Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 7669

Stocks rebound as lockdown in metro relaxed

LOCAL SHARES closed in positive territory at the end of Tuesday’s session as investor sentiment improved on news of the return of Metro Manila and nearby provinces to relaxed lockdown protocols starting Aug. 19.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 87.67 points or 1.44% to 6,156.45 while the broader all shares index climbed 41.44 points or 1.15% to 3,635.78.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message that the market was boosted by positive investor sentiment after the decision of the government to shift Metro Manila and other neighboring areas to looser quarantine measures.

“Market sentiment was boosted after President Rodrigo R. Duterte approved the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) recommendation of placing the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal under general community quarantine, which would allow most businesses to resume and restaurants to offer dine-in services again,” Mr. Limlingan said.

Mr. Duterte announced on Monday the change in lockdown protocols despite rising coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country.

Meanwhile, Timson Securities, Inc. Head of Online Trading and Trader Darren Blaine T. Pangan said in a mobile phone message that the market improved after a strong showing from holding firms on Tuesday, led by SM Investments Corp. (SM), JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (JGS) and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV), coupled by upbeat market sentiment after the change in lockdown protocols.

Shares of SM climbed 3.4% or P30 to close at P910 apiece on Tuesday, while stocks of JGS rose 2.5% or P1.60 to close at P65.60 each and those of AEV improved 2.8% or P1.40 to end at P51.60 per share.

All sectoral indices ended in positive territory on Tuesday. Holding firms rose 142.36 points or 2.27% to 6,401.47; services climbed 18.05 points or 1.26% to 1,450.06; mining and oil improved 67.42 points or 1.15% to 5,911.30; financials climbed 11.22 points or 0.97% to 1,162.91  property increased 21.28 points or 0.71% to 2,981.05; and industrials went up 43.96 points or 0.55% to 7,928.24.

Advancers bested decliners, 117 to 71, while 43 names ended unchanged.

Value turnover stood at P5.96 billion on Tuesday with 9.76 billion issues switching hands, up from the previous day’s P5.76 billion with 3.07 billion issues.

Net foreign selling amounted to P229.36 million at the end of Tuesday’s session versus Monday’s net outflows worth P489.04 million.

“As we progress through the shortened trading week, nearest resistance may be drawn at the 6,350-6,400 area, while immediate support is at 6,000,” Timson’s Mr. Pangan said. — R.M.D. Ochave

More jeepneys allowed as lockdown relaxed

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter
and Vann Marlo M. Villegas
and Gillian M. Cortez, Reporters

THE GOVERNMENT will add more routes and allow more public vehicles to operate amid a coronavirus pandemic once Manila and nearby cities go back to a more relaxed lockdown starting Aug. 19, Transport authorities said on Tuesday.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in a statement said the number of traditional jeepneys allowed to operate in areas under a general community quarantine had risen by more than half to 12,443 from the previous lockdown.

The number of UV Express units allowed to operate also increased by almost two-thirds to 1,621, it said.

The regulator increased the routes of UV Express to 51 from 47, while traditional jeepney routes rose to 126 from 63.

More than 3,600 public utility buses have been allowed to operate on top of 364 point-to-point buses, it said.

Operating taxis have increased to 23,776 taxis, ride-hailing cars were up to 23,776, and more than 700 modern public vehicles have been allowed to operate, LTFRB said.

Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines also said they would resume domestic passenger flights to and from Manila.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday night again eased the lockdown in the capital region and nearby provinces starting on Aug. 19 despite rising coronavirus infections.

He locked down the entire Luzon island in mid-March, suspending work, classes and public transportation to contain the pandemic. People should stay home except to buy food and other basic goods, he said.

The lockdown in Luzon was extended twice and thrice for Metro Manila. The lockdown in Metro Manila was later eased into a general community quarantine but Mr. Duterte put it back on a modified enhanced community quarantine from Aug. 4 to 18 after a fresh surge in cases.

Mr. Duterte imposed the strict lockdown after the healthcare industry warned that the government could lose the battle against the coronavirus.

The Department of Transportation said rail operators would resume operations on Wednesday.

The Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3 was expected to dispatch 18 train sets daily, the agency said in a statement.

Manila Light Rail Transit System (LRT) Line 1 will deploy 18 train sets during off-peak hours and 24 train sets during afternoon peak hours. The LRT Line 2 will deploy five trains sets daily.

The Philippine National Railways was expected to deploy 10 train sets daily.

The Transportation department said allowing more public vehicles to operate would “complement train services, which will be on a limited capacity to conform to physical distancing measures.”

‘UNSUSTAINABLE’
Commuters without face masks and shields will be barred from public transportation.

Strict health and safety protocols will also be enforced to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, the agency said.

Also on Tuesday, the government’s chief enforcer of anti-coronavirus measures said prolonged strict lockdowns were unsustainable.

National Task Force chief implementer Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. told an online news briefing targeted lockdowns were more beneficial.

“The modified enhanced community quarantine is not a sustainable strategy,” he said. “The only way forward is the granular implementation of lockdowns,” he said, adding that strict lockdowns negatively affect the people’s livelihood.

Mr. Galvez said Metro Manila mayors had wanted a stricter general quarantine without any exemptions amid a surge in infections in the capital region.

The mayors had been given the autonomy to determine which areas had to be locked down, he added.

Mr. Duterte on Monday said Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan would be under a general community quarantine starting Wednesday until Aug. 31.

The same will apply to Nueva Ecija, Batangas and Quezon provinces; the cities of Iloilo, Cebu, Lapu Lapu, Mandaue and Talisay; and the municipalities of Minglanilla and Consolacion in Cebu province.

Mr. Galvez said the government would hire 2,000 overseas Filipino health workers who recently came home.

Earlier this month, the presidential palace said 6,510 out of 9,365 open positions in government hospitals had been filled.

Meanwhile, solutions had been identified to address the problems raised by the medical community in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Antonio Dans of the Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine said at an online briefing.

The creation of the One Hospital Command Center would cure the “weak coordination” between the government and private sector that almost sapped the health system’s resources, he said.

They also suggested that pharmacies, clinics, laboratories and other facilities be included in the center.

Medical societies also sought strict enforcement of health guidelines at workplaces. Employers should also consider paying for the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) tests of their workers.

Health workers overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients needing hospital care had called on the government to put the capital region under an enhanced community quarantine for two weeks.

The Philippine College of Physicians had urged Mr. Duterte to put Manila and nearby cities and provinces under a strict lockdown after the President kept the more relaxed general community quarantine for the region.

The doctors said the local healthcare system had been overwhelmed by the COVID-19 crisis, leaving frontliners burned out.

They also said health frontliners were getting ill from the load. About 80 medical societies were said to have supported the call for a strict lockdown.

Mr. Duterte later ordered the inter-agency task force to act on the recommendations.

COVID-19 cases top 169,000; 2,687 dead

THE Department of Health (DoH) reported 4,836 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing the total to 169,213.

The death toll rose by seven to 2,687, while the recoveries increased by 182 to 112,861, it said in a bulletin.

There were 53,665 active cases, 91.5% of which were mild, 6.2% did not show symptoms, 0.9% were severe and 1.3% were critical, the agency said.

Of the new cases, 2,959 came from Metro Manila, 321 from Laguna, 220 from Cavite, 185 from Rizal and 145 from Bulacan, it said.

Two of the new deaths came from the Calabarzon region and one each from Central Luzon, Bicol, Central Visayas, the Zamboanga Peninsula and Davao.

More than 1.95 million individuals have been tested for COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), DoH said.

The new confirmed cases came from tests done by 84 out of 105 licensed laboratories, it added. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

PhilHealth executives admit lying under oath to Senate body

PHILIPPINE HEALTH Insurance Corp. officials on Tuesday admitted lying about the agency’s anomalous IT procurement program to avoid Senate detention for contempt.

During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson moved to cite PhilHealth Senior Vice-President Jovita V. Aragona and Acting Senior Manager Calixto I. Gabuya, Jr. for lying under oath.

He withdrew the motion after the officials admitted that they lied at the first hearing, where lawmakers found that PhilHealth officials tried to buy obsolete network switches that were five times the price of newer models last year.

The agency nearly bought 15 units of an older model of a Cisco device used to manage computers in a local area network for P420,000 when a newer model costs only P62,000 each, Etrobal Laborte, who resigned as head executive assistant of PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales said.

“Do you admit that you did not tell us the whole truth before?” Mr. Lacson asked. Both Ms. Aragona and Mr. Gabuya answered yes.

At the same hearing, a dialysis center was allegedly used to make about P811 million in claims from PhilHealth to cover “impossible” dialysis sessions.

Mr. Lacson again questioned the advance payment made to health facilities under the so-called interim reimbursement mechanism. 

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III, who attended the hearing for the first time on Tuesday, said the program was not exclusive to coronavirus facilities. He denied that some hospitals had been favored by the scheme. Mr. Duque is the PhilHealth chairman.

Senator Ralph G. Recto questioned the request to allocate P10 billion under a bill seeking to give President Rodrigo R. Duterte special powers in the battle against the pandemic for coronavirus testing. 

PhilHealth has about P200 billion in financial assets, Mr. Recto said, citing Deputy Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza.

“There seems to be a request from the palace that we use taxpayers money to give PhilHealth P10 billion to pay for testing,” Mr. Recto said. “Why should we give it P10 billion if it has P200 billion?” he said at the hearing in Filipino.

Mr. Duterte earlier vowed to “finish off” PhilHealth officials involved in irregularities at the agency even if he had no plan to fire its chief.

Top officials of the state insurance company are under investigation by the Senate. The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) is also conducting a separate probe.

Mr. Duterte has also created a task force headed by the Department of Justice that will investigate PhilHealth, including doing lifestyle checks and audits of its officials and employees.

The President has also ordered the Office of the Special Assistant to the President Undersecretary Jesus Melchor Quitain to conduct a separate probe.

Mr. Morales earlier filed to take a medical leave after he was diagnosed with cancer in February.

The agency allegedly bought overpriced items and gave financial aid to ineligible health facilities.

The PACC last week said it had recommended the filing of charges against three dozen PhilHealth officials, which the Senate may adopt in its committee report.

Mr. Morales earlier said some officials have been trying to discredit the agency’s computerization program because it would be easier to discover anomalies.

Former PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer Thorsson Keith earlier told senators the agency’s top officials had pocketed P15 billion through fraudulent programs.

PhilHealth has denied the allegations. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Nationwide round-up

Duterte admits vaccines from China, Russia will not be free

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte has backtracked on his earlier pronouncements that vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly those from China and Russia, will come free once these are fully certified. “I will ask my friend (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin and (Chinese) President Xi Jinping to give us… a credit line, but we will pay not in one payment but by installments,” Mr. Duterte said in a televised talk late Monday evening. He said last week that Russia offered its vaccines for free. The Philippines will take part in the phase 3 trials in October of the Sputnik V vaccine being developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute. Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in July the government is planning to allocate up to P20 billion to buy vaccines against COVID-19. — Gillian M. Cortez

Human rights lawyers, activists seek TRO vs anti-terrorism law

HUMAN RIGHTS lawyers and activists are challenging before the Supreme Court the validity of the Anti-Terrorism Act, which expanded the definition of terror crimes in the country. In a 77-page petition, the petitioners — composed of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, Ateneo Legal Services Center, and human rights defenders — asked the court  to issue a temporary restraining order and prohibit law enforcers from implementing provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act. They argued that the creation of the Anti-Terrorism Council and the powers granted to it violate the principle of separation of powers. They also said Section 12 in relation to Section 3(e), which makes any person providing “material support” to terrorists liable to terrorist acts, is “overbroad.” The Supreme Court previously announced that it will hold oral arguments “on the 3rd week of September, at the earliest” on the more than 20 petitions filed against the Anti-Terrorism Act, which took effect last July 18. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Mayors urged to make contact tracing a priority

THE NATIONAL task force handling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response on Tuesday called on local officials to prioritize contact tracing in their areas, a key component in mitigating community transmissions of the virus. Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, appointed to head the contact tracing program, said while they have seen a significant improvement in tracing activities, local government leaders should make a conscious effort to put this at the forefront of response measures. “Sana yung (I hope) mayors will be directly involved sa contact tracing,” he said in a briefing on Tuesday. At the same time, he acknowledged that there are local government units that do not have the resources for sufficient and skilled contact tracers. A training program on contact tracing for local government teams is ongoing, done through online instruction or on-site lectures. — Gillian M. Cortez

Airlines, airports to push COVID-19 testing as quarantines hurt traffic

MONTREAL/SYDNEY — Airlines and airports will ask a UN-led task force meeting on Tuesday to recommend countries accept a negative COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) test within 48 hours of travel as an alternative to quarantines that have decimated demand for travel, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The industry wants the task force to make the recommendation for passengers traveling from countries with high COVID-19 infection rates when it meets on Tuesday to review guidelines for international travel amid the pandemic.

“A test prior to departure could reduce the risk of importation by up to 90%, enabling air travel to be opened up between a large number of countries without a quarantine requirement,” said the proposal from Airports Council International (ACI) and airline trade group International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The push for testing comes as the industry’s hopes for a recovery were dealt a blow last week when Britain reintroduced quarantines on travelers from France and the Netherlands.

Airlines are forecasting a 55% decline in 2020 air traffic, according to IATA, which reported 85% of surveyed travelers expressed concerns about quarantine.

“We don’t support across-the-board mandatory testing,” IATA medical adviser Dr. David Powell told Reuters. “But if there are situations where there is a higher risk in the country of origin and it can avoid the need for quarantine, then we certainly support that and advocate for that concept.”

The proposal calls for the use of PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) tests conducted outside of airports.

The task force did not raise testing as an alternative to quarantines in May when it recommended a uniform approach toward reviving flights, but it could do so after Tuesday’s meeting.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was not immediately available to comment.

Mr. Powell said the 48-hour period recommended by IATA and ACI was up for discussion and said it could make sense for some travelers to take a second test upon arrival at their destination.

While task force recommendations are voluntary, ICAO guidelines are typically adopted by its 193-member countries.

Requiring testing raises cost issues for travelers, given airlines are unlikely to bear the approximate $200 expense. The sector faces up to $314 billion in lost revenue in 2020, according to ICAO forecasts. — Reuters

Michelle Obama takes fight to Trump as convention opens

DEMOCRATS unleashed sharp attacks on President Donald Trump as the party opened its virtual convention on Monday with a range of speakers including four moderate Republicans and Bernie Sanders, who urged voters to join them in supporting Joe Biden for president.

The most-anticipated moment of the convention’s first night was a video address from former first lady Michelle Obama that delivered a personal endorsement of Mr. Biden, who served for eight years as her husband’s vice-president.

“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” she said. “He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.”

“It is what it is,” she added, a clear reference to Mr. Trump’s reaction when confronted in an interview with the country’s high death toll from the coronavirus.

Democrats attacked Mr. Trump on the pandemic, racial justice and the shattered economy. Mr. Sanders, the democratic socialist who was Mr. Biden’s closest challenger for the presidential nomination, said “at its most basic, this election is about preserving democracy.”

“In the midst of all of this, we have a president who is not only incapable of addressing these crises, but is leading us down the path of authoritarianism,” Mr. Sanders of Vermont said.

Mr. Biden, who will accept his party’s presidential nomination on Thursday, appeared in video snippets from earlier campaign appearances.

“I may be kidding myself, but I think people are ready,” Mr. Biden said of police reform in one such comment. “But we can’t let up.”

The Democrats abandoned plans for a live convention in Milwaukee due to the coronavirus, and the challenge of putting on an event solely through video and speeches without a live audience quickly became apparent, as the affair lacked the drama and emotion of a raucous arena.

But there were powerful moments — and sharp attacks on the Republican president. One speaker, Kristin Urquiza, spoke about her father, who died after contracting COVID-19.

“My father was a healthy 65-year-old,” she said. “His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.”

Most of the Republicans featured Monday have criticized Mr. Trump in the past.

“We’re being taken down the wrong road by a president who has pitted one against the other,” former Ohio Governor John Kasich said. “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country. That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention.”

Earlier on Monday, anticipating Mr. Kasich’s appearance, Mr. Trump criticized him. “He was a loser as a Republican and he’ll be a loser as a Democrat,” the President told reporters on Air Force One, mistakenly suggesting Mr. Kasich was changing parties.

The evening began with a montage of diverse voices singing “The National Anthem” and a video message from the family of George Floyd, whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police galvanized the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

Like other convention speakers, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo used the opportunity to tear into Mr. Trump’s handling of the coronavirus. Mr. Biden, who has called for masks to be required in public, has said Mr. Trump “waved the white flag and left the battlefield” in fighting the pandemic.

“Only a strong body can fight off the virus, and America’s divisions weakened it,” Mr. Cuomo said. “Donald Trump didn’t create the initial division. The division created Trump; he only made it worse.” — Bloomberg

More infectious coronavirus mutation may be ‘a good thing,’ says disease expert

SINGAPORE — An increasingly common mutation of the novel coronavirus found in Europe, North America and parts of Asia may be more infectious but appears less deadly, according to a prominent infectious diseases doctor.

Paul Tambyah, senior consultant at the National University of Singapore and president-elect of the International Society of Infectious Diseases, said evidence suggests the proliferation of the D614G mutation in some parts of the world has coincided with a drop in death rates, suggesting it is less lethal.

“Maybe that’s a good thing to have a virus that is more infectious but less deadly,” Mr. Tambyah told Reuters.

Mr. Tambyah said most viruses tend to become less virulent as they mutate.

“It is in the virus’ interest to infect more people but not to kill them because a virus depends on the host for food and for shelter,” he said.

Scientists discovered the mutation as early as February and it has circulated in Europe and the Americas, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The WHO has also said there is no evidence the mutation has led to more severe disease.

On Sunday, Malaysia’s director-general of health Noor Hisham Abdullah urged greater public vigilance after authorities detected what they believe was the D614G mutation of the coronavirus in two recent clusters.

Sebastian Maurer-Stroh of Singapore’s agency for science, technology and research said the variant has also been found in the city-state but that containment measures have prevented large-scale spread.

Malaysia’s Mr. Noor Hisham said the D614G strain detected there was 10 times more infectious and that vaccines currently in development may not be effective against this mutation.

But Messrs. Tambyah and Maurer-Stroh said such mutations would not likely change the virus enough to make potential vaccines less effective.

“(The) variants are almost identical and did not change areas that our immune system typically recognize, so there shouldn’t be any difference for vaccines being developed,” said Mr. Maurer-Stroh. — Reuters

Expensive, slow internet pulls down Philippine digital ranking

THE Philippines ranked 66th out of 85 countries in the 2020 Digital Quality of Life Index, saddled with issues like expensive, low-quality internet and the need to upgrade its electronic infrastructure.

The Philippines’ strongest performance was in e-governance, ranking 36th, outperforming Vietnam (58th), Thailand (64th) and Indonesia (74th).

The Digital Quality of Life Index 2020 is the second study by Surfshark Ltd. — an information technology firm — after launching it in 2019. The first study covered 65 countries, in which the Philippines ranked 51st. It assessed and compared the countries’ digital experience in terms of entertainment content availability, internet speed, data protection, cybersecurity, and internet affordability.

The latest study covers 85 countries, focusing on five pillars: internet affordability, internet quality, electronic infrastructure, electronic security, and electronic government.

In terms of internet affordability and internet quality, the Philippines ranked 79th and 84th, respectively.

The Philippines ranked 67th in electronic infrastructure, which was measured according to the adoption of information and communications technology and the number of individual internet users per 100 inhabitants.

The report said the country ranked 46th in the area of electronic security, which involves both cybersecurity and data protection laws.

The countries with the highest digital quality of life are Denmark, Sweden, Canada, France, Norway, Netherlands, the UK, Israel, Japan, and Poland.

Israel offers the most affordable internet, while Singapore ranked first in terms of internet quality and e-governance.

The United Arab Emirates ranked first in terms of electronic infrastructure, while the UK had the highest rating in the area of electronic security.

“E-security, e-infrastructure, and e-government have a more significant correlation with the digital quality of life than gross domestic product per capita. This proves the potential to level up the digital wellbeing with lower resources and more focused strategic planning,” it said.

It said the affordability of the internet has a “notably lower correlation” with the digital quality of life than the other pillars.

“For instance, the internet is less affordable in some Southern or Eastern European countries, but people there still enjoy higher than average digital quality of life. Interestingly, the affordability does not depend neither on the quality of the connectivity, nor the level of e-infrastructure development,” it said.

Philippine ICT industry expert Eliseo M. Rio, Jr., former undersecretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), said the results for the Philippines were expected.

“I think the report is accurate. We really have to improve our telecommunications infrastructure to rank higher,” he told BusinessWorld in a phone message.

As for the gap between e-governance and digital quality of life rankings, he said: “DICT was able to put all government offices on-line for basic government services. The private sector also did the same. But citizen’s access to on-line services from both government and private agencies to improve their digital quality of life is limited because of lack of infrastructure.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

PHL ranks 66th (out of 85) countries in terms of ‘digital quality of life’

July rice inventory falls by a fifth year on year

THE NATIONAL rice inventory fell 19.8% year on year to 2.10 million metric tons (MT) in July, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In its latest Rice and Corn stocks inventory report, the PSA said current stocks compare with the year-earlier level of 2.63 million MT.

In July, rice stocks held by households rose 6.4% year on year to 1.07 million MT while inventory in commercial warehouses fell 26.5% to 808.55 thousand MT.

National Food Authority (NFA) inventories also fell 56.9% year on year to 222.57 thousand MT.

On a month-on-month comparison, rice inventory in July fell 12.2% against June.

Rice held by households fell 14.5% compared with June, stocks in commercial warehouses fell 9.3%, and NFA holdings fell 10.4%.

“About 51% of the current rice inventory was held by households, 38.4% by commercial warehouses, and the remaining 10.6% NFA depositories,” the PSA said.

Meanwhile, the corn inventory in July fell 9.9% year on year to 741.66 thousand MT.

Corn stocks held by households rose 25.7% year on year to 76.92 thousand MT while commercial warehouse holdings fell 12.7% to 664.73 thousand MT.

NFA held no corn during the month.

Month-on-month, household corn stocks fell 19.9% while commercial warehouse inventories fell 17.9%.

“Of the current corn stocks, 89.6% were in commercial warehouses and 10.4% were in households,” the PSA said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Telemedicine measure filed at House

A MEASURE providing for the development of electronic health (E-Health) and telemedicine has been filed at the House of Representatives in aid of regions underserved by the medical community.

House Bill No. 7422, the proposed “Philippine E-Health and Telemedicine Development Act,” filed by Albay Representative Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda.

“Remote medicine services are essential in the time of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019),” Mr. Salceda said in a statement Tuesday.

Mr. Salceda also pushed for more attention to be paid to other diseases that are “deadlier and more debilitating” but were overtaken by the COVID-19 emergency.

Citing 2017 World Health Organization data, Mr. Salceda said there are 10.6 doctors per 10,000 Filipinos in  the National Capital Region and a national average of 3.9 doctors per 10,000.

The bill will establish the components of E-Health systems, which include providing services and applications to access healthcare and the establishment of an Information and Communications Technology infrastructure.

Mr. Salceda also said the bill will regulate the industry. Some business process outsourcing companies are currently providing telemedicine services.

“The Philippines currently has no regulatory framework for telemedicine and electronic health systems, although some telemedicine facilities have already established operations in the country,” he said.

The measure defines Telehealth and Telemedicine services as an approach to extend healthcare services through ICT to patients at a distance from health care providers.

The measure is also expected to reduce fraud within the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. system, which is now the center of Congressional investigations for alleged corruption.

“Telehealth is harder to defraud. You need to connive with more people, in an easily verifiable system, where anomalies can be identified with data analytics,” he said.

The bill authorizes the Department of Health to lead the National e-Health Steering Committee, with the Department of Information and Communication Technology among others.

Representatives from the health sector and patient group will also be included in the committee. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Foreign workers stranded in Philippines not subject to income tax — BIR

NON-RESIDENTS stranded in the Philippines due to the coronavirus travel bans are not liable for income tax in the Philippines, subject to certain conditions, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 83-2020 to clarify that non-resident individuals who were not able to leave the country due to travel bans will not be regarded as being present in the Philippines for tax residence purposes during their stay.

“The bureau will consider this as ‘force majeure’ for the purpose of establishing such individual’s tax residence, provided that he or she leaves the Philippines as soon as the circumstances permit (or) when the travel restriction or quarantine measures have been lifted,” according to the circular, published Tuesday.

The BIR said the ongoing restrictions have raised international tax issues involving cross-border workers or those stranded in places that are not their country of residence. Since some employees extended their stay in the Philippines, this may result in the unintended creation of permanent establishment (PE) of foreign enterprises.

It said a PE will not be realized if a non-resident foreign firm did not hold such status prior to the pandemic; there are no changes in the company except for the extended stay of its employees; and if the stranded individuals leave the country as soon as possible.

Under current tax treaties, the BIR may tax the income of a non-resident individual if he or she is either present for more than 183 days in the country, the employer is a resident of the Philippines, or if the non-resident employer has a PE.

The bureau said the treaty provisions “will not be strictly applied” during the pandemic to minimize potential burdens. However, determining whether a taxpayer is a resident for tax purposes in the country will need to be assessed on a case-to-case basis.

Individuals will have to prove to the BIR that their extended stay was due to travel bans or other restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. This includes a sworn certification stating their situation; duly executed contracts; a copy of confirmed flight bookings; the itinerary for the original and re-booked flight, as well as a copy of the employee’s passport, among others. — Beatrice M. Laforga

1...7,6687,6697,670...12,730Page 7,669 of 12,730
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube