Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 7309

How boards can set the course for a stronger future

As society continues to evolve towards a post-pandemic world and the economy adjusts to the new normal, organizations are presented with the opportunity to set the tone for how they adapt their operations and positively impact society.  The current situation allows boards an expanded role in steering their organizations along this journey.

EY’s Global Board Risk Survey reveals that only 43% of board members in the Asia-Pacific considered their organization as “more than somewhat effective” in managing emerging risks, compared to 58% for traditional risks. Based on the survey, there are three pressing issues that boards should prioritize, reflecting the unique blend of challenges and opportunities in these uncertain times. These involve building trust in the face of digital disruption; managing capital allocation through business transformation scenarios; and addressing enterprise risk resulting from climate change.

BALANCING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, RISK AND TRUST
Organizations have been forced to rely almost completely on digital infrastructure to communicate, function, and be competitive.  Looking ahead after the crisis passes, companies will need to consider becoming fully and truly digital. As digital adoption deepens, more businesses are investigating new ways to embed emerging technologies across their ecosystem while navigating increasing vulnerability to cyber-attacks.

Boards will need to regularly discuss data and digital issues such as data privacy, ethical and disinformation risk, and cybersecurity in board meetings.  There is a need to ensure that they have the expertise to oversee these risks by way of a standalone sub-committee or subject matter experts. The stakes are especially high because should systems fail, customers, regulators and shareholders will hold executives and boards accountable for the resulting reputational and financial costs.

Furthermore, boards are expected to support their executives in building digital trust across emerging technologies such as intelligent automation, blockchain and artificial intelligence. Boards must understand what these emerging technologies mean for their organizations, what risks they bring, and the role of their Audit Committees in managing those risks.

PLANNING FOR MORE VARIED BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION SCENARIOS
When the EY Global Capital Confidence Barometer (CCB) was published in March, 55% of organizations in the Asia-Pacific were expecting a U-shaped recovery extending well into 2021. This resulted in organizations exercising more caution by renegotiating contracts, revisiting financial plans, and monitoring how direct cost increases affect their margins. However, many also planned to take advantage of a rise in distressed assets coming to market and lower valuations to either build resilience or support their digital transformation agenda. In addition, the CCB found that 52% of respondents from the Asia-Pacific expressed the intention to pursue mergers and acquisitions (M&A) within the next 12 months.

These reactions establish the necessity within organizations to balance the need to be cautious against seizing opportunities for sustainable growth through targeted acquisitions. Boards can reinforce this by influencing management to protect the organization’s assets while also taking calculated risks that offer the best chances of seizing a competitive advantage.

Divestments are another attractive option to fund much-needed investment in technology, as presented in a recent EY divestment study, in which 56% of Asia-Pacific companies responded that they are more likely to divest for this purpose compared to the 31% that articulated the same intention before the pandemic.

Boards need to discuss strategy on an ongoing basis as well as utilize scenario planning for a much wider range of possibilities. Employing this tool ensures that the models created remain relevant and updated, consequently placing the organization in a better position to quickly predict and adapt to a post-crisis future.

Boards must also plan for different economic outcomes and scenarios within a range of time frames. It is also vital to determine if they have a framework in place to assess their performance and progress. They need to question how frequently they oversee and challenge how their organizations allocate resources and capital, making sure they protect their assets, optimize operations and consider long-term growth strategies.

DRIVING TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
In the 2019 EY CEO Imperative survey, 40% of CEOs in the Asia-Pacific cited climate change as a top global challenge, while investors globally ranked climate change as the joint priority issue along with national or corporate security.  However, what is more significant than the ranking itself is the investors’ expectation that CEOs respond to this appropriately. According to the 2020 EY Global Institutional Investor survey, investors are more rigorously evaluating environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures while factoring in disclosures made as part of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework.

The COVID-19 crisis spurred this on by exposing unsustainable business practices. The pandemic revealed that climate action is vital to becoming a responsible, resilient organization that prioritizes long-term impact over short-term gain. Many of our ASEAN neighbors and Japan and South Korea have announced plans to stimulate low-carbon industries in their respective nations through their economic recovery. 

Board members are in a prime position to advocate for their organizations to reduce their carbon footprint. This can be achieved by encouraging management to analyze the risks and opportunities resulting from climate change and transition to a decarbonized future.  Boards can help management identify effective, non-financial KPIs that quantify progress when setting and acting upon climate targets. It will be imperative to understand the role the organization plays in transitioning to a green recovery, as well as to more comprehensively communicate these through TCFD reporting.

In addition, boards need to assess if they themselves have the skills, structures and processes to guide management teams in addressing climate change. The sooner management understands climate risks and opportunities, the better the organization can take actionable steps to transform the business to suit a low-carbon economy and create a competitive advantage.

CHARTING A COURSE FOR THE FUTURE
Decisions that leaders make are crucial as they set the course for the future. Such decisions give organizations the ability to adapt to that envisioned future through a well-crafted plan. Focusing on these priorities allows business leaders to navigate around uncertainty and to harness business transformation opportunities that will lead their organizations to a path of stronger resilience and greater competitive advantage.  At this time of great uncertainty, the moment is for boards to seize.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional advice where the facts and circumstances warrant. The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of SGV, the global EY organization or its member firms.

 

Maria Vivian C. Ruiz is the Vice Chair and Deputy Managing Partner of SGV & Co.

Power rates down in November

Improved supply situation causes decrease in Generation Charge

The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) announced today a downward adjustment of power rates, as the overall rate for a typical household decreased by P0.0395 per kWh, from last month’s P8.5500 per kWh to P8.5105 per kWh this November. This is equivalent to a decrease of around P8 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh.

This month’s overall rate is also a net rate reduction of P1.35 per kWh since the start of
the year and is the third-lowest overall power rate since September 2017.

Lower Generation Charge mainly brought about by the improved supply situation

From P4.2233 per kWh in October, the generation charge decreased by P0.0215 per kWh
to P4.2018 per kWh this November. This month’s decrease in the generation charge is mainly due to the P1.2800 per kWh reduction in charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). The Luzon grid’s power supply situation improved in October, as demand decreased due to weather disturbances and there was less generation capacity on outage.

Lower Malampaya natural gas prices due to its quarterly repricing and a slight Peso
appreciation resulted in the cost of power from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs)
to decrease by P0.0842 per kWh. Meanwhile, charges from Power Supply Agreements
(PSAs) inched up by P0.2118 per kWh partly due to the forced outage of San Gabriel
during the supply month.

WESM, IPPs, and PSAs accounted for 12%, 35%, and 53% of MERALCO’s energy
requirements, respectively.

Movements in Other Charges

Transmission charge, taxes, and other charges for residential customers also registered
a net reduction of P0.0180 per kWh.

Collection of the Universal Charge-Environmental Charge amounting to P0.0025 per kWh
remains suspended, as directed by the ERC.

MERALCO’s distribution, supply, and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained
unchanged for 64 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015. MERALCO
reiterated that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation
and transmission charges. Payment for the generation charge goes to the power
suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the NGCP. Taxes and other
public policy charges like the Universal Charges and the FIT-All are remitted to the
government.

No disconnection until December 31, 2020, for consumers 200 kWh and below

Meralco assured its customers that it will fully comply with the ERC Advisory released last
October 29, 2020.

In line with the ERC Advisory, Meralco will NOT implement any disconnection on account
of non-payment of bills until December 31, 2020 for consumers with monthly consumption of 200 kWh and below.

For all other customers, consuming 201 kWh and up, Meralco will be complying with
ERC’s advisory stating that a minimum of 30-day grace period will be given on all
payments falling due within the period of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and
Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), without incurring interests,
penalties, and other charges. Any unpaid balance after the lapse of the 30-day grace
period shall be payable in three (3) equal monthly installments without incurring interests,
penalties and other charges.

In accordance with the ERC Advisory, Meralco also encourages customers who have the
ability to pay to settle their bills within the original due date to help manage the cash flow
in the energy supply chain and ensure the continuous supply of electricity.
For more information, customers may refer to their November bill insert, accompanying
their November bill, for complete details.

MERALCO keeps its doors open for customers during General Community
Quarantine (GCQ)

Customers may visit the nearest Meralco Business Center, which will continue to open
its doors during the GCQ, and accept service applications, payments, and other
transactions.

Strict safety measures continue to be implemented, like the “No Mask, No Entry” rule,
Social Distancing and Temperature Check. Frontliners are available and ready but strictly
follow Social Distancing guidelines. Visitors can rest assured that these frontliners have
passed the rapid COVID-19 testing authorized by the Pasig City Health Office. There are
also acrylic barriers set up in the Meralco branches to protect both the customer and the
frontliner.

But, for maximum safety and convenience, Meralco still encourages customers to use
Meralco Online to transact from the safety of their homes. Multiple options for transactions
have also been offered by the distribution utility, including the Meralco Mobile App via
https://onelink.to/meralcomobile, Meralco Online via www.Meralco.com.ph, and the
Meralco authorized payment channels at bit.ly/MeralcoPaymentPartners.

For more information and concerns, customers may visit MERALCO’s website at
www.MERALCO.com.ph, its social media accounts, Twitter @MERALCO and Facebook
at www.facebook.com/MERALCO or may also call the MERALCO Hotline at 16211

Ralph Recto, the Donald Trump of the Philippines?

In a press statement, Action for Economic Reforms (AER) described Senator Ralph Recto as the Donald Trump of the Philippines. AER said that Sen. Recto behaves like President Trump: Trying to impose his will and having his way in shaping CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises). AER criticized Recto for delaying CREATE’s passage and for insisting on a position that perpetuates tax incentives for some exporters.

Sen. Recto reacted and said: “They [AER] got it wrong…. we are creating, not disrupting, [to] make the Philippines great again…. Our job is to create wealth. Please explain to all idiots.” (The quotation is sourced from Business Mirror’s story “Recto gets flak from AER for CREATE tweaks, but foreign business groups back him,” Nov. 14, 2020.)

Isn’t Recto’s statement very Trump? His “make the Philippines great again” echoes Trump’s “make America great again.” That phrasing is also similar to Ferdinand Marcos’s campaign slogan before he became dictator: “This nation can be great again.”

Recto’s use of coarse language — “explain to all idiots” — is, again, very Trump.

Sen. Recto seems to suggest that all those who disagree with him on keeping incentives forever are idiots. So AER is not the only idiot. So are the economic managers and the former Finance Secretaries, the economists, technocrats, academics, businessmen, civil society leaders, etc. who support the reform and who disagree with Recto.

But we assure Sen. Recto that AER is not hurt at all by his labeling. To be called an idiot by the Donald Trump of the Philippines is a compliment.

So now, let the idiots correct Senator Recto.

Recto, it seems, does not grasp the idea of taxes being a creator of wealth. A high level of tax effort is necessary to have macroeconomic stability, which in turn will be conducive for increased investments and jobs and hence increased wealth. Tax revenues are necessary to finance infrastructure and human development, which will make our industries and our labor force more productive.

On the other hand, forgone revenues arising from unjustified, unnecessary incentives constrain development financing and hence impede wealth-creation.

To provide some perspective, the government’s estimate of forgone revenues from 2015-17 amounted to P1.12 trillion (source: Department of Finance). The biggest chunk, P879.1 billion, went to firms registered at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). Such an amount would have gone a long way, for example, in fighting COVID-19 and in enabling the stimulus package.

Recto is right that wealth is still accumulated from tax incentives, but this wealth accumulation benefits vested or particularistic interests, not society at large.

In truth, a significant number of tax incentives are unnecessary or redundant. They are redundant because even without the tax incentives, the investments would have still been made. This is validated by a counter-factual study of the Department of Finance (DoF), showing that firms not enjoying incentives are performing at par with the fewer registered firms that get the incentives.

In general, says the DoF, registered firms (those enjoying tax incentives) when compared to non-registered companies, “have the same employment relative to size, have similar average wages, but pay top management higher, spend more on fixed assets but do not spend higher on R&D, and have the same level as exports relative to sales.” Moreover, no difference in productivity is observed between the registered and non-registered firms.

Yet, despite the evidence, Sen. Recto wants the status quo preserved by having an amendment that will exempt PEZA firms from the new law or have a grandfathering clause wherein the old rules would still apply to these firms. The concept of grandfathering means that despite the new law making tax incentives time-bound and subject to rigorous economic criteria, the Recto amendment, if passed, would still allow some ecozone locators, especially those registered at PEZA, to enjoy incentives in perpetuity. In essence, the Recto proposal is going to kill the very essence of the reform.

Recto has consistently resisted tax reforms; again this is Trumpian. He diluted the reforms to adjust the mildly progressive excise tax on fuel and to rationalize the value-added tax (VAT), which were main components of the 2017 TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law.

And he has always sided with the tobacco industry on taxation matters. The questionable concept of “grandfathering” that Recto wants for his favored exporters has been a ploy used by other vested interests as well, especially the tobacco industry.

This type of grandfathering perpetuates favors for the few by exempting them from new rules. In the case of tobacco, the legacy brands enjoyed lower taxes for a long time because of a grandfathering clause, which in this case was called the price classification freeze.

Senators like Recto and Bongbong Marcos attempted to block the tobacco tax reform during the Aquino administration. Recto, who then served as Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, exhibited rashness when he rejected the reform bill that went through thorough deliberations and replaced it with a Committee report that mimicked the position of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. This led to an upheaval.  The health professionals and civil society advocates branded Recto as “Recto Morris” for favoring Philip Morris, and they called for Recto’s resignation as the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. In the face of popular pressure, he resigned.

We doubt whether Sen. Recto has learned lessons from past episodes of tax reforms. What we can say is that Senator Recto has evolved from being “Recto Morris” to being the Donald Trump of the Philippines.

 

Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III is the coordinator of Action for Economic Reforms (AER) and Arjay Mercado is the team leader of AER’s tax reform team.

Will we expect good growth performance of the agriculture sector in 2020?

The agriculture sector pulled up overall economic growth in the third quarter of this rather dismal year, 2020. Along with financial and insurance activities and public administration and defense, compulsory social activities, the sector grew by 1.2% last quarter. Meanwhile, the growth performance of industry and services remained negative, as in the second quarter.

The bad news is that the sector’s growth in the second quarter was higher at 1.6%. It was a good rebound from the negative growth of the sector in the first quarter, which was negative 0.3%. But will its performance thus far give us reason to expect growth of at least 1.5% in the sector?

The opportunity is there with the fourth quarter. Agriculture tends to have the largest quarterly contribution to its yearly value added. If the next quarter’s value added exceeds last years’ fourth quarter performance of P1.8 trillion at constant 2018 prices, the sector ends this year with a feather in its cap: the economic hero which pulled up overall economic growth in this cheerless year.

But it is unlikely and I hope I am wrong. Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses are likely to blow that feather away. On average from 2010 to 2019, crops have the largest share of the sector’s production at 2018 prices, and rice, the top industry of the sector, accounts for 21% of the sector’s total output.

The flooding caused by the two typhoons in the major rice growing areas, Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley, is bad news for the sector. Rice was the main reason for the quarterly peak of the sector’s value added in the last quarter. Our main rice harvest happens now, in this last quarter of the year.

Those typhoons that battered several parts of Luzon in the last two weeks will likely pull down the fourth quarter growth of the sector, and, for that matter, overall growth of the sector this year. Growth of the sector may still be in the positive range, but the sector’s growth rebound under the administration of Agriculture Secretary William Dar may be stymied by bad weather.

Aside from bad weather, another reason to be concerned is found in the livestock sector. Particularly made up of hogs and chicken, the sector accounts for about 15% of agriculture’s value added. The reason why the sector’s growth slowed down to 1.2% in the third quarter from 1.6% in the second quarter is that the production of hogs and poultry took a dive. Livestock production decreased by 7.6%. With a weight of 17.5% of total agricultural output in recent years, the hog industry exhibited a 7.7% drop of its output. Another heavyweight, poultry production, with a share of 14% of total output, contracted by 7.2% in the third quarter.

The poor performance is caused by the animal diseases which continue to linger in these sectors. If we recall, we had avian flu sometime in 2017 and authorities had to cull out hundreds of thousands of chickens to stop the spread of the disease. In addition, we have had African swine fever (ASF) since last year. The third quarter production of pigs is the lowest in a given year.

Hogs output tends to be highest in the fourth quarter. In 2018, the industry produced about P65.5 billion (this may include output of other livestock, but hogs account mainly for the livestock industry). The 2018 quarterly output was higher compared to 2017. Because of swine fever, the fourth quarter output in 2019 plunged to P59.8 billion, an 8.7% drop. Output recovered slightly in the first quarter this year, with growth of 1.5%. But pig mortality returned in the second quarter because of the lingering swine fever. Hog production dropped by 8.2% in the second quarter and by 7.7% in the third.

