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Stuff to do at home (08/28/20)

Lisa Macuja-Elizalde Masterclass on Ballet Philippines

PRIMA ballerina and artistic director and CEO of Ballet Manila Lisa Macuja-Elizalde will be holding a free ballet masterclass on Aug. 28, 3 p.m., as part of the ongoing BP OnStream Masterclass series. To join the masterclass and for more information, visit ballet.ph

Gavel & Block’s Art and Design Auction

SALCEDO Auctions subsidiary Gavel & Block will be holding an art and design auction on Aug. 29, 11 a.m., via salcedoauctions.com. The pieces up for auction include an untitled Mauro Malang Santos piece, a Vincente Manansala painting titled Binangonan, an untitled Roberto Chabet piece, and a Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera piece called Boxed Object III. To view the entire catalogue and register to bid, visit bit.ly/GB_artanddesign.

PPO Instrument Petting Zoo features the flute

THE Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s Instrument Petting Zoo continues its live online program as it features flutist Hercules Mauricio Santiago on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 4 p.m., via the PPO Facebook page. Mr. Santiago will talk about the flute and demonstrate how it is played during the session. He will also perform classical pieces suited for the instrument. The Instrument Petting Zoo is an ongoing program by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the PPO to promote appreciation for musical instruments of the orchestra and its music among children and families.

MUJI Online workshop

ON Aug. 29, MUJI Philippines will be conducting its first online workshop to bring the MUJI experience to customers nationwide. The event will premiere in the MUJI Philippines official Facebook page and will feature three workshops that were developed to help customers achieve a simpler and more pleasant life. Customers who complete the various challenges will receive a special MUJI Loot bag that will be delivered directly to them. This exclusive loot bag contains some of MUJI’s best-selling items such as MUJI gel ink pens, highlighter, nylon mesh pen case, notebook, and health and beauty items such as PE tubes and cases. For more information about the Experience MUJI Online event and promo, customers can register for MUJI Membership for free at https://woobox.com/vhqgji and visit MUJI Philippines’ official social media accounts.

Fully Booked Local Lit Fest

FOR the last week of Fully Booked’s Local Lit Fest, the bookstore will feature Ngumiti si Andoy as its final entry to the Storytelling Saturdays by Adarna House. The storytelling session will be at 2 p.m. on Aug. 29 via the Fully Booked Facebook page. Fully Booked will also have a poetry-writing workshop with poet Leandro Reyes on Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. which will be held via Zoom. Registration costs P400.

World Vision Virtual Concert

WORLD Vision, a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organization, will be holding a one-night virtual concert on Aug. 29, 7 p.m., at the World Vision Facebook page. The concert is meant to entertain and raise funds to support the organization’s efforts to distribute school kits, and its other education projects. The artists performing in the concert include Christian Bautista, Ogie Alcasid, the rapper Quest, and singers Christian and Jesse Perkins.

Do you have a protection mindset?

What’s the difference between a “protection mindset” and an “investment mindset”? An “investment mindset” includes self-benefitting goals and actions. What’s in it for me? For the risk involved, what is MY rate of return?

There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. We all need to plan for our own future.

A “protection mindset,” on the other hand, involves your loved ones, or those who depend on you and whom you may be leaving behind. That’s why, it is believed that insurance is the most unselfish purchase a person can ever make.

Renato A. Vergel de Dios, President and CEO of BDO Life Assurance Company, Inc., explains that “there are individuals who feel cheated when the event that they have insured against did not take place. They feel that the premiums they paid for over time was like money down the drain.

“Does that make sense? Should an individual feel bad about paying anew at renewal date because his house did not burn down? Or that his car was not totaled? Or that he lived to retire fully, and in the process realized his entire income potential?

Ready for Life’s What Ifs. BDO Life launches a new online video about the value of life insurance in facing life’s ‘what ifs.’ It is available on the official YouTube page of BDO Unibank.

“Paying for the cost of protection is never a waste of money. You pay for your premium so that the potential financial consequence is borne by an institution and not your family. ‘A wife may object to how much life insurance her husband bought, but a widow never does,’ goes an old insurance salesman’s quote. It remains just as valid today as it did nearly a hundred years ago.”

Having life insurance is no different from what risk managers refer to as contingency planning or business continuity planning (BCP). In this case, it’s called income continuity planning.

