SHARPENING the focus on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and blue-collar workers will improve population health outcomes, according to Hilton Y. Lam, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies (IHPDS).
“These populations are important to the public health ecosystem because of their de facto community leader status,” Mr. Lam said — referring particularly to OFWs and seniors — at a virtual event on the health of future Filipinos. As it stands, low infrastructure investments in these populations translate to low reciprocal public expectations.
“Their low opinion of public health will have consequences on the perceptions of people who value their opinions,” he said, adding that health programs that rely on participation by these groups — such as vaccination, nutrition, and blood donation — are put at risk.
Public health in the Philippines also suffers from its reliance on technologies that are not patient-centered, said Mr. Lam, which, in turn, leads to a slow response to epidemiological changes.
“The current programs are myopic due to an over-reliance on biomedical science to the point of rejecting the fields of data science, artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical manufacturing science, engineering science, and others,” said Mr. Lam. “Thus, when the pandemic hit the country, we could not do anything but shut down and pray we get the vaccines soon.”
He cited Taiwan as a country whose surveillance systems, which incorporates data science and artificial intelligence, enabled it to shut its borders as soon as it picked up “pneumonia-like symptoms with an unknown etiology.”
To improve the Philippine public health ecosystem, the IHPDS proposed a proof-of-concept program that develops a set of patient-centered quality assurance tools. The program will describe the baseline health-related quality-of-life of Filipinos; train provincial-level researchers on health technology assessment; and test telehealth innovations to increase the value proposition for OFWs, senior citizens, PWDs, and blue-collar workers.
“We need to do better,” Mr. Lam said. “We don’t know when the next pandemic will hit.”
THE all-digital banking app Diskartech owned by Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) has seen an increase in deposit transactions as more clients continue to join the platform.
The platform saw a 42% rise in savings volume in January from the December level while deposits per user picked up by 38%, RCBC said in a statement.
Pressed for details, RCBC said more than half (52%) of Diskartech users belong to the 21-30 age bracket. This was followed by those aged 31 to 40 (30%), 41 to 50 (10%), 18 to 20 (3%), and 61 to 70 (1%).
Nearly half of their platform’s users reside in Luzon (49%), specifically in Metro Manila (31%). This was followed by customers in Visayas (10%) and Mindanao (9%).
The usage volume of the app also surged by more than four times (274%) in January from the average seen last year.
“These numbers are very promising showcasing Filipinos’ resiliency amidst this challenging time. We hope to be a partner of every Filipino in our collective quest towards economic recovery,” RCBC Executive Vice-President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer Angelito “Lito” M. Villanueva was quoted as saying.
Diskartech was launched in July. Its offerings include a basic deposit account that does not require an initial deposit amount and a maintaining balance. It also features card-less ATM withdrawals and allows deposits and cash-outs from agent partners.
The bank hopes to attract more users into using the platform through its 3.25% annual interest on savings.
Mr. Villanueva earlier said they hope to attract Filipinos who are either underbanked or unbanked to the platform which has a Tagalog-English interface.
Central bank data showed only 29% of Filipino adults had formal bank accounts in 2019, leaving behind 51.2 million still unbanked.
RCBC’s net income decreased 7% to P5 billion last year from P5.388 billion in 2019 as the bank ramped up provisioning for credit losses to manage risks during the crisis.
Its shares closed unchanged at P17.50 apiece on Tuesday. — L.W.T. Noble
LOS ANGELES —The man who was shot while caring for Lady Gaga’s French Bulldogs said on Monday he was recovering after nearly dying from the attack by assailants who kidnapped two of the pop singer’s pets.
Ryan Fischer, in his first public comments since the incident last Wednesday evening in Hollywood, detailed his recollections from that night and thanked family, friends, first responders and Ms. Gaga, who has been in Italy to shoot a movie.
The two stolen dogs were turned in to police unharmed on Friday but two men suspected of stealing them remain at large.
“I am still in recovery from a very close call with death,” Mr. Fischer, 30, wrote on Instagram alongside pictures of him in a hospital bed, including one that showed him connected to a ventilator.
Describing the episode, Mr. Fischer said he let out panicked screams as blood poured from his body from a gunshot wound. Kidnappers had taken two of Gaga’s three dogs —Koji and Gustav —but a third, Asia, remained with Mr. Fischer.
“I cradled Asia as best I could, thanked her for all the incredible adventures we’d been on together, apologized that I couldn’t defend her brothers, and then resolved that I would still try to save them … and myself,” Mr. Fischer wrote.
