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Philippine army may seek martial law return after suicide attacks

Twin blasts that killed 15 people in the volatile southern Philippines could both have been suicide bombings, the military said on Tuesday, representing an escalation of violence that the army chief said may require martial law to be re-imposed.

Monday’s explosions on the southwest island of Jolo killed a mix of soldiers, police, civilians and at least one bomber and wounded 78 people, in the Philippines’ deadliest attack since a double suicide bombing at a church in January 2019 left 20 people dead and wounded at least 100.

The first explosion on Monday, initially thought to be motorcycle bomb, killed six troops and six civilians, the army said. A policeman and a soldier were killed an hour later when a female suicide bomber approached the site of the first attack.

“The first explosion was possibly suicide bombing also,” said Brigadier General William Gonzales, regional task force commander. “But we can’t identify the bomber because a body around the crater was mangled to pieces.”

There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks in the main town on Jolo, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, a militant group linked to Islamic State and to at least six suicide bombings, which are a recent phenomenon in the Philippines.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has created a special infantry division in the Sulu archipelago to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf, which is notorious also for kidnappings and beheadings.

Mr. Duterte made no mention of the attack in remarks on Tuesday.

Army chief, Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, said re-imposing martial law in Sulu could help isolate and track down the Abu Sayyaf network.

Martial law was lifted at the end of last year in the Mindanao region, which includes Sulu, two-and-a-half years after it was imposed to fight Islamic State-inspired militants who took over Marawi City.

“The situation dictates, calls for it, with that recent incident with many casualties, to better control the population,” Mr. Sobejana told reporters.

“It is wise to declare martial law again.” — Reuters

 

Starbucks cafe’s COVID outbreak spared employees who wore masks

After a woman with the coronavirus visited a Starbucks cafe north of Seoul this month, more than two dozen patrons tested positive days later. But the four face mask-wearing employees escaped infection.

The Aug. 8 outbreak in the South Korean city of Paju is another example of how rapidly the SARS-CoV-2 virus can spread in confined, indoor spaces—as well as ways to minimize transmission. With health authorities around the world still debating the evidence around face masks, the 27-person cluster linked to the air-conditioned coffee outlet adds more support for their mandatory use to help limit the spread of the COVID-19-causing virus.

“This speaks volumes about the role masks can play,” said Ma Sang Hyuk, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Changwon Fatima Hospital in South Korea. “Masks may not provide 100% protection, but there’s nothing out there that’s as effective.”

Guidance on face masks is being issued from Australia to Venezuela to help stem the pandemic, which has infected more than 23 million people and killed at least 810,000 worldwide. Face coverings will become mandatory in New Zealand for residents using public transport and inside ride-sharing vehicles, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday. Last week, the World Health Organization issued advice on their use in children.

But resistance to mask-wearing remains in some countries like the US, where some people object to being compelled to wear masks when entering shops or restaurants. Misinformation over their effectiveness and safety has also spread.

Officials assume that most patrons didn’t consistently wear masks as they were drinking and eating while in the Starbucks Corp. outlet in South Korea, according to Gang Young-do, a spokesperson for the Paju government. A ceiling-mounted air-conditioning was helping to cool the second-floor outlet, he said.

“The virus may spread where people can’t wear masks while eating or drinking tea, as witnessed at the Starbucks in Paju,” Jung Eun-kyeong, head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, told reporters in Seoul on Sunday.

The Starbucks case is one of “the most important opportunities to study risk factors among a more or less controlled cohort of people,” said Arnold Bosman, director at Transmissible BV, a Netherlands-based developer of training materials for outbreak control. “This Starbucks event will be a very valuable training exercise for future generations of epidemiologists.”

A person sitting under an airconditioner infected 27 others with coronavirus at a Starbucks cafe in South Korea, but none of employees, who were wearing masks, got the virus https://t.co/7SYdKEglZT pic.twitter.com/VXA4Aw8uGv

— Sam Kim (@samkimasia) August 22, 2020

The Starbucks infections later led to about three dozen more cases outside the coffee shop as of Aug. 24. They add to the more than 3,000 this month that have prompted the South Korean government to consider imposing the highest level of physical distancing rules — a blow to an economy that’s managed to avert a steep recession so far.

The Seoul metropolitan area has emerged as a virus hot spot, and local government authorities made it mandatory this week for all citizens to wear masks both indoors and outdoors. — Bloomberg

Hong Kong man has first documented COVID-19 reinfection

A 33-year-old man who had recovered from a severe case of COVID-19 in April was infected again four months later in the first documented instance of human reinfection, University of Hong Kong researchers said on Monday. 

In August, after returning from a trip to Europe, he was diagnosed again—but with a different strain of the virus. While the first infection landed him in the hospital, the second produced no symptoms. Genetically, the first virus was closely related to strains collected in March/April while the second was closely related to strains collected in July/August, the researchers wrote in a report seen by Reuters. 

“Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may persist in the global human population as is the case for other common-cold associated human coronaviruses,” they said in a statement. “Since the immunity can be short lasting after natural infection, vaccination should also be considered for those with one episode of infection,” researchers said. 

“Patients with previous COVID-19 infection should also comply with epidemiological control measures such as universal masking and social distancing,” they added. The report has been accepted for publication in Clinical Infectious Diseases. — Reuters

Brazil’s Bolsonaro says journalist ‘wimps’ more likely to die of COVID-19

BRASILIA — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro continued his attack on journalists during a public event on Monday, describing reporters as “wimps” and saying they have a heightened chance of dying of COVID-19 because they are not athletic.

The right-wing former army captain has long had a fractious relationship with the media, frequently singling out specific newspapers and journalists for his ire. His followers have also attacked journalists at rallies and other public events.

On Sunday, Mr. Bolsonaro told a reporter, “I want to punch you in the face,” after the reporter asked about thousands of dollars that were transferred into a bank account of the president’s wife by a former aide who is now the target of a corruption probe.

During the Monday event, titled “Defeating COVID-19,” Mr. Bolsonaro described his own experience battling the virus in July, crediting his use of unproven drug hydroxychloroquine and his self-described history as an athlete for his mild symptoms. He has previously said he believed his athletic past made him immune to the worst of the coronavirus.

“That history of an athlete, the press feasted on it, but when (COVID-19) gets one of you wimps, your chance of surviving is quite a bit lower,” Mr. Bolsonaro told reporters on Monday, using the Portuguese colloquial word bundao.

“You only know how to do evil, to use a pen largely for evil. Your chance of surviving is quite a bit lower.”

Earlier this month, local media reported that the aide, Fabricio Queiroz, deposited 72,000 reais ($12,900) in checks into Michelle Bolsonaro’s account between 2011 and 2018.

Mr. Queiroz was an aide to now Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the president’s eldest son, when he was a Rio de Janeiro state legislator. The former aide has been arrested in an investigation into bank deposits made at the time, amounting to 1.2 million reais.  — Reuters

FDA head walks back claim of dramatic benefit from COVID therapy

The head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) walked back his claim that an experimental therapy had provided a dramatic benefit to COVID-19 patients, a rare reversal for an agency that has prided itself on rock-solid science and public trust.

On Sunday night at a press conference with President Donald Trump, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said that blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors given to new patients could save huge numbers of lives.

“What that means is—and if the data continue to pan out—100 people who are sick with COVID-19, 35 would have been saved because of the administration of plasma,” Mr. Hahn said. Hahn’s remarks followed similar comments by Mr. Trump, who said that the therapy is “proven to reduce mortality by 35%,” and by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar.

On Monday night, Mr. Hahn reversed himself.

“I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified,” Mr. Hahn said in a tweet.

Mr. Hahn had spent much of Monday taking heat from health experts, including two former FDA commissioners, for his remarks.

“That was not the way that I would have worded it,” said one of the doctors who led the blood plasma study, Arturo Casadevall, chair of the department of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. “I hope they will issue a clarification,” he said earlier Monday.

What the data do show is that a higher dose of blood plasma is better than a lower one. And while there are promising signals that it will lead to a real benefit when compared to a placebo, that’s not known yet.

“Until we have a randomized controlled trial, we don’t know definitively,” Mr. Casadevall said.

The administration’s misrepresentation of the data may raise fears about how Mr. Hahn and the rest of the administration will treat data on a vaccine for the virus. Mr. Trump has said he expects one to be ready in time for his potential re-election, and on Saturday accused unnamed members of the “deep state” at the FDA of slowing work to hurt him politically. The “deep state” is a term used by Mr. Trump to describe employees of government agencies that he believes are manipulating policy to work against his interests. There is no evidence this is happening at the FDA.

The 35% statistic also has several fatal flaws. Since everyone in the program received blood plasma, it’s not known what would have happened compared with patients who didn’t get the therapy. And scores of variables, like how sick the patients were and when they were treated—that could have skewed the results.

Robert Califf, the FDA commissioner under President Barack Obama, said that he thought Hahn had misspoken. “It would be good for Steve to publish a correction,” Mr. Califf said on Twitter earlier Monday.

Messrs. Azar and Hahn both have extensive experience with drugs and therapies. Mr. Azar is a former pharmaceutical executive, and Mr. Hahn has spent several decades treating patients and researching cancer. Before joining the FDA, he was the chief medical executive of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, a leading oncology treatment and research hospital.

In a tweet posted earlier Monday, Mr. Hahn said that the agency will “reevaluate our emergency use authorization (EUA) based upon new incoming data that we receive.”

WIDE USE

Blood plasma from recovered patients is being used around the world, with the hope that its infection-fighting antibodies can help combat the virus. It doesn’t appear to pose a major safety risk, and on Sunday the Trump administration announced an emergency FDA measure to make it more widely available. Several studies have shown promising signs of efficacy.

“Based on the data we have today, it’s very likely that plasma is reducing mortality,” Mr. Casadevall said. “The one thing we are missing is a randomized controlled trial,” the gold-standard test that will tell researchers and regulators if blood plasma is a breakthrough, an incremental help or something in between.

To understand the confusion over the 35% figure, it’s important to look at two concepts: relative risk and absolute risk.

Imagine a clinical trial to test an experimental drug, with 2,000 patients split into two groups. The first 1,000 patients don’t get the drug, and in that group 10 people die. The other group of 1,000 patients gets the drug, and five people in that group die.

Using relative risk, that’s a 50% improvement—a tremendous number. But using absolute risk, the imaginary drug only decreases the likelihood of death by 0.5%. That means 5 more of those 1,000 people treated with the drug would live, not the 500 implied if you mistakenly use the 50% relative risk number.

The claim of a 35% mortality benefit made by Messrs. Trump, Azar and Hahn uses the first measure—relative risk. But because clinical trials of plasma therapy haven’t been completed, how many lives it actually saves—the absolute risk improvement—still isn’t known.

Mr. Hahn, in his tweet Monday, said he had muddled the difference. “What I should have said better is that the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction,” he said.

The FDA analysis was pulled from a subset of data in the trial—typically a no-no for credible studies. And despite a day of criticism online from doctors and researchers, Mr. Hahn’s correction wasn’t enough for some.

“You need to correct the 35 lives saved per 100 sick with COVID-19 so people understand that was absolutely wrong, Steve,” Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California, said on Twitter. “That there is no evidence to support that. That there is no evidence at this juncture to support *any* survival benefit.”

TWEETS

Doctors and patients rely on the FDA to put out authoritative information about the safety and efficacy of drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and other products, guiding their use not just in the US but around the world. The agency has historically carefully guarded its reputation and scientific independence,

Mr. Hahn’s comments about 35 out of 100 people being saved were still posted to the FDA’s official twitter account as of Monday afternoon.

Emily Miller, the FDA spokeswoman, repeated the error in a tweet after the press conference, saying “convalescent plasma has shown to be beneficial for 35% of patients.” While she clarified the error in a follow-up message about an hour later, the FDA’s main twitter account still carries Mr. Hahn’s misstatement.

Alyssa Farah, a White House spokeswoman made a similarly misleading tweet, saying that the therapy cuts mortality by 30% to 50%. And Michael Caputo, Mr. Azar’s chief spokesman at HHS, echoed the claim: “If you’re one of the 35 people out of a hundred who survive severe COVID symptoms because of convalescent plasma, you’re damn right this is a BREAKTHROUGH.”

Ms. Farah didn’t respond to emails requesting comment. Mr. Caputo deferred comment to the FDA, though his tweet with the incorrect information was still up as of 10 p.m. Monday in New York.

Mr. Hahn’s predecessor Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner under Mr. Trump from 2017 to 2019, said he thought the FDA was right to allow convalescent blood plasma for emergency use. But he suggested the press conference hadn’t given the correct picture of what health regulators actually know from the data.

“When we overstate findings it erodes confidence in science and undermines public trust in regulatory decisions. The right message was this ‘may’ provide a benefit, it could be meaningful for some patients, but we need more evidence to prove it,” Mr. Gottlieb said in a tweet.

“The way the public part was handled will erode precious public confidence,” he said. “You earn public confidence in small drops and you lose it in buckets.” — Bloomberg

Pag-IBIG loan policies set to help borrowers keep homes amid pandemic

Top officials of Pag-IBIG Fund on Wednesday (Aug.19) assured borrowers that the agency’s loan policies are designed to help them keep their homes, especially during the pandemic.

“We heed President Duterte’s call to prioritize the welfare of our fellow Filipinos during these challenging times. We want to help members keep their homes, especially now because that is the safest place they can be. Pag-IBIG Fund extends favorable terms to our home loan borrowers. We give them several remedies to save their properties in case of default. Our remediation process also gives borrowers at least one year to update their accounts,” said Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario, who heads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.

According to del Rosario, home loan borrowers who may encounter financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic can avail of Pag-IBIG Fund’s loan restructuring and penalty condonation programs. The programs are meant to help borrowers update their loans and avoid foreclosure.

Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti added that unlike most financial institutions, Pag-IBIG Fund’s rules on penalty are more compassionate towards borrowers. The agency computes penalties based only on unpaid dues instead of the outstanding loan balance.

“Due to the economic slowdown, we expect to see default rates climb in the next few months. We want to assure our borrowers that we take into consideration their unexpected loss of income as a result of the pandemic. We at Pag-IBIG Fund remain committed to enable Filipino workers not only to buy homes, but to keep their homes. COVID-19 will not change that,” said Moti.

In the first half of the year, Pag-IBIG Fund deferred more than P15 billion in total loan payments when it granted an automatic grace period to all its 4.77 million borrowers, in accordance with the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.

The agency also granted qualified borrowers a three-month loan payment moratorium from March 16 to June 15, 2020, giving them longer reprieves without incurring additional penalties and other charges.

‘BBB’ funding excluded from loan limit

THE central bank’s mandated limit on big banks’ real estate loans will not include loans and securities that will finance public infrastructure projects, in a bid to boost the government’s “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program.

Circular No. 1093 signed by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno raised the limit on real estate loan exposure to 25% of banks’ total loan book from the current 20%, a move seen to unleash P1.2 trillion in additional liquidity for real estate lending.   

“Real estate exposures shall not include loans and investments in debt and equity securities the proceeds of which are used to finance infrastructure projects for public use…,” the circular read.

BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier said in a text message the provision will “support funding for the Build, Build, Build program of the government.”

As the coronavirus crisis plunged the economy into a recession, the government is betting its aggressive infrastructure push will help drive recovery in 2021.

The BBB program currently includes 92 infrastructure projects worth P4.4 trillion.

In the circular, BSP said a real estate stress test (REST) will be done to gauge the bank’s exposure to commercial real estate loans, specifically to individual households, sole proprietorships, land developers and construction companies.

The prudential limit will also cover loans extended to corporate borrowers with real estate-related loans such as brokers, lessors, property management companies, and holding companies, among others.

“A universal/commercial bank which does not meet either or both the REST limits shall incorporate assessment of risks from this exposure in its internal capital adequacy assessment process (ICAAP),” it said.

The BSP has earlier said the new guidelines will exclude residential real estate loans to individuals for own occupancy and foreclosed real estate property.

The rule to increase loan limits for the real estate sector is a complementary move after the central bank maintained key policy rates last week, said Colegio de San Juan de Letran Graduate School Dean Emmanuel J. Lopez.

