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Regional Updates (01/07/21)

Police evidence in flight attendant’s death not enough to file charges

THE evidence submitted by the police were “not sufficient” to warrant filing of charges against the individuals tagged in the death of 23-year old flight attendant Christine Dacera, the prosecution said. Prosecutor General Benedicto A. Malcontento said Makati City prosecutors found the pieces of evidence submitted as “premature.” “We cannot file homicide murder, rape with homicide with the existing evidence presented so far by the PNP (Philippine National Police) and their witnesses,” Mr. Malcontento told CNN Philippines. Mr. Malcontento said the police submitted only the medico-legal and death certificate, which stated that the cause of death was aneurysm. Makati prosecutors on Wednesday referred the rape with homicide complaint for preliminary investigation and directed the release from detention of three respondents in the complaint. Ms. Dacera died in a Makati hotel room on Jan. 1 following a private New Year’s eve party. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Davao City council to hold hearings next week for COVID-19 vaccination budget, logistics

DAVAO City’s council will hold two public hearings next week on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program, including the local budget needed to augment the national government’s distribution plan. “The reason for this (ordinance) passing is for us to be ready. This (vaccination) is being discussed at the national level. We should, at the local level, prepare for the arrival of the different vaccines,” Councilor Mary Joselle D. Villafuerte, chair of the council’s committee on health, said in mixed English and Visayan over the city-run radio station on Wednesday. “We can’t determine the budget for the vaccines now as it would depend on the cost of the approved vaccine that we will be able to purchase through the Department of Health (DoH),” she said. Ms. Villafuerte said the discussions aim to establish how many doses will have to be procured by the city government, and the logistical and manpower requirements for the inoculation. The hearings, set Jan. 11 and 14, will be attended by health experts and representatives from national health agencies, business leaders, indigenous people, and civil society groups.

Loss aversion, economic scars and economic prospects

By this time, we should already be familiar with how we fouled up our handling of the viral pandemic. It all started with years of neglect of the public health system. We also failed to act promptly on the brewing Wuhan threat. After crossing the border, the virus simply brushed off our less than desirable level and quality of testing, tracing, quarantining, and treating. Finally, our lack of vaccination policy has further eroded consumer and business confidence because somebody dropped the ball. What follows is an abject lesson in theatrical obfuscation.

Such weaknesses in putting together public health measures and executing them defy the arguments of Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman about loss aversion in his book Thinking Fast and Slow. “Loss aversion refers to the relative strength of two motives: we are driven more strongly to avoid losses than to achieve gains.”

Human brain reacts faster even to symbolic threats. Kahneman wrote that even “loaded” words like “war” and “crime” elicit more decisive responses than “happy” words like “peace” and “love.” Between a defender of a territory, and an aggressor, whether human or animal, it is the possessor of the territory that usually fights harder. This is one big reason why the status quo generally continues. Conservative forces to Kahneman produce stability in the neighborhood, it is what holds together institutions and values.

Even in law, the same principle applies. Significant distinctions are made between actual losses and foregone gains in some legal decisions. Businessmen who actually sustained losses from goods lost in transit were compensated, but were seldom upheld in cases involving lost profits. From a legal standpoint, “people who lose suffer more than people who merely fail to gain, they may also deserve more protection from the law.”

The COVID-19 pandemic, without a shadow of doubt, is a game changer. It has infected nearly 480 thousand Filipinos with more than 9,300 deaths — and still rising — and should therefore evoke repulsion. It’s a threat to life and the economy. Based on the principle of loss aversion, Philippine authorities are expected to have fought harder to prevent the virus from establishing its beachhead and multiplying the casualties. It involves avoidance of loss of life, for there is nothing to gain from a virus.

It’s hard to imagine how our health authorities, despite the proliferation of fintech specialists, data science and Big Data experts, failed to establish a nationwide network of COVID-19 data base feeding from test results and mobility indicators through QR codes as well as putting up sufficient and proper quarantine and treatment facilities. Without these facilities, strict lockdown might be imposed again with business and jobs as direct casualties. Everything is a race against time and probable deaths of the infected. Urgency, the concept of what is imperative, seems lost on those who have public accountability.

These considerations are crucial to our growth prospects in 2021.

As we should have been in survival mode since the beginning of 2020, Kahneman’s hypothesis should have produced more positive results in both public health and economic management in the Philippines. Otherwise, we stand to sustain more economic scars after economic scars. Unfortunately, this is what seems to be happening.

On Jan. 4, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) pushed for further opening of the economy, expecting “further improvement in gross domestic product (GDP) during the fourth quarter despite ending 2020 in a recession.” This would not be possible unless the health authorities and the rest of the bureaucracy shape up in terms of governance and, yes, loss aversion. Every misstep produces an economic scar. More missteps mean more economic scars.

The squabble between the Palace and the Senate on the Presidential Security Group (PSG)  vaccination could only produce a costly stalemate and a further drop in public confidence. It would be asking too much for the public to go out and spend when uncertainty lurks everywhere, especially at this time when two variants of the original virus have been sighted in many territories.

In fact, UP’s Octa Research announced a few days ago that “the new and more infectious COVID-19 variant may have already entered the country due to its late detection, as well as lenient border control in the Philippines.” Some 21 passengers from relevant jurisdictions have been quarantined.

We would not want to be in the same crossroad again where we have to choose between life and livelihood. Japan’s own dilemma might force Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to again consider issuing another state of emergency declaration. Infections in Japan have topped the 4,000 daily mark. What prevents the Prime Minister from undertaking a more decisive action is the economic cost as well as his government’s slipping support rate. Respondents in surveys demanded that he should do more to halt the spread of infections.

In the UK, despite the rollout of the new Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, schools and colleges across the country closed ahead of the national lockdown contemplated because of the risk of overwhelming its healthcare system.

We all wish the best for the Philippine economy in this new year of 2021 but we have to square off our aspiration for a quick recovery this year with recent developments.

This week, we saw further shrinking of factory output based on IHS Markit Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from 49.9 in November to 49.2, still below the 50-neutral mark and therefore indicative of contraction in the last two months of 2020. IHS Markit observed that “operating conditions across the Philippines manufacturing sector worsened in the final month of 2020.” With Malaysia at 49.1 in December, the Philippines recorded the lowest PMI compared with Vietnam’s 51.7, Indonesia’s 51.3 and Thailand’s 50.8.

This finding seems to be confirmed by the recent survey of the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) in the Philippines. Some 59 Japanese manufacturer respondents disclosed that they had “no more room for further cost reduction.” Cost consideration has made Vietnam more attractive. Other statistics sound grim. Eight percent of the respondents said they would scale down their operations and 1% would pull out.

We share the optimistic reading by IHS Markit economist Shreeya Patel and that of some local economists that the level of PMI “showed some positive signs.” The challenge indeed is “to restore confidence in both businesses and consumers to lift the recovery further.” But this is a tall order given our authorities’ ability when it comes to public health management and lately, integrity in public governance in as simple a matter as determining who gets the vaccine.

But vaccination, or the prospect of its availability, may not suffice to shore up confidence. Octa Research reported two days ago that based on the Tugon ng Masa survey conducted between Dec. 9-13, 2020, only 25% of the 600 respondents in Metro Manila “are willing to get vaccinated.” What is worrisome is that 28% were unwilling to go through the motion, more than those who are prepared to get the vaccine. Some 47% were undecided. The survey is independent and non-commissioned.

Our external payments position is equally challenged.

Exports, particularly electronics, for October declined again after September’s short bounce back, reflecting sustained volatility in global demand as major trading partners like the US and Europe and Japan started to restrict health protocols. Imports which could motivate higher production for both exports and local consumption declined for the 18th consecutive month in October. Year-to-date imports retreated by over 25%.

With more than 300 thousand overseas Filipino workers repatriated in 2020 and weak jobs markets abroad, only a modest contribution is expected from remittances. For the first 10 months of 2020, workers’ cash remittances stood at only $24.6 billion or 1% lower. BPO revenues are uncertain with lower global demand for services as indicated by lower demand for office space.

What about the BOP’s capital and financial accounts?

Two days ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was quoted declaring that “given the old facts that we have, we intend to keep interest rates low until maybe the next few quarters.” That signals sustained negative real interest rates. Other things being equal, that could drive fixed-income foreign portfolio investors away. On the other hand, stock market players who could borrow local funds at lower interest could elevate equities trading. Net foreign direct investments for the period January-September 2020 dropped by 9% due to “the continued effects of the prolonged COVID-19 health crisis on the global economic outlook.”

Altogether, this is how economic scars are formed. As The Economist last December showed in this interesting chart on economic scarring, the Philippines recorded the highest pandemic score and therefore the longest expected time for recovery. Economic scars may be attributed the most to the deepest decline in our growth, the structure of the economy, economic and financial imbalances and policy offsets.

Unless our authorities imbibe the loss aversion hypothesis of Kahneman, and take to heart the imperative of decisive action, The Economist’s account based on Oxford Economics and IMF data and computations could be self-fulfilling.

Let’s prove it wrong.

 

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.

Preparing for 2022

May 2022 is all of 17 months away, but the politicians are acting as if the elections then were about to take place tomorrow.

They won’t give the electorate a rest from their jockeying for political advantage even in the middle of a pandemic, typhoons, and earthquakes. Politicking is for them a process without beginning and end. It never stops even on election day itself, and continues through the three-year interregnum between elections, the frequency of which hasn’t made Philippine society any more equitable or its poor less destitute.