The industry is now in the fourth quarter, supposedly ready to deliver its typically best quarterly performance in any given year. It is unlikely that the industry’s value added this quarter will exceed last year’s last quarter. Negative growth in hog production and thus value added will add to the woes of the sector in 2020, already punished by extreme weather situations.

Poultry production (primarily broilers and layers) had contracted its value added in the third quarter. In 2019, about P28.5 billion were produced by the industry. This year it is P38.8 billion. Like hogs, production of poultry peaks in the fourth quarter. Last year, the industry’s value added reached a total of P54.2 billion. From a base of P38.8 billion, it is unlikely that the industry’s value added will exceed last year’s performance.

Hogs and poultry are two of the most dynamic industries of the agricultural sector. Hit by lingering animal diseases, the sector is deprived of a good source of growth. This highlights the importance of investing in food safety. Food safety, broadly defined as to keep our sources of food away from diseases and pests which reduce productivity, is food security and eventually better incomes for our country’s farmers.

 

Ramon L. Clarete is a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

Why investors prefer Vietnam over the Philippines

Something that Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and lately, Vietnam, have in common is that they all adopted the tried and proven Asian formula for economic development. Each pursued rapid industrialization by attracting foreign capital, by building their manufacturing competencies, and by exporting their way to prosperity. Within a generation, these countries have become high or upper-middle income economies.

Even latecomer Vietnam is poised to overtake the Philippines in per capita income by year end.

A fundamental requirement to industrialize is a business environment conducive to doing business. What investors look at when evaluating a country to invest in are: the costs of doing business, the quality of the workforce, the workforce’s aptitude for innovation, the level of infrastructure development, the strength of government institutions, the quality of life and the security situation against crime and terrorism.

As you will see in the following comparison, conditions in the Philippines are far less favorable than they are in Vietnam. It comes as no surprise that the Philippines now trails its neighbor despite them having joined the development race only 35 years ago. Records from 2010 to 2019 show that Vietnam bagged $112 billion worth of foreign direct investments while the Philippines attracted just $57 billion. Last year, Vietnam’s merchandise exports topped $300 million while the Philippine’s generated an anemic $70 million.

On the back of our consumption-lead economy, the Philippines managed to eke-out growth of 4.6% per year since 1986. In contrast, Vietnam grew by 6.5% per year, turbo-charged by industrialization.

It’s unfortunate that none of our leaders, from Erap to Duterte, made an earnest commitment to industrialize the nation. Even today, our manufacturing base remains dangerously thin, our volume of exports are significantly lower than our ever-increasing imports, agricultural output is at subsistence level, and our service industry is generally driven by low-value services (eg. call centers).

A recent report by the ADB reveals that the Philippines is capable of competently producing some 500 products, most of which are food items. For context, most Asian economies can competently produce 1,500 to 2,000 products.

Rather than developing our manufacturing competencies, past and present governments have led us to import everything we need, from rice to footwear, household appliances to heavy equipment. If not for the $33 billion in OFW remittances and $30 billion in IT-BPO earnings, the country would drown in a gaping current account deficit.

A comparison of business conditions in Vietnam and the Philippines shows why foreign investors prefer to build their factories in the socialist republic rather than in our democracy.

On business cost, corporate income tax in Vietnam is at 20% for large corporations and 10% for MSME’s while it is 32% in the Philippines (25% if and when the CREATE law is passed); Vietnam grants a four year income tax holiday, followed by a 50% discount from the 5th to the 9th year. The Philippines grants four to eight years of income tax holidays but investors must pay 5% of gross income earned (or equivalent to 12% corporate income tax); electricity cost is at  $.08 per kwh in Vietnam while it is $.12 per kwh in the Philippines; shipping cost of a 40-foot container to the US is $1,500 in Vietnam while it is $1,792 in the Philippines.

As for the workforce, the Vietnamese government invests $670 per student on education while the Philippines spends $455; the Vietnamese spend 5.53% of GDP on healthcare while the Philippines spends 4.45%; there are only 10 paid holidays in Vietnam compared to 21 days in the Philippines; and the average Vietnamese has a higher aptitude for technological and business skills compared to the average Filipino.

The World Economic Forum puts Vietnam at 77th place out of 141 countries in quality of infrastructure. The Philippines is at 96th place. Vietnam is at 39th place in efficiency of logistics while the Philippines is at 60th place. The Philippines lags in rail connectivity, road connectivity, traffic congestion and power supply. As far as the digital backbone goes, Vietnam has more than 90,000 cell sites while the Philippines has 17,850. The Philippines spend about 5% of GDP on infrastructure while Vietnam has recently accelerated theirs to 8%.

The World Intellectual Property Organization puts Vietnam at 42nd place out of 129 countries in terms of innovation aptitude while the Philippines is at 54th place; Vietnam is at 41st place in ICT adoption while the Philippines is at a lowly 88th place. Vietnam spends more on research and development than the Philippines.

As for the strength of institutions, the Philippine trails Vietnam in graft and corruption, policy stability and government responsiveness. The Philippines also rates lower in ease of doing business, starting a business, acquiring credit, and enforcing contracts.

The Expat Insider deems Vietnam the 42nd best place for expats. The Philippines is at 56th place. Being prone to natural disasters weighed down the Philippine’s ranking.

Despite the Duterte administration’s rhetoric on law and order, the World Economic Forum ranks the security situation in the Philippines at an alarming 129th place out of 141 nations. Vietnam is at 61st place. As for terrorist threats, the Philippines is the ninth most vulnerable in the world. Vietnam is the 97th most vulnerable. There are eight murders in the Philippines for every 100,000 people while there are only two in Vietnam.

It is painfully obvious that our leaders do not consider the pursuit of foreign investors a high priority.

Not only is it apparent in our policies, it is also palpable in the actuations of the President himself. We still recall how in 2016, President Duterte went on a rampage against the American government and corporations. This spooked potential IT-BPO investors, the majority of whom took their business to India. Malacañang’s reckless rant curtailed the otherwise spectacular growth of the IT-BPO industry, which now grows at single digit rates compared to 15% to 17% in previous years.

Exacerbating matters is the move of the Department of Finance to upwardly adjust income tax rates of export oriented companies in PEZA zones. Although the unratified CREATE Law ensures a status quo of tax incentives for up to nine years, the move has created policy uncertainty.

Until the Philippines gets its priorities in order, until it institutes critical reforms to make our environment more conducive for businesses, and until it adopts a policy of rapid industrialization, the country will continue to be left behind by our neighbors.

We hope that the next batch of leaders in 2022 does better than their predecessors.

 

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist

andrew_rs6@yahoo.com

Twitter @aj_masigan

Creating intellectual property champions among the youth

AS NOVEMBER is National Children’s Month, this makes for a great opportunity to highlight the role we play in enabling our younger people to be the creators, innovators or leaders they ought to be.

At the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), our great desire to train up the youth is embodied in our enhancement last year of our long-time Young Intellectual Property Advocates (YIPA) Program. The program is anchored on the philosophy that early education on the relevance of Intellectual Property (IP) will build a sustainable future where wide respect for IP rights drives innovation and creativity.

Through YIPA, IPOPHL partners with schools to mobilize clubs for science- and arts-inclined students as young as 7th graders, and encourages them to participate and become partners of IPOPHL in our IP awareness campaign. Members go through a series of IP learning workshops and other essential training — with prospects of deploying members abroad when an international training opportunity arises — to be well prepared in promoting our cause in respecting the IP rights of others and in protecting their own.

To date, we have numerous YIPA student-members with pending applications at IPOPHL for a patent, utility model, and industrial design. We already have one member who has a patent and we will be featuring him soon to serve as an inspiration to young inventors.

With the enhanced YIPA, which comes with the creation of a 2020-2025 roadmap, we aim to intensify the promotion of IP among the youth with the end-goal of receiving more IP filings from member-schools.

A major breakthrough that puts us closer to this goal is our inked memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Science High School System (PSHS) last September, connecting IPOPHL to the top 16 science public high schools in the country.

Under the partnership, IPOPHL is tasked to provide assistance for PSHS’ IP awareness campaigns; conduct IP learning workshops for select PSHS students, faculty, and researchers who are tasked to cascade what they learn to members of the PSHS community; and hold capacity-building workshops on patent searching, claims drafting, and disclosure writing and other areas that may assist the PSHS community in the protection of their IPs. In addition, PSHS campuses, beginning academic year 2021-2022, will include IP modules in relevant subjects and other modes of learning, and conduct activities that will promote awareness.

This is a major breakthrough for IP education as we are talking about the crème de la crème of young, budding innovators.

Moreover, as it is in secondary education that students begin to do research, YIPA as a whole is essential in that it helps them learn the processes of applying for protection for their own IP assets. Members are also acquainted with the standards for patentability — novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability — for them to ensure that their research pursuits lead to the development of technologies truly relevant to their societies, lest they repeat already existing innovation, in which case all their hard work would be for naught and just be another science project.

Through the innovation-enabling environment our YIPA creates, IPOPHL also helps unlock students’ entrepreneurial skills as we educate them on the many ways they can monetize their innovations and artistic creations once protected.

By 2021, IPOPHL hopes to launch the National Young IP Advocates Organization which will bring the YIPA program further on a national scale, and add to its current network of 77 partner-schools.

By honing the youth today through IP education, we are confident that we are equipping them in a way that they can contribute optimally in the future to the country’s innovation and creativity landscapes.

 

Rowel S. Barba has more than 20 years of experience in business and law circles. He has been Vice-President and Head of the Corporate Legal and HR Divisions of the RFM Corp., and has held several positions at the JAKA Group of companies, including Vice-President and Chief Legal Counsel. Prior to his appointment as Director General of IPOPHL, Mr. Barba was Undersecretary at the Department of Trade and Industry.

Defiant Trump still refusing to concede to Biden

THE TRANSITION to President-elect Joe Biden’s administration remained in political limbo on Sunday, a day after tens of thousands of President Donald Trump’s supporters poured into the nation’s capital to echo his false claims of election fraud.

Biden, the Democratic former vice president, has spent days huddled with advisers as he weighs whom to appoint to his cabinet, fields congratulatory calls from world leaders and maps out the policies he will pursue after being sworn in on Jan. 20. He is expected to continue meeting with advisers in private on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Republican Trump has refused to concede and instead pressed unsubstantiated allegations of fraud, stalling the government’s normal process of preparing for a new presidential administration.

His campaign has filed lawsuits seeking to overturn the results in multiple states, though without success, and legal experts say the litigation stands little chance of altering the outcome of the Nov. 3 election. Election officials of both parties have said there is no evidence of major irregularities.

The “Million MAGA March,” referring to Trump’s campaign slogan of “Make America Great Again,” drew a crowd of flag-waving supporters to downtown Washington on Saturday.

“Hundreds of thousands of people showing their support in D.C. They will not stand for a Rigged and Corrupt Election!” the president wrote on Twitter, though most crowd estimates were well short of Trump’s figure.

Trump’s motorcade passed through the crowd on its way to his golf course in Virginia, producing cheers from demonstrators as the president waved from the back seat.

The march was largely peaceful, though numerous scuffles broke out between Trump supporters and counter-protesters that continued after dark. One person was stabbed and taken to a trauma center, the city’s fire and emergency medical services department said. The Washington Post reported the stabbing occurred amid a brawl that broke out after 8 p.m.

Dozens of Proud Boys, a far-right group, marched in the streets, some wearing helmets and ballistic vests, while members of the loose far-left movement known as antifa staged their own counter-demonstrations.

The city’s police force arrested at least 10 people, including several who were charged with assault.

Mr. Biden has won 306 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College system that determines the presidential winner, according to Edison Research, far more than the 270 needed to secure a majority.

Mr. Trump earned the same number of electoral votes in 2016 over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, a victory he has called a “landslide” despite the fact that she won the national popular vote. Mr. Biden has also won the popular vote: with a few states still counting ballots, he leads Mr. Trump by more than 5.5 million votes, or 3.6%. 

With his chances of reversing the outcome virtually extinguished, Mr. Trump has discussed with advisers potential media ventures that would keep him in the spotlight ahead of a possible 2024 White House bid, aides said.

But his public claims of a “rigged” election have prevented Mr. Biden and his team from gaining access to government office space and funding normally afforded to an incoming administration to ensure a smooth transition.

The federal agency in charge of providing those resources, the General Services Administration, has yet to recognize Mr. Biden’s victory.

States are in the process of certifying their election results. The Electoral College meets to vote for the new president on Dec. 14.

Mr. Biden’s pick for White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, said this week that a rapid transition is necessary to ensure the government is prepared to roll out a potential coronavirus vaccine early next year.

The raging pandemic will likely be Mr. Biden’s top priority. The United States set a new daily record of new cases on Friday for the fourth straight day.

More than 244,000 people in the country have died of the coronavirus since the pandemic began. — Reuters

COVID’s rampage means no medical cavalry coming to the rescue

Health workers in protective gear peer from a tent which was constructed to test people for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outside the Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York City, March 27. — REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY

JEFF JENSEN, a critical-care doctor in Rochester, Minnesota, volunteered last spring to bolster New York City’s medical workers during its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. The 51-year-old spent two weeks in an ad hoc intensive-care unit at a Brooklyn public hospital.

Now, the pandemic rages in Jensen’s own back yard, but he expects no reinforcements. A nationwide surge of the virus threatens to overwhelm America’s health-care workforce.

“We haven’t extended the request, but I’m confident that there’s no one that could come to help,” said Jensen, who splits his time between Mayo Clinic Rochester and Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin. “They would be busy taking care of the local issues in their community.”

Earlier waves of the pandemic were geographically concentrated: the Northeast in the spring, then Florida, Texas and Arizona in the summer. Today’s cases and hospitalizations are widespread, increasing in 49 states in the past week. COVID cases are reaching records in the US, with the seven-day average climbing to a high of 134,197 Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University data. One-in-5,000 Americans is currently hospitalized with the virus, the most ever in data aggregated by the Covid Tracking Project.

Without enough workers to care for the ill, hospitals will face brutal triage decisions about which patients can be saved. They may run out of space, forcing the sick to suffer in hallways and improvised intensive care units. And the months of psychic strain on doctors and nurses will redouble.

“Right now, it’s bad everywhere,” said Pete Aftosmes, a vice president at Premier, Inc., which provides purchasing, technology and consulting services to more than 4,000 hospitals. “It’s getting pretty dire at this point.”

VACANCIES SPIKING
Health systems are seeing higher turnover and attrition, and more vacant positions that take longer to fill. Before the pandemic, Premier’s clients typically had 2,500 open requests for clinical staff. That grew to about 9,000 this year, and recently spiked to almost 20,000.

Demand is highest for nurses, who make up the largest part of the clinical workforce. As a result, pay rates are increasing for those willing to travel to areas with the highest demand. Aftosmes said some hospitals are paying as much as $80 to $150 an hour to fill nursing positions. The typical hourly wage for registered nurses is about $35.

Several factors have diminished the supply of clinicians. Some nurses with children can’t work while schools are closed or choose to stay home because they care for elderly relatives at risk for the virus. Others near the end of their careers have opted for early retirement rather than risk exposure.

Staff are also out sick with COVID-19 or quarantining after being exposed. In one health system Premier works with, Aftosmes said 30% of the clinical staff was sidelined for those reasons.

National data on labor constraints at hospitals is hard to find, but information from states and anecdotal reports show it’s putting a ceiling on hospital capacity.

In Minnesota, the number of available beds reported to the state has fluctuated, with some signs of recent declines, according to data analyzed by the COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Intensive-care beds showed a similar drop.

Hospitals report their capacity in “staffed beds” — not just the number of physical beds, but the number that they have workers to operate. The changes in Minnesota likely reflect staff on hand, said Archelle Georgiou, one of the leads on the tracking project. “Certainly beds don’t disappear,” she said.

Having fewer nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists and other clinicians can hurt patient care, said Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean at Emory School of Medicine and Grady Health System in Atlanta.

QUALITY THREATENED
Intensive-care units typically have a ratio of one nurse for two patients. With a lot of patients and not enough staff, he said, nurses might take on four or five patients. “The moment you do that, the quality of care goes down,” he said.

There’s an $18 billion market for health-care staffing, with travel nurses and other professionals taking temporary assignments. Hospitals in rural areas or markets where they have trouble getting people to permanently relocate are particularly reliant on travel staff.

The country’s largest health-care staffing agency, AMN Healthcare Services, Inc., is seeing record demand for nurses. Health systems “are dealing with increasing worker burnout, unanticipated attrition, and the needs of health-care professionals to have time off, after months of stress and strain,” AMN Chief Executive Officer Susan Salka told analysts this month.

Vacancy rates that would typically be around 5% are now closer to 10%, said Landry Seedig, an executive who leads the nursing and allied solutions business at AMN Healthcare. Some hospitals are offering double pay for overtime or bonuses to get the staff they need. “The intent is to attract nurses by paying top dollar,” Mr. Seedig said in an interview. And the need is urgent. “They’re not asking for a nurse four weeks from now,” he said. “They’re asking for a nurse to get here tomorrow.”

Hospitals across the Midwest and West have begun to take steps to preserve capacity as COVID-19 admissions mount.

In North Dakota, Governor Doug Burgum suggested this week that asymptomatic nurses who test positive for COVID-19 could continue to care for Covid patients. The North Dakota Nurses Association resisted, saying the policy wasn’t a long-term fix for shortages.

Federal medical teams have supported hospitals and long-term care facilities in Wisconsin, Montana, Minnesota and Texas in recent weeks. Hospitals in Oregon, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Iowa have begun postponing some elective surgeries, according to local media reports.

Health systems in Michigan warned they may have to do the same. Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Covid patients are expected to double in two weeks and at the current rate some hospitals will run short of protective gear. 

‘THIS IS SCARY’
Some worry what the coming wave of COVID hospitalizations will do to a labor force that’s already worn down from months of treating virus patients, sometimes with inadequate supplies. Even before the pandemic, rates of burnout among health-care workers were high.

“There is cause to be concerned about this workforce,” said Katie Boston-Leary, nursing practice and work environment director at the American Nurses Association. Some nurses, she said, “never really took a breath. In some cases, there wasn’t really a lull. The COVID cases never stopped.”

It’s poised to get worse. With COVID cases on the rise everywhere at once, the country doesn’t have the cushion it had in the spring and summer, Ms. Boston-Leary said.

“This is different,” she said. “This is scary.”

Mr. Jensen, the Minnesota doctor, said the effect of exhaustion and infections occurring in the community is evident.

“We just don’t have enough nurses or nurses’ assistants to take care of patients,” he said. “Not just COVID patients, but patients in general.” — Bloomberg

Johnson charges to four-shot lead after Masters third round

AUGUSTA, GA — Dustin Johnson had one arm in the Green Jacket after charging to a four-shot lead with a near-perfect seven-under-par 65 in the third round at the Masters on Saturday.

Johnson matched Jordan Spieth’s record low Masters total for the first 54 holes — 16-under-par 200 — while South Korean Im Sung-jae (68), Mexican Abraham Ancer (69), and Australian Cameron Smith (69) were equal second on 12-under.

“I’ve got a lot of control of what I’m doing, I’m very comfortable standing over the ball right now and that’s a good feeling,” said a typically-understated Johnson, who grew up just across the state border in Columbia, South Carolina.

Ten players were within one stroke starting the third round, but Johnson was a class apart, in control of every facet of his game as he broke clear with a tap-in eagle at the par-five second after almost holing a five-iron.

He never looked back and did not really miss a green until the final hole, where for the first time all afternoon he was forced to call upon his deft short game to save par.

Only two players have surrendered a bigger 54-hole lead at the Masters—Greg Norman (six shots) in 1996 and Ed Sneed (five shots) in 1979.

Rory McIlroy (2011) and Ken Venturi (1956) could not close the deal with four-stroke cushions.

For all his talent, world number one Johnson has only one major title to his credit, the 2016 US Open, a disappointing haul for a player with all the physical attributes necessary for greatness.

A joint runner-up to Tiger Woods here last year, and a perennial major contender, he will take nothing for granted on Sunday, but the final major of an unusual 2020 season is his to win or lose. “If I can play like I did today I think it will break that streak (of close calls),” he said.

“I’ve got a good game plan, I’m not going to change it. As we all know here, if you get it going you can shoot some low scores.

“I’m going to need to play a really good round if I want to win tomorrow.”

SUPREME CONTROL
Seemingly fully recovered from a recent bout of the novel coronavirus, Johnson displayed mastery of his trusty power fade off the tee and was in supreme distance control with his irons, a trusty putter the cherry on the cake.

His performance eliminated the chances of many, including Tiger Woods, who started the round four behind but took 12 holes to record his first birdie.

A 72 that left the 15-times major champion 11 strokes adrift, a sixth Masters title a bridge too far.

World number two Jon Rahm was another who had no answer to Johnson’s brilliance.

The Spaniard shared the halfway lead with Johnson, Thomas, Ancer and Smith, but came unglued at the par-five eighth.

He ran up a double-bogey after his third shot struck a tree and ricocheted into an unplayable lie in a bush.

Though Rahm fought back for a respectable 72, he trailed Johnson by seven shots.

Earlier on Saturday, Rahm was among 48 players who resumed the second round at 7.30 am as the tournament played catch-up after Thursday’s long break for bad weather.

What started out with a morning chill in the air gave way to bright sunshine and pleasant November warmth in this unique spectator-free event being played for the first time in autumn.

“I grew up right down the road so this one would be very special to me,” said Johnson. — Reuters

PVL transitions to a pro league

AFTER nearly a decade of operating under a semi-professional setting, the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) is all set to go full time as a professional league as it continues to bat for the growth of volleyball in the country.

In a joint virtual press conference with the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) on Friday, the PVL officially announced that it has gotten its professional license and now in the process of planning for its moves forward.

“I would like to thank the team owners for supporting the decision to turn the PVL as a professional league. It took time for us to do so but we finally came to a decision to turn pro,” said Ricky Palou, president of Sports Vision, the organizer of the PVL.

“This is a milestone for the league. We had this discussion since 2016, but we felt at the time we were not yet ready as most of our players were students. But right now we think we have enough players to turn professional. We are ready and looking forward to it,” he added.

The PVL traces its roots to the Shakey’s V-League in the 2000s, which featured collegiate teams from University Athletic Association of the Philippines, National Collegiate Athletic Association and Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation and other associations.

In 2011, it turned semi-pro by welcoming corporate and non-school-based teams.

The PVL currently has over a dozen teams, both corporate and collegiate, competing in tournaments it stages.

Unfortunately for the league, 2020 turned out to be a lost year for it because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Notwithstanding its professional status now, the PVL said the mission is still the same—develop the skills of the players further.

“In the past, we had a commercial league and a tournament featuring collegiate teams. We will maintain that. We have two commercial conferences — one with foreign players and another without — and one collegiate tournament,” said Mr. Palou.

The PVL is eyeing a February start for its first season as a professional league.

Mr. Palou said the teams have expressed their commitment to the league to be professional in their affairs with the end view of taking the sport to another plane in standing especially coming off the effects of the pandemic. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Barangay Ginebra Kings welcome extra time to prepare after being first to semis

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE first team to book a spot in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings welcome the extra time to rest and prepare before plunging back into action.

Looking to win its first Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) All-Filipino crown since the 2006-07 season, Barangay Ginebra moved closer to that push being realized after making short work of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in their quarterfinal pairing on Friday.

Held a twice-to-beat advantage over the Elasto Painters after winding up as the top seeds at the end of the elimination round, the Kings eliminated their opponents at the first instance, 81-73.

Japeth Aguilar led the way for Barangay Ginebra in the win, finishing with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds.

Aljon Mariano and Prince Caperal had 11 points each for the Kings while Stanley Pringle had 10 markers.

As of this writing, Barangay Ginebra was awaiting who its opponent would be between the defending champions San Miguel Beermen and Meralco Bolts in the best-of-five semifinal series beginning on Nov. 18.

San Miguel and Meralco were to play in a rubber match of their quarterfinal joust later on Sunday.

“We welcome this (extra time) especially in this bubble situation where the games come very fast. Having extra days for rest is a big bonus before heading into a five-game series,” said Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone after their win over Rain or Shine.

The Kings coach went on to say that regardless of who they would face in the semifinals, either way it would be tough for them.

“San Miguel has been having some injuries to its players. But guys are stepping up and doing a great job so far. They are still capable,” he said of the four-seeded Beermen, who are playing without June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo in the tournament because of injury.

“As for Meralco you know our history with them. We know them and they know us.”

TEAMS EXIT BUBBLE
Meanwhile, eliminated teams in the PBA bubble in Clark City have exited.

The Terrafirma Dyip, NLEX Road Warriors, Northport Batang Pier, and Blackwater Elite were the first to go home following the conclusion of the elimination round early last week.

Rain or Shine and the Alaska Aces made their way out on Sunday morning while the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok were to follow suit in the afternoon.

Alaska and Magnolia were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the TNT Tropang Giga and Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters, respectively, on Saturday.

The PBA bubble tournament in Clark City is heading into the homestretch after the league restarted its coronavirus pandemic-hit season on Oct. 11.

Games are being played at the Angeles University Foundation gym with the Quest Plus Hotel inside Mimosa serving as the official home of all the participants.

To guard against the spread of the coronavirus, the league has regular swab testing of all participants and protocols that everybody must follow.

Young Gilas pool for Asia Cup window has future in mind — SBP

ON Friday, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) released the names of players making up the pool for the Gilas team seeing action at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup 2021 qualifiers later this month in Manama, Bahrain.

The 16-man pool of amateur and collegiate stars, the SBP said, was assembled with the end view of preparing them for the long haul, in line with the sports body’s vision of having more available talents for future competitions, including the 2023 FIBA World Cup where the Philippines is one of the hosts.

Part of the group of players in consideration for the Asia Cup window which will begin play on Nov. 26 are Kobe Paras, Juan and Javi Gomez De Liano and Jaydee Tungcab of the University of the Philippines, Dwight Ramos, Dave Ildefonso and Will Navarro of Ateneo, Justine Baltazar of La Salle, and Calvin Oftana and Kenmark Carino of San Beda.

They join Gilas Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) draftees Matt and Mike Nieto, Rey Suerte, Isaac Go and Allyn Bulanadi.

Angelo Kouame of Ateneo is also included as a naturalized player, but whether he gets to play is to be determined as his status is still being deliberated on by lawmakers.

Coaching the team will be the group headed by SBP program director Tab Baldwin, Jong Uichico and Boyet Fernandez.

“In forming the team, we took into consideration everything, including the availability of PBA players,” said Ryan Gregorio, special assistant to the SBP president (Al Panlilio), on The Chasedown program on Saturday.

“But we know the kind of sacrifices they (pro players) made inside the PBA bubble. So. we decide to give them ample time to rest, not only their body but also their minds. And this is a great opportunity for us to restart our idea of relaunching our program. We drafted a lot of collegiate players entering the PBA and also this is a good showcase for them together with other college athletes,” he added.

But despite having young players in tow, Mr. Gregorio underscored that the goal in the Asia Cup window is to compete and win.

Currently, the Philippines sports a 1-0 record in Group A of the qualifiers after defeating Indonesia, 100-70, in February, behind Korea (2-0).

Gilas is set to face Thailand (0-1) twice in the November window (Nov. 26 and 30) and Korea once (Nov. 28).

The latter, however, made it known it would not be sending a team to Bahrain to compete because of the ongoing concern with the coronavirus pandemic.

“We still don’t know what the verdict will be [on the Korea decision), whether it will be forfeiture or reset [of the game]. But on our part, we are just making sure we will be represented in the tournament as advised by our chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan. We will play Thailand twice and Korea once. Hopefully, we win those,” said Mr. Gregorio.

The team has already gotten approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to hold training at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, as part of its preparations. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

1...7,3087,3097,310...12,727Page 7,309 of 12,727
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube