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Dodgers end 32-year title drought

THE best team in a truncated regular season also was the top team in an extended playoffs, as the Los Angeles Dodgers ended a 32-year championship drought with a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday at Arlington, Texas.

The Dodgers also were the best homer-hitting team in a regular season that was shortened to 60 games as a concession to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they got inventive on offense to earn their deciding victory.

In their 16th consecutive game at the Texas Rangers’ new Globe Life Field, the Dodgers turned a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice into run-scoring gold in the fifth inning. The runs gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead. The Dodgers also used seven pitchers, including starter Tony Gonsolin, who was pulled after 1 2/3 innings.

Left-hander Julio Urias was the last of those arms, striking out Willy Adames looking to end it while pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the save. Lefty Victor Gonzalez (1-0) threw 1 1/3 shutout innings with three strikeouts to earn the victory.

Rays starter Blake Snell was in the midst of the most impressive start of his career, when factoring in the moment. He struck out nine and gave up just two harmless singles the first two times through the Dodgers order.

However, with one out in the sixth inning, following a single by Dodgers No. 9 hitter Austin Barnes, Rays manager Kevin Cash went to his bullpen to protect a 1-0 lead, putting right-hander Nick Anderson (1-1) into the game. After striking out twice against Snell, Mookie Betts hit a double to put runners on second and third.

Barnes scored on an Anderson wild pitch to tie the game, with Betts moving to third. Corey Seager, who also fanned twice against Snell, then hit a ground ball to first with Betts scoring on a dive just ahead of the throw home for a 2-1 advantage.

“I’m not exactly sure why, I’m not asking any questions, but he was pitching a great game,” Betts said of the Rays’ decision to lift Snell. “(Barnes) led off with a hit, I think, right there. We had a chance to do something, but they made a pitching change, and it seemed like that’s all we needed.”

The exclamation point came in the eighth when Betts, the Dodgers’ high-profile roster addition in the offseason after a trade with the Boston Red Sox, hit a home run for a 3-1 advantage. It was his second homer of the series.

AROZARENA
There would be more heroics from Rays rookie Randy Arozarena, who gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead with a first-inning home run against Gonsolin.

Arozarena became the second rookie ever to hit three home runs in a single World Series while extending his record for a single postseason to 10 homers. He also became the first rookie with RBIs in four consecutive World Series games.

MVP
Seager, who finished the six games at 8-for-20 with two home runs and five RBIs, was named the World Series MVP.

Also, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced after the game that Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, tested positive for COVID-19. He was removed from the game when the Dodgers took the field for the top of the eighth.

It was the Dodgers’ seventh World Series championship in franchise history, with six of them coming after they moved to Los Angeles in 1958. The title also came in their eighth consecutive trip to the postseason and their third World Series in four years.

The Dodgers’ most recent title came in 1988, when a hobbled Kirk Gibson hit a walk-off homer to beat the Oakland Athletics in Game 1. Los Angeles went on to win the series in five games. — Reuters

Chooks-to-Go 3×3: Zamboanga City packing momentum heading to finale; Valientes undeterred

TRUE to form, Family’s Brand Sardines- Zamboanga City Chooks is proving to be the team to beat in the ongoing season of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup, ruling three legs out of four to date and packing much momentum heading into the last leg and finale on Friday.

Composed of national team pool members, Zamboanga City has been a handful for the rest of the 12-team field of the league.

The team chalked up its third leg victory on Tuesday, edging Uling Roasters-Butuan City, 21-20, in a tightly fought finals at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.

Zamboanga City also ruled the first two legs of the tournament before Butuan City squeezed in to take the championship in the third leg.

Santi Santillan stepped up for Zamboanga City in their last game providing hustle and scoring the marginal basket from the free throw line.

The team was comfortably ahead, 20-16, inside the last three and a half minutes only to see Butuan City charge back on consecutive two-point bombs by Chris De Chavez to tie the knot at 20-all.

Zamboanga City went to top local 3×3 player Joshua Munzon after to secure for it the win but his attempt at the basket missed.

Fortunately for the team, Mr. Santillan secured the rebound before getting fouled.

The former La Salle player confidently sank his free throw, preserving the win for his team.

Mr. Munzon top-scored for Zamboanga City in the win with 11 points, followed by Mr. Santillan with six.

Teammates Alvin Pasaol and Troy Rike added three and a point, respectively.

For topping Leg 4, the team earned another P100,000.

Zamboanga City is now girding for the grand finals in the FIBA 3×3-endorsed tournament scheduled for Friday where it will be the top seed.

In the grand finale, where a P1-million top prize awaits the winner, the four top-seeded teams earn a direct entry into the quarterfinals, leaving the eight bottom teams needing to go through qualifying where only four will advance to the next round.

Joining Zamboanga City as top seeds are Butuan City, Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards and Pasig City-Sta. Lucia Realtors.

VALIENTES
Meanwhile, the Zamboanga Valientes MLV remained determined and committed to their tournament push despite have it challenging to date.

The team made it to the semifinals of the opening leg of the President’s Cup and followed it up with playoff runs in the succeeding legs but has yet to create the big splash it is aiming for.

It, however, is hoping the breakthrough will come in the grand finals.

The Valientes are composed of Zamboanga native Rudy Lingganay, Gino Juamaoas, Med Salim, Arar de Leon and Jonjon Rebollos and is coached by Joseph Romarate.

The team, which has played in different 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 leagues and gone through different iterations since being formed 14 years ago, is on a mission to spotlight basketball talents from the Zamboanga Peninsula and provide them with an opportunity to establish a career in the sport. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Meralco guard Newsome finding his stride; PBA postpones game

HAD it slow in the early goings of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) estart, do-it-all Meralco Bolts guard Chris Newsome has picked it up of late and it has been a boon to his team.

The recently named PBA Philippine Cup player of the week, Mr. Newsome, 30, has been key in the improved showing of Meralco (3-2) that has seen it be in the mix in the race to the top.

The former Ateneo standout, in particular, was big-time in their last two matches, both victories, averaging 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and six assists.

His stat line has improved from his first three matches of 9.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and four assists, where they went 1-2.

Mr. Newsome has been more aggressive and providing the motor that the Bolts need in the tournament.

More telling, he is stepping up at the most opportune of time, including draining big shots and making big plays in their game against the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok in their come-from-behind 109-104 overtime victory on Oct. 20.

That performance, where he had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, set the tone for him en route to getting the nod for player of the week honors given by media covering the league.

Meralco was set to play the defending champions San Miguel Beermen later on Wednesday, staking their two-game winning streak.

PBA POSTPONES GAME
Meanwhile, the PBA deemed it fit to postpone the opening game between the Blackwater Elite and Magnolia on Wednesday at the Angeles University Foundation Arena in Pampanga as part of league protocols and “pending approval of the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emergin Infectious Diseases).”

Recently, a Blackwater player tested positive for the coronavirus but was later considered “false positive” after yielding negative results in confirmatory antigen and reverse transcription polymerase reaction (RT-PCR) tests.

The player, however, remains at the quarantine facility in the Athletes’ Village in Capas, Tarlac, until he is allowed to come back in the bubble and go through re-entry protocols.

The whole Blackwater team, as well as the TNT Tropang Giga, whom the Elite faced in their last game, were isolated as a precautionary measure while the results of the confirmatory tests on the player were being awaited last weekend.

The Blackwater-Magnolia game will be rescheduled to a later date. 

Games on Thursday, meanwhile, have the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters (4-2) taking on the Alaska Aces (4-3) in the 4 p.m. opener to be followed at 6:45 p.m. by the match pitting the TNT (5-0) against the NLEX Road Warriors (1-5). — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Azkals development team aims to make full use of PFL bid

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Azkals Development Team (ADT) got its campaign going in the fourth season of the Philippines Football League (PFL) on Wednesday; a bid it aims to make full use of in seeing its vision through as an organization.

Was to take on United City Football Club (formerly Ceres-Negros FC) in the opener of the PFL’s new season, ADT said it welcomes the opportunity to play in the league and be given the platform to have its players develop for the next level.