During that interminable period, the creatures from the foul swamp of Philippine politics seize every opportunity to get into print, broadcast, and online media to keep their names in the public mind so they’ll be remembered come election day. Together with who has the most money, name recall — rather than what a candidate stands for — has always been, and still is, among the factors that decide the results of the elite game called Philippine politics.

Dismissing her low trust and approval ratings as of no concern for her administration, a former President once said that governance is not a popularity contest. True enough: doing what is right for the country may not always be popular. But getting elected too often depends on how much of a crowd-pleaser a candidate is. Focused on their perpetual campaign for whatever office they’re eyeing, presenting even an outline or just the bare bones of a coherent program of government is the farthest from the typical Filipino politician’s mind. What isn’t is pandering to the worst instincts of the populace by telling vulgar and sexist jokes during campaign sorties, talking like murderous thugs, entertaining audiences by singing and dancing, or just looking pretty on stage. Rather than add to the sum of human knowledge, Philippine elections subtract from it.

That is exactly what happened in the 2016 and 2019 campaigns, after the distressing results of which the usual dynasts, their allies, their publicists, and their underlings immediately began preparing for the 2022 presidential elections.

“Premature campaigning,” or vying for votes before the official start of the campaign period, is “disgusting,” says the Commission on Elections (Comelec), but is not illegal. That same body has also ruled that plastering a would-be candidate’s face on a billboard on EDSA, or any other act no matter how obviously calculated to solicit votes, doesn’t qualify as such as long as the perpetrator has not yet filed a certificate of candidacy, and/or doesn’t publicly say “vote for me.” Campaigning months and even years before an election has thus become a fact of political life in this law-rich but lawless country.

It is blatantly there on the tarpaulins and posters splashed with the faces of creatures who use every disaster as an opportunity to be photographed while distributing bags of relief goods stamped with their names. It is there in their weighing in on the side of any issue they deem popular, such as, for example, condemning a policeman’s murder of a mother and son and using it as an excuse to advance their mindless advocacy of the death penalty. And it is there as well in their reinvention of themselves from murderous torturers during the Marcos kleptocracy into seemingly astute, anti-corruption statesmen committed to honesty in governance today.

As reprehensible as early campaigning may be, human rights and democracy defenders, press freedom advocates, political, economic, and social reformers, and everyone else aware of the desperate straits this country has fallen into and of the urgent need to rescue it from perdition should construct their own principled version of it in preparation for 2022.

If the politicians are already in the midst of their self-aggrandizing campaign for the 2022 elections, so can the citizenry make ready for it. What is needed is an information program to combat the lies of the mercenaries of disinformation who have made reasoned discourse almost impossible in this broken democracy. By educating the electorate into voting for those candidates who can put an end to the corruption and incompetence that have made this country the development laggard and the political and economic basket case of Southeast Asia, such a program can thwart the conspiracy to keep things as they are and even make them worse through disinformation.

To reach and truly benefit the majority, any information program requires the unwavering allegiance of responsible journalists to the imperatives of truth-telling and accuracy, to the investigative enterprise, to news analysis, and the interpretation of issues and events in behalf of the making of the informed citizenry democracy needs to survive and flourish. Some of this is already happening. Driven by the need to help their audiences navigate the turbulent waters of the Philippine crisis of information that has poisoned public discourse, the more perceptive among the country’s media practitioners have gone beyond merely reporting what this or that official source says. They consult experts in various fields, ordinary citizens, civic leaders and others, and provide background, context, and, in addition to the who, what, where, when, why and how of the news, also its meaning and implications on the people’s lives.

These practitioners have been truer to the ethical and professional standards of journalism than those whose claims to “objectivity” rest on merely repeating what the powerful say.

But they and other advocates of change and democratization must do more. In consultation and coordination with each other, they must also craft an agenda of government that as part of the information program can help reverse the poverty, corruption, abuse of power, and injustice that plague this country and its long-suffering people.

Such a plan can do two things: it can be the standard against which aspirants for public office can be measured, while at the same time being the shared advocacy of the various groups and individuals committed to the making of an alternative to the awful present. In the process, they can convince would-be candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, for the Senate and the House of Representatives, and for every other elective post to support and adopt it or parts of it as their own platform of government for 2022 and even beyond.

What the resistance to Spanish colonial rule, the American occupation, the Japanese invasion, and the Marcos kleptocracy demonstrates is that only critical citizen engagement can make the difference between enslavement and independence, stagnation and change. Active citizen involvement in the resolution of the country’s most pressing problems has never been more urgent than today, this time in the form of, among others, developing a program of government that the more knowledgeable and honest aspirants for public office can accept, adopt, and pledge to implement as part of an information drive that can make reasoned, fact-based discourse on public issues the rule rather than the exception.

Without the informed participation of the stakeholders in governance, the 2022 elections could make the brazen despotism, the unremitting brutality, the shameless corruption and the gross incompetence that reign in officialdom permanent.

What passes for leadership in these isles of illusions will then condemn millions more to the poverty, hunger, and injustice that are already of epidemic proportions among vast segments of the population.

As uncertain and as bleak as the future of the Philippines has become under the rule of the political dynasties, its people can still make a better tomorrow possible. But that can happen only if they act today.

 

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

www.luisteodoro.com

Economy-wide shift to telework post-COVID? Not quite.

THE COVID-19 pandemic has sent shockwaves across the globe, and workplaces are among the most severely affected by the crisis. Reports* from the National Task Force against COVID-19 and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) have identified workplaces as one of the primary sources of the surge in infections. In mid-March 2020, most businesses were ordered to close their physical workplaces as part of the measures to curb the spread of the virus. Some firms were able to adopt work-from-home schemes successfully, but many jobs could not be performed from home. On what scale can telework be adopted in the Philippines, who are likely to work in “teleworkable” jobs, and what are the prerequisites for a more permanent shift to work-from-home arrangements?

TELEWORK POTENTIAL IN THE PHILIPPINES
Teleworkability is defined as the ability to perform work tasks from home, making use of the internet, e-mail and phone**. It assumes that the necessary information and telecommunications technology infrastructure is accessible to workers. In contrast, those occupations that need to be done outside the home every day or require the operation of equipment are considered non-teleworkable.

The Asian Institute of Management Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness (AIM RSN PCC) estimated that only 25.7% of Philippine occupations can be classified as “can be worked from home.” Moreover, only an estimated 12% of the labor force is engaged in teleworkable occupations, mostly in the services sector. The agriculture sector has very few employees in jobs that can be worked from home, accounting for less than half a percent of all teleworkable employment.

The education sector has the largest share of teleworkable jobs at 81%, followed by the real estate, and the professional, scientific, and technical services sectors at around 67% each. The financial and information and communication sectors also have a large share of teleworkable jobs, accounting for 56% and 47% of all employment in these sectors, respectively.

On the other hand, the sectors with the smallest share of teleworkable jobs are in agriculture, forestry and fishing (0.2%), construction (1.6%), transportation and storage (1.8%), and in the wholesale and retail sector (6.2%). The least teleworkable sectors together employ nearly 61% of the entire workforce, with mostly low-wage, unskilled workers.

Professionals account for the largest share of teleworkable jobs (69%) but account for less than 5% of total employment. Likewise, 46% of clerical support workers and 30% of technicians and associated professionals are in jobs that can be worked from home. However, these occupational groups account for less than 16% of total employment.

While elementary occupations and skilled agricultural workers account for nearly 40% of total employment in the economy respectively, practically all these occupations are non-teleworkable. The pandemic has highlighted further the inflexible work arrangements that characterize the employment of a large portion of Filipino workers, which has become a major threat to their economic survival under the current lockdown.

SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF WORKERS IN TELEWORKABLE OCCUPATIONS
Workers who can work from home are often well-educated while workers who cannot work from home are characterized by low levels of education. This is a feature of inequality that the pandemic has highlighted. Having higher educational attainment opens people to more jobs that not only pay well but also can provide greater flexibility in work arrangements. These employees can cope better during pandemics or other crises that require employees to work from home.

The results of the AIM RSN PCC study further show that those belonging to lower per capita income deciles, who are male, who have lower levels of education, and who are working in sectors such as agriculture and retail are disadvantaged in terms of the ability to work from home.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of workers in non-teleworkable sectors and occupations. Not only are they at greater risk of losing their jobs as the quarantine period further extends, but they are also exposed to health risks due to the lack of safe means to get to work. They also may not have enough income to buy health insurance and avail of health services should they get sick.

A MORE WIDESPREAD SHIFT TO TELEWORK. CAN IT BE DONE?
Quality education equips an individual with the skills to be employed in jobs that can be performed remotely. Aside from the ability to operate a computer and access related technologies such as the internet, competencies such as critical thinking, service orientation, complex problem solving, and cognitive flexibility should be taught as part of basic education. Developing these skills early on will not only ensure that the future workforce will have access to more jobs that can be performed remotely but, more importantly, will also future-proof the workforce amidst the ever-evolving labor market.

There is also a need to ensure that those who are in teleworkable jobs can telework. There is room for government and the private sector collaboration in the upskilling of workers with ICT knowledge and other skills needed for telework. Moreover, the government needs to strengthen the build-up of ICT infrastructure by reducing the number of permits required and the accompanying red tape for telecommunication companies to lay out their network and admitting more players in the market.

