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PHL 5G speed gains vs 4G among world’s largest

THE Philippines posted the second-largest gain globally in terms of 5G download speeds relative to 4G in the fourth quarter, according to UK mobile analytics company Opensignal Ltd.

“Emerging markets see some of the biggest jumps in mobile experience with 5G. In Thailand, our mobile users see 5G download speed 13.4 times faster than the 4G download speed — the greatest increase in the world — with the Philippines second with 10.1 times and Saudi Arabia third,” Opensignal said in a report issued Wednesday.

Opensignal’s download speed measure represents the average speed using an active 5G connection.

The Philippines had the largest gains in terms of 5G video experience, which topped 4G equivalents by about 40%.

Thailand, whose 5G video experience was 29% better than its 4G video experience, was second, followed by Hong Kong, which posted a 14% improvement.

Fitch Ratings has said emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region like the Philippines are “likely to pace 5G investments over the next few years to support cash flow, and enable investments to meet proven demand.”

Fitch expects operating cash flow to significantly “lag behind 5G investments, keeping free cash flow (FCF) constrained over the next three years.”

The near-term boost from 5G revenue is unlikely to be significant, it said, citing a lack of “compelling” applications that differentiate 5G services from 4G.

PLDT, Inc. Chief Revenue Officer Alfredo S. Panlilio said at a briefing in October that the telco might set a higher budget for 5G in 2021.

PLDT’s wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. launched its 5G service commercially in July last year.

Globe Telecom, Inc. is also rolling out more 5G-covered areas this year. Globe’s 5G is currently available in 1,045 areas across the country.

PLDT’s 5G network is available in Makati City, New Clark City in Pampanga, and the Araneta district of Quezon City.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

 

Top 10 5G economies

IP regulator calls for stronger protections to drive innovation

THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said legislators preparing the Intellectual Property Code must increase protections for IP in order to provide a favorable environment for innovation, including the development of startups.

In a hearing at the House of Representatives Thursday, IPOPHL Director-General Rowel S. Barba asked legislators to “create an enabling environment that will promote and steer creativity, innovation, and development for not only large companies but also for micro, small, medium enterprises, including startups.”

The House Committee on Trade and Industry was evaluating House Bills No. 1597 and 8062 at the hearing.

The bills call for the amendment of intellectual property law, which Mr. Barba said is needed to shorten the Philippine economy’s digitization transition.

“The international legal framework, norms, standards and best practices are also changing and a robust, effective, modern, and forward-looking intellectual property legal system will make the Philippines a more attractive investment destination, valuing intellectual property creation, utilization, and commercialization,” he said.

IPOPHL said it supports increased penalties for trademark and copyright infringement to deter piracy and other forms of IP theft.

Both bills call for the extension of the renewal period for trademark registration to 15 years from 10, which IPOPHL did not support.

“It will be more practical for stakeholders, local and foreign, to remember only one period,” he said, adding that most countries allow 10 years to protect trademarks. — Gillian M. Cortez

Manila considering ending visa privilege for Chinese nationals

MANILA is considering ending a program giving Chinese nationals a visa upon arrival in Manila due to health and human trafficking concerns, according to a Philippine envoy.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is against this particular scheme,” Assistant Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro told senators at a  hearing on Thursday. “We want to terminate it as soon as the appropriate time comes.”

The government suspended the automatic visa program in January last year amid a coronavirus pandemic.

The Senate foreign relations committee is investigating the automatic visa policy after reports that some Chinese were being trafficked to work at online gaming companies in the Philippines.

Several Immigration officials had also been suspended after they were found to have profited from the scheme.

The Philippines last month filed a diplomatic protest against China after it passed a law allowing its coast guard to fire at foreign vessels in the South China Sea.

The presidential palace has said the use of force is prohibited under international law.

Presidential spokesman Harry L. Roque had said President Rodrigo R. Duterte wanted claimants to disputed areas in the South China Sea to finish a proposed code of conduct and adhere to it to ease tensions.

The Philippine Coast Guard would probably request for more surveillance ships, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles told a televised news briefing on Thursday.

Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, one of the lawmakers who exposed the corruption at the country’s airports, said she would seek to end the visa upon arrival program after her women committee finishes its own separate probe.

“I will recommend that we scrap the visa upon arrival program so Chinese nationals won’t get special treatment,” she said in Filipino at Thursday’s hearing. She also said “undesirable aliens” had managed to come in through the program.

The visa upon arrival program started in 2017 under a circular issued by then Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime H. Morente said the circular, issued in consultation with former Tourism Secretary Wanda T. Teo, was meant to promote local tourism. Filipinos don’t enjoy the privilege in China.

Ms. Baraquel has filed a resolution seeking to ban offshore gambling operators in the Philippines after the companies — most of them Chinese-owned and employ their own citizens — allegedly failed to pay taxes.

The lawmaker said President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who has sought closer trade and investment ties with China, should think of ways to address joblessness instead of allowing the gaming operators to reopen.

Ms. Baraquel earlier said about 70,000 Chinese nationals were illegally employed by these gaming companies.

HELICOPTERS
Meanwhile, the Philippine military will buy 15 more Black Hawk helicopters — lower than the original target of 55 units — to help patrol its islands amid a coronavirus pandemic, according to the presidential palace.

“That number has been managed and reduced to 15 owing to the challenges brought by the pandemic,” Mr. Nograles told an online news briefing.

The 15 units were only “indicative” and could change depending on the availability of funds, he added.

The helicopters would address the deficiency in heavy-lift helicopters, Mr. Nograles said, noting that the military had required 76 units.

Black Hawk helicopters, which are considered as a troop carrier and logistical support aircraft, are made by American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., according to the ArmyTechnology website.

The helicopter can also be used in carrying out executive transport missions such as medical evacuation, command and control, search and rescue, armed escort, and electronic warfare, it said.

Mr. Duterte ordered the decommissioning of all Huey helicopters in the Philippine Air Force inventory due to their frequent involvement in deadly crashes, he said.

An Air Force Huey crashed last month in the mountains of Bukidnon province, killing five soldiers and two members of the local militia.

“It was the fourth such crash since July and the President wants to end all these tragic deaths,” Mr. Nograles said. “Our servicemen and their families deserve better.”

He said a supply agreement was expected to be signed before Mr. Duterte’s six-year term ends in 2022.

The military in November took delivery of 16 Black Hawk helicopters from a Polish unit of US defense and security company Lockheed Martin.

The choppers would be used to transport military personnel and cargo, and for emergency evacuation and disaster relief operations and aerial reconnaissance. — Charmaine A. Tadalan and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Janssen clinical trials may start this week — DoST

JANSSEN Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson will start clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine in the Philippines this week, according to the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).

“It looks like Janssen will be first and it will start within this week,” DoST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña told a televised news briefing in mixed English and Filipino on Thursday.

The local Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Janssen’s clinical trial application in December.

A clinical trial seeks to strengthen drugmakers’ data-gathering on the efficacy of their vaccines and is considered as the final step for mass rollout.

Mr. de la Peña said the clinical trials for vaccines developed by Chinese drug makers Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and Clover Biopharmaceuticals would start either this month or in March.

The DoST earlier said the clinical trials of Janssen vaccines would be held in Makati City, Laguna, Iloilo City and Bacolod City.

Clover will hold its clinical trials in Quezon City, Makati, Manila, Taguig, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Calamba, Laguna and Dasmariñas in Cavite province, it said. Sinovac will hold trials in Quezon City, Marikina, Pasay and Laguna.

The Department of Health (DoH) reported 1,590 cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 531,699. The death toll rose by 55 to 10,997, while recoveries climbed by 249 to 487,927, it said in a bulletin.

There were 32,775 active cases, 88.9% of which were mild, 5.9% did not show symptoms, 2.4% were critical, 2.3% were severe and 0.53% were moderate.

DoH said nine duplicates had been removed from the tally, while 41 recovered cases were reclassified as deaths. Two laboratories failed to submit their data on Feb. 3.

About 7.5 million Filipinos have been tested for the coronavirus as of Feb. 2, according to DoH’s tracker website.

The coronavirus has sickened about 104.9 million and killed about 2.3 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

About 76.7 million people have recovered, it said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it would consider a plan for the Philippines to join a global push to suspend intellectual property rules to ensure access to coronavirus vaccines.

The proposal seeks to waive provisions on copyright, patents and the protection of undisclosed information under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

“I’ll think about it but right now, I will not instinctively join,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. told a Senate hearing on Thursday.

He said the agency would first study whether drug makers or governments were hindering access to vaccines.

“Are governments compelling the manufacturers under their jurisdiction to reserve the vast output of their manufacturing capacity for their own population?” He asked. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas, Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Charmaine A. Tadalan

Gov’t told to address underspending amid COVID-19 pandemic

THE GOVERNMENT should look at underspending issues before it starts talks of a third stimulus package to help sectors hit by a coronavirus pandemic, according to a senator.

“The government should look at the first step in spending the funds,” Senator Francis N. Pangilinan told an online news briefing in Filipino on Thursday.

The senator noted that the Agriculture department had only spent a quarter of its P24-billion budget under the government’s second stimulus package as of December.

The law, which granted up to P165 billion worth of assistance to various sectors, expired on December 19. Congress later extended the law for six more months until June 30.

A third stimulus package has been filed in both Houses of Congress seeking an additional P485 billion in assistance.

Mr. Pangilinan said he would file a resolution seeking to look into the underspending of government funds, particularly those meant to help the government fight the pandemic.

He also urged the Executive branch to form an inter-agency committee that will monitor underspending and come up with plans to hasten expenditure.

“We intend to file a separate resolution to look at the spending,” he said. “What can be done to hasten the spending? What targets should be put in place?”

The Budget Department earlier said it had released P109.15 billion under the second stimulus package as of Dec. 29. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Nationwide round-up (02/04/21)

Cash aid for tourism sector now covers informal, support service businesses

THE cash assistance program for the tourism industry has been expanded a second time and now covers workers in support service enterprises that are registered with the local government. “With this amendment, the Cash Assistance Program under the Bayanihan II (law) can benefit more displaced workers, especially those in the informal sector. We encourage our local government units and tourism enterprises to extend assistance in the completion of documentary requirements for our affected tourism workers,” Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a statement on Thursday. Ms. Puyat and Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III signed the amended memorandum on Feb. 3. Mr. Bello reported that as of Feb. 2, almost 183,500 workers from 9,728 establishments and organizations have been approved as beneficiaries. Payments totalling P790.8 million have been remitted to 158,166 workers. — MSJ 