“The move is meant to stimulate investment in the real estate area which as of late experienced a big blow because of the pandemic,” Mr. Lopez said in a text message.

The real estate sector makes up about 18.5% of total loans in June, slightly bigger than the 17.4% share in the same month of 2019 and the 18.4% in May, BSP data showed.

Outstanding loans extended by big banks for the sector was at P1.72 trillion in June from P1.47 trillion a year ago, data from BSP showed. Credit for real estate activities increased 16.8% year on year during the month, slower than the 19.6% pace in May.

TIME TO PAUSE
Meanwhile, Mr. Diokno on Monday said it’s time to pause in easing in order to gauge how previous rate cuts are being digested.

“We have to appreciate that monetary policy works with a lag. Now that the economy is starting to open up, I think it’s time for us to pause and see how the economy is absorbing our loose monetary policy,” Mr. Diokno said in an interview with ANC on Monday.

On Thursday, the Monetary Board maintained the benchmark rates, citing the manageable inflation outlook and some early signs of recovery.

“[There were] early signs of recovery in manufacturing and exports. The construction business, especially public constructions, will pick with the BBB infrastructure programs,” Mr. Diokno said in a text message.

Mr. Diokno also said they are also expecting their policies will aid more small businesses through access to lending. — L.W.T.Noble

Laptop demand surges but supply can’t keep up

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter

DEMAND for laptops surged during the lockdown, but a decline in global electronics manufacturing capacity caused a shortage in supply in the Philippines.

Technology company Lenovo Philippines said local demand during the lockdown reflected at least the 26% spike in its global laptop sales, a number that is based on shipment quantities. But local demand could actually have increased by more than double, Lenovo Philippines President and General Manager Michael Ngan said in an online interview.

“What we actually don’t see is kung ano ’yung hindi nag-ship. The pandemic actually affected the supply side,” he said.

ASUS Philippines, which also saw demand by June double its pre-lockdown numbers, attributed the spike to workers’ need for devices as they shifted to work-from-home operations.

Parents are also buying devices for young students as they prepare for online learning, ASUS Philippines Country Head George Su said in an online interview.

“The most significant change is that the younger grades in primary school, even the kindergarten, the parents need to consider to acquire a unit or two,” he said, adding that strong demand in their products is expected until the end of the year.

Outsourcing companies that were allowed to continue operations during the lockdown increased bulk orders of laptops for employees working from home, Mr. Ngan added.

But these electronics companies are not able to meet the increased demand, with Mr. Su saying that 30% to 40% of local demand is still underserved.

“Most of the vendors struggle to get more supply and distribute it across several markets during this situation,” he said.

Lenovo Philippines identified bottlenecks at every point of the supply chain. Mr. Ngan said there are shortages among their CPU and components providers, while their own manufacturing production is held up by restrictions declared to contain the pandemic.

“With the pandemic, everything is halved: production nangalahati (is halved) because nobody can deploy 100% workforce. In fact, not even in factories,” he said.

Mr. Ngan added the move to deploy only skeleton staff at the Customs bureau and domestic flight restrictions have slowed down importation and distribution.

The tech companies have manufacturing centers globally, including China and Mexico.

ONLINE SALES
While both companies sell online, Mr. Su said that most sales still come from brick-and-mortar stores. But e-commerce also saw a surge in laptop sales during the lockdown.

Lazada Philippines said average monthly laptop sales increased by five times during the lockdown compared with monthly sales in January and February, the e-commerce company said in an e-mail. Sales of its entire electronics category doubled in this period.

Lenovo’s Mr. Ngan noted some Filipinos also sold secondhand laptops on social media. One local laptop buy-and-sell Facebook group has almost 140,000 members.

To improve their own supply, he asked the government to include computers in its list of essential goods for Customs concessions.

“I think laptops nowadays should… kung pwede can be classified as essential goods and be given some concessions in customs, in logistics, para makadaaan, para makarating siya sa mga buyers,” Mr. Ngan said, explaining that the recovery of the economy could be backed by a workforce that successfully shifts to digital operations.

The company is adjusting its demand forecasts to improve shipments of their products to the country, he said.

Cashless toll payments will soon be mandatory

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) will soon make it mandatory for toll road operators to implement cashless and contactless transactions at all toll plazas, in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade signed a department order on Aug. 13 directing all concerned agencies to “formulate new processes and procedures within three months to ensure the smooth implementation of the new policy.”

Under the order, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) was directed to come up with rules and regulations requiring concessionaires and operators of toll expressways to transition to an electronic toll collection system.

The Land Transportation Office was also ordered to submit a study on how to implement a cashless and contactless system along toll roads.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board was tasked to check if all public utility vehicle operators will use and install cashless systems in their vehicles.

The DoTr said the contactless payment policy will be implemented on South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway, North Luzon Expressway, South Metro Manila Skyway, Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) Tollway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, and Cavite-Laguna Expressway.

Mr. Tugade acknowledged there may be “initial inconveniences” caused by the new policy, but stressed there will be long-term benefits.

SMC Tollways announced in June it will implement cashless payments in all of its toll roads. The first phase will cover the elevated section of the Skyway, NAIAX and SLEx starting October, while the second phase will cover at-grade sections of the three tollways, STAR Tollways and  Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway in January 2021. To boost compliance among motorists, the company is offering free installation of RFID stickers to all vehicles that use these expressways.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. is also offering free Easytrip RFID (radio frequency identification) stickers for motorists who use the toll roads it operates.

In its “Guidance Note on COVID-19 and Transport in Asia and the Pacific” published July 24, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said public transport has played a central role in the spread of the virus.

The ADB said the government can also promote a “more sustainable transport mode balance” by making sure public vehicles are clean, providing quality travel alternatives and encouraging walking and cycling to enhance overall health and well-being.

It added the resilience of public transport systems can be improved by making better use of advanced technology and promoting digital inclusion. — A.L.Balinbin

Meralco offers P101-M aid to power users

By Adam J. Ang

MANILA ELECTRIC CO. (Meralco) on Monday said it would shoulder a portion of the electricity bills paid for by its poor customers as a form of aid.

The utility giant gave in to a previous request by House Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano who asked the company to provide some sort of relief to about 2.77 million so-called lifeline consumers, or those who consume 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity and below.

Kami po ay magbibigay ng relief o ayuda sa kanila (We will provide them a relief), equivalent to a total of P101 million, mula sa aming (from our) distribution charge,” Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer Ray C. Espinosa told the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.

The committee continues to probe the alleged high Meralco electricity charges to customers during the quarantine period.

The relief will be given to consumers with such low consumption as of February when the company last conducted its meter reading before a strict lockdown was imposed against the global coronavirus pandemic in mid-March.

Sila ay makakatanggap ng diskwento sa kanilang distribution charge (There will be a cut in their distribution charge),” Mr. Espinosa said.

Among bill components, the distribution charge, which forms 17.5% of its customers’ bills, goes directly to Meralco.

Meanwhile, the country’s biggest distribution utility is extending until end-October its self-imposed moratorium on sending out disconnection notices to customers who still cannot settle their arrears since the lockdown started.

Ie-extend ko po ang suspension ng disconnection hanggang end ng October para mas mabigyan ng panahon ang ating mga customers na makalikom ng sapat na pambayad sa kanilang mga bills (I’ll extend the suspension on disconnection until end-October to give more time for customers to pay their bills),” Mr. Espinosa said, responding to lawmakers’ request.

As of late, Meralco reported that it waived about P2.7 billion in guaranteed minimum billing demand (GMBD) charges to 87,728 business customers, most of which are small and medium enterprises.

It is still waiving as much as P272 million in said cost to around 28,500 business establishments operating at half of their capacities during a strict lockdown this month.

Also, Meralco said its customers were able to save P1.9 billion from its relaxed supply contracts. It was also able to return P64 million to customers whose meters were still not read until July from the start of the strict quarantine months.

The utility is still covering the convenience fees that its third-party provider is charging customers who are coursing their bills payments through the Meralco app. As of July, it refunded P30.4 million in said fees to 647,000 app users.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Megaworld targets more office spaces despite pandemic

By Denise A. Valdez, Senior Reporter

MEGAWORLD CORP. is targeting to launch 110,000 square meters (sq.m.) of leasable office space this year to strengthen its revenue streams while the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing.

In a virtual meeting with stockholders on Monday, Megaworld Chairman, President and CEO Andrew L. Tan said the company currently has 1.3 million sq.m. of leasable space in its inventory, occupied by more than 130 companies.

“By the end of 2020, we aim to have at least 1.4 million sq.m. of gross leasable space through the addition of another 110,000 sq.m. of fresh leasable office space,” he said.

“I believe that the value we continuously bring to our office space offerings will allow us to achieve this objective,” he added.

Megaworld completed around 192,300 sq.m. of leasable office space in 2019. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it has cut its capital expenditures this year by 40% to P36 billion, and decided to stick with projects that have already been committed for completion.

“Our strategy of reinforcing office rentals even before the pandemic paved the way for our stable recurring income today, offsetting the slowdown in our mall business which was greatly affected by this health crisis,” Megaworld Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Andrew L. Tan said.

In the first half of the year, Megaworld’s profits dropped 34% to P5.9 billion, as revenues fell 25% to P23.8 billion. While its consolidated top line declined, revenues from its office leasing segment grew 10% to P5.6 billion.

Part of the company’s strategy in weathering the pandemic is continuing the development of its master-planned townships.

“As we mastered the art and science of building townships…we will now focus on expanding this concept by adding features that will further ensure that our communities will stand the test of time in any crisis,” Mr. Tan said.

While its spending plan has been reduced, Megaworld still intends to pursue expansion plans, land banking opportunities and digitalization investments.

“Megaworld is still firm in its belief that the tourism sector will remain as one of the key long-term drivers of the Philippine economy. As such, we are still keen on expanding our projects in townships such as Westside City, Boracay Newcoast, Twin Lakes and the Mactan Newtown,” Mr. Tan said.

“In the meantime, we will be monitoring the pace of recovery in the economy and consumer confidence levels. These are key factors to consider with regards to our investment plans moving forward,” he added.

Shares in Megaworld at the stock exchange shed seven centavos or 2.28% to close at P3 each on Monday.

ABS-CBN distributing more content to South America, Africa, Asia

MORE THAN a month after being denied a franchise, network giant ABS-CBN has pivoted and shifted its focus to expanding its distribution of shows to countries in South America, Africa, and Asia.

Among the shows that will be making their journey to other continents are Ang Probinsyano, Kadenang Ginto, Dahil May Isang Ikaw, and The General’s Daughter. In total, 14 shows will broadcast in the African continent while the Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa starrer, Dahil May Isang Ikaw, which ran from 2009 to 2010, will be broadcast in Ecuador starting this month.

Dahil May Isang Ikaw is the third ABS-CBN show to be broadcast in Ecuador after Bridges of Love and Pangako Sa’Yo.

It can be argued that Pangako Sa’Yo, which ran from 2000 to 2002 in the Philippines, laid the groundwork for ABS-CBN’s syndicating its content outside of the Philippines as it has aired in Kenya, Malaysia, and Singapore. It was so popular that Cambodia made its own version in 2013. The Philippines remade the series in 2015 starring Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo.

To date, ABS-CBN content has reached around 50 territories around the world, amounting to about 50,000 hours of content, according to a company release.

The focus on exporting content is one of a series of shifts that has happened in the network in the last few weeks after its franchise was not renewed by Congress. Many of the network’s shows have been moved online, with Star Music launching a kids YouTube channel and the introduction of Kapamilya Online Live which will livestream ABS-CBN content on its Facebook and YouTube pages in early August.

The shutdown has also resulted in mass layoffs, with entire departments being let go. Even prominent ABS-CBN personalities and newscasters like Korina Sanchez-Roxas and Ces Orena-Drilon, among many others, had to be dropped by the network.

ABS-CBN also posted its first-ever loss as a publicly listed company, amounting to P3.9 billion during the first half of the year, attributed to the ongoing pandemic shrinking advertising budgets and the closure of the network, according to a company disclosure on the Philippine Stock Exchange last week. This was a steep decline from its reported P1.47-billion net income last year.

ABS-CBN has been publicly listed since 1992. — Zsarlene B. Chua