COVID-19 has also exposed weaknesses in the Philippines’ social protection system. The country’s social protection programs need to be strengthened and adequately funded, like having a professionally managed public health and insurance system and introducing unemployment support programs. A redesign of the social protection system for the Philippines must be pursued, not only in response to the pandemic, but also as part of a broader conversation on the fourth industrial revolution. Jobs will be more uncertain and fast-changing because of technology, and a robust social insurance system should be able to cushion the transitory adverse effects that will arise.

Although only 12% of the labor force are currently in teleworkable jobs, and only about 26% of jobs are teleworkable, these numbers do constitute a significant share. Making more workers telework-ready can help address some of the labor market inequalities mentioned above. While millions of workers are currently able to telework, now is as good a time as any for the private sector and the government to work together to make this a viable, long-term work option to a larger share of the workforce. n

*https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/08/07/2033476/canteens-smoking-areas-pose-highest-risk-workplace-infection and https://onenews.ph/galit-galit-muna-no-canteens-common-smoking-areas-in-offices-for-now-eating-talking-together-discouraged

**https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/telecommute?q=telework

The views expressed in the article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Institute of Management.

 

Ammielou Gaduena is an economist at the Asian Institute of Management – Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness.

policycenter@aim.edu

Congress certifies Biden’s win after day of violence

JOE BIDEN was formally recognized by Congress as the next US president early Thursday, ending two months of failed challenges by his predecessor, Donald Trump, that exploded into violence at the US Capitol as lawmakers met to ratify the election result.

The Democratic president-elect’s victory was sealed after House and Senate members fended off a final round of objections to the Nov. 3 election outcome raised by a handful of Republicans on Mr. Trump’s behalf. The proceedings were disrupted for several hours as pro-Trump demonstrators overran police lines, besieged the House chamber and entered the Senate chamber, sending lawmakers fleeing for safety.

After authorities regained control of the Capitol complex, Congress returned to work Wednesday evening, holding two rounds of votes that culminated in affirmation of Mr. Biden’s win early Thursday.

Vice President Mike Pence — who had split with Mr. Trump by calling for protesters inside the Capitol to be prosecuted — presided over certification of Mr. Biden’s 306 Electoral College votes. Earlier Wednesday, he defied the president by telling lawmakers in a letter he would make no attempt to unilaterally block the certification from proceeding.

The congressional action, usually a pro forma affair that draws little notice, will be remembered as the coda for one of the most tumultuous presidential campaigns in recent history. It was the final, official step in the drawn-out 2020 election — which is why it drew the attention of the president and thousands of his supporters he implored to come to Washington in protest.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer placed the blame for the violence squarely on Mr. Trump, but said that Congress wasn’t deterred. “These images were projected to the world,” Mr. Schumer says. “This will be a stain on our country not so easily washed away.”

He added, “In the end all this mob has really accomplished is to delay our work by a few hours.”

The occupation of the Capitol prompted Republicans to curtail their planned objections, with senators forcing debate on only two states’ electors instead of the six they originally planned.

“The United States Senate will not be intimidated,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “We will certify the winner of the 2020 election.”

One unidentified woman died after being shot by Capitol Police when protesters stormed the Capitol shortly after Congress began the certification process, according to the Washington, D.C. police department. At least 52 people were arrested and a number of guns were seized.

“I am genuinely shocked and saddened that our nation, so long the beacon of light and hope for democracy, has come to such a dark moment,” Mr. Biden said in brief remarks on the incident in Wilmington, Delaware on Wednesday.

“Today is a reminder — a painful one — that democracy is fragile, and to preserve it requires people of good will, leaders with the courage to stand up who are devoted not to the pursuit of the power or their personal interests, pursuits of their own selfish interests, at any cost, but of the common good,” he added.

Mr. Biden inherits a raging pandemic that Mr. Trump has all but ignored over the last two months as he waged a legal and political campaign to overturn the election results. The new president’s first test will be to more effectively distribute and deliver coronavirus vaccines, after the Trump administration fell far short of meeting a year-end goal to inoculate 20 million Americans.

The certification came on the same day that Mr. Biden learned he will have a Senate Democratic majority after twin runoffs in Georgia. The new president promised to put forward another economic stimulus bill soon after taking office that would include billions of dollars in spending for vaccine distribution and to safely reopen schools, with the goal of allowing most to begin in-person instruction within the first 100 days of his presidency. His team is building a full federal response to the pandemic that includes vaccine distribution, personal protective equipment and economic aid.

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and raised in Delaware, Mr. Biden spent decades pursuing the presidency. He ran for the White House in 1988 and 2008 and considered running in 1984 and 2016.

Elected to the Senate in 1972 at the age of 29, Mr. Biden served 36 years in the chamber. He chaired the Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees before becoming Barack Obama’s vice president in 2009. He accepted the offer to be Obama’s running mate on the condition that he would be the last person in the room when Obama made key decisions, though he wasn’t always heeded.

He entered the race in April 2019 driven, he said, by a sense of obligation to oust Mr. Trump. Mr. Biden cited the violent Charlottesville, Virginia, demonstrations by White supremacists in 2017 in which a peaceful counterprotester was killed. Mr. Trump said after the incident that “there were very fine people on both sides.”

Throughout his candidacy, Mr. Biden endured criticism that he was too moderate or too old while focusing his appeals on a reliable base of support — African Americans, women, and a sliver of White voters who had voted for Mr. Trump in 2016 but had soured on the president.

His general-election argument against Mr. Trump centered on the president’s handling of the pandemic that had killed nearly a quarter of a million people by Election Day and put millions more out of work. He survived Mr. Trump’s efforts to attack him as corrupt and senile, returning the Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to the Democratic column and adding Arizona and Georgia, two states that hadn’t supported Democratic presidential candidates in this century.

In all, Mr. Biden notched the same Electoral College vote total that Mr. Trump had secured four years earlier, 306 to 232. — Bloomberg

US, Japan set for recovery in second half of 2021, IMF chief economist says

WASHINGTON — Economic stimulus approved in the United States and Japan at the end of last year will help to power a recovery in their economies in the second half of 2021, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday.

Ms. Gopinath told Yahoo Finance in a live interview that the US and Japanese rebounds may prompt upgrades of economic forecasts in some parts of the world. But she said the recovery in some developing countries could be delayed until 2022 by limited availability of coronavirus vaccines.

She repeated earlier remarks that the global economy is starting 2021 in a stronger position than anticipated last year due to a stronger-than-forecast performance in the third and fourth quarters. Ms. Gopinath, however, added that the outlook was clouded by a race between the surging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the worldwide vaccination campaign.

But the combination of a stronger starting point and new stimulus “should power recovery in the second half,” Ms. Gopinath told Yahoo Finance. “Based on the 2020 better-than-expected numbers, we should see an upgrade in some parts of the world.” That assumes that vaccines will be widely distributed by mid-year in those countries, she said, adding that those with limited access to vaccines will recover more slowly, including many developing economies.

The International Monetary Fund is expected to revise its World Economic Outlook forecasts on Jan. 26. In October, it forecast a 4.4% global GDP contraction for 2020, followed by a rebound to growth of 5.2% for 2021.  — Reuters

China reports most COVID cases in over five months

SHANGHAI — Authorities in the capital of China’s Hebei province strengthened travel restriction on Thursday to curb the spread of the coronavirus as the country reported the biggest rise in daily coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in more than five months.

Hebei, which entered a “wartime mode” on Tuesday, accounted for 51 of the 52 local cases reported by the National Health Commission (NHC) on Thursday. This compared with 20 cases reported in the province, which surrounds Beijing, a day earlier.

Authorities in Shijiazhuang, Hebei’s capital, have launched mass testing drives and banned gatherings to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

Chinese state television reported that the city has now banned passengers from entering its main railway station. The city previously required travellers to present a negative nucleic acid COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours before boarding a train or an airplane in the province.

Total new COVID-19 cases for all of mainland China stood at 63, compared with 32 reported a day earlier, marking the biggest rise in daily cases since 127 cases were reported on July 30.

The number of asymptomatic patients, who have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease but have yet to develop any symptoms, also rose to 79 from 64 a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China since the outbreak first started in the city of Wuhan in late 2019 now stands at 87,278 cases, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

In the city of Dalian in Liaoning province, which has reported local infections in recent days, residents in medium or high-risk areas have been barred from leaving the city. Residents in other areas were told to refrain from unnecessary trips out of Dalian.

Authorities in Guangdong province late on Wednesday reported a patient infected with a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus discovered in South Africa.

Some scientists worry that COVID-19 vaccines currently being rolled out may not be able to protect against this variant because of certain mutations that have been observed. — Reuters

Olympic hopefuls gear up for ‘bubble’ training

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

IF plans push through as expected, Filipino athletes vying for a spot in the rescheduled Olympic Games could begin returning to face-to-face training beginning this weekend.

After months of settling for virtual training, and individual workouts because of the coronavirus pandemic, national teams for boxing, taekwondo and karate are set to up their training and preparation once again in a “bubble” setting at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.

The INSPIRE facility will be the home of the national athletes for the next couple of months as they try to make up for lost time they were limited in their training and make a dash for spots in the Tokyo Games.

Local sports officials said they have submitted the needed requirements for the return to training and were just awaiting final approval from pertinent government agencies for the national athletes to trek to the bubble site.

“The athletes and the NSAs (national sports associations) are just awaiting the go signal from the PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) to proceed,” shared Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino during his session with the media at the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday.

The PSC, for its part, views the scheduled bubble, set to begin on Jan. 9, as very important — considering how training of athletes has been set back considerably and is hoping that athletes would make the most of the opportunity.

It, however, underscored that as the athletes return to training, they must not disregard the need to protect themselves against the coronavirus, which remains a major concern.

In line with this, the sports agency has come up with a set of health and safety protocols to follow as the athletes are holed up in INSPIRE for the training resumption to succeed.

“We have to be extra careful in that. If we don’t have the proper protocols, it will be useless because, eventually, we will have to put a stop to it,” said PSC Chairman William Ramirez of the protocols they have crafted.

The PSC chief went on to say that their protocols are guided by measures already established by the World Health Organization, Department of Health, and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

On top of the protocols is the formation of an expert group among stakeholders to aid in the interpretation and give advice on any unusual and expected results of coronavirus tests.

EXCITED TO RETURN
Set to lead the group of athletes returning to training are top boxing bets Irish Magno and Nesthy Petecio.

Ms. Magno has already qualified for the Olympics, booking a spot at the Asian qualifiers in Jordan last year.

Ms. Petecio, for her part, has yet to qualify and is looking forward to the final qualifiers later this year in Paris. She expressed excitement over the chance to train face-to-face again.

“I’m excited to get back to training in the bubble. Immediate concern is to shed the pounds I gained in the past months and be back in game shape,” said the featherweight fighter, who won gold medals at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and Southeast Asian Games in 2019.

“I don’t see any problem going back to training. I’m ready to put in the work and my coaches know that. I really want to get a slot in the Olympics. So if I have to triple work to achieve it, I will do that,” she added.

Set to join the two in the bubble are Carlo Paalam, Ian Clark Bautista, Riza Pasuit, Charly Suavez, James Palicte, and Rogen Ladon.

Another boxer, Eumir Felix Marcial, who has also qualified for the Olympics, is currently in the United States training at the Wild Card Gym as he is also a professional fighter under Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions.

But the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines is hoping he could join the team in the bubble training at some point to fortify their push.

The taekwondo team, meanwhile, is to bring in 2016 Rio Olympian Elaine Alora, Kurt Barbosa, Arven Alcantara, Butch Morrison, and Pauline Lopez. It is eyeing to be ready come the Asian qualifiers in April in Jordan.

Karate, for its part, will have Jamie Lim, Sharief Afif, Alwyn Batican, and Ivan Agustin, to be joined later by Junna Tsukii and Joan Orbon, who are both coming from abroad.

The team is looking to train as well in Turkey to complement its bubble training.

The rescheduled Olympic Games in Tokyo is to happen from July 23 to Aug. 8.

Adiwang views new year with excitement, hope

ARMED with the lessons of the previous year, Filipino mixed martial arts fighter Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang is looking at 2021 with much excitement and hope.

Ended 2020 at a low after absorbing his first loss in six years, Mr. Adiwang (11-3) of Team Lakay is itching to make his return and get back on the winning track.

“I want to be more active in 2021. I want to have as many fights as possible, and I want to get back in there again quickly. My goal will always be to become a world champion. That has never been more clear to me than now,” said Baguio-based Adiwang in a release.

Mr. Adiwang actually started 2020 strong, exciting the local crowd with an impressive first-round submission victory over Thai Pongsiri Mitsatit at ONE Championship’s “Fire & Fury” event at the Mall of Asia Arena in January.

The win made it back-to-back wins for him in the main roster of ONE.

Then the coronavirus pandemic sent everything to a halt, including training for Team Lakay.

Mr. Adiwang got to return to the ONE Circle in November but lost in his bid, edged by Japan’s Hiroba Minowa in a close split decision.

The loss, the Filipino fighter said, was a hard lesson for him, particularly in further developing his game to make him ready for any situation in the Circle.   

“The biggest lesson I learned was to be prepared for any and all situations. I practiced a lot, hoping for a lot of positive things. However, the opposite happened and I was unprepared. It was a bit hard for me to handle,” he said.

But instead of dwelling too much on what happened, Mr. Adiwang said the loss could be a blessing in disguise, preparing him for bigger things ahead.

He further said that he is ready to take anyone in his division, be they former ONE world title challenger and fellow Filipino Rene Catalan as well as former ONE world champions Alex Silva, Yoshitaka Naito, and Yosuke Saruta.

Interestingly, the ONE world strawweight title is currently held by Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, a teammate of Mr. Adiwang at Team Lakay.

“Fans should watch out for my next fight. I plan to bounce back with an impressive win, and remind everyone why they should keep an eye on me,” he said.

“Expect a better, stronger, and wiser Thunder Kid next time. Definitely, surviving and learning from all the challenges and setbacks that came my way, both in and out of the Circle, has made me a better person, a better fighter.” — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Messi shines as impressive Barça win in Bilbao

BILBAO, Spain — Lionel Messi was at the top of his game as Barcelona earned a 3-2 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to move up to third in La Liga.

Athletic got off to a dream start in their first match under new coach Marcelino when forward Iñaki Williams latched on to a low through ball and raced towards goal, beating one defender before firing low into the net in the third minute.

Barça quickly responded, however, with a sensational team goal, Messi delivering a superb pass to pick out Frenkie de Jong by the byline and the Dutchman volleyed the ball back across the area for 18-year-old Pedri to head home. Messi and Pedri combined beautifully to put Barça ahead, the youngster receiving a pass from the Argentine before returning it with a delightful backheel and Messi rolled the ball into the bottom corner in the 38th minute. — Reuters

Bradley Beal’s 60 not enough as Wizards fall to Sixers

JOEL Embiid scored 38 points and hit all 13 of his free throws to lift the host Philadelphia 76ers past the Washington Wizards 141-136 on Wednesday.

Seth Curry added 28 points to help offset a career-high 60 by Bradley Beal as the Sixers won their fifth in a row overall and their 20th straight at home. The Sixers have won seven of eight to open the season, and they sport the best record in the league.

Tobias Harris and Shake Milton contributed 19 apiece, Ben Simmons had 17 points and 12 assists, and Danny Green added 15 points.

Beal tied a franchise record of 60 set by Gilbert Arenas in 2006. Russell Westbrook had 20 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds before leaving with an apparent wrist injury with 26 seconds left. Davis Bertans scored 17 points for the Wizards, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. — Reuters

PESO partners with Mineski to promote youth opportunities in growing esports industry

PILIPINAS E-Sports Organization (PESO), the National Sports Association for esports in the country recognized by the Philippine Olympic Committee, recently formalized a partnership with Pillar Digital E-Commerce, Inc., the parent company of Mineski Philippines, to officially accredit Mineski’s Youth Esports Program (YEP) as one of PESO’s flagship activities in 2021 to promote the growth of esports among its local stakeholders.

YEP is an initiative by Mineski and the Philippine Collegiate Champions League that promotes responsible gaming among young people and brings co-curricular esports programs to schools nationwide. YEP also recognizes chapter organizations within universities, organizes the National Interschool Cyber League (NICL), and hosts regular YEP talks for YEP Chapters to come together to compete, learn, and have fun within the program.

As one of PESO’s key programs in the coming year, the association will promote YEP as a training program for future esports athletes, introducing and endorsing it to schools that might want to formally join the program. YEP will also be endorsed to the International Esports Federation as an example of a commendable esports program for the youth.

Meanwhile, Mineski will assist PESO member organizations in tapping YEP member schools to promote their future events and activities, as promote collaboration with PESO member organizations for joint esports initiatives.

“The Philippines has a vast pool of talent that has the potential to succeed in esports. The partnership between PESO and YEP will put a grassroots program in place that nurtures young talent and engages stakeholders to drive the growth of esports in the country. With the right infrastructure and programs in place, we hope that more young Filipinos will see the potential of esports, from opportunities to participate in high-level competition and cultivate the discipline of an athlete to consider pursuing a career within the large, growing ecosystem of the esports industry,” said PESO Board Member and Mineski Global CEO Ronald Robins.

Most recently, esports has been announced as an official medal event in the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2022. The team behind YEP notes that this can be motivation to further develop the grassroots program.

“Filipinos have fared well in past global competitions, and with esports becoming an official sport within larger platforms, we hope that more young people will see the potential of bringing together what they love with the discipline and rigor of competing at the highest levels. We know that the next champion could be from anywhere, and YEP will cast a wide net by engaging colleges and universities, as well as student organizations, to drive the growth of esports in the Philippines,” stated YEP Program Director Marlon Marcelo.

To date, YEP has a network of over 200 schools all over the Philippines, which means its wider reach could present more opportunities in esports. Beyond organizing competitions, YEP regularly engages its members on such topics as esports careers, esports industry stories, and the benefits of responsible video gaming.

“We recognize that many students are passionate about the games that they love to play. We also want to help the youth who will consider a career in esports as a result of our efforts to develop the right foundation and develop more holistically by encouraging the right balance between esports, their academics, and other pursuits,” shared Mr. Marcelo.

YEP also aims to engage schools in integrating esports into the curriculum, from establishing varsity teams to introducing esports-focused courses.

“When schools recognize the value of esports, there is a greater chance for us to provide more structure and guidance to young minds. The academe and esports are not opposing forces, but complementary and can work together to ensure holistic development,” said Mr. Robins.

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