Firms to offer saliva-based testing for coronavirus

ELECTRONICS solutions firm MyEG Philippines, Inc., in partnership with IP Biotech, Inc. and Family Vaccine and Specialty Clinics, Inc., is expecting the delivery of saliva-based coronavirus testing this month. In a statement, MyEG said the saliva-based testing will enable “home and on-site corporate collection of saliva samples by licensed medical professionals,” which will be sent to partner laboratories. Results will be out in one to two working days, it said. Ann T. Saldana, chief executive officer of MyEG-Philippines, said via e-mail that up to 20,000 kits will arrive within the month. MyEG said the diagnostic kit, developed by Singapore-based biotechnology company Veredus Laboratories, has been approved by the local Food and Drug Administration and has also been approved for use in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. This can also detect other coronavirus variants, it said. The state-owned Research Institute for Tropical Medicine is finalizing its validation of saliva testing and will be issuing related guidelines for laboratories outside of the Philippine Red Cross, currently the only institution with accreditation for such type of testing. The Red Cross will subject one out of every 100 saliva samples to a parallel swab test for RT-PCR testing to ensure the quality of the testing.—Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Ressa, reporter ask court to drop cyber liber case

RAPPLER Chief Operating Officer Maria A. Ressa and a reporter of the online news site asked a Manila court to junk the cyber libel case filed against them over an article on alleged corruption in an academic institution. In a 15-page motion to quash, the counsel of Ms. Ressa and Rambo Talabong, the author of the story published in January last year, said that the facts charged “do not constitute an offense.” The filing asserted that the prosecution did not provide evidence that Ms. Ressa participated in the editing and publication of the story. On the part of Mr. Talabong, the motion said the cited portions of the article were not defamatory and were “not maliciously written” as “they are direct quotes from the complaint or statements attributable to a source.” The case, filed by a professor who was allegedly involved in the payment scheme, is the third cyber libel charge against the Rappler chief. Ms. Ressa and a former Rappler researcher were convicted of cyber libel in June, which was filed by businessman Wilfredo D. Keng. The case is now pending at the Court of Appeals. Another case filed by the businessman is pending at a Makati court. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Comelec sets deadlines for party-lists joining the 2022 elections

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Thursday that it has set March 31 as deadline for both new and existing party-list groups to file their intent to participate in the 2022 elections. For substitution of party-list nominees, the Comelec said groups have until November 15 to do so if the substitution is by reason of withdrawal, and May 9 if due to death and incapacity. “If a nominee withdraws his acceptance, he is no longer eligible to be re-nominated by the same party or be nominated by other parties. If a nominee dies or becomes incapacitated, notice and proof of his death must be filed with the Comelec within ten (10) days,” the commission said. — Gillian M. Cortez

Bill filed for additional cash aid to families most affected by pandemic

TAGUIG City–Pateros Rep. Alan Peter S. Cayetano filed a bill that will grant additional cash assistance to families most affected by the pandemic. In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Cayetano said he filed House Bill 8597 that seeks the distribution of P10,000 per household or P1,500 per family member. Priority beneficiaries, he said, will be “senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents, displaced workers, medical frontliners, families of overseas Filipino workers, individuals who were not able to secure aid through the Social Amelioration Program, Philippine National ID holders, and members of vulnerable groups.” Mr. Cayetano said the aid will not only help those affected but also “boost economic performance.” — Gillian M. Cortez

Regional Updates (02/04/21)

Navotas ice plant ammonia leak claims 2 lives, over 90 hospitalized

THE ammonia leak at an ice plant in Navotas City on Wednesday killed two workers while 96 others, including residents of surrounding communities, were hospitalized, according to Mayor Tobias “Toby” M. Tiangco. In a series of statements on his social media platforms, Mr. Tiangco said the TP Marcelo Ice Plant and Cold Storage, owned by his mother and her three siblings, will remain closed until it has complied with all the recommendations of the Bureau of Fire Protection. He also said he has asked the fire bureau and sanitation officers to check other ice plants in the city for compliance to occupational safety and environmental standards. Ice production is an important ancillary industry in Navotas, home to the main fish port complex that supplies Metro Manila. — MSJ

Mati City to set up COVID-19 test laboratory

MATI City, the capital of Davao Oriental, is preparing to set up its own laboratory for testing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to speed up the detection of positive cases, which has remained less than 1,000 province-wide. City Information Officer Ben Jason Tesiorna said with the laboratory, swab samples will no longer have to be sent to the accredited government laboratories in either Tagum City or Davao City. Mr. Tesiorna said the people of Mati have been generally cooperative in following the minimum health protocols, and the few violators are slapped with fines and penalties. “There are really some who do not comply,” he said. Mati City, along with the rest of Davao Oriental, is among the few areas in the country that has reopened to tourists. Among the requirements for entry is registration to the province’s QR code system through https://davorqrcode.com/. As of Feb. 3, the province had 926 total COVID-19 cases, of which 184 are active, 727 have recovered while 15 died. — Maya M. Padillo

A case of self-flagellation? After the disease, the social unrest

 

Good Friday is a good two months away. But are we seeing early signs of self-flagellation? A few days ago, President Duterte admitted the Philippine economy is “in bad shape” even as he clarified that the administration is “trying its best to keep the country afloat.”

He went on to say that the country’s “greatest disadvantage” is being poor. Despite this hurdle, the President explained that his administration succeeded in allocating funds to secure vaccines for most of the Filipino population of 110 million. It’s a game for rich countries, he announced, as vaccines end up with the highest bidder.

It was good vaccine czar Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., informed the President in the same press conference that the Philippine government would actually be finalizing the supply agreements for around 108 million doses but more are coming to reach a total of 146–148 million doses.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III also assured the President and the people by disclosing that we intend to secure 178 million doses for 92 million Filipinos, more than the initial target of 148 million doses for only 70 million. Vaccine supplies may be sourced from any or all of the following: AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, Novavax, Pfizer, and Sinovac. Additional 40 million doses may likely come from the COVAX facility which is a global initiative to ensure equitable access to life-saving vaccines.

So where is the President coming from in confessing the bad shape of the local economy under his watch?

Comparing the Philippines’ GDP (gross domestic product) contraction to the performance of other major Asian economies should be enough reason to convince the Palace the country’s economic performance in 2020 was not only bad, it was dismal.

As Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board Member Felipe M. Medalla predicted during the Foundation for Economic Freedom’s Paderanga-Varela Memorial Lecture early this week, positive economic growth in 2021 is possible only because of base effects. It would be easy to demonstrate our ability to grow because last year’s hurdle was rather below the ground.

We shall witness “normal growth” only in 2022 because the economic scar on consumer spending remains a binding constraint. Growth for 2021 “will be driven by relaxation of constraints that the government itself has imposed on growth.” Next year will test the confidence of the consumers in the government’s ability to effectively neutralize COVID-19.

Of course, Medalla’s outlook is anchored on successful vaccination of the critical section of the population — the frontliners and the elderly, and strong testing capability in this warm country of mainly young people. He also pinned hope on the country’s good public finance, high foreign exchange reserves level, and strong banks, the great buffers prior to the pandemic.

What Medalla seems to be saying is that we don’t have to flog ourselves. Our own view is that with some exceptions in some areas, the Philippines really did its homework in the last 30 years. Before the virus, capital formation was rising. There was room for pushing productivity to a much higher level.  It was unfortunate the health sector was missed in the general scheme of things. While the economy performed quite well for two decades, it could have even surpassed itself if the imperatives of reforms, especially in public health and market competition, were given due course in earlier years.

The President’s candid remarks would have gained credence if he were only more decisive in demanding the resignation of some insensitive and incompetent health authorities. What could be worse than dropping the ball not once but many times.

Poor health mitigation led to severe quarantine rules that devastated production, jobs, and income. It was so poor our pre-pandemic buffers in monetary, financial, and fiscal areas were rendered useless.

Therefore, we did not have to rank last in real GDP growth in 2020 among selected countries, and rank last again in recovering pre-pandemic growth level from the deepest recession in decades. Our economic managers have been trying hard to deliver on their mandates and macroeconomic targets. Domestic and foreign investors have placed their trust in our over 20-year sustained positive economic growth. Leveraging on these elements should have put us ahead but we stalled so we were left behind. We hate to lose by default.

We might also flog ourselves through the 2021 national budget. The budget appears to be more concerned with the activities of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict than with flattening the pandemic and ushering in economic revival. Its budget was reportedly jacked up over elevenfold from P1.7 billion in 2020 to P19.13 billion in 2021. The difference is easily the cost of vaccines for some 13 million Filipinos. It is mind-blowing that we should detract our attention from national survival to fighting communist insurgency which has been with us for decades.

To make matters worse, our funds for infrastructure and social services could hardly qualify as economic stimulus because first, a large part would continue to support those who were displaced by the pandemic, those who lost their jobs and their business. Nothing wrong with these but obviously we need additional allocation for directly stimulating the economy. Second, our public works authorities should increase their low utilization rate and submit a list of truly new projects for more value added. The point is to add increments for 2021 that the national income accounts could capture and generate enough jobs to raise consumer spending. More support for new industries that emerged during the pandemic should also be considered because they could thrive without physical engagement.

Even the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) in its press release dated Jan. 29 following the virtual Annual Consultation with the Philippine Authorities from Jan. 11 to 26 called for “further policy support and a faster rollout of vaccines … for the Philippine economy to secure a more solid recovery.”  AMRO added the slower-than-expected global recovery to the downside risks in the Philippine growth story.

Both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the AMRO would do well to remind the Philippines that while revenue prospects in this time of uncertain economic recovery are not too promising, fiscal policy support should be sustained. Treasurer Leah de Leon may have to rely more on the domestic capital markets than on the borrowed funds from the BSP. This is still a good time to help further develop and deepen the government bond market. Yes, national government debt hit a high of P9.8 trillion or some 55% of GDP at the end of 2020. But we agree with Finance Chief Economist Gil Beltran that with the national government’s borrowing cost lower than the expected real GDP for 2021 of 6.5-7.5%, the ratio continues to be manageable. As Paul Krugman, in his latest New York Times column, described the very much similar US debt situation: “borrowing now will not store up big burdens for the future: any debt we incur will tend to melt away as a share of GDP over time.” 

Finally, what should add worry to us this year are the social repercussions of COVID-19 on Filipino society.

Health pandemics at various points in world history clearly drew the line among social classes. IMF’s Philip Barrett, Sophia Chen, and Nan Li showed that in Paris in the early 1800s, “the spread of [cholera] heightened class tensions, as the rich blamed the poor for spreading the disease and the poor thought they were being poisoned” (see “COVID’s Long Shadow: Social Repercussions of Pandemics”). As the tension escalated, the blame went all the way up to the king and triggered a huge anti-government demonstration on the barricaded streets. Who could ever forget watching this scene immortalized in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables at the West End?

The uprising elicited government repression and, in turn, caused further public revolt. The IMF blog indicated that disease outbreaks cast long shadows of social repercussions like “shaping politics, subverting the social order and some ultimately causing social unrest.”

Good Friday is important but the other 364 days are equally important for reflection and doing the right things.

 

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.

It isn’t just ‘academic’

To the list of human rights lawyers and defenders; political and social activists; research and media organizations; reformist officials in government; independent journalists; Lumad leaders and school teachers; teachers’ groups; and farmers’, workers’, and student leaders whom they have labeled as either guerrillas of the New People’s Army (NPA), members and supporters of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and/or of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), or as recruiters for the NPA, the Duterte regime and its loyalist military have added universities and colleges.

As part of a wide-ranging, multi-sectoral assault on regime critics and anyone else who disagrees with the regime’s self-serving versions of governance, public issues, events and reality itself, the spokespersons of its National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) have named — not accused, but named — 30 universities as NPA recruitment centers.

The list includes all three of the Philippines’ best universities — the University of the Philippines (UP), Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU), and De La Salle University (DLSU) — and the University of Santo Tomas (UST), incidentally the oldest university in this country. Two of the first three are in every list of the world’s best 500 universities, with UP at 159th place in the latest global rankings.

Twenty-six more colleges and universities, most of them in the National Capital Region (NCR), are in the list. But the actual number is more than 18. Because the University of the Philippines is a system of seven constituent universities (UP Manila, UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, UP Cordillera, UP Visayas, UP Cebu, UP Mindanao and the UP Open University), by labeling it an NPA recruitment and “terrorist haven,” the NTF-ELCAC list in reality consists of 37 universities and colleges.

Because being in that list can lead to their getting death threats and even being killed, the students and faculty of the universities concerned would be perfectly justified in fearing for their safety, and in censoring themselves both in and out of the classroom in the awareness that they’re being watched for what they teach and what they say.

The list is thus not only an attack on free expression but also on academic freedom. Academic freedom is guaranteed for all institutions of higher learning by the 1987 Constitution. But that fact is either unknown to the red-baiters, or is just one more legal constraint on the abuse of power that they prefer to ignore.

This latest outrage against academic freedom and free expression came on the heels of the Department of National Defense’s (DND) unilateral and uncivil termination on Jan. 15 of its 1989 agreement with UP under the provisions of which the police and military can enter the latter’s campuses only with the permission of their administrators.

In reaction to criticism by the UP community of the abrogation of the agreement and the ongoing red-baiting (“red-tagging”) of the country’s premier university as an assault on academic freedom and as a threat to the safety and security of its professors, students and staff, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) volunteered to define academic freedom. (The CHED Chair also chairs its Board of Regents but UP is not under CHED supervision.)

The meaning of that concept is fairly well established, however, and the drafters of the 1987 Constitution, by guaranteeing in Article XIV, Section 5, the enjoyment of academic freedom as the inherent right of every institution of higher learning, were apparently aware of how important it is not only to the country’s universities but also to Philippine society.

By common agreement among academics, free expression defenders, and enlightened, democratic governments, academic freedom is the right of professors to teach their areas of expertise in the manner they think best, and of both faculty and students to learn and do research and to share knowledge with the rest of society.

Professors teach but are also students, learning being the lifetime commitment of the truly educated. Both they and their academic wards are also members of the larger society. But despots and dictators, and fascists and theocrats have imposed limits on the teaching, research and extension functions of universities by making it dangerous for professors and students to teach and learn inconvenient truths, and by prohibiting the sharing outside academia of knowledge that may be contrary to their personal, familial, tribal, sectoral and class interests.

Such limits make a mockery of the freedom that institutions of higher learning need to advance and pass on knowledge to succeeding generations as well as to share it for the benefit of the citizenry. The incontestable truth is that human knowledge is never quite complete and must be constantly expanded. Its validity therefore has to be examined from time to time and cannot be enshrined as eternal and immutable. Doubt and uncertainty even about their own knowledge, findings and expertise are in fact among the characteristics of the truly informed; only the ignorant and the stupid think they already know everything.

It is for this reason that the capacity to do research regardless of the policies, opinions and preferences of the ruling elite, who in this country are so absolutely they know better than everyone else, is indivisible from the responsibilities of the true university. The knowledge thus gleaned from research and study professors transmit to their students who are also charged with doing their own inquiry into the many unexplored areas of their disciplines.

The findings generated are not solely for the institution and its constituents’ benefit. They must be shared with the rest of society. Knowledge is the most indispensable means through which free men and women can understand, change, and control the economic, social and political conditions that define their lives and those of their communities. Academic freedom is in this incontrovertible sense essential to the realization of human freedom; it is not solely “academic.”

It helps explain why tyrants have always feared universities and labeled them hotbeds of nonconformity, dissent, freedom, intellectual daring, and resistance to the enemies of reason and enlightenment. It is because true universities are all of these — and more.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, when the altered reality that had emerged globally after the deadliest conflict in history had to be understood and explained, and McCarthyism red-baited the professors of the University of Chicago, the anthropologist Robert Redfield described the duty of universities as “dangerous” in that the powerful will always target them because they are a threat to tyranny and the horrific impulses that had cost the lives of over 50 million people across the planet.

A true university’s duty is to provide the knowledge of the world that the enemies of humanity despise, and to prevent the dissemination of which they are prepared to do all they can including murder and mayhem so they can continue to rule under the illusion that they know better than the learned who have spent years in study, and the students they have taught and whose intellects they have nurtured.

More than anything else — more than the violence, the oppression, the mendacity and the incompetence — the certitude of ignorance is the tyrant’s worst vice. Describing false leaders a hundred years ago, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats put it so well in his poem “The Leaders of the Crowd”:

“They must to keep their certainty accuse

All that are different of a base intent…

How can they know (that)

Truth flourishes where the student’s lamp has shone,

And there alone…?”

 

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

www.luisteodoro.com

The military coup in Myanmar and its impact on ASEAN

By Pou Sothirak, Philips J. Vermonte,
Herizal Hazri, Herman Joseph S. Kraft,
and Thitinan Pongsudhirak

MYANMAR’s military coup on Feb. 1 is a matter of great concern to both the country itself and to Southeast Asia as a region. Following the Nov. 8, 2020, general election, the coup appears to be an attempt to reverse the landslide victory of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party in both the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament.

The suspension of Myanmar’s democratic institutions could prove a serious setback for the country’s brave transition to democracy and political liberalization less than a decade ago. Political differences that may have occasioned the current State of Emergency, which is slated to last for one year, can be managed and resolved through constructive dialogue and other lawful means without the use of force. It is regrettable that so soon after the people of Myanmar had fulfilled their Constitutional obligation in an election that the democratic process has been nullified in ways that have disregarded the democratic institutions available to challenge the results of the election.

The official statement from the Tatmadaw (Myanmar armed forces) on Feb. 1 explaining the action it has taken refers to perceived irregularities in the vote count. However, no military coup is constitutional in a democracy and no unconstitutional means can be a legitimate part of a solution to return to constitutional rule. What took place may be seen as the Myanmar armed forces’ violation of the military-inspired 2008 charter and a betrayal of the popular will.

In an earlier statement on Jan. 31, the Tatmadaw said that the NLD government did not release the final election data from the Union Election Commission (UEC) even when requested. On its part and in taking the action that it did, the Tatmadaw is equally obliged to release any evidence of the alleged fraud if its claim is to be credible. The lack of evidence fails to support claims of widespread vote fraud.

The Tatmadaw further said it is not objecting to “the outcome itself of the elections” in which the NLD won. In that spirit, the Tatmadaw should forthwith relinquish the powers and positions it has assumed since its takeover of government and reinstate all officials in the NLD-led administration to proceed with constitutional means in addressing any outstanding grievances. The detention of civilian leaders does not bode well for the Tatmadaw’s credibility and pretext for seizing power in the first place.

Given the Tatmadaw’s control and involvement in several key government ministries and a quarter of the legislature, it was well positioned to press its case with the NLD government without having to resort to a coup. The matter of the precise count of the vote should therefore not occasion a military takeover or a State of Emergency in a nation that wishes to adhere to democratic norms and constitutional practices. Notwithstanding the reasons cited in the Tatmadaw’s statement, no legitimate interest can be served by a coup. The larger national interest of a country cannot afford to be eclipsed or hijacked, least of all during a global pandemic when international cooperation and support are critical. Above all, the people’s welfare and constitutional rights must be protected.

The Myanmar junta should also bear in mind how this affects ASEAN as a whole. Indeed, ASEAN has long helped Myanmar manage pressures from the international community. A key example in this regard was the global response to Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. In the aftermath of the devastating cyclone, Myanmar insisted that it had sufficient capacity to deal with the humanitarian situation. Some countries sought to invoke the concept of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) so that the United Nations Security Council could allow the delivery of humanitarian aid without the permission of Myanmar’s authorities. Delays in accepting aid from international organizations led to considerable pressure on Myanmar to open the country to international relief efforts.

ASEAN provided Myanmar with a buffer of sorts. The regional grouping became the intermediary between Myanmar and the international community, providing channels of communication and facilitate joint relief efforts. Aid was delivered via ASEAN instead of being conveyed directly to Myanmar. This setup, thanks partly to the leadership of the late former ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, later became known as the “Nargis Model.” It was ASEAN’s showcase of regional cooperation in times of crisis and Myanmar’s demonstration of its willingness to partake in regional teamwork with international assistance in favor of its own people.

As Myanmar’s neighbors have proven many times before, if there is a space for them to be helpful, they will surely lend a hand to help Myanmar resolve its crisis and overcome its challenges. It is not in anyone’s interest to see Myanmar’s progress towards democracy and good governance slip and slide away after so much progress and development have been achieved, despite flaws and shortcomings. The road ahead points in the opposite direction of the coup the world has just witnessed. A return to democracy will strengthen Myanmar’s integration, not least within its Southeast Asia neighborhood where it will always be located.

 

Pou Sothirak is executive director of Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace in Phnom Penh.

Philips J. Vermonte is executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.

Herizal Hazri is chief executive of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur.

Herman Joseph S. Kraft is a fellow of Asia Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, Inc. in Manila.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak is director of Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of political science in Bangkok.

Repeal the Kasambahay law, remove the minimum wage, and others

Unfortunately, 2021 doesn’t seem to be making it any easier. And the President’s confirmation that the Philippines is losing P2 billion a day in lost income just drives the point home.

Or make that P2.8 billion a day, according to Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua.

The trope normally is to point to the pandemic as the cause of the losses and unemployment. Which is not true. Lockdowns are causing the economic bleeding. People are simply unable to earn money, forcibly or by being terrorized to stay at home. The Philippines’ 8.7% unemployment rate, equivalent to 3.8 million jobless Filipinos, is a grim testament to that. To top it off, despite the diminished earning capacity of those who still can, higher taxes are being considered thrown into the mix.

Incidentally, an SWS (Social Weather Stations) survey found average adult joblessness last year reaching a record high of 37.4% (2019 was at 19.8%). Currently, that’s 12.7 million jobless Filipinos. Adult joblessness refers to those 18 years old and above that voluntarily left their jobs, or are seeking jobs for the first time, or lost jobs due to circumstances beyond their control. SWS also said that about four million families went hungry at least once from October to December 2020.

And speaking of those seeking jobs for the first time, watch out for the graduation season in a few months, likely to churn out 800,000 fresh college graduates. Add to that the possible 15,000 or so law graduates looking for work after they take this November’s bar exams.

Government has promised to confront the foregoing by several means: subsidies (i.e., cash support), insurance and other compensation schemes, fiscal measures, and employment generation. Which are all good.

But all the foregoing must be taken within the context of this basic truth: government never generates income. It doesn’t. It takes its operating expenses by borrowing from other institutions or, as is ordinarily done, by taxing ordinary citizens.

When it gives out cash subsidies or other welfare benefits, takes out loans (which need to be repaid), and so on, all of that can only be done by getting the money from the remaining Filipinos that are still working.

But if SWS is correct, then only around 34 million Filipinos are employed. Of that, subtract the around 1.7 million employed by the government (i.e., civil service). Deduct further the elected officials (around 21,500). Their salaries are all taken from tax funds. This means that roughly only 32 million are employed by the private sector, which generates the income from whom taxes are culled. Effectively, this means our country of 110 million is now being propped up by only 29% of our population. Or to put it another way, only 29% of our population is putting food on the table for the entire country.

There are various economic arguments as to why the use of tax funds could be used as a stimulus to encourage economic growth. But perhaps another manner with which the government can help the country is to simply get out of the way of the said 29%: lessen taxes, cut local government red tape, cut burdensome government regulations.

There is, also, commonsensically the simple cutting of government expenses. This could be done by lessening services or by getting rid of government agencies whose functions are better off being performed by either the private sector or local government agencies. (See “Reform taxation, cut spending, get rid of some government agencies,” BusinessWorld, March 3, 2017.)

Another is by repealing certain laws that hinder employment. One such law, ironically, is the so-called “Domestic Workers Act” or “Batas Kasambahay” (Republic Act No. 10361), which took effect around eight years ago. It was a bad idea then and it certainly is pernicious even now.

Household work is said to constitute 11% of female employment in the Philippines, with a 2011 Philippine Commission on Women report saying that there could be as many as 2.5 million women domestic workers. That the Kasambahay Law failed to condition the benefits contained therein to professional development, skills training, and personal accountability merely led many employers across the country to forego employment of kasambahays, leaving many unskilled women without any viable employment alternative.

Repealing the Kasambahay Law could help provide additional employment opportunities for the young and unskilled female working demographic, which — incidentally — are said to be among the hardest hit unemployment-wise by this ongoing lockdown.

The protections needed for Kasambahays remain because it has always been there anyway. RA 10361 was just a burdensome superfluity: Aside from the Constitution and the preliminary provisions of the Civil Code, the latter also contains at least 11 articles specifically addressing household help (see Articles 1689–1699).

Removing the minimum wage is also here suggested, at least for new hires and for a temporary period of say two years. This would definitely encourage employers to at least consider new hires.

A recent study from the US National Bureau of Economic Research (“Myth or Measurement: What Does the New Minimum Wage Research Say about Minimum Wages and Job Loss in the United States?,” David Neumark and Peter Shirley, January 2021) again confirms that “minimum wages reduce low-skilled employment.” In fact, the “body of evidence and its conclusions point strongly toward negative effects of minimum wages on employment of less-skilled workers, especially for the types of studies that would be expected to reveal these negative employment effects most clearly.”

A previous study emphasized the job-killing aspect of the minimum wage, especially for the “less educated and inexperienced workers. In the long run, this group of workers faces substantially longer periods of unemployment or delays in hiring, thus bearing more of the cost from minimum wages. This phenomenon is particularly important given the evidence that minimum wage jobs often result in relatively rapid transitions to higher-paying jobs.” (“Effects of the Minimum Wage on Employment Dynamics,” Jonathan Meet and Jeremy West, Journal of Human Resources, 2016).

Another suggestion is for the government to strengthening marriages and encourage the proper upbringing of children. Study after study (e.g., “For richer, for poorer,” W. B. Wilcox and R. I. Lerman, American Enterprise Institute Report, 2014) has demonstrated the economic growth driving potential of the marriage institution.

Henry Potrykus and Patrick Fagan (“The Divorce Revolution Perpetually Reduces U.S. Economic Growth,” Marriage & Religion Research Institute, 2012) emphasized that: “Marriage is a causal agent of economic growth. It constitutes one-third to one-fourth of the human capital contribution of household heads to macroeconomic growth. The total contribution of human capital to growth of domestic product in turn is large, being of equal proportion to the other two contributing factors: size of the labor pool and physical capital. Divorce removes this agent of economic growth.”

Accordingly, reviving tax benefits for married couples and for married couples with children, on top of the across-the-board exemptions currently provided, will definitely help the country move forward. The administration would also do well to reconsider its support for legislative proposals that will only weaken the family, e.g., those relating to divorce or same-sex unions.

Recalibrating the conditional cash transfer or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to condition the grant of benefits to providing work for the national or local government, whether it be for construction, sanitation, clerical, or any appropriate form of employment should also be considered.

Finally, it is suggested that underground businesses (defined here as those engaged in otherwise legal commerce whose earnings are below P80,000 per month but do not pay taxes and are unregistered with government) be given legal recognition — at least in the short term — for the sole purpose of providing protection for such businesses from bureaucratic regulation or harassment. A 2010 World Bank study estimated that the Philippine underground economy constituted an average of 41.9% of our Gross Domestic Product from 1999 to 2006, so one can imagine the size of that economy in today’s hard pandemic days and how it can be helpful in spurring economic growth.

Anyway. As that popular meme goes: modern problems require modern solutions.

 

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

South Korea leads the world in innovation as United States exits top 10

SOUTH KOREA returned to first place in the latest Bloomberg Innovation Index, while the US dropped out of a top 10 that features a cluster of European countries. Korea regained the crown from Germany, which dropped to fourth place. The Asian nation has now topped the index for seven of the nine years that it’s been published. Singapore and Switzerland each moved up one spot to rank second and third.

The Bloomberg index analyzes dozens of criteria using seven equally weighted metrics, including research and development spending, manufacturing capability and concentration of high-tech public companies.

The 2021 rankings reflect a world where the fight against COVID-19 has brought innovation to the fore — from government efforts to contain the pandemic, to the digital infrastructure that’s allowed economies to work through it, and the race to develop vaccines that can end it. “In the year of COVID and facing the urgency of climate change, the importance of innovation fundamentals only increases,” said Catherine Mann, global chief economist at Citigroup, Inc. “Innovation is often measured by new ideas, new products and new services,” she said, but it’s their “diffusion and adoption” that is the real metric of success.

Much of the Bloomberg data comes from before the virus crisis. Still, it’s notable that many countries high on the index — like Korea, Germany and Israel — have been world leaders in some areas of fighting the pandemic, whether it’s contact-tracing or speedy vaccination.American names like Zoom Video Communications, Inc. or vaccine-maker Pfizer, Inc. are among the past year’s emblems of innovation, reflecting the US’s top ranking for density of high-tech firms.

The pandemic has also spotlighted a different kind of breakthrough, one that has more to do with policy and organization than technology or research, according to Nobel prizewinning economist Paul Romer. “We should recognize that the available metrics miss important dimensions of innovation,” said Mr. Romer, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “Officials in Wuhan showed for the first time that in a couple of weeks, it is feasible to test 10 million residents of a city for coronavirus. This was a very important public health innovation.”

‘HAVE A FUTURE’
Korea’s return to the top spot is mainly due to an increase in patent activity, where it ranks top, alongside a strong performance in R&D and manufacturing.

There’s near-total agreement in South Korea that “R&D is essential to have a future,” said Lee Kyung-mook, a professor of business management at Seoul National University. “It’s sandwiched between more developed nations, which still outperform them in technology, and China that is catching up fast relying on lower labor costs.”

Second-placed Singapore, which has been allocating budget funds to help workers and companies transition to a digital economy, also scores high for manufacturing — and its globally competitive universities put it top of the tertiary education gauge. Switzerland, a leader in financial and biological technology, ranks near the top in both of the index’s research categories.

Germany’s loss of the crown follows a warning two years ago by Juergen Michels, chief economist of Bayerische Landesbank, who said the country lacked skilled workers and a proper strategy for next-generation technology.

As the two biggest economies, the US and China account for much of the world’s innovation, and they’re also locked in a battle over key areas of policy like intellectual property rights. The gap between them has steadily declined over the liftetime of the index. This year, both saw their rankings decline.

The US, which topped the first Bloomberg Innovation Index in 2013, dropped two places to 11th. In a report last year, the National Science Board found that “where once the US was the uncontested leader in science and engineering, we are now playing a less dominant role.”

The country scores badly in higher education, even though US universities are world-famous. That underperformance was likely made worse by obstacles to foreign students, who are usually prominent in science and technology classes — first due to the Trump administration’s visa policies, and later to the pandemic.

New President Joe Biden ran on a promise to reinvigorate US manufacturing with a $300 billion investment in R&D and breakthrough technologies, a policy he labeled “Innovate in America.”

Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, says the US is still in the vanguard — but nowadays its innovations tend to come from smaller companies, and take longer to reach the consumer. “There are a lot of new ideas from many start-ups,” he said. “It will take time for the ideas to be translated into marketable products.”

China, which fell one place to 16th in the 2021 index, is locked in a battle with the US over key aspects of innovation policy. — Bloomberg

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