Koji and Gustav were returned unharmed to police on Friday by an unidentified woman and reunited with Ms. Gaga’s representatives. Ms. Gaga had offered a $500,000 reward for her dogs’ return.
To Ms. Gaga, Mr. Fischer said: “Your babies are back and the family is whole … we did it! You have shown so much support throughout this whole crisis to both me and my family.”
“A lot of healing still needs to happen,” Mr. Fischer added, “but I look forward to the future and the moment when I get bombarded with kisses and licks (and maybe even an excitement pee?) from Asia, Koji, and Gustav.” — Reuters
TELCO startup DITO Telecommunity Corp. may start offering home broadband services next year, a company official said.
“Ang balak namin, perhaps by next year, mago-offer na kami ng broadband services. ‘Yung sa bahay (We plan to offer home broadband services next year),” Adel A. Tamano, DITO’s chief administrative officer, told a news briefing on Tuesday.
Mr. Tamano also clarified that DITO’s commercial launch of its mobile services will take place in 15 areas, instead of 17, in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao on March 8.
Ten areas identified in Metro Cebu are: Carcar, Cebu City, Consolacion, Danao, Liloan, Mandaue, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, and Talisay. Areas covered in Metro Davao are Panabo, Tagum, Carmen, Davao City, and Digos.
“DITO will eventually make its way to the rest of the country (located within, of course, the more than 37% population coverage) in just a couple of months,” Mr. Tamano noted.
He said the company chose Mindanao and the Visayas as its priority areas for the commercial launch due to a “sentimental reason.”
“It was actually set up to serve the underserved areas,” he noted.
The National Telecommunications Commission announced last week that DITO was compliant with its commitments to cover 37.03% of the country’s population and provide a minimum average broadband speed of 27 megabits per second (Mbps) in its first year of service.
PHL FIXED BROADBAND Also on Tuesday, Ookla, the company behind Speedtest, said the Philippines’ fixed broadband average download speed for February “registered its highest jump since the beginning of the Duterte administration.”
“The 5.73 notch up from 32.73 Mbps… to 38.46 Mbps in Feb. 2021 represents a monthly increase of 17.51% and a 386.22% increase from the country’s download speed of 7.91 Mbps back in July 2016,” it said in a news release.
Ookla added that mobile networks’ overall performance also improved last month.
The country saw an average download speed of 26.24 Mbps, an increase of 252.68% from 7.44 Mbps back in July 2016, it noted. — Arjay L. Balinbin
PROJECT MOSES, a health dashboard, aims to address misconceptions and streamline information for Filipinos seeking answers to their coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) concerns.
Apart from its news aggregator feature, the website also includes a self-assessment tool and a hospital directory. All data in Project Moses is open to the public. “It is important to have open data accessible to the public so people can become well-informed and not ill-informed citizens,” said Rejiel “Rage” A. Gonzales, chief executive officer of Bridge360, the social technology enterprise that created the dashboard. “It helps researchers and other app developers build on the ideas of others.”
“Back in March 2020, information about COVID-19 was all over the place. Myths and fake news had been spreading,” she added. “We are trying to create a platform that we hope could streamline information and processes.”
Started solely as a news aggregator, it was named Project Moses because of the company’s collaboration with Catholic Media Network, a network of Catholic radio and television stations.
To scale up the platform, Bridge360 had to join contests to get funding. It won first prize from Stat Zero, an impact investor in Silicon Valley, as well as second prize in Australia’s HackForBetterDays, in partnership with Here Technologies.
But Project Moses’s bigger ambitions are on the back burner for reasons outside the dashboard developers’ control. The platform wanted to help local government units streamline the transfer of COVID-19 patients from Level I hospitals (which aren’t required to have intensive care units) to hospitals with better facilities.
“We consulted several doctors and even collaborated with the Office of the Vice-President to see which hospitals we can onboard there. We were able to present Project Moses with the Philippine General Hospital and Lung Center,” Ms. Gonzales said. “Unfortunately, streamlining hospital transfers from one hospital to another was such a big vision. There were too many factors.”
The World Health Organization and the Department of Health also have online resources that individuals can peruse for accurate information. — Patricia B. Mirasol
BDO LEASING and Finance, Inc. (BDOLF) registered a higher net profit last year despite booking lower revenues on the back of decreased funding costs.
The firm’s net income stood at P252.3 million in 2020, more than eight times or 439% higher than the P46.8 million it booked in 2019, it said in a filing with the local bourse on Tuesday.
Its gross revenues dropped 22% to P2.4 billion amid lower interest income since its operations were scaled down following the sale of most of its earning assets to parent BDO Unibank, Inc.
“This was part of the restructuring of the group’s leasing business where the operations of BDOLF fully transitioned to BDO Finance Corp. (BDO Finance), which was established last year to offer customers continued access to lease products and services,” BDO Leasing said.
“BDO Finance likewise assumed the lease transactions booked in BDOLF to ensure continuity to the latter’s existing clients.”
BDO in January last year entered into an agreement to sell its majority stake in BDOLF for P5.451 billion to restructure its leasing business.
On the other hand, BDOLF’s total expenses fell 34% to P2 billion as interest and financing charges shrank 62% due to the low rate environment and amid declining borrowing levels.
BDOLF’s parent BDO saw its net earnings drop by 36.2% to P28.2 billion in 2020 from P44.2 billion in 2019 due to higher loan loss provisions amid the pandemic.
Trading of BDOLF shares is suspended. Meanwhile, BDO shares closed at P109.30 apiece on Tuesday, down by 10 centavos or by 0.09% from its previous close. — L.W.T. Noble
LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI in 2012 at Caffe Trieste — EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/
LAWRENCE Ferlinghetti, the poet and bookstore owner whose publication of Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl in 1956 led to a landmark obscenity trial that spotlighted the Beat literary movement, died at the age of 101.
He died on Feb. 22 at his home in San Francisco, according to The Washington Post, citing his son Lorenzo. The cause was lung disease.
Mr. Ferlinghetti’s City Lights became the nation’s first all-paperback bookstore when it opened in San Francisco’s North Beach section in 1953. Since then, it has served as a gathering place for writers, artists and bohemians, from Jack Kerouac and the Beats to hippies, punk rockers and iPhone-carrying hipsters.
He also wrote more than 30 books, including 1958’s A Coney Island of the Mind, a collection of poems that has sold more than 1 million copies. Fluent in French and Italian, Mr. Ferlinghetti translated poetry into English, wrote plays, art criticism, and essays and was a talented painter. In 1998, he was named San Francisco’s first poet laureate. France awarded him the title of Commandeur des Arts et Lettres.
Mr. Ferlinghetti published Howl and Other Poems as part of City Lights’ fledgling Pocket Poet Series, printing 1,500 copies that sold for 75 cents each. US Customs seized 500 books from a second printing, citing the poem’s “obscene” nature.
OBSCENITY TRIAL “It is not the poet but what he observes which is revealed as obscene,” Mr. Ferlinghetti wrote in a column in the San Francisco Chronicle after the books were confiscated in early 1957.
Ten days after the column ran, the Collector of Customs released the books and the US attorney dropped the matter. Still, San Francisco police arrested Mr. Ferlinghetti — and local authorities brought obscenity charges against him.
In a much-publicized trial, defense witnesses including critic Kenneth Rexroth and author Mark Schorer, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, testified to the book’s literary merits.
The trial resulted in a widely hailed decision against censorship. Judge Clayton W. Horn of San Francisco Municipal Court acquitted Mr. Ferlinghetti, declaring that Howl had redeeming social importance and was thus protected under the US Constitution.
BANNED BOOKS “Before Howl, there were so many books that weren’t allowed in the US,” Bill Morgan, author of a history of the beat generation, told the Newark Star-Ledger. “You had to sneak in copies of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Lolita from Paris.”
By the trial’s end, more than 10,000 copies of Howl were in print.
Lawrence Ferling was born March 24, 1919, in Yonkers, New York, the youngest of five sons of Carlo and Clemence Ferling. At age 36, he changed his name to Ferlinghetti, the surname his father had shortened on arriving in the US from Italy.
His childhood was turbulent. His father died before Lawrence was born and his mother, overcome by grief, suffered a breakdown and was placed in a state hospital.
Relatives of Lawrence’s mother, Ludwig and Emily Mendes-Monsanto, took him in when he was about a year old. Soon after, Emily left her husband and brought Lawrence with her to France, according to Mr. Ferlinghetti’s biographer, Neeli Cherkovksi. After returning to New York four years later, Emily took the youngster with her to Bronxville, New York, north of the city, where she’d been hired as a live-in French tutor to a wealthy family’s daughter. When Emily subsequently left, Mr. Ferlinghetti was raised by the family, Anna and Presley Bisland. He chose to stay with the Bislands when his mother, by then a virtual stranger, showed up.
GREENWICH VILLAGE Mr. Ferlinghetti attended high school at Mount Hermon, a boarding school near Greenfield, Massachusetts. He earned a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1941, then joined the US Navy during World War II.
He lived in New York’s Greenwich Village while working on his master’s degree at Columbia University. It was there that his interest in poetry bloomed. He read William Carlos Williams and Marianne Moore and continued to buy any new work by his Village neighbors E.E. Cummings and Kenneth Patchen.
Mr. Ferlinghetti moved to Paris to obtain his Ph.D. at the Sorbonne and met his future wife, Selden Kirby-Smith, on a ship sailing to France from the US in 1949. They were married two years later in Florida before settling in San Francisco.
EARLY BEATS City Lights, named after the 1931 Charlie Chaplin film, was originally a pop-culture journal published in a cramped space above a flower shop by Peter Martin, a transplanted New Yorker. When it folded, Mr. Martin told Mr. Ferlinghetti about his idea to open a book store specializing in paperbacks, which were then a new product. They each put up $500, and City Lights Books was born in June 1953.
“Once we opened the door,” Mr. Ferlinghetti said, “we couldn’t get it closed.”
Mr. Martin sold Mr. Ferlinghetti his interest and moved back to New York two years later. By then, Mr. Ferlinghetti had expanded the store’s scope to include the City Lights publishing imprint.
Mr. Ferlinghetti attended Mr. Ginsberg’s now-legendary reading of Howl at San Francisco’s Six Gallery on Oct. 7, 1955.
The audience erupted in cheers after listening to Howl, whose first line — “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness” — would become indelibly linked to the Beat Generation. The poem lashed out against what Mr. Ginsberg saw as the suffocating forces of materialism and cultural conformity.
‘APOCALYPTIC MESSAGE’ Mr. Ferlinghetti went home that night and typed a note to Mr. Ginsberg paraphrasing one that Ralph Waldo Emerson sent to Walt Whitman upon receiving a copy of the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass: “I greet you at the beginning of a great career. When do I get the manuscript?”
“I knew the world had been waiting for this poem, for this apocalyptic message to be articulated,” Mr. Ferlinghetti wrote in 2006. “It was in the air, waiting to be captured in speech. The repressive, conformist, racist, homophobic world of the 1950s cried out for it.”
A year after Howl, City Lights published Gasoline, a collection of poetry by Beat writer Gregory Corso. To his later regret, Mr. Ferlinghetti turned down an opportunity to publish Mr. Kerouac’s now-classic novel On the Road, though he did bring out his Book of Dreams in 1961.
Mr. Ferlinghetti continued to write poetry and operated City Lights for more than a half-century. In 2003, he was awarded the Robert Frost Memorial Medal and the Author’s Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.
He always tried to de-emphasize the term “Beat Generation,” a phrase coined by Mr. Kerouac, as a description of the San Francisco literary scene of the 1950s. He preferred to call it “an early phase of counter-culture poetry regeneration in America.”
Mr. Ferlinghetti and his wife, who were divorced, had two children: Julie and Lorenzo. — Bloomberg
EAST ZONE water concessionaire Manila Water Co., Inc. registered an 18.2% fall in net income attributable to equity holders to P4.50 billion for 2020, it said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Tuesday.
The water provider said the decline was due to lower contribution from its domestic subsidiaries as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Manila Water’s consolidated operating revenues last year fell 2.4% to P21.13 billion as its domestic subsidiaries Estate Water and Boracay Water had lower contributions.
“The group derived 80% of its operating revenues from the sale of water, while 16% came from environmental and sewer charges. Other revenues, which accounted for the balance, are comprised of supervision fees, after-the-meter services, connection fees and septic sludge disposal, among others,” the disclosure said.
Manila Water said its consolidated costs and expenses for 2020 fell 13.2% to P8.34 billion, versus P9.61 billion the earlier year as all of its expense accounts had posted a decline compared to the earlier year.
The company added that lower costs and expenses were because of fewer septic sludge disposal and repairs due to suspension of activities as part of lockdown protocols.
“Notable is the 25% decline in overhead costs, which was largely due to the one-off expenses in 2019 such as the P534 million in relation to the penalty imposed by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and additional expenses which arose in the ordinary course of business,” the disclosure said.
Earnings of the company before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for 2020 fell 5.7% to P11.94 billion compared to P12.66 billion in 2019.
Meanwhile, Manila Water’s subsidiary Manila Water Philippines Ventures, Inc. (MWPV) posted a net loss of P480 million, a turnaround from the P450 million net income it had in 2019.
MWPV’s consolidated revenues declined 10% to P4.22 billion in 2020 against P4.69 billion in 2019.
Another subsidiary of Manila Water, Manila Water Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (MWAP), posted a net loss of P371 million for 2020, reversing the P172-million net income it had the previous year due to the recognition of additional expenses in Cu Chi, Saigon Water, and East Water.
Manila Water Total Solutions (MWTS) recorded a net loss of P109 million for 2020, an improvement from the P165-million net loss it had in 2019.
In a separate regulatory filing on Tuesday, Manila Water announced that Aqua Centro MWPV Corp. (ACMC) signed a P233-million term loan facility with the Bank of the Philippine Islands.
The disclosure said the term loan will be used to fund ACMC’s capital expenditure projects. ACMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of MWPV.
On Tuesday, shares in Manila Water at the stock exchange rose 0.13% or two centavos to close at P15.38 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
THE Reserve Bank of Australia said it is ready for a prolonged battle with bond traders betting on reflation even as it kept its main policy levers unchanged on Tuesday. — REUTERS
THE Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) signaled it’s ready for a prolonged battle with bond traders betting on a reflation wave sweeping across the global economy.
“The bank remains committed to the 3-year yield target and recently purchased bonds to support the target and will continue to do so as necessary,” Governor Philip Lowe said in a statement Tuesday, after keeping the main policy levers unchanged. “The bank is prepared to make further adjustments to its purchases in response to market conditions.”
The RBA has stepped up bond purchases to defend its yield target and in an effort to soothe market dysfunction. Australia and New Zealand both find themselves at the front line as early success in containing COVID-19 means they’re further along the road to recovery that will, potentially, trigger an unwinding of ultra-loose policy settings.
Su-Lin Ong, head of Australian economic and fixed-income strategy at Royal Bank of Canada, said the central bank’s unscheduled operations Friday to defend its yield target and doubling of its usual quantitative easing purchases Monday marked a shift in stance.
It signals “a preparedness to be more flexible, deploy its existing tools for better impact,” she said. That suggests the RBA “will err on the side of more, rather than less, accommodation with QE3 likely.”
After the upheaval in yields through February, market reaction was muted to the RBA’s statement today. The 10-year yield spiked seven basis points higher while the three-year yield was just under 1.2%, suggesting markets will continue to test the RBA with reflation bets. The currency trimmed its intraday decline to trade at 77.64 US cents at 5:48 p.m. in Sydney.
Mr. Lowe indicated in his statement that the outlook was largely unchanged from the prior month: inflation will accelerate temporarily after the end of COVID-related price reductions; otherwise, consumer prices will rise 1.25% this year and 1.5% next.
The central bank won’t raise its cash rate “until actual inflation is sustainably” in its 2-3% target range,” the governor reiterated. This, he said, will require “materially higher” wages growth that in turn will need “significant gains” in employment to tighten the labor market.
“The board does not expect these conditions to be met until 2024 at the earliest,” Mr. Lowe said.
Central banks and bonds markets across the world have been locked in a showdown as efforts to keep borrowing costs low are being tested by inflation bets. Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week spent two days telling US. lawmakers the economy is in no state to be thinking about monetary tightening. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is “closely monitoring” debt yields.
Mr. Lowe said today the bank is “prepared to do more if that is necessary.” That echoed comments earlier today by The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which said that it stood ready to ramp up bond purchases.
COVID-19 RECOVERY Sentiment is strong in Australia, underpinning activity and hiring; on top of that, the nation’s largest export — iron ore — is hovering around $170 a ton, levels last seen a decade ago.
Economists estimate the economy expanded 2.5% in the final three months of last year from the prior quarter, ahead of data Wednesday. Yet, gross domestic product probably contracted 1.9% from a year earlier, they said.
The low cost of borrowing is fueling a rapid rebound in property with the housing market recording its largest monthly gain in 17 years and lending reaching a record high in January.
“Housing credit growth to owner-occupiers has picked up, but investor and business credit growth remain weak,” Mr. Lowe said. “Lending standards remain sound and it is important that they remain so in an environment of rising housing prices and low interest rates.” — Bloomberg
With more patients in need of help to access treatments, advocates welcome the recent announcement of the Department of Health (DoH) that it would allocate at least a P700-million annual budget to the cancer assistance fund.
During the “Cancer Conversations: From Policy to Meaningful Action” webinar held in partnership with the BusinessWorld, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III reaffirmed the government’s commitment to implement the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA).
“Historically, the budget trend for the cancer control program has been fluctuating and frankly, insufficient. By having NICCA in place and indicated in the draft Administrative Order on Cancer Assistance Fund, the annual budget for the Cancer Supportive Care and Palliative Care Medicines Access Program will now be at least 700 million pesos. This will allow us to cover more priority cancer types and allow us to give larger numbers of patients in minimizing, if not outright eliminating their out-of-pocket medical expenses,” he said.
With this pronouncement, things are starting to fall in place as the Philippines and other countries face global metrics, with a focus on how they are supporting cancer patients throughout their journey.
One such measure is the Asia-Pacific Index for Cancer Preparedness (ICP) by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The ICP measures how ready healthcare systems are for the challenge of cancer. It seeks to answer the question of how well-prepared countries are to achieve major reductions in premature deaths from cancer, increase cancer survival rates, and improve the quality of life for cancer patients and survivors.
The index explores the issue of cancer preparedness through three broad domains: (1) Policy and planning: focusing on levers that are mostly in the hands of policymakers; (2) Care delivery: looking at capacity to deliver cancer-specific services within health systems themselves; and (3) Health systems and governance: acknowledging that cancer cannot be defeated by cancer-focused activities alone.
Charles Goddard, editorial director at the Economist Group, discussed the key findings of their report during the policy forum co-organized with the Cancer Coalition Philippines (CCPh).
This regional index had drawn upon the findings of the global ICP (which evaluated 28 countries based on 45 separate indicators) to provide a comprehensive overview of how well the 10 included countries in the Asia Pacific are doing in the key areas of this challenge.
The data analysis and key findings presented in the report were derived before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic happened. However, as the report itself pointed out, “the key findings and priorities for addressing cancer control provision have now been thrown into sharper focus, and should be interpreted in light of the unfolding health system and economic impacts that the pandemic has wrought.”
The 10 countries included in the report, as discussed by Mr. Goddard, were chosen based on various factors including size, income-level diversity, and progress made towards universal health coverage (UHC). These were Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, and Vietnam.
In the overall ICP scores ranking, Vietnam and the Philippines were bottom-dwellers. The report acknowledged the reality that countries in the vast Asia-Pacific region show great diversity in their healthcare needs, and responses to cancer are highly influenced by their stage of economic development.
High-income countries with established healthcare infrastructures are primarily dealing with quality-of-care concerns. Upper-middle-income countries are refining their UHC systems to close access gaps and ensure financial sustainability. Lower-middle-income countries, on the other hand, are setting up the foundations for an increasingly important cancer challenge.
The report found a strong positive association between income levels and performance in overall cancer preparedness. An influential indicator for overall performance in the index is “screening and early detection,” highlighting the importance of improving the early management of the disease in the region. Other influential indicators are “cancer registries” and “infrastructure.”
A strong correlation was also seen between the overall index score and cancer control outcomes. This demonstrates that, in broad terms, better performance in the index is consistent with countries achieving better cancer management outcomes.
While healthcare spending (as a percentage of GDP) is positively associated with performance in the index, there is a stronger association with political will, an indicator that includes not only funding but also institutional aspects like the commitment to universal healthcare.
This was echoed by former Health Secretary Manuel M. Dayrit when he said: “The message of the forum is the need for visionary leaders that is sustained at the national level. It’s the leadership that will bring the whole country together for cancer control, and for Universal Health Care.”
Clearly, we celebrate the achievements in the implementation of the Cancer Control Act and commend the people and groups behind them. With the desire to measure up to the global standards in supporting patients and their families throughout their journey, the government and the whole cancer community must continue their collaborations and advocacy.
Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP). PHAP and its member companies represent the research-based pharmaceutical sector in the country.
Documentaries on Philippine intangible cultural heritage now on view
THE INTERNATIONAL Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region, under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHCAP), recently launched 10 video documentaries on different Philippine intangible cultural heritage (ICH) elements. The documentaries, which run for an average of 27 minutes, can be viewed in two versions, one in English (with English subtitles) and the other with Korean subtitles, on ICHCAP’s official YouTube channel. The ICH elements featured are the use of mud in traditional Ifugao textile dyeing (Using Mud as Mordant in the Traditional Dyeing Process of the Ifugao of Northern Luzon); piña weaving of Aklan (Piña: The Pineapple Textile of Aklan, Western Visayas); the traslacion procession of the Black Nazarene image of Quiapo, Manila (Poong Nazareno: The Traslacion of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, Manila); the moryonan Lenten penitential ritual in Marinduque (Moryonan: A Lenten Tradition in Marinduque Island); the craft of making moryonan masks (Mukha ng Moryonan: Mask Making for Moryonan Lenten Tradition of Marinduque); the giant Christmas lantern tradition of San Fernando, Pampanga (Parul Sampernandu: The Giant Christmas Lantern Tradition of San Fernando City, Pampanga); the feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia of Naga City, Bicol Region (Ina: Our Lady of Peñafrancia); the buklog ritual of the Subanen of the Zamboanga Peninsula (Buklog: The Ritual System of the Subanen of Zamboanga Peninsula); the igal of the Sama people of Tawi-Tawi (Igal: Traditional Dance of the Sama of Tawi-Tawi); and the boat building practices of the Sama people of Tawi-Tawi (Lepa and Other Watercrafts: Boat Building Traditions of the Sama of Tawi-Tawi). These documentaries are part of ICHCAP’s video documentation of ICH project in the Asia-Pacific region, which has been implemented since 2015. The Philippine ICH video documentation team is led by NCCA Secretariat’s Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts Section headed by Renee Talavera; theater veteran and Mindanao culture expert Nestor T. Horfilla as consultant for Mindanao and co-director of some of the documentaries; and writer Roel Manipon.
