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San Miguel continues to ramp up corn purchases to boost income of farmers

SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC), via its food division San Miguel Foods, has purchased 87,946 metric tons (MT) of corn from local farmers’ cooperatives in October to early November as part of its efforts to augment the income of farmers affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a statement on Thursday, SMC announced that its total year to-date corn procurement had reached 524,155 MT, 20% higher than 436,209 MT it had in September.

“This is by far the largest volume ever that we have sourced directly from farmer cooperatives. This is part of our continuing efforts to help boost the incomes of our farmers, who have also been affected by the pandemic,” SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang said.

Moving forward, Mr. Ang said SMC can now purchase more corn from farmers in Isabela, Pangasinan, and Mindanao after the completion of its new feed mills across the country.

“The new facilities, equipped with large silos with aerators, are capable of stockpiling and storing corn and other grains for a year. This will enable the company to buy and store bulk corn longer, giving more income to local farmers, and boosting food security,” Mr. Ang said.

To recall, SMC announced that it would intensify its procurement of raw materials from farmer cooperatives referred by the Department of Agriculture (DA) after the government’s implementation of strict quarantine measures due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, SMC said that for 2020, it has already procured 102,608 MT of local cassava from farmer cooperatives across the country under its Cassava Assembler Program.

The company has partnered with the DA to establish “Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita” marketing stores at Petron gas station that brings fresh produce to more consumers across Metro Manila.

It also created another market called Better World Diliman, where excess produce purchased from farmers at above-farmgate prices are sold to resellers and consumers at cheaper prices.

“SMC is also exploring other ways to support farmers whose agricultural lands were devastated by super typhoons Rolly and Ulysses,” the company said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Stuff to do (11/20/20)

Japanese Film Festival opens with drive-in screening

THE JAPANESE Film Festival opens on Nov. 20 and 22, 6 p.m., with a screening of Project Dreams — Building Mazinger Z’s Hangar (2020) by Tsutomu Hanabusa at the SM Cinema by the Bay Drive-in Cinema at Mall of Asia, Pasay City. Tickets are priced at P100 and include popcorn, beef franks, and bottled water. To reserve tickets visit https://www.smtickets.com/events/view/9516. The Japanese Film Festival runs from Nov. 20 to 29 online with free screenings at https://watch.jff.jpf.go.jp.

Korean films screened online

THE KOREAN Cultural Center (KCC) is holding a special screening from Nov. 21 to 27 featuring three films centered around the theme of “harmony and hope and love.” The three films are The Queen of Walking (2016) by Baek Seung-hwa, Like for Likes (2016) by Park Hyun-Jin, and My Love, My Bride (2014) by Im Chan-Sang. The films can be accessed via the KCC website at http://phil.korean-culture.org/. Viewers residing in the Philippines may catch all the films for free on their Android or iOS devices. KCC has also teamed up with Adarna House, Inc. for a special Film Pop Quiz, wherein participants can get the chance to win the locally translated version of the Korean bestselling title I Decided to Live as Me by Kim Soo-Hyun published by Woods of Mind Books, straight from the publication’s Apop collection.

Estancia holds 3-day sale this weekend

GET deals and discounts up to 70% off when shopping at Estancia Mall from Nov. 20 to 22, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. There will also be freebies and special promos at restaurants, and buy 1 take 1 promos, and referral discounts. Participating stores are Twenty Four Bakeshop, Miniso, Cortefeil, Onezo, Sige Kiya, James and Daughters, La Reve Patisserie, Macao Imperial Tea, The Color Bar, Daniel Hechter, @Tokyo, Fino Leather Wear, Lock N Lock, Kuchenomics, Watsons, The Travel Club, Skin Station, Toys R Us, and Digital Walker. What’s more, The SM Store will also be holding its three-day sale with items up to 50% off.

Webinar, workshop on home schooling, art

AS PART of the ongoing Art Express: CCP Children’s Biennale, the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) Arts Education Department will be hosting a webinar on Nov. 20, 4 p.m., with Prof. Katherine Claudette A. Tandoc, also known as Teacher Claude, who will share insights on how parents can overcome the challenges of the new educational set-up and how children can get most out of it. The webinar will be live streamed via the Batang Sining and CCP Facebook pages. Before the webinar, there will be an Arts and Parents workshop, facilitated by Nikki Junia, on the same day, at 3 p.m., streaming live at the Batang Sining and CCP Facebook pages. Ms. Junia will discuss parenting and the role of arts in the holistic development of children. Parents will get the chance to ask questions on how to develop art appreciation among children and how to engage them in artmaking. The workshop and the webinar are parts of the CCP Children’s Biennale, ongoing until Nov. 29. For more information, visit the CCP website www.culturalcenter.gov.ph and follow the CCP and Batang Sining Facebook pages.

Webinar on culture, art in the pandemic

INDUSTRY experts will answer the question “What becomes of the Filipino artists and the industry in a world without physical spaces of community?” in a webinar entitled “Now What? Conversations on Arts and Culture.” The talk is hosted by Benilde Arts Management (BeAM) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts (SDA). Speakers are Geraldine Araneta, the co-founder of Art Fair Philippines and Art in the Park, Head of the Visual Arts Committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and academic adviser and former chairperson of Benilde Arts Management Program; Sandra Palomar-Quan, an arts management instructor at the SDA and fine arts teacher at the Foundation University in Negros Oriental; and marketing expert Bennet Dychangco, a resource person for marketing, branding and business pitching at the Philippine Trade Training Center, and contributing writer in the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art. The webinar will be moderated by Arts Management Program Chairperson Alain Zedrick Camiling. They will discuss the impact of the pandemic in museums, theaters, performance venues and other cultural and creative hubs that have closed their doors since March. They will also tackle how the artists thrive despite the restrictions on public events and live theater productions through alternative and innovative creative platforms. They aim to equip the participants with the knowledge on marketing to boost their artistic careers in this time of crisis. “Now What? Conversations on Arts and Culture” will be conducted via Zoom on Nov. 21 and 22, 2 to 4:20 p.m. Admission is P50. Interested participants may register through this link: bit.ly/BeAMNWHT. For inquiries, visit the Program’s official Facebook account @BenildeArtsManagement or e-mail beam@benilde.edu.ph.

Deaf students bring hope through online festival

DEAF students aim to bring aspiration amid trying times through the first ever online edition of the annual 2nd Deaf Festival, themed “Festival of Hope: Moving from a spirit of hopelessness to a spirit of hope.” Hosted by the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), the event  serves as an engaging venue for the Deaf students to enrich their knowledge, skills and creativity. It includes a two-part seminar that allows both the hearing, the Deaf and hard of hearing participants to understand and learn more about each other’s lifestyle. Webinars that guide the Deaf on how they can work with interpreters and how they can adapt and be productive during the pandemic are likewise conducted. The event provides an opportunity for the hearing participants to learn the basics of Filipino Sign Language (FSL) as well as make a new friend with the special online program coined as Meet and Interact with the Deaf. There are a series of activities including Zoom games and poster making contests. An online bazaar, currently on the festival’s official Facebook page, promotes the small businesses of the Deaf, from savory side dishes and desserts and pastries to health and beauty essentials. Deaf students, FSL learners and educators have shared a song of hope through the Sing it with Signs! event permanently available on view through this link: https://youtube.com/channel/UCpVxa0cx7dGV0mC44w1Yk7w. The Festival of Hope will wrap up with a cultural show that showcases the artistic talents of the Deaf students through a collection of interpreted songs, dance numbers, poetry and short stories — all to raise funds to support their online learning. Interested parties may attend the online cultural show on Nov. 28, 2 to 3 p.m. It will be held on a private Facebook group. Tickets are P80 for students and P100 for adults. Register through this link: https://forms.gle/VpABBm7gZKMhYbYPA. For inquiries or donations, contact sdeas.deaffestival@benilde.edu.ph or dea.faustino@benilde.edu.ph or visit the event’s official Facebook account @SDEASDeafFestival.

Strategic planning in this time of crisis

The last decade before the pandemic, we had seen good times in the global and domestic economies. The world gross domestic product growth rate had been hovering in the three percent level. In the Philippines, we had seen a range of six to seven percent growth.

During these prosperous times, companies would just ride the economic growth and perform slightly better than the economy as a rule of thumb. They conduct their strategic planning as an optional exercise, just to comply with the chief finance officer’s annual cadence. Business executives creatively set their following year’s objectives, to “undercommit and overdeliver,” as the popular business tactic goes.

Then the business executives conduct their strategic planning in a secluded location, only to use the traditional tools such as SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) which is used to derive multiple strategic options, such as strategies that use the company’s strengths to capitalize on opportunities in the macroenvironment.

Another permanent fixture of the corporate planning process is external analysis involving Porter’s Five Forces — intensity of competition, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers, and bargaining power of customers. The wisdom derived from this analysis is multifold, such as strategies to reduce the threat of new entrants and substitutes, or reducing the bargaining power of suppliers and customers, and reduce the intensity of competition.

While these tools are useful in thinking through the various components of the business, its linear nature fails to unearth strategies to adapt to a volatile and difficult environment. The resulting strategies from this exercise are either strategies which are not implementable or mediocre tactics that continue the status quo. Nonetheless, companies experience growth by virtue of just being slightly better than coemption and just ride the economic progress.

This time of Covid-19 is different. There is a global recession that companies need to contend with. Customer buying behaviors shifted to digital overnight. Business opportunities are hard to come by. The result is a wave of business closures and corporate losses.

But with the uncertainties in the macroenvironment, the traditional approach to strategic planning, which is linear or sequential in nature, is patently not applicable. Hence, a new approach to strategic planning is requisite to account for the chaos that’s happening all over. We call this sense-making.

According to Prof. Deborah Ancona of the MIT Sloan School of Management, sense-making ‘refers to how we structure the unknown so as to be able to act in it. It involves coming up with a plausible understanding — a map — of a shifting world; testing this map with others through data collection, action, and conversation; and then refining, or abandoning, the map depending on how credible it is. Sense-making enables leaders to have a better grasp of what is going on in their environments, thus facilitating other leadership activities such as visioning, relating, and inventing’. It involves three major steps — explore the wider system, create a map of that system, and act in the system to learn from it.

Explore the wider system. The key to this step is to work with others to observe what is going on, may it be using external consultants or involving other leaders in the organization. This should be supplemented with different data types and data sources to validate and expand the perspectives. It’s also important to remove prior biases from interfering with your perceptions, by utilizing external facilitators to help de-bias the views of leaders.

Create a map or story of the situation. Sense-making can be likened to cartography. The key is to create maps and frames that adequately represent the current situation that an organization is facing. Maps and frameworks give leaders snapshots of the current and future scenarios, enabling them to better process data and information.

In our strategic planning workshops, we also employ various frameworks that map the competitive landscape of an organization’s industry, including levels of investment in various factors. We also employ the Business Model Canvas to map an organization’s current and future activities that deliver value to its customers. These maps, along with others, are extremely powerful visuals and tools to help leaders frame their competitive environment.

Act to change the system to learn from it. Using the same methods of mapping and framing, leaders create their own environments of the future by trying new ideas and perspectives. For example, in the Business Model Canvas, leaders can visually experiment on implementing new sources of revenue, such as subscription service, and how it impacts the other components in operations, marketing, and cost structure.

Sense-making using these steps, when done in a comprehensive and de-biased way, prove to be a powerful approach for leaders to better understand how they will respond to the changes due to the pandemic, and formulate innovative strategies to capitalize on opportunities.

 

Reynaldo C. Lugtu, Jr. is Founder & CEO of Hungry Workhorse Consulting, a digital and culture transformation firm. He is the chairman of the Information and Communications Technology Committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, and Institute Fellow at the US-Based Institute for Digital Transformation. He teaches strategic management in the MBA Program of De La Salle University.

rey.lugtu@hungryworkhorse.com

Most common irrelevant job interview questions

I’m the human resource manager of a small bank. You’ve written about unnecessary job interview questions in the past, except that they’re for a different context. Do you mind giving us a list of those questions that I could share to our line supervisors and managers to save them time and allow them to focus only on the skills of job applicants? — September Morn.

A man was driving through a rural area and saw a farmer beside the road feeding three pigs ears of corn directly from the stalk. The man pulled over and told the farmer, “I don’t know if you realize it, but it’s going to take a long time for you to fatten up those pigs.”

The farmer answered: “I don’t know if you realize it, but these pigs don’t have much to do and they like the idea of wasting time eating.”

Unlike the farmer and his three pigs, many of us don’t have the time to waste on asking irrelevant job interview questions. We know our goals — to hire the best and the brightest candidates to fill positions in the organization. Unfortunately, there are good and bad interviewers out there. They vary largely in what they know and don’t know about the best approach to screening job candidates.

This is one real source of frustration about the hiring process. Both the applicants and hiring managers don’t have much time and yet, for some reason the latter keep on asking immaterial questions. Of course, we need one or two small-talk questions to help break the ice and make applicants feel at ease.

Other than that, the interviewer should immediately get down to business to make the most of the time, which should not be more than 45 minutes per applicant.

IRRELEVANT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
An interview is key to the job search. You can’t do without asking questions pertinent to the job. Hiring managers must ask questions to determine the fit of a candidate, but not to the point of asking immaterial questions. So, what are these time-waiting job interview questions?

One, what were your positions and dates of employment? This information is already in the applicant’s CV. There’s no point in asking such questions. Besides, you would not invite the applicant for the interview if he does not have a track record.

Two, how did you learn about this vacant job? Unless you’re trying to find out the effectiveness of your job announcements, then better to ditch this question and focus instead on the applicant’s resourcefulness.

Three, what other organizations are you considering? This question betrays the company’s lack of confidence in attracting applicants. Even if they’re close to being hired by another company, you can’t expect them to tell you the truth for fear of disclosing important information.

Four, what are your current salary and benefits? Job applicants will not tell you the truth to avoid jeopardizing their bargaining power. A better approach is to ensure that the salary range for the job is part of the job announcement to instantly remove uninterested parties.

Five, have you ever been denied a salary increase? No applicant in his right mind would be honest enough to admit the truth. What’s the point, anyway? Besides, some organizations have limited capacity and resources to pay above-average salaries.

Six, what is the worst thing about your current employer? Smart applicants would not say anything negative about their past and current employers. What for? That’s because they don’t want to burn any bridges while they still need references.

Last, can we contact your former and current employers? The applicants have no choice. Their contact information is already in the CV and there’s no reason to prevent a future employer from contacting past and current bosses.

SITUATIONAL QUESTIONS
Instead, focus on job-related knowledge that is often hard to discern in CVs and employment records. Raise “hands-on” questions to evaluate applicants for depth of experience and relevance to the job.

Some of these are: How would you try to fit in our department? How would you motivate a problem employee? How would you manage a difficult boss? How about a problem customer on a major account? In what form of communication are you most effective?

How would you plan and organize a major project? Describe a situation when you had to make a quick decision. How do you remain effective when faced with difficult tasks? How did you save money for your employers? How would you determine the progress of a special project?

How well do you know this job and how it is different from your current job? What’s the most difficult but successful decision you’ve made? What would you do to improve a situation where there’s no established policy or precedent? How do you interact with people of various personality types?

What do you plan to accomplish during the first month of your employment with us?

In conducting the interview, you must know the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is the physical use of your ears, while listening — specifically, active listening — requires the use of your mind. The latter is more important for the hiring manager. That’s where you can start taking an intelligent approach in digesting what’s being said by applicants.

Don’t be afraid to ask further questions to validate the answers given. Put yourself in the applicant’s shoes to gauge the potential for a long-term work relationship. You can only do this by not assuming the worst in people.

 

Send anonymous questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting

Cargill Philippines launches protection program vs ASF

CARGILL PHILIPPINES, Inc. recently launched a program that aims to protect pig farms from the effects of the African Swine Fever (ASF).

In a statement, the company said its Cargill 360° Protection is a solution consisting of products, programs, and services to mitigate the risk and spread of diseases in local farms and to boost the immunity of the herd in areas such as farm biosecurity, feed hygiene, enhanced immunity, and pig growing.

Cargill Philippines President Sonny Q. Catacutan said the company’s solution has been used in other countries such as Vietnam and China.

“From the environment to the feeds and animals, business and consumers, the Cargill 360° Protection works to protect all stages of swine business. Studies have been conducted by the Cargill research team, and an end-to-end solution like this would be our best bet in lieu of a vaccine,” he said.

Mr. Catacutan maintained that there is still no vaccine yet for ASF and insisted that the best defense that can be done is prevention.

“Over the past year since ASF was declared in the country, we’ve continuously been helping pig farmers who have been affected by the virus to restart their business, and educating those who are fortunate to have not been affected to remain safe,” he said.

Despite the ongoing spread of ASF in the country, Mr. Catacutan said there is still a way to let the local hog industry prosper.

“As long as we take the necessary precautionary measures and are aware of each other’s role in stopping its spread, we’re confident that the ASF can be effectively contained,” he said.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said that fighting the spread of ASF will take huge effort from all stakeholders such as the government, private sector, and pig owners.

Mr. Dar said that pig farm owners and hog breeders need to strengthen their biosecurity and herd immunity measures as ASF disrupts local pork supply, thus endangering businesses.

“We have to take this seriously because not only does it affect one of the largest industries in the country, but it also exploits a weakness inherent to Filipinos—we are such huge pork consumers that no part of a pig is spared,” Mr. Dar said.

“It’s through partnerships and collaborative efforts like this that will help alleviate the effects of the ASF,” he added.

According to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), ASF is a hemorrhagic viral disease that affects domestic and wild pigs. 

Since being detected in 2019, more than 350,000 pigs have been culled in the Philippines as part of efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Entertainment News (11/20/20)

Sesame Street on HBO GO

THE 51st SEASON of Sesame Street is now available exclusively on HBO GO. New episodes of the 35-episode season will be available at the same time as the US from 4 p.m. every Thursday. Meanwhile, all 227 episodes of Sesame Street Seasons 44 to 50 can be streamed or downloaded on HBO GO. Sesame Street’s latest season marks the beginning of a two-year curriculum focused on playful problem-solving, designed to build critical thinking skills in young children and better equip them to handle challenges in school and beyond. As Sesame Street Muppets, human cast members, and guest stars alike face obstacles — while building a castle, staging a circus, fixing the inner workings of a grandfather clock, and more – they approach these problems with curiosity, creativity, and perseverance, together using phrases and corresponding gestures as starting points in finding solutions. A new anthem, “I Wonder, What If, Let’s Try,” performed by celebrity guest Hailee Steinfeld, brings this curriculum to life and makes its season debut on Nov. 26. The anthem will appear in Sesame Street episodes throughout the year. Download HBO GO from the App Store or Play Store and enjoy a seven-day free trial. Access HBO GO via Cignal or at https://www.hbogoasia.com/. HBO GO can now be accessed via Android TV, Apple TV, LG TV and Samsung Smart TV — and comes with AirPlay and Google Cast functionality.

Korean Netflix original series debuts on Dec. 18

NETFLIX, INC. has announced that Sweet Home, the new thriller Korean original series by K-drama director Lee Eung-bok (Mr. Sunshine, Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Descendants of the Sun) will launch globally on Dec. 18. Adapted from a popular webtoon of the same name, Sweet Home is a 10-episode thriller based on the unique world in which people turn into monsters that reflect their internal desires. Cha Hyeon-su, a reclusive high school student who moves into a new apartment after a personal tragedy, faces a series of life changing situations that brings him out to the world to save others. The series’ ensemble cast includes Song Kang (Love Alarm), Lee Jin-uk (Voice), Lee Si-young (No Mercy), Lee Do-hyun (18 Again), Kim Nam-hee (Mr. Sunshine), Go Min-si (Love Alarm), Park Kyu-young (Romance is a Bonus Book), and Go Youn-jung (He Is Psychometric).

Concert film goes global on Dec. 3

GLOBALLY acclaimed composer and record producer Nils Frahm takes the center stage of an upcoming concert film shot primarily in Funkhaus Berlin. Tripping with Nils Frahm, which features live footage of Frahm’s world tour and intimate performance at one of the city’s most iconic buildings, will premiere globally online on Dec. 3. An accompanying live album will be released on the same day. The film brings his highly acclaimed album All Melody to the stage, playing more than 180 sold-out performances including at the Sydney Opera House, LA’s Disney Hall, the Barbican in London, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and several big festivals stages around the globe over the next two years.

How PSEi member stocks performed — November 19, 2020

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, November 19, 2020.

Shares lose momentum ahead of BSP decision

By Denise A. Valdez, Senior Reporter

LOCAL SHARES moved in red territory on Thursday to pull back from the market’s rally in the past two days.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 54.16 points or 0.76% to close at 6,997.62 on Thursday while the broader all shares index shed 17.33 points or 0.41% to end at 4,127.54.

“Philippine shares took a breather as the recent rally took an inevitable pause… Investors are also awaiting the outcome of the latest BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) meeting this afternoon before making any move,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message on Thursday.

In a BusinessWorld poll of 16 analysts last week, 11 said they expect the monetary board to continue its “prudent pause” on cutting benchmark policy rates, citing excess liquidity and a likely increase in government spending.

Banks were outliers in Thursday’s trading as most PSEi members ended lower, AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail. Sixteen out of 30 blue chip stocks posted losses, while 11 gained and three closed flat.

“The sideways movement tells us that most are willing to hold on to positions in the hopes that prices may go higher in the near-term driven by a strong fourth quarter…. The general sentiment remains optimistic, which is evident in the movement of second-liners and speculative issues,” he added.

US stocks were down overnight: the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices fell 1.16%, 1.16% and 0.82%, respectively. Asian stocks were mixed when the local bourse closed on Tuesday.

“Market was down in line with regional markets on profit taking as US will implement stricter restrictions as (coronavirus) infection rates worsen,” Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan said in a text message.

Several US cities have rolled out stricter measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus following a surge in cases to 11.53 million as of Thursday, based on data by Johns Hopkins University.

Back home, most sectoral indices at the PSE ended Thursday’s session lower: holding firms by 121.91 points or 1.66% to 7,198.75; mining and oil by 121.87 points or 1.5% to 7,959.88; property by 25.49 points or 0.71% to 3,520.08; industrials by 52.92 points or 0.57% to 9,114.80; and services by 1.54 points or 0.09% to 1,550.21. Financials was the only index that gained, rising 21.56 points or 1.57% to 1,391.00 at the end of session.

Some 11.78 billion issues valued at P11.12 billion switched hands on Thursday, lower than the previous day’s 12.34 billion issues valued at P10.93 billion.

Advancers beat decliners, 114 against 99. Some 60 names ended unchanged. Net foreign selling ballooned to P1.09 billion on Thursday from the P375.18 million recorded in the previous session.

Peso weakens ahead of BSP meeting

THE PESO weakened versus the dollar on Thursday ahead of the central bank’s latest policy decision and after the New York City government ordered schools to close again amid rising cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) there.

The local unit closed at P48.315 versus the dollar on Thursday, decreasing by 9.5 centavos from its P48.22 finish on Wednesday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

The peso opened Thursday’s session at P48.25 against the greenback. Its intraday best stood at P48.245, while its weakest showing was at P48.33 versus the dollar.

Dollars traded rose to $692.3 million on Thursday from $635.8 million on the previous day.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the peso declined ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy decision in the afternoon on Thursday.

“The peso was weaker ahead of the BSP monetary policy-setting later today with possible reserve requirement ratio cut or monetary easing measures,” he said in a text message on Thursday.

The BSP Monetary Board on Thursday cut benchmark rates by another 25 basis points (bps) to bring the rates on its overnight reverse repurchase, deposit and lending facilities to two percent, 1.5% and 2.5%, respectively, effective Friday. This brings the central bank’s cumulative cuts for the year to 200 bps.

In a BusinessWorld poll last week, 11 out of 16 analysts had expected the BSP to continue its “prudent pause” at its sixth policy meeting. Some analysts, however, pointed to the sluggish pace of recovery and benign inflation as signs there is still room for the central bank to cut rates. 

“The peso weakened due to some market caution ahead of the BSP policy decision later today. There was also some safe-haven demand after New York City announced the re-imposition of school closures amid increasing COVID-19 new cases,” the trader said in an e-mail.

The US death toll from COVID-19 surpassed a grim new milestone of 250,000 lives lost on Wednesday, as New York City’s public school system, the nation’s largest, called a halt to in-classroom instruction, citing a jump in coronavirus infection rates, Reuters reported.

The decision to shutter schools and revert exclusively to at-home learning, starting on Thursday, came as state and local officials nationwide imposed restrictions on social and economic life to tamp down a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations heading into winter.

For today, Mr. Ricafort sees the peso moving from P48.22 to P48.37 versus the dollar, while the trader expects it to range from P48.20 to P48.40. — KKTJ

Duterte approves emergency use of coronavirus vaccines

By Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Gillian M. Cortez, Reporters

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte would allow the emergency use of coronavirus vaccines, which would cut the approval process for drugs approved in countries where these were developed, his spokesman said on Thursday.

The President would issue an executive order for the emergency vaccine use, which allows local use after 21 days, shorter than the usual six months required for verification, presidential spokesman Harry L. Roque told an online news briefing.

Mr. Duterte had also approved advanced orders for COVID-19 vaccines to ensure there is supply for the Philippines, vaccine czar  Carlito G. Galvez, Jr.  said at the same briefing.

He said the FDA was fast-tracking the approval process for at least three drug makers that seek to hold clinical trials here.

“The exploratory negotiations are ongoing so the 14 centers and testing requirements are prepared this coming December or January,” he said in Filipino.

Mr. Duterte last month said the government had funds to buy coronavirus vaccines, but it needs more so the entire population of more than 100 million could be inoculated.

He said he would look for more funds so all Filipinos could be vaccinated. The President said he was okay with vaccines developed by Russia or China. About five drug makers intend to conduct coronavirus clinical trials in the Philippines, according to the local Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

They include China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

The FDA was now evaluating Sinovac’s application, FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique D. Domingo told an online news briefing in Filipino on Thursday. “It won’t take long before the clinical trials are approved,” he said, adding that the drug maker just had to submit some other requirements.

An expert panel from the Science and Technology department has approved Sinovac’s application. A separate ethics board must also approve the application.

“Only Sinovac has applied officially with the FDA,” Mr. Domingo said in a mobile phone message. “The others are still with the vaccine expert panel,” he said, adding that the FDA and ethics board were evaluating the application simultaneously to speed up the process.

He said drug makers don’t have to conduct clinical trials here. They just have to register for product approval by the FDA, he added.

In the Philippines have an advantage because their results would show that their drugs were effective among Filipino patients, he said.

8,000 DEATHS
The Department of Health (DoH) reported 1,337 coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 413,430.

The death toll rose by 41 to 7,998, while recoveries increased by 286 to 374,939, it said in a bulletin.

There were 30,493 active cases, 84.5% of which were mild, 8% did not show symptoms, 4.7% were critical, 2.5% were severe and 0.21% were moderate.

Davao City reported the highest number of new cases at 110, followed by Laguna at 74, Quezon City at 66, Batangas at 54 and Manila at 53.

The agency said four duplicates had been removed from the tally, while 10 recoveries previously tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths. Eleven laboratories failed to submit their data on Nov. 18, it added.

The coronavirus has sickened about 56.6 million and killed 1.4 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.

About 39.4 million people have recovered, it said.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III on Tuesday asked Mr. Duterte to issue an order on the emergency vaccine use to fast-track the approval process for coronavirus vaccines.

Moderna, Inc. had informed Science and Technology officials that it does not plan to hold clinical trials here for a coronavirus vaccine it was developing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire said this week. The company claims the drug is 94.5% effective.

Pfizer, which claims its vaccine is 95% effective, also does not plan to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines, she said.

Mr. Duterte said he had spoken with outgoing Russian Ambassador Igor A. Khovaev and was told that Russia intends to set up a pharmaceutical company in the Philippines that will make the vaccines available here.

He said soldiers and the police will be among the first ones to be vaccinated, along with poor Filipinos.

Half-a-trillion pesos given to lawmakers’ districts — senator

A SENATOR on Thursday flagged almost half-a-trillion pesos of congressional district funds under next year’s P4.5-trillion national budget.

Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said the House of Representatives had allotted P620 million to P15.35 billion in infrastructure budgets for more than 200 congressional districts.

About 220 districts got more than P1 billion each, while the rest had at least P620 million each, the lawmaker said during plenary debates on the budget of the Public Works department.

The district allocations totaled P474.8 billion, Mr. Lacson said. “I am not blaming the department when it appears this way because practically, it was the congressmen who are responsible for this list,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

Mr. Lacson also said there were 739 line items for multipurpose buildings that will get P1 million each in the national budget.

Last week, he said these were “rehashed” projects that remained unfinished even after years of being funded.

Mr. Lacson also said the Public Works department’s budget had “double appropriations” and overlapping projects.

A coastal bypass road project in Davao City was provided with separate budgets worth P1.791 billion and P4.049 billion, he said.

Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who sponsored the agency’s budget, said the separate items would fund different sections of the road.

The Supreme Court in 2013 ruled congressmen’s priority development assistance fund, more commonly known as the pork barrel, was illegal.

The lump-sum discretionary fund was given to each lawmaker to finance pet infrastructure or community projects that fell outside the scope of the national infrastructure program.

Legislators had also lobbied for a share in the budgets of crucial line agencies to expand the amount of allocations at their disposal. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Neophyte lawmaker declines election as a deputy speaker

A NEOPHYTE lawmaker has declined her election as a deputy speaker under the new House of Representatives leadership.

In a Nov. 18 letter to Speaker Lord Allan Q. Velasco, Las Piñas City. Rep Camille Linda A. Villar said she wanted to concentrate on economic relief measures amid a coronavirus pandemic and after past typhoons.

“It is an opportune time to work with my fellow congressmen and the leaders of the House of Representatives on policy measures that would give personal and economic relief to our fellowmen amid the past disasters and the pandemic,” she said.

Lawmakers voted Ms. Villar and two other new deputy speakers to replace congressmen closely allied with Alan Peter S. Cayetano, whom Mr. Velasco replaced last month after an ugly leadership squabble.

Ms. Villar is the daughter of business tycoon and former senator Manny B. Villar, Jr. She is also the leader of the 44-strong House Nacionalista Party, to which Mr. Cayetano belongs.

She was one of the three lawmakers who received deputy speakership posts in the latest revamp at the lower chamber after Mr. Velasco’s election.

“Rest assured that I am committed to your goals as a partner in development and will support your legislative agenda in the formation of a Congress of the people,” Ms. Villar said.

Congressmen ousted Mr. Cayetano as Speaker at a session held outside the House in keeping with a term-sharing deal brokered by President Rodrigo R. Duterte that both lawmakers agreed to last year.

Mr. Cayetano had refused to honor the gentleman’s agreement, saying Mr. Velasco did not have the support of his colleagues. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

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