“[We’re] happy to get this (tournament) on. It’s great that a development team can enter a league like this. So it’s going to be a different angle for a team like ADT to come into the league but it’s about time and we’re looking forward to it,” said national team and ADT coach Scott Cooper in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

Mr. Cooper underscored that their push is anchored on striking a balance of developing players and doing well in the tournament, where they are competing for the first time as an official member of the field.

“Goal for the team is primarily to develop the players, and part of developing players is showing them how to win football games. So we’re in the mix of balancing things out,” said the British coach, whose side participated as a guest team in the Copa Paulino Alcantara last year.

“There’s not much pressure on the team. We’re here to see what we can do and how far we can go. That’s not saying, however, that we’re going to accept being beaten because it’s not in my nature, not in the team’s nature. You have to learn how to win football games… But the big picture is we will try to develop the players for them to move on and move to the next level,” he added.

The ADT roster seeing action in the PFL is composed of goalkeepers Quincy Julian Kammeraad and Anton Yared; and defenders Dean Ebarle, Janherc Fritz Brigoli, Simen Alexander Lyngbo, Mar Vincent Diano, Jan Vincent Quintana, Jarvey Gayoso, Matthew Custodio and Kainoa Bailey.

Also part of the squad are midfielders Carlo Dorin, Matt Lancelot Ocampo, Marvin Angeles, Dmitri Lionel Limbo, Christian Rontini, Yrick Gallantes, Jerome Marzan, and Jethro Adriel Borlongan; and forwards Kennedy Uzoka and Marcel Ivan Quano.

Mr. Cooper said the team chose the players for select positions to help them grow and develop their game further.

In the PFL, ADT will play the rest of the field once—a total of five games.

Season four of the PFL is being done in a “bubble” setup and is scheduled for two weeks with no fans watching.

The team on top in the end will be crowned as champion.

The Philippine Football Federation National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite, is the official game venue while Seda Nuvali in Santa Rosa, Laguna, houses the teams and the league for the duration of the proceedings.

During the tournament, all clubs are asked to strictly adhere to health and safety protocols prescribed for the league amid the coronavirus pandemic.

PFL matches can be viewed over the PFL Facebook page. PFL YouTube Channel, 1Play Sports, EXPTV Channel and www.PFLTV.ph.

During elections, online social networks are powerful—but so are personal relationships

Social media platforms are highly influential during election campaigns, but online clout doesn’t necessarily translate into real-world results, according to Richard Heydarian, a public educator and academic. 

Mr. Heydarian used as an example the 2019 Philippine general elections, wherein media-savvy candidates with a significant number of followers on social media failed to win. 

Chel Diokno, an active Twitter user whose followers number in the hundreds of thousands, did not make the cut for senate despite his credentials. Mr. Heydarian called Mr. Diokno a “phenomenon” and compared him to American senator Bernie Sanders, whose 2016 presidential campaign garnered grassroots support in the United States.

“At the end of the day, what also matters is the kind of personal relationship that you have with the people on the ground… the kind of credibility that you build, and what you bring to the table in a concrete manner. That kind of old-school, competent leadership—it’s not yet irrelevant,” Mr. Heydarian said during the opening program of the Media Civics Lab 2020–21.

Online networks played a huge role in the 2016 Philippine presidential elections, with candidates updating Filipinos on their campaign activities through fan pages on sites like Facebook and Twitter. 

As a presidential candidate, Rodrigo R. Duterte amassed an outspoken following that amplified his Facebook posts. By the end of the year, Mr. Duterte and the elections made it to Facebook’s most talked-about global topics in 2016. 

Mr. Duterte worked with Nicanor “Nic” Gabunada, a former marketing executive, whose know-how directed effective content creation. “It’s the creativity of what you have. The material has to be engaging. We present it in a different way and it has to be very much localized for the target market and for the location where the message is aired,” Mr. Gabunada said in 2016.

Unfortunately, social media also became a malicious tool, with troll farms spreading misinformation and pushing propaganda. Val Vestil, executive director of non-profit organization Association of Young Environmental Journalists (AYEJ), said that ordinary citizens can combat this by producing their own content. Whether it is a status post or other kind of media, citizens must first take their time to research and be critical of the media that they consume in the process. 

“We’re so actually compulsive in our desire to create content… Once we see an issue that we disagree with and would like to create content on, we tend to immediately go on Facebook and do a long rant… The problem with that is, if you don’t think about what you write about, if you don’t actually set aside time to do research… it might, in fact, propagate misinformation,” he said.

Simultaneously, Filipinos must come up with informative projects outside of the Internet. “Not all of this happens just on the internet: the disinformation, the fake news. Its effect is not just on our use of digital media… Its effect is on all aspects of our lives,” said Melanie Pinlac, a lawyer and writer.

There must also be greater pressure on social media companies and the government to enact more transparency around political consultancy agreements, especially for digital campaigns, said Sharmila Parmanand, a debate educator and analyst.  “We don’t have an idea on who is running what. Just having access to that information in a way that is easy to see can therefore help us become a lot more critical,” she added. — Mariel Alison L. Aguinaldo

Juggling act: Tips for balancing remote work and home life in 2020

Some 60% of remote workers say distractions from family, housemates, and pets make it difficult to get work done, according to a study by insurers Chubb. Only a minority, 43%, say they have been successful in keeping work and family separated.

NEW YORK — Any remote worker can tell you how office demands have invaded the home in 2020 and started creeping into every corner of the day.

But Jessica DeGroot is no ordinary worker. She is an expert in work-life balance as head of the consultancy ThirdPath Institute.

“Work was taking over entirely, and I was becoming less and less efficient,” said Ms. DeGroot, who is working from her home office in Philadelphia, while her husband has commandeered the kitchen as his own workspace. “I just thought, I gotta do something different here.”

Almost six in 10 employees say the pandemic has made their workdays less defined, according to a Pulse of the American Worker survey conducted by Prudential Financial.

Some 60% of remote workers say distractions from family, housemates, and pets make it difficult to get work done, according to a study by insurers Chubb. Only a minority, 43%, say they have been successful in keeping work and family separated.

That is just not sustainable, especially as the global pandemic drags on. Add in the demands of childcare or eldercare, online education, and smartphone technology which makes us constantly available, and it is not hard to see why people are stretched to the max.

“We have found that generally people are doing well working from home, but the main area of concern that keeps popping up is work-life balance,” said Adam Pressman, a partner in Atlanta with workforce consultants Mercer. “Especially caregivers, and their ability to disconnect from work.”

It is not that this work-life puzzle is inherently unsolvable. But it does require you to rethink your priorities, reorganize how your day is structured, and even be thoughtful about the physical space around you.

It also requires the buy-in of understanding employers, who not only need to have the right policies in place, but also have leaders modeling a healthy work-life balance.

After all, it is in nobody’s interest that you are on-call 24-7, forced to mix work and family concerns into one big toxic stew, and burn yourself out in the process.

A few tips to handle the juggling act:

TAKE YOUR VACATION
Here is an eye-popping stat from the Prudential survey: In a year when many of us are not even in our offices anymore, 65% of people have actually taken less time off from work than last year.

That likely stems from dread about losing our jobs in this precarious economy, as well as the coronavirus restrictions that make a normal vacation tricky. But turning yourself into a burned-out husk of an employee will harm your long-term prospects, not help them.

“We all need time to recharge, even if it’s just evenings and weekends,” said Ms. DeGroot. “Learn to really turn yourself off from work, and then you will be much fresher on Mondays.”

DELEGATE IF POSSIBLE
None of us is superhuman and able to juggle all home and personal life tasks at the same time. So if you are financially able, think about bringing in outside help: Maybe an online part-time tutor to help your kids, or a meal-prep delivery service to lighten the domestic load.

If you do not have extra financial resources right now, get creative by sharing everyday tasks with partners, friends, or family members, or creating “learning pods” with other neighborhood families.

“Finding other support mechanisms can be an important strategy,” says Mercer’s Mr. Pressman. “But it does require a lot more planning, delegation and discipline. That will help you block off periods on your calendar, so you have more time to really focus on family.”

USE A RITUAL TO SHIFT GEARS
If you do not take deliberate action to separate them, work and home life will naturally bleed into each other.

When Toronto freelance journalist Renée Sylvestre-Williams is finished with her projects for the day—right now her workstation is set up at her condo’s dining-room table—“I switch off my desk light, work out, shower, and change into casual clothes,” Ms. Sylvestre-Williams says. “That routine really closes my day.”

We’re all learning as we go here, and a good mantra for 2020 is: Whatever works.

For Ms. DeGroot, for instance, her innovative antidote to pandemic burnout involved carving out a midweek block of time on Wednesday mornings, just for her and whatever she wants to do.

“Not only did I give myself a little break during the week, but I became much more effective on Monday and Tuesday,” she says. “It’s been heaven.” — Chris Taylor/Reuters

China launches crackdown on mobile web browsers, decries ‘chaos’ of information

The crackdown will initially focus on eight of the most influential mobile browsers in China, including those operated by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Alibaba Group Holding’s UCWeb, and Xiaomi Corp., said the Cyberspace Administration of China. Image via Huawei

SHANGHAI — China’s top cyber authority said on Monday it would carry out a “rectification” of Chinese mobile internet browsers to address what it called social concerns over the “chaos” of information being published online.

China’s strict internet censorship rules have been tightened numerous times in recent years and in the latest crackdown, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has told firms operating mobile browsers that they have until Nov. 9 to conduct a “self examination” and rectify problems.

The problems include the spreading of rumors, the use of sensationalist headlines and the publishing of content that violates the core values of socialism, it said in a statement.

“For some time, mobile browsers have grown in an uncivilized way … and have become a gathering place and amplifier for dissemination of chaos by ‘self-media,’” the CAC said, referring to independently operated social media accounts, many of which publish news.

“After the rectification, mobile browsers that still have outstanding problems will be dealt with strictly according to laws and regulations until related businesses are banned.”

The campaign will initially focus on eight of the most influential mobile browsers in China, including those operated by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Alibaba Group Holding’s UCWeb, and Xiaomi Corp., it said.

Others include the QQ platform owned by Tencent, Qihoo-owned 360, Oppo, and Sogou.

Huawei’s browser unit said in a statement on Tuesday it would conduct a comprehensive self-examination and clean-up in line with the regulator’s requests, and would also place strict controls over “self media” accounts.

Xiaomi and UCWeb declined to comment, while Tencent, Oppo, Sogou, and 360 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Legislation introduced in recent years by China include measures to restrict media outlets, surveillance measures for media sites and rolling campaigns to remove content deemed unacceptable. — Reuters

EU warns not enough COVID vaccines for all in Europe until 2022

Given a likely limited supply, the European Commission has for months urged EU governments to devise vaccination plans that would prioritize vulnerable and essential groups, such as healthcare workers, the elderly, or people with chronic diseases.

BRUSSELS —  Only part of the European Union population can be inoculated against the new coronavirus before 2022, EU officials said in an internal meeting, as the vaccines the bloc is securing may not prove effective or may not be manufactured in sufficient doses.

The 27-nation bloc, with a population of 450 million, has booked more than 1 billion doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from three drugmakers. It is negotiating the advance purchase of another billion vials with other companies.

“There will not be sufficient doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the entire population before the end of 2021,” a European Commission official told diplomats from EU states in a closed-door meeting on Monday, a person who attended it told Reuters.

A second official confirmed the statement. An EU Commission spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

The EU Commission had earlier said vaccines will be limited “during the initial stages of deployment” but had never clarified how long the initial phase would last.

There is still no effective COVID-19 vaccine, but the first shots could be available at the beginning of next year, the Commission said earlier in October.

Given a likely limited supply, the Commission has for months urged EU governments to devise vaccination plans that would prioritize vulnerable and essential groups, such as healthcare workers, the elderly, or people with chronic diseases.

But apart from a consensus on inoculating doctors and nurses, “there is no common line on other groups,” the Commission official said at the internal meeting this week.

In July a paper agreed by the Commission and EU governments said at least 40% of the EU population should be vaccinated in the first phase.

Some EU countries want to book doses for their entire population with the aim of rolling them out already by mid-2021.

A third EU official said this bold goal could be achieved if the EU reached supply deals with at least seven vaccine candidates. 

The EU has so far secured doses of the potential vaccines being developed by AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson. It has also said it is in talks with Moderna, Pfizer and CureVac. — Francesco Guarascio/Reuters

Nickel Asia suspends ops at mine after coronavirus outbreak

Nickel Asia Corp, the Philippines’ top nickel ore producer and exporter, said on Wednesday it has suspended operations at one of its four mines after an outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Work at Nickel Asia’s Hinatuan mine in the nickel mining hub, the Caraga region, has been suspended from Tuesday until Nov. 10 as a containment measure, it said in a statement, after 19 employees tested positive.

The Hinatuan mine in Surigao del Norte province accounted for 11% of Nickel Asia’s total ore sales volume last year.

The Philippines is an alternative supply source of nickel ore for China, which relies mainly on higher-grade material from Indonesia. Indonesia, however, has temporarily banned exports of unprocessed minerals.

Ore from the Philippines is used to make nickel pig iron, the raw material for China’s massive stainless steel industry.

Nickel Asia said its unit, Hinatuan Mining Corp, had placed the entire mine site on lockdown for seven days from Oct. 19.

However, the municipality of Tagana-an, where the mine is located, has issued a lockdown order for the mine “until further orders.”

Hinatuan will resume essential non-mining and support activities after the 14-day suspension, while mass coronavirus testing continues at the site, Nickel Asia said.

The firm did not expect a significant impact of the Hinatuan mine closure on its financial results because the unit was already at the tail-end of its mining season.

Nickel mining and shipping operations in southern Philippines are usually halted in the last quarter of the year due to the rainy season. — Reuters 

Tiffany and LVMH could patch things up with cut-price deal

NEW YORK — US jeweler Tiffany & Co. and French luxury goods giant LVMH are in talks to settle their dispute over a $16 billion takeover at a price slightly lower than that initially agreed, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The negotiations were based on a price in the range of $131–$134 for each Tiffany share, against the $135 price when the deal was first agreed on last November.

An agreement at the bottom of that range would save LVMH, led by billionaire businessman Bernard Arnault, about $480 million on the initial $16.2 billion purchase price.

The initial deal ran into trouble last month when the French group said it could no longer complete the transaction by the Nov. 24 deadline.

It cited a French political intervention preventing it from doing so, but also what it described as the jeweler’s “dismal” performance during the coronavirus crisis.

The two sides are facing off in a Delaware court, with Tiffany seeking to force LVMH to honor the deal. The case is due to be heard in early January.

CNBC earlier reported that the two parties were in indirect talks to settle the dispute.

Both LVMH and Tiffany did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Tiffany shares rose almost 5% to $128.78 on Tuesday after reports of a potential end to the dispute.

Louis Vuitton owner LVMH agreed last year to buy Tiffany in its biggest acquisition yet, betting it could restore the US jeweler’s luster by investing in stores and new collections.

The deal was designed to boost LVMH’s smallest business, the jewelry and watch division that is already home to Bulgari and Tag Heuer, help it to expand in one of the fastest-growing industry sections and strengthen its US presence.

New York–based Tiffany, founded in 1837 and known for its signature pale blue boxes, retains a resonance as the go-to purveyor of engagement rings that only a handful of rivals can match.

Tiffany also said on Monday that it had received the nod from the European Commission for the deal’s completion, thus clearing all regulatory hurdles. — Greg Roumeliotis/Reuters

S.Korea’s conscripted doctors feel like ‘human shields’ in virus battle

OKCHEON, South Korea — As the coronavirus pandemic began sweeping through South Korea late in February, doctor Nam Ha-jong received an order to report overnight to Daegu, a city that was to become the epicenter of infections.

With little formal training in treating virus victims and just two hours of instruction in the use of personal protective gear, the 30-year-old was sent to track down likely patients.

As fear of the new disease gripped the country, Nam went door to door from dawn to dusk each day, wearing full protective gear to perform the testing of members of an obscure religious group at the centre of the outbreak.

“We were exhausted, scared, and felt like being thrown in as a shield to fight against an enemy that no one knew about,” said Nam, who spent three weeks working in Daegu, a city of about 2.4 million southeast of the capital, Seoul.

A nurse and driver helped him run tests at the homes of suspected victims. Many in the religious group wanted to keep secret even the fact of having been tested, so Nam had to shoo away curious neighbors.

Nam was one of 1,900 young men conscripted from medical school to serve a term of 36 months as a public health doctor instead of regular military service.

That is compulsory in South Korea, which is technically still at war with the North, since the neighbors ended the Korean War with only a truce, instead of a peace treaty.

After eight months on the frontlines of the virus battle, the young doctors are credited with pulling off the strategy to target hotspots with rapid, mass testing and contact tracing.

As in the military, they were given no choice, often feeling their efforts went unrecognized, even as South Korea eventually flattened the curve of infections and won global praise for its response.

“Now I feel some people are taking us for granted,” Nam, who now works at a test center in Okcheon county, a two-hour drive south of Seoul, said in an interview.

Refusing to serve would have brought punishment in the form of a service extension of five times the length of the hotspot deployment, which typically lasts several weeks.

Experts say the doctors’ efforts were responsible for more than 2.5 million tests among a population of 50 million, as well as a program of stringent contact tracing.

The doctors are “indispensable,” said Park Yoon-hyung, a specialist in preventive medicine at Soonchunhyang University.

However, he added, “The general public don’t usually appreciate their work, because they think of their service as something obvious.”

As many as 1,000 of the doctors rotated through Daegu in March to fight an outbreak that racked up the largest number of infections outside China.

That deployment paved the way for a four-fold increase in daily virus tests, said Sejin Choi of the Korean Association of Public Health Doctors.

UNHERALDED

In normal times, the routine of a public health doctor can be uneventful, from prescribing blood pressure pills to the elderly or giving vaccinations, usually among a handful of patients.

Now, with dozens of new virus cases each day, the junior doctors, who receive average monthly pay of 2.5 million won ($2,200), are the mainstay of about half the nearly 600 test centers nationwide.

Dozens are contact tracing specialists, Association data shows, and several hundred staff the government’s “living care centers” for those suffering mild symptoms.

Always at the ready to rush to any new major disease cluster, the doctors can also be assigned as airport quarantine officers to guard against external infections.

“Our role is little known outside,” said Choi Seung-jin, one of the conscripted doctors who spent six weeks at a temporary testing facility near Seoul’s Incheon airport.

“But our job has never subsided,” added the 32-year-old, who will complete his service next April. “I am constantly worried that cases can explode at any time. I have stopped wishing for this to be over soon.” — Ju-min Park/Reuters

Duterte’s EDSA decongestion masterplan set to ease travel around Metro Manila, expressways

LONG AND grueling hours on the road mostly because of the horrendous traffic at EDSA will soon be over for motorists as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) advances its move to solving the Metro’s traffic woes.

The DPWH, led by Secretary Mark Villar, is poised to significantly complete its grand EDSA Decongestion Masterplan by 2022. Composed of a network of infrastructure projects, the masterplan aims to make it possible for motorists to reach every city in Metro Manila as well as go from North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and vice versa in as short as 20 minutes to as long as 30 minutes.

For Secretary Villar, the achievements of the program will finally realize the promise of President Rodrigo Duterte to decongest EDSA. “When the EDSA Decongestion Program is completed, we will be able to free up major thoroughfares by at least 120,000 vehicles. By 2022, every city in Metro Manila will be reachable within a 20- to 30-minute time frame,” he added.

The program involves 14 roads and expressways spanning 121,850 meters and amounting to P180.6 billion, coupled with 11 bridges spanning 9,348 meters and worth P42 billion.

Among the projects at the forefront of the masterplan is the soon to open Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 project, an 18.83-kilometer elevated expressway starting from Buendia, Makati City to NLEX in Balintawak, Quezon City. Completed earlier in October, this P44.86 billion project of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. will cut travel time from Buendia to Balintawak from two hours to 15-20 minutes. It will decongest EDSA and other major roads in Metro Manila by as much as 55,000 vehicles per day.

Complementing this project is the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC). The eight-kilometer, four-lane elevated expressway extends the NLEX southward from the end of Segment 10 in C3 Road, Caloocan City to PUP Sta. Mesa in Manila. The connector road also links to the Skyway Stage 3. According to DPWH, the project is currently 11% complete and is set to be finished by March 2022. Once completed, the project will reduce travel time from SLEX to NLEX from two hours to 20 minutes, benefitting 35,000 motorists daily.

Also set for completion by 2022 is MPTC’s C5 South Link Expressway. The project, worth P12.65 billion, is a 7.70-km, six-lane expressway from R-1 expressway to SLEX/C5. It will slash travel time from 40 minutes to 10 minutes. The Merville to C5/SLEX portion of the project, also known as Segment 3A-1, was opened to traffic in July last year; while Segments 2 and 3A2 broke ground last July.

The Southeast Metro Manila Expressway, a 32.66-km toll road from Skyway/FTI in Taguig City to Batasan Complex in Quezon City, will also be able to serve motorists by 2022. The P45.29 billion project will cut travel time from Bicutan to Batasan from one hour and 50 minutes to 26 minutes, benefitting as much as 88,338 motorists per day. The first section of the project, traversing from Skyway/FTI to C5/Diego Silang, is currently 12% complete, according to the department.

As motorists look forward to those projects for about two years, they can look forward to the completion of four projects by next year, including the Fort Bonifacio-Nichols Field Road, Mindanao Avenue Extension (Segment 2C), Laguna Lake Highway, and the Southbound portion of the Alabang-Sucat Skyway Connection and Ramp Extension.
The Fort Bonifacio-Nichols Field Road project, in particular, widens the 3.3-km Nichols Field Road from four lanes to six lanes.

Through this project, the DPWH explained, adjacent thoroughfares like EDSA, South Superhighway, and C5 will be decongested and travel time going in and out of Bonifacio Global City will be lessened. The project is 60% complete at present.

The Mindanao Avenue Extension (Segment 2C), meanwhile, is a 3.2-km, four-lane divided highway at the intersection of NLEX to Gen. Luis Avenue that will connect the areas of Valenzuela, North Caloocan, Quezon City (Novaliches), and NLEX. Once finished, the extension will cut travel time between Quirino Highway and General Luis Road from one hour and 30 minutes to 20 minutes. It is already 74.35% complete, according to the department.

The Laguna Lake Highway, on the other hand, is already substantially completed. The 6.94-km, four-lane divided highway will bring down travel time from Taytay, Rizal to Bicutan, Taguig from one hour to only 30 minutes.

All these upcoming road and expressways will form a basket of solutions to decongest EDSA, alongside already completed projects under the current administration such as the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10, NLEX Harbor Link C3-R10 Section, NAIA Expressway Phase 2, and the widening of Radial Road 10 and Samar Street.

BRIDGES AND BIKE LANES

Aside from the new and expanded roads and expressways, new bridges will largely contribute in easing traffic along EDSA and other major roads in Metro Manila. DPWH said a four-lane bridge across Pasig River connecting Lawton Ave. in Makati City and Sta. Monica Street in Pasig City is poised to open next year. The Binondo-Intramuros bridge and the Estrella-Pantaleon bridge are also targeted for completion next year. Also, construction of three bridges crossing the Pasig River and Manggahan floodway under a Chinese financing facility is in the pipeline, while three more bridges crossing Marikina River will be built via funding through Asian Developments Bank’s financing facility.

The DPWH will also be embarking on a P7.93 billion Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project, which will entail the replacement of outer bridges and substructure of the Guadalupe bridge and the vertical geometry improvement of the Lambingan bridge.
Along with building roads and bridges to decongest traffic, the DPWH also supports the promotion of active modes of transport as bike lanes will be incorporated in the future projects of the department.

Particularly, Sec. Villar has issued a policy prescribing the standard design of bicycle lanes along national highways. Through Department Order No. 88 series of 2020, the secretary continued, the construction of new national roads and bridges or future expansion of projects (e.g., road/bridge widening, diversion/bypass roads, among others) shall incorporate a bicycle facility contingent on the prevailing road and traffic conditions but will have no less than 2.44 meters of bicycle path width.

In addition, the desirable width of three meters is set for a two-directional separated bike lane, unless under constrained condition, upon which the absolute minimum of 2.44 meters will be followed.

“With bike-friendly infrastructure, we aim to promote road safety to all and encourage the public to consider biking as a safe mode of transportation beneficial to their physical health, the environment through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution, to traffic, and to public roads that render less wear and tear,” Sec. Villar said

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