To fully appreciate this, a person needs to ask himself this question: If I walked into a speeding truck last night, how much time do I want to give my family to adjust to their new financial circumstances? Six months? Twelve months? Thirty-six months? Sixty months? Pick a number and multiply it by the family’s monthly maintenance budget. That’s the amount of insurance he should be talking about with a BDO Life Financial Advisor.

The morning after your burial or inurnment, what would you want your family to be asking themselves over breakfast: How do we survive now? Or, how do we best continue to honor Dad?

Vergel de Dios concluded, “It’s time for a paradigm shift. Life insurance is bought not because someone will die, but because others must continue to live.”

 

BDO Life provides clients with life insurance products that assure a more comfortable, dignified, and secure family life. Especially in times of a crisis, BDO Financial Advisers are on standby to help clients find the protection and security they need. You can get in touch with them at www.bdo.com.ph/bdolife/connect-financial-advisor. 

Best of all, BDO Life is backed by the country’s largest bank network. This means clients get the support they need by simply going to their bank branch or through online transactions.

Empowering people working from home

We are part of a small enterprise. Our 65-year-old CEO clings to old-school ways, believing that workers need to be closely supervised to get the best out of them. I’ve been telling him that it doesn’t always work that way. Now that we’re in a pandemic, all of us are forced to work from home with the CEO wanting all department managers to continue with close supervision. Everyone is constricted by this distrust. The managers spend a lot of time checking the work of our respective workers at all hours. Is there a better way? — Golden Girl

Among the five thousand who were fed with the two fish and five loaves of bread were people who without a doubt still complained about the bones in the fish. What I’m saying is — this is not the right time to complain when many businesses are trying to keep afloat due to the recession cause by COVID-19.

Indeed, you are right to talk about empowerment. Unfortunately, these are trying times when management can’t afford to experiment with different approaches. This is not the right time to talk about management styles, if only to avoid conflict with top management. There’s no other way but for you and other department managers to adapt to the old style of the CEO.

In other words, you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. You can’t control or change the style of the CEO. Therefore, you should focus on your own style and how you can blend with that of others, including your boss. Review your motivation in a team setting. Maintain a calm working relationship with the CEO. Other than attempting to change his management style, think of and establish many ways to control your own style.

That way you can strengthen your credibility and hope that future circumstances afford you the opportunity to bring up the matter again. In the meantime, reflect on the following questions: How do I accept the old style of management and reconcile it with my current style? What’s the best way to communicate my ideas to the CEO, other department managers, and the workers?

What are the reasons why my ideas are usually misunderstood? Do I make decisions without facts to support them? Am I fast or a slow thinker? Am I arrogant for ignoring other people’s ideas, even without hearing them? Do I need to first listen to all information or respond to other comments immediately throughout as they arise?

ALTERNATIVE MOVES
Remember, nobody likes working with a pessimist who focuses on the bones of the fish. That doesn’t mean you have to act like an overrated motivational speaker who talks about all the good things in life using humor to catch people’s attention. You just need to show that you’re an upbeat person despite the recession and the pandemic. In other words, take the time to foster positive interactions with the CEO and other managers and their workers. You can do all of this, by exploring the following ideas:

One, act and think like the CEO or the business owner. This doesn’t mean you should be cocky or make independent decisions beyond your authority. Instead, think of many initiatives or programs that will help your organization move forward despite the crisis and its limited resources. If you do that, chances are, with a CEO mindset, you may be able to discover big-picture opportunities.

Two, be a proactive trouble-shooter. Instead of rocking the boat by continuously promoting employee empowerment, you need to find problems that have been ignored in the past. With the help of your team, you can generate many cost-effective solutions that have not been addressed. Think of many inexpensive and common-sense solutions out there. You’ll be surprised how many eureka moments you come across.

Three, perform difficult tasks with a smile. Rise to the big challenges and the impossible tasks to establish your credibility. The temptation to perform only small, mundane tasks won’t bring you to greater heights. If you take this challenge, you’ll come across as a leader instead of an egomaniac who always wants to impose his ideas on people, no matter how good they are.

Last, play for the CEO, your colleagues and your team. Sure, teamwork is an overused corporate virtue. Even when people are forced to work from home, there is no better way for all of us to work as a virtual team. Try initiating a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis for the organization. With many ideas coming from all fronts, you can visualize what’s in store for your business in the years to come.

DETAIL-ORIENTATION
Details can make or break big or small organizations. You can always think of and create ground-breaking programs, but if you don’t tie up the loose ends, you won’t make a positive impact. And you’ll be sabotaging your own efforts without even knowing it. After all, what good is a monumental project if the grammar and the budget numbers in your report are wrong?

What else? How can you ever complete a project on time, if you don’t even have a time line? How can you seek the support of your workers when they are blind to, if not ignorant of what you’re trying to do? How can you delegate those little things if there are no objective standards and performance measures?

Now that you’re primed to act like a positive thinker, business owner, problem-solver, team player and a detail-oriented manager in a crisis like this, just the same, don’t forget to resurrect the idea of empowering your own workers subject to certain reasonable limitations, when the time is right.

In other words, start with the workers under your control.

 

Send anonymous questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting

Philippines remains one of the most restrictive to FDI

Philippines remains one of the most restrictive to FDI

How PSEi member stocks performed — August 27, 2020

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, August 27, 2020.


Peso weakens on ‘hot money’ data

THE PESO declined further versus the dollar on Thursday on data showing more foreign portfolio investments exited the country in July.

The local unit closed at P48.63 versus the greenback on Thursday, depreciating by 11 centavos from its P48.52-per-dollar finish on Wednesday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

The peso opened Thursday’s session at P48.57 against the greenback. It reached a peak of P48.55 while its intraday low was at P48.68 versus the dollar.

Dollars traded climbed to $776.07 million on Thursday from Wednesday’s $481.5 million.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the peso weakened following the release of “hot money” data.

Foreign portfolio investments left the country for the fifth straight month in July on weak investor confidence amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Hot money — called as such due to the ease by which these funds enter and leave an economy — yielded a net outflow of $453.17 million in July, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released yesterday showed. This was the fifth consecutive month of net outflows since March.

The year-to-date tally likewise yielded a net outflow of $3.8 billion, surging from the net $706-million that exited the country in the January to July 2019 period. The central bank expects $2.4 billion in net inflows of hot money this year.

Mr. Ricafort added that the dollar strengthened on improved appetite for the dollar amid progress in the clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine being conducted in the United States.

For today, Mr. Ricafort expects the peso to move within the P48.55 to P48.75 levels versus the dollar. — K.K.T. Jose

Local shares drop further on coronavirus worries

THE MAIN INDEX closed nearly flat on Thursday, trading with a negative bias as investor sentiment remained tepid due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slid 9.78 points or 0.16% to close at 5,921.55, while the broader all shares index picked up by just 0.17 point to end at 3,544.41.

Investors were trading conservatively during Thursday’s trading as COVID-19 uncertainties continued to weigh on the outlook for the economy, AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail.

“This is a trend that we are seeing worldwide. The difference is that markets abroad are at multi-year and all-time highs, recovering almost all losses for the year, while our market still reflects losses caused by pandemic,” Mr. Mangun said.

“Our market has tracked the economy more realistically compared to markets abroad,” he added.

US markets continued their uptrend at the close of Wednesday’s session: the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices all increased 0.30%, 1.02% and 1.73%, respectively.

In Asia, most markets were going up in the past days before economic data tempered their climb on Thursday.

These developments came despite global COVID-19 cases still rising every day, hitting 24.18 million based on data from Johns Hopkins University. The Philippines reported 5,277 new cases on Wednesday, reaching a total of 202,361.

Besides growing COVID-19 cases, the “perceived notion of a lack of stimulus from the government” was another factor that brought the PSEi down, Mr. Mangun said.

Eleven of 30 PSEi members ended Wednesday’s trading in red territory, led by Manila Electric Co. (-3.19%), Bloomberry Resorts Corp. (-2.91%), Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (-2.49%), LT Group, Inc. (-1.78%) and SM Investments Corp. (-1.58%).

“Market was slightly down despite the positive market breadth after it was dragged lower by the SM block,” Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan said in a text message.

Four of six sectoral indices also closed the session with losses. Holding firms went down 37.81 points or 0.61% to 6,148.30; services shed 6.05 points or 0.41% to 1,464.72; property trimmed 9.04 points or 0.32% to 2,758.96; and industrials slid 20.80 points or 0.26% to 7,832.04

Gainers were mining and oil, which rose 236.65 points or 4.06% to 6,054.86; and financials, which went up 18.89 points or 1.69% to 1,132.42 at the end of trading.

Value turnover on Thursday stood at P17.46 billion with 5.08 billion issues switching hands, up from P4.91 billion with 1.22 billion issues during the previous day.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 98 against 86, while 57 names ended unchanged.

Net foreign selling continued for the eighth straight day and ballooned to P1.11 billion on Thursday from P614.1 million on Wednesday. — Denise A. Valdez

PhilHealth task force finds slow filing of cases vs erring officers

By Vann Marlo M. Villegas, Reporter

FILING OF cases against Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) officers and health care institutions allegedly involved in irregularities has been slow and low in number, according to the task force recently formed to look into anomalies in the state insurer.

In a statement on Thursday, the Department of Justice-led task force said thousands of cases previously investigated have yet to be filed.

Rodolfo B. Del Rosario, Jr., who has just resigned as PhilHealth senior vice president for the legal sector, confirmed in a closed-door hearing conducted by the task force on Tuesday that only 70 cases have been “processed” and only 50 resulted in formal charges against employees.

A case against the employees allegedly involved around P2.1 billion, according to the task force citing Mr. Del Rosario.

Mr. Del Rosario also reported that around 1,700 cases involve medical facilities over the period 2011 to 2019, and his office has reviewed and endorsed 1,300 for filing of criminal complaints by the regional offices.

“However, he admitted that only 11 cases as of date have been filed. Losses related to cases involving HCIs (health care institutions)  — which include fraudulent claims — were estimated at around P4.7B,” the task force said.

Mr. Del Rosario also said that the management policy favored settlement, instead of prosecution of cases and there are alleged limitations in resources in regional offices that prevented them from filing complaints against HCIs immediately.

The task force has created a team to probe the state-owned insurance company’s legal department.

PhilHealth’s legal sector received a zero rating in its evaluation for 2017 and 2018 from the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations due to delays in filing of cases.

Ricardo C. Morales, who was appointed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte last year as PhilHealth president and chief executive officer, resigned on Wednesday.

He earlier filed a medical leave amid investigations by the task force as well as in Congress, revealing that he is battling cancer.

The Senate found in its inquiry that there was gross overpricing of equipment procured by the agency and favoritism in releasing interim reimbursement mechanism funds to hospitals.

Thorsson Keith, a resigned PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer, told a Senate hearing that the state-run insurance company’s executive committee members were allegedly involved in defrauding P15 billion from PhilHealth.

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said any resigned, retired, or dismissed officer may be held liable for any criminal act or omission committed during his or her tenure in office.

“Termination of service, except by death, is not a mode of extinguishing criminal liability under our penal code and criminal statutes,” he told reporters via Viber.

House bill filed supporting higher local gov’t budget

A PROPOSED law institutionalizing the Supreme Court ruling that grants a larger share of national revenues to local governments has been filed in the House of Representatives.

House Bill No. 7430 seeks to amend the Local Government Code, under Republic Act No. 7160, particularly provisions on the basis for the computation of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

IRA is the annual fund that local governments — provincial, city, municipality — get from the national government.

It is taken from the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) collection and computed based on the local government classification, land area, and population.

A Supreme Court decision in 2019, however, ruled that the IRA must also include other government income such as those from the Bureau of Customs and value-added tax (VAT), among others.

   The bill’s author, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez, said the proposed amendments are seen to augment local funds for the implementation of COVID-19 response measures.

“At this time of a prolonged COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, our LGUs (local government units) need more funds to take care of the health and economic needs of their constituents. The resources of the LGUs are fast drying up because of this pandemic,” he said in a statement.

Under the bill, Mr. Rodriguez seeks to include in the IRA computation such items as income tax, estate and donor’s taxes, and VAT, among others enumerated under section 21 of the national tax code, as well as tariff and customs duties.

It will also cover 50% of VAT in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and 30% of all national taxes in the region;  60% of national taxes raised from national wealth development and exploitation; about 60% of government revenues from tobacco products; and 5% of the 25% franchise tax on horse races, among others.

Of the total collection, 23% will go to provinces and cities, 34% to municipalities, while barangays will get the remaining 20%.

Further, if enacted, the law will mandate LGUs to appropriate at least 20% of their annual fund for development projects. — Charmaine A. Tadalan 

Senator joins call to lift deployment ban on nurses

A SENATOR on Thursday pushed for the lifting of the deployment ban imposed on healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic, which has mainly affected nurses who already have contracts for work overseas.

“The travel ban hostages their chance to have a decent work-life balance and give their families a better future,” Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay, vice chairperson of the labor committee, said in a statement on Thursday.

The ban, ordered by the national task force handling the coronavirus response, was adopted by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in April.

Ms. Binay said the restriction should be lifted unless the government can offer them a “competitive compensation.”

The task force imposed the ban to supposedly ensure the adequacy of health care workers as the country grapples with the pandemic.

The Department of Health (DoH) on Tuesday said they projected some 16,500 health workers are needed, but has so far approved only 10,468 slots for hiring.

As of Aug. 24, only 7,850 have been hired with DoH officials previously admitting that there has been a dearth of applicants.

Ms. Binay, citing a 2017 DoH data, said there are 750,000 licensed medical professionals in the country, including 204,437 who are active in the health sector. — Charmaine A. Tadalan 

Nationwide round-up

3,249 new COVID cases recorded, Metro Manila still highest

THE DEPARTMENT of Health reported 3,249 confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases on Thursday, bringing the country’s total to 205,581. The death toll increased by 97 to 3,234 while recoveries rose by 566 to 133,990. There were 68,357 active cases, 91.3% of which were mild, 6.6% did not show symptoms, 0.8% were severe, and 1.2% were critical. Of the new cases, 1,584 were from Metro Manila, 147 from Cavite, 143 from Laguna, 140 from Negros Occidental, and 123 from Batangas. Metro Manila also had the highest number of newly reported deaths with 63, followed by Calabarzon region with 15, Zamboanga Peninsula with seven, Central Visayas with five, Central Luzon with three, two were repatriates and one each were from Western Visayas and Davao regions. More than 2.2 million individuals have been tested for COVID-19. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

P3B set for ‘smart campuses’

A P3 billion fund has been allocated to establish “smart campuses” for state universities under the Bayanihan 2 bill, which only needs the signature of the President to become law. Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero E. De Vera III, in a briefing on Thursday, said the proposed budget will ensure that public universities have “connectivity” as flexible learning systems are implemented amid the continued coronavirus outbreak. There are over 100 state universities and colleges in the country. Mr. De vera further said P300 million was also set as assistance to part-time teachers and non-teaching staff who were not able to avail of aid during the first Bayanihan law. — Gillian M. Cortez

78 immigration staff COVID-positive

THE NUMBER of Bureau of Immigration employees who have tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has reached 78. In a statement on Thursday, Immigration Commissioner Jaime H. Morente said of the infected employees, 29 have recovered and only one was hospitalized. The others who have mild or did not show symptoms are in quarantine facilities, he said. “We are still fortunate that none of our workers have succumbed to this virus,” Mr. Morente said. Immigration Medical Section Chief Marites Ambray said 76 other employees have been ordered to isolate as they had exposure to confirmed patients. The bureau’s main office in Manila has launched an online appointment system to better implement health safety measures. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

ARTA finds most cellular tower applications to be incomplete

ONLY 122 out of over 1,500 applications for cellular towers had complete requirements and the resulting delays were not due to inaction by local government units (LGUs), according to the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA).

In a Laging Handa briefing Thursday, ARTA Director General Jeremiah B. Belgica said companies should be “fair” when accusing LGUs of sitting on their applications, when their own compliance may be lacking in terms of documentary requirements and payment.

Nagbigay ng listahan ng telcos sa atin ng 1,571 applications na submissions according sa kanila. Noong ating ito sinuri, ang lumabas ay 122 lang sa mga list nila na pending na kumpleto na at bayad. Kaya kailangan maging fair sila minsan na mabagal ang mga LGUs (The telcos gave us a list of 1,571 applications that have been filed. When we evaluated them, what came out is only 122 on that pending list had complete documents and were paid up. We need to be fair sometimes with LGUs that are slow),” he said.

The 122 completed applications are from across 44 LGUs. He said that the ARTA has sent 55 orders to the LGUs to submit compliance reports, receiving 21 reports so far. The submitted reports cover 47 applications in total, with seven applications deemed qualified for automatic approval, based on the processing times prescribed by the Ease of Doing Business Law.

Mr. Beligica said starting next week, ARTA will be holding a summary hearing to address the claims and counter-claims of LGUs and the telecommunication companies regarding these applications before issuing certificates of automatic approval.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte warned LGUs earlier this month over delays in the application process for cell towers and ordered the streamlining of the application process. He also called on telecommunication companies to improve signal and connection especially when reliance on their services is high during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. — Gillian M. Cortez