons.

First, again it involved the far more lethal smallpox virus. Secondly, the US Supreme Court merely referred to the ruling in Jacobsen, which in turn merely referred to a “reasonableness test,” i.e., it must be proven that there is a substantial connection between the law or measure and the purpose that it supposedly seeks to reach. Thirdly, Zucht the petitioner failed to raise issues of equal protection and so the Supreme Court did not consider that angle. Finally, there is last year’s case of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, which cautioned against using the previous two mentioned rulings to apply to every pandemic measure. “Jacobson hardly supports cutting the Constitution loose during a pandemic,” pointed out Justice Neil Gorsuch. “That decision involved an entirely different mode of analysis, an entirely different right, and an entirely different kind of restriction.”

Incidentally, Buck v. Bell is another cautionary tale against the over-reliance on Jacobsen: that case involved the involuntary sterilization of “feeble-minded” individuals, using the very reasoning found in Jacobsen: “The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes (Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 US 11). Three generations of imbeciles are enough,” so argued Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

It must be emphasized that equal protection does not only mean that those within equal categories be treated similarly. Conversely, those of different categories should be treated differently.

The point is that, with all that we know now about COVID-19, it would simply be unreasonable and discriminatory to impose mandatory vaccination on an otherwise healthy and significant portion of the population, when the minority that is truly affected by the coronavirus has been identified. Indeed, precisely because that minority has been identified, the government should now be enabled with greater probability to apply less intrusive means to serve public health purposes that will not violate civil liberties.

INTERNATIONAL LAW DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR MANDATORY VACCINATION
Finally, note that in the case of Solomakhin v. Ukraine, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) pointed out that mandatory vaccination violates a person’s right to integrity (protected under ECHR Article 8).

Media seemingly did make it appear that the ECHR was open to the idea of mandatory vaccination in the recent case of Vavřička v. Czech Republic. But there were considerable caveats ignored. The case involved vaccination for young children, (unlike that of COVID-19 vaccines, which, as of today, are currently said to be safe only for adults) Vavřička — like Jacobsen — was also not an “enforced” vaccination: parents refusing to have their children vaccinated merely faced a fine and their children disallowed from attending school (but disallowed from pre-schooling level only; also shades of Zucht here). The Czech measure did not physically enforce vaccination or involve mandatory vaccination as defined here.

Equally importantly, as the ECHR itself pointed out, vaccination is essentially an empirical question and thus context is important. Proportionality and equal treatment (particularly if penalizing those unvaccinated will result in loss of civil rights, especially for minorities and underprivileged) must also always be considered. In fact, the ECHR even pointed out most other European countries did not resort to mandatory vaccination.

— IN FINE —
No law (whether here in the Philippines or relevant other jurisdictions), no jurisprudence (whether in the Philippines or under international law), and — most importantly — the underlying societal and constitutional principles our country adheres to, provides for or categorically gives specific authorization for mandatory vaccination as defined here.

To be clear, mandatory vaccination per se is not constitutionally or philosophically anathema. But to be permissible, they will have to pass tests of reason, facts, and the Constitution. And the burden of proving that, of passing those tests, lie with those pushing for mandatory vaccination.

Jemy Gatdula is a Senior Fellow of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations and a Philippine Judicial Academy law lecturer for constitutional philosophy and jurisprudence.

https://www.facebook.com/jigatdula/

Twitter @jemygatdula

Flyweight boxer Carlo Paalam marches to gold medal match

August 5, 2021 | 6:59 pm

1 of 2

Marcial edged out in close semis fight, set to get bronze

FILIPINO boxers Carlo Paalam and Eumir Felix D. Marcial ended up in different poles in semifinal boxing action in the Tokyo Games on Thursday.

Flyweight Mr. Paalam booked a spot in the gold medal match after defeating hometown bet Ryomei Tanaka by unanimous decision while middleweight Marcial lost to Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine by split decision in a close fight in bouts held at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.

Looking to barge into the gold medal match, 23-year-old Mr. Paalam had it rough and tough early against Mr. Tanaka but stayed the course en route to the convincing win.

He came out aggressive right out of the opening bell, but was challenged by the Japanese. Eventually, he got the opening he needed to land clear combinations to earn him the opening round.

In the second, the Philippine bet kept the pressure on his opponent, tagging Mr. Tanaka with solid shots to the head and body.

While already ahead in the scorecard, Mr. Paalam showed no letup, even landing a solid blow that nearly sent Mr. Tanaka to the canvas.

Four judges scored the fight, 30-27, with one seeing it, 29-28.

He is set to face in the finals on Aug. 7 Galal Yafai of Great Britain.

NARROW LOSS
Mr. Marcial, meanwhile, fought gallantly, even enduring a gash on the forehead, in a highly intense three-round showdown.

Twenty-five-year-old Mr. Marcial stood toe-to-toe and exchanged heavy blows with Mr. Khyzhniak throughout the contest, but in the end could not get the nod of all the judges.

The score went 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 for Mr. Khyzhniak and 29-28, 29-28, for Mr. Marcial.

For landing in the semifinals, Mr. Marcial is already assured of a bronze medal, which will be the fourth bronze from boxing for the Philippines in history, after those of José Villanueva (1932), Leopoldo Serantes (1988) and Roel Velasco (1992).

Mr. Marcial, for his efforts, is set to receive at least P7 million in cash incentives from the government and private sector. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Non-medalists to be rewarded, too, for their efforts, says POC chief

August 5, 2021 | 6:57 pm

FILIPINO athletes who saw action in the Tokyo Games but were not able to win a medal stand to receive incentives as well, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) announced on Thursday.

In a statement, POC President Abraham N. Tolentino said the sports body and the MVP Sports Foundation of businessman Manny V. Pangilinan will reward the non-medalists on Team Philippines P500,000 each for their part in making the country’s campaign in this year’s edition of the Summer Games a bid to remember.

“The non-medalists in the Tokyo Olympics will receive incentives of P500,000 each. Everyone on Team Philippines in these ‘Golden Olympics’ deserve all the praises, and in this case, incentives, they need,” Mr. Tolentino said.

“Qualifying for the Olympics is already that difficult, what more competing in the Games themselves,” he added, noting as well how the athletes had to deal with the difficulties and limitations brought about by the pandemic on their way to, and during, their respective campaigns.

To get the incentives are rowing’s Cris Nievarez, taekwondo’s Kurt Barbosa, skateboarding’s Margielyn Didal, shooting’s Jayson Valdez, gymnastics’ Carlos Yulo, boxing’s Irish Magno, judo’s Kiyomi Watanabe, weightlifting’s Elreen Ann Ando, golf’s Juvic Pagunsan, athletics’ EJ Obiena (pole vault), and Kristina C. Knott (200m) and swimming’s Remedy Rule and Luke Gebbie.

To date, the Philippines has won one gold (Hidilyn F. Diaz/weightlifting), one silver (Nesthy A. Petecio/boxing) and one bronze (Eumir Felix D. Marcial/boxing) and Carlo Paalam already assured of a silver medal and golfers Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan still competing in women’s individual stroke play.

Mses. Diaz and Petecio and Messrs. Marcial and Paalam are already assured of performance incentives from the government and private sector for winning medals.

Prior to the country’s breakthrough Olympic showing this year, the best campaign of the Philippines in the quadrennial Games in terms of number of medals won was in 1932 in Los Angeles with three bronze medals from Simeon Toribio (men’s high jump), José Villanueva (boxing), and Teófilo Yldefonso (swimming). — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Pagdanganan slips; Saso climbs to 34^th with a 68

August 5, 2021 | 6:57 pm

BIANCA Pagdanganan slipped on the leaderboard while Yuka Saso advanced as Philippines golf’s campaign in the women’s individual stroke play in the Tokyo Games continued in the second round at the Kasimugaseki Golf Club on Thursday.

At joint seventh place after the opening round the previous day where she scored a two-under par 69, Ms. Pagdanganan, 23, could not sustain the track and finished with an even-par 71 in the second round.

She now has a two-round total of 2-under par 140, tied for 27^th heading into the third round on Saturday.

Reigning United States Women’s Open champion Saso, meanwhile, gained some ground after struggling in the opening round on Wednesday.

Twenty-year-old Ms. Saso fired a 3-under par 68 in the second round to take her total to an even-par 142 for joint 34^th place, climbing 13 rungs.

The Filipino-Japanese scored 3-over par 74 in the opening round.

At the end of the second round, Nelly Korda of the US was the new leader with a total two-round score of 13-under 129, followed by Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen, India’s Aditi Ashok, and Dane Emily Kristine Pedersen, with identical 9-under 133. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Teams PLDT and Cignal look to finish PVL campaigns on a high note

August 5, 2021 | 6:56 pm

PVL-(2) — THE PLDT Home Fibr Power Hitters and Cignal HD Spikers are out to finish a rough PVL Open Conference run on a high note. — PVL MEDIA BUREAU

THE PLDT Home Fibr Power Hitters and Cignal HD Spikers have had it rough in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference but both are looking to finish their respective campaigns on a high note and have something to build on moving forward.

PLDT and Cignal are currently at joint eighth place with identical 1-6 records and are out of contention. Both have two games left to play in the elimination round.

The Roger Gorayeb-coached Power Hitters took seven games before they finally notched their first victory in the Open Conference, a straight-sets win over the Perlas Spikers on Aug. 1.

Mr. Gorayeb admitted the relative “inexperience” of his team has had hand in their tough campaign, but he was quick to point out they are not using it as an excuse.

“We can attribute our showing to inexperience,” the coach was quoted as saying by the official PVL website.

“But we cannot, and should not, use that as an excuse. We are professionals, and we are a team, and we are expected to perform our task. We’re not going to make excuses,” he added.

PLDT is the second-youngest team in the PVL right now with an average age of 24.9. The Balipure Water Defenders are the youngest at 22.4.

The Power Hitters, as of this writing, are playing Balipure and are to finish their campaign on Friday against Cignal at 7 p.m.

Moving forward, Mr. Gorayeb said they will first assess their performance in the Open Conference and then make changes to their roster as they see fit.

“We’ll assess everything after this tournament and hopefully, we could improve on things we lacked here,” he said.

CIGNAL
Cignal, for its part, is out to finish strong in the tournament, where it actually had a promising start.

The HD Spikers opened with a 1-1 record in their first two matches before dropping its next five assignments.

“On our part, we just have to accept how things went for us and be responsible for it,” Cignal coach Shaq Delos Santos told the league website in Filipino.

“We are a team in transition, but we have been showing improvement throughout the tournament and we just have to continue our development and work on what we want to achieve,” he added.

Following their game versus PLDT on Friday, the HD Spikers wrap up things against the Black Mamba-Army Lady Troopers on Saturday at 4 p.m.

EARLY ENDING
Meanwhile, the PVL has restructured its schedule and is set to finish the Open Conference next week.

The move came after consultations with the local government of Ilocos Norte, where the PVL “bubble” is being held, in line with its plans to implement a stricter quarantine setup for the whole province because of the rising cases of the coronavirus.

The elimination round now ends on Saturday, Aug. 7, instead of Aug. 9.

The best-of-three semifinal action begins right away on Aug. 8 and will be played every day. The race-to-2 finals affair then follows a day after the completion of the semifinal series. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

LeBron James fires back at critics

August 5, 2021 | 6:55 pm

LOS ANGELES — The flurry of deals the Los Angeles Lakers have made during free agency have led critics to point out that the “purple and gold” could look more like the “purple and old” after the team sacrificed young talent to bring in veteran players.

After adding Carmelo Anthony, 37, Trevor Ariza, 36, and Dwight Howard, 35, the team has an average age of 31.4 years, making them the oldest in the NBA, according to SB Nation.

A handful of other teams could be a full decade younger than the 2020 champions when the regular season kicks off on Oct. 19.

“Keep talking about my squad,” the 36-year-old LeBron James wrote on Twitter.

“Our personnel ages, the way he plays, he stays injured, we’re past our time in this league, etc etc etc. Do me one favor PLEASE!!!! And I mean PLEASE!!! Keep that same narrative ENERGY when it begins! That’s all I ask. #ThankYou”

The Lakers aging process began in earnest when the team parted with a raft of young talent including Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram to nab forward Anthony Davis in 2019. — Reuters

Retooled Lakers

August 5, 2021 | 6:55 pm

The Lakers have had to look at the colloquial adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” from varied perspectives over the last couple of years. They rebooted the cast around All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the offseason following their successful championship run in the National Basketball Association bubble of 2020, never mind that it seemed to have the perfect blend of on-court productivity and off-court camaraderie. This time around, they retooled the roster out of necessity; it was most definitely broken, and they most definitely needed to fix it.

Whether all the frenzied wheeling and dealing of Lakers vice-president of hoops operations Rob Pelinka in the last week proves beneficial remains to be seen. The very first move he made is no doubt the most controversial; he sent precious trade assets — which could have netted marksman Buddy Hield — the Wizards’ way for notoriously inefficient Russell Westbrook. It dictated his subsequent actions, which came off as a course correction: He brought in outside shooting and floor spacing, but seemingly at the expense of defense and energy.

That said, there can be no questioning the fact that every single one of the additions (and, needless to say, subtractions) was thumbed up by the Lakers’ foundations, and most especially James. For all the power Pelinka wields, nothing gets done to the lineup without the okay of the four-time league Most Valuable Player awardee. Which is as things should be. Parenthetically, fans would be heartened to note that the King has already taken to social media to defend the makeup of the purple and gold. Ownership of the turns of events sends the right message to all and sundry, critics included, and is key to achievement.

Considering the stakes involved, the Lakers are crossing their fingers the ingredients they’re using won’t translate to a beautiful disaster. They’ll take an ugly corker over the former anytime. Against the backdrop of the stability offered by the champion Bucks and the seemingly better-constructed Nets, they offer significant question marks — certainly more than enough to be deemed a gamble. James has spoken, and he believes it’s worth his while, a not insignificant assessment in the face of his advancing age.

Will the Lakers get the last laugh? Critics are pointing East even as they shake their heads. As far as James is concerned, though, the greatest enemy lies within. He knows there’s a lot of work to be done, but he’s oozing with confidence. And that, for diehards of the most storied franchise in the league, is a good start.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

US plans to require COVID-19 vaccine for tourists

August 5, 2021 | 6:23 pm

American Airlines -TRAVEL_NEWYORK_PLANE — An American Airlines passenger jet glides in under the moon as it lands at LaGuardia airport in New York, Aug. 28, 2012. — REUTERS

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is developing a plan to require nearly all foreign visitors to the United States to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as part of eventually lifting travel restrictions that bar much of the world from entering the United States, a White House official told Reuters on Wednesday.

The White House wants to re-open travel, which would boost business for the airlines and tourism industry, but is not ready to immediately lift restrictions because of the rising COVID-19 case load and highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant, the official said.

The Biden administration has interagency working groups working “to have a new system ready for when we can reopen travel,” the official said, adding it includes “a phased approach that over time will mean, with limited exceptions, that foreign nationals traveling to the United States (from all countries) need to be fully vaccinated.”

The extraordinary US travel restrictions were first imposed on China in Jan. 2020 to address the spread of COVID-19. Numerous other countries have been added, most recently India in May.

The official’s comments were the strongest signal to date that the White House sees a path to unwinding those restrictions.

Last month, Reuters reported that the White House was considering requiring foreign visitors to be vaccinated as part of discussions on how to relax travel restrictions.

The official added the “working groups are developing a policy and planning process to be prepared for when the time is right to transition to this new system.”

Some countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, are relaxing or lifting restrictions for vaccinated Americans to travel.

The White House has held discussions with airlines and others about how it would implement a policy of requiring vaccines for foreign visitors. The administration must also answer other questions including what proof it would accept of vaccination and if the United States would accept vaccines that some countries are using but which have not yet been authorized by US regulators.

The United States currently bars most non-US citizens who within the last 14 days have been in the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen nations in Europe without border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

The White House interagency talks previously had focused on requiring vaccines for nearly all foreign visitors arriving by air. The White House official did not immediately answer questions about whether the administration is developing plans to also require visitors arriving from Mexico and Canada to be vaccinated before crossing land borders.

Currently, the only foreign travelers allowed to cross by land into the United States from Mexico and Canada are essential workers such as truck drivers or nurses.

It was not clear how long the administration will maintain existing restrictions but the official reiterated that infections “appear likely to continue to increase in the weeks ahead” and that “the United States will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point.”

Industry officials still think it will be at least weeks and potentially months before restrictions are lifted.

Former President Donald Trump’s administration did not set any metrics for adding or dropping countries from the list, and neither has Mr. Biden’s. Mr. Trump did attempt to lift European countries from the restrictions in January but Mr. Biden reinstated the restrictions before they were dropped.

Many critics of the restrictions say they no longer make sense because some countries with high rates of COVID-19 infections are not on the restricted list while some countries on the list have the pandemic under control.

The restrictions have separated loved ones and prevented some people working in the United States from returning to home countries and others from coming for employment.

Last week, Reuters reported the White House was discussing the potential of mandating COVID-19 vaccines for international visitors. The sources said at the time no decisions had been made. The Biden administration has also been talking to US airlines in recent weeks about establishing international contact tracing for passengers before lifting travel restrictions. — Reuters

Lifetime flying miles and cash incentives await Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial

August 5, 2021 | 5:29 pm

Bronze medalist Eumir Felix D. Marcial, who lost by split decision to his Ukrainian opponent Oleksandr Khyzhniak in a semi-final match in the men’s middleweight boxing division, will come home to at least P7 million pesos total for his stint at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

He can also look forward to lifetime Mabuhay Miles per year for life from Philippine Airlines (PAL) and 2 years of free flights from AirAsia.

Here is the breakdown of his incentives so far:

P2 million from the Philippine Sports Commission, the required amount for bronze medalists as per Republic Act No. 10699
P2 million from the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation
P2 million from San Miguel Corp. President Ramon S. Ang
P1 million from Phoenix Petroleum, through the Siklab Atleta Pilipinas Foundation
40,000 Mabuhay Miles per year for life from Philippine Airlines
2 years of free flights from AirAsia

“Our athletes have been making history at the Tokyo Olympics, one win after another. The pride they have brought to our country is priceless,” said Alan Raymond T. Zorrilla, senior vice president of Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which hopes to encourage more support for athletes like Mr. Marcial through the private initiative Siklab Atleta.

Though the Zamboanga-born boxer lost in the semi-final bout, he earned his bronze medal by knocking out Armenian opponent Arman Darchinyan in under two minutes of the opening round of their quarterfinal match.

Fellow boxer Nesthy A. Petecio received similar rewards for scoring a silver medal in the women’s featherweight division on August 3 while weightlifter Hidilyn F. Diaz got the most incentives of them all for securing the Philippines’ historic first Olympic gold on July 27. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

Japan expands COVID-19 curbs as surges strain hospitals

August 5, 2021 | 5:12 pm

TOKYO — Japan decided on Thursday to expand its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency restrictions to cover more than 70% of the population, as a surge in cases strains the medical system in the Olympics host city Tokyo and elsewhere.

Coronavirus infections are rising faster than ever as new cases hit record highs in Tokyo, overshadowing the July 23–Aug. 8 Olympics and fueling doubts over Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s handling of the pandemic.

Mr. Suga announced the new steps as new daily cases in Tokyo were set to top 5,000 for the first time and advisors to the capital said the figure could double in two weeks at the current rate, NHK public TV reported

“New infections are rising at an unprecedentedly fast pace,” Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told a panel of experts, where he proposed “quasi-emergency” steps for eight more of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

“The situation on the ground [at hospitals] is extremely severe,” Mr. Nishimura added, noting that serious cases had doubled in the past two weeks.

The panel signed off on the proposal, but Mr. Nishimura told a news conference some members had warned the situation was severe enough to require a nationwide state of emergency — a stance shared by the head of the Japan Medical Association.

Six prefectures including Tokyo are already under full states of emergency to last through Aug. 31. Another five are under less strict directives, meaning just over half the population is covered by some restrictions.

The latest steps, to take effect from Sunday, mean that more than 70% of the population will be under some form of restriction. Criticism of Mr. Suga, his ratings already at record lows, is growing over his handling of the pandemic.

BACKLASH OVER HOSPITAL POLICY
The government says the Olympics has not caused the latest surge but experts say holding the Games now has sent a mixed message to an already weary public about the need to stay home.

Games organizers on Thursday reported 31 new Games-related COVID-19 cases, bringing the total since July 1 to 353.

It remains to be seen whether the latest COVID-19 restrictions, which are mostly voluntary, will have much impact as the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads.

“I do not think that more [quasi-emergency steps] will make much difference — [it’s] simply a political statement,” said Kenji Shibuya, former director of the Institute for Population Health at King’s College London.

The latest expansion follows a sharp backlash against Mr. Suga’s plan to limit hospitalization of COVID-19 patients to those who are seriously ill and those at risk of becoming so, while others are told to isolate at home.

The shift is intended to address a hospital bed crunch, but critics say it will lead to an increase in deaths since the condition of patients can worsen rapidly.

In response to calls from within and outside his ruling coalition to reverse the policy, Mr. Suga told reporters on Wednesday that the change was aimed at regions with a surge in COVID-19 cases, such as Tokyo, and was not nationally uniform.

On Thursday, he appeared to backpedal further, saying moderately ill patients in need of oxygen treatment would be admitted to hospital.

The backlash is a fresh blow to the premier ahead of a ruling party leadership race and general election later this year.

Just under 31% of residents of Japan are fully vaccinated. With 15,221 deaths recorded as of Wednesday, the COVID-19 mortality rate was about 1.6%, in line with the United States. — Ami Miyazaki and Linda Sieg/Reuters