CCP launches Kanto Canta tilt
KANTO Canta, a competition initiated by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Board of Trustees, is an online music competition for original Filipino musical works, which was officially launched on Feb. 17. It aims to create contemporary music that incorporates traditional musical instruments and local languages in order to create a “new Pinoy sound.” The deadline for submission for the first quarter is on or before Mar. 20. In line with this, CCP collaborates with OPM R&B group BRWN to produce Bangon!, a music video featuring uplifting lyrics and an orchestral arrangement with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the band’s electronic flair, Philippine ethnic instrumentation and Cordilleran chants. The music video premiered on Feb. 23 on the BRWN YouTube channel. For more details, follow the CCP Kanto Kultura Facebook page (facebook.com/kantokultura) and official social media pages (@kantokultura).For inquiries, contact the CCP Marketing Department at 8832-1125 local 1409/1800 or e-mail ccpkantokultura@gmail.com.
4 exhibits at West Gallery
THERE are four exhibits which are ongoing at West Gallery this month. First is Yasmon Sison’s “Backyard Jungle Redux” in which she journeys back into archived research work and uses these materials as the source for new work. “Backyard Jungle Redux” is a revisitation of old studies and imagery from a previous collection of paintings for Into the Woods, shown in the early aughts, featuring younger versions of her son, Haraya, and her nieces and nephews. The exhibit runs until Mar. 13 at the Malang Room. A group show, “Grayscale,” features the works of 11 artists: Andres Barrioquinto, Jigger Cruz, Mark Andy Garcia, Winner Jumalon, Raffy T. Napay, Lynyrd Paras, Neil Pasilan, Arturo Sanchez, Jr., Kaloy Sanchez, Luis Antonio Santos, and Hamilton Sulit. The exhibit, curated by Soler Santos, has the artists following a very loose brief concerning black and white. It is ongoing until Mar. 20. There are three other solo shows: Alvin Villaruel’s “Days In and Out of the Sun,” Lendl Arvin’s “At the Top of the Food Chain,” and Demosthenes Campos’ “Inclined to Observe.” The exhibitions run until Mar. 20. West Gallery is located at 48 West Ave., Quezon City. Visits are by appointment only (call 3411-0336), Monday to Saturdayfrom 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Langgam Performance Troupe premieres [KOSMOS]
AFTER six months of lockdown development, Langgam Performance Troupe (LPT) is now ready to premiere its latest virtual work entitled, [KOSMOS], this month. LTP is a contemporary performance company focusing on experimental, process-based, and practice-as-research works. [KOSMOS] is an online collaborative performance piece that explores and examines the meaning, purpose, and utilization of makeup — especially in relation to its gradual loss of use due to the global interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a series of Zoom performances, the project asks the questions: “What now becomes of cosmetics? And what now becomes of the face in this time of facelessness?” Focusing on the word “cosmetics” which derives from the Greek word, kosmos, meaning “order,” this performance piece is envisioned as an attempt in putting things in order, in harmony, in the balance, in perspective, in universe, and in beauty — especially at a time when we are grappling with the world’s existing disorder. [KOSMOS] is conceptualized and directed by Jenny Logico-Cruz. It also features a rotating ensemble of both professional and non-professional actors: Alekxandra Toyhacao, Alex Reloj, Blonski Cruz, Gaya dela Rosa, Jacq Nacu-Garcia, Joel Garcia, JA Sarmogenes, Lawyn Cruz, Nikita Sacha, and Sarina Narida. [KOSMOS] will be running its shows twice a month from Mar. to June: Mar. 13 and 27, April 10 and 24, May 8 and 15, June 5 and 19, all at 8 p.m. via Zoom. Interested parties must make a reservation to ensure a slot in LPT’s Zoom room. The fee to watch [KOSMOS] live is P100. The live show of [KOSMOS] on Zoom will be followed by an Aftershow Talk entitled, “Finding Belongingness in the Remote” at 9 p.m. For more details about the project, go to LPT’s FB Page, Instagram, and official website.
Czar Kristoff wins Portfolio Art Prize
YOUNG artist Czar Kristoff was awarded the second Portfolio Art Prize consisting of P300,000 in a ceremony at the Drawing Room Gallery. The grant, conceived by Italian Ambassador Giorgio Guglielmino and Hugo Bunzl, and supported by the Drawing Room Gallery and by curator Angel Vasco Shaw, is based on the sale of a portfolio containing 10 photographic works by as many artists entitled 2020. With the funds raised with the sale of the portfolio, prizes are awarded to young artists who have been selected by a special jury. The idea is to be able to give artists a financial basis to continue their work in this period of generalized difficulties. The first winner of the grant was Issay Rodriguez. Czar Kristoff (born in Laguna in 1989) works across photography, video, site specific installation and independent publishing. Guglielmino and Bunzl hope that new sales of the portfolio, which is a limited edition, will soon allow to hand over another prize to support young talented artists in this unprecedented time. For more information or inquiries on how to support the 2020 portfolio project, e-mail ailene@a-listconsulting.co or call 0917-536-6856 and look for Ailene Co at The Drawing Room.
Celeste Lecaroz’s art finds joy and hope
PAINTER Celeste Lecaroz — known for her Mamba Forever portrait of Kobe Bryant that went viral, among others works — is holding her fifth one-woman show entitled “Blue Skies, Crimson Wind,” at Eastwood City Mall’s The Atrium from March 1 to 11. The COVID-19 pandemic motivated Ms. Lecaroz to reflect on the impact of the health crisis and ponder on how she could translate her musings into new paintings. She felt that the mission of an artist should continue more so when the entire world is on standstill and in need of hope. “Blue Skies, Crimson Wind”features pastel paintings of playful flower girls in impressionism style. For more information about the artist, visit celestelecaroz.com and follow lecarozart on Instagram.
Bisquera explores patterns
ON MAR. 5, Virtual ArtistSpace presents “ENDPOINTS,”a solo exhibition of visual artist Leo Bisquera. Inspired by lines, movement, and impulsivity, Bisquera’s works seek to explore the vibrant, connected, and awe-inspiring patterns that exist in our world through an abstract lens. All his works are acrylic on canvas achieved without using a paintbrush, and based on movement study. The virtual exhibition will be on view starting Mar. 5, 6 p.m., until Mar. 25. The link to the exhibition will be posted on ArtistSpace Facebook and Instagram pages (@artistspacegallery). ArtistSpace Virtual showcases a new exhibition every three weeks.
Scenes Reclaimed: CCP 50 x Cinemalaya 15 Cataloglaunched
THE CULTURAL Center of the Philippines launched a publication entitled Scenes Reclaimed: CCP 50 x Cinemalaya 15. The book also serves as educational material for students and makers of film, and a compendium of keywords for a critical pedagogy of Philippine cinema.Scenes Reclaimed: CCP 50 x Cinemalaya 15 is available at the CCP Shop. To purchase, visithttps://www.facebook.com/theccpshop/or e-mail culturalcenterphshop@gmail.com.
THE budget carrier said its passengers can now rebook as many times as they need. — BW FILE PHOTO
BUDGET carrier Cebu Pacific announced on Tuesday the permanent removal of its change fees.
The move should help restore passenger confidence and rebuild its network, the low-cost carrier said.
With the removal of change fees, Cebu Pacific passengers may rebook their flights as many times as they need free of charge.
“In a recent survey we conducted, flexibility remains to be one of the considerations of our passengers when deciding to travel again,” Candice A. Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice-president for marketing and customer service, said in an e-mailed statement.
“Because of this, we are removing our change fee effective immediately,” she added.
The removal came as the government simplified the requirements for domestic travel.
“Travel authorities and health certificates will no longer be needed. Quarantine protocols will also be only required for those showing symptoms,” the budget carrier said.
Cebu Pacific is expecting to take delivery of eight more aircraft this year despite the ongoing pandemic crisis.
Cebu Air, Inc., the listed operator of Cebu Pacific, suffered a net loss of P14.69 billion for the first nine months of 2020 from the P6.77-billion profit it generated in the same period in 2019.
Cebu Air shares closed 0.11% higher at P45.25 apiece on Tuesday. — Arjay L. Balinbin
