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One of ‘best periods’ for Asian equities is now, Jefferies says

ASIAN EQUITIES are set to benefit from a confluence of factors as the global economy recovers, according to Jefferies Financial Group, Inc.

Cyclical shares, undervalued companies and technology names are poised to rally on the “old-school recovery” of a weak dollar, softer oil prices, a pick-up in global trade and the digitalization theme amid unprecedented monetary and fiscal easing, global equity strategist Sean Darby said at the Jefferies Asia Forum. “This is going to be one of the best periods for Asian equities,” he said.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has erased its year-to-date losses to climb more than 1% in 2020. Analysts expect it to rise another 13% over the next year, pushing it past an all-time high in January 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The gauge is trading at about 17 times earnings estimates for the next 12 months versus about 22 times for the S&P 500 Index.

In China, autos as well as domestically oriented airlines listed in Hong Kong are set to outperform over the next six to eight months, according to Jefferies. Japan’s trading houses and the materials sector, particularly steel firms, could also rise amid global reflation, as could companies in Taiwan and Korea as they offer high credit ratings and decent dividend cover, Mr. Darby said.

The Hong Kong-based strategist also favors Asian technology names versus their U.S. peers on valuations even after a rout in technology stocks plunged the Nasdaq 100 index by 8.5% this month.

“If the dollar continues to weaken, then the period for value shares to outperform growth is looming on the horizon,” Mr. Darby said. — Bloomberg

WHO reports record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases

THE World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Sunday, with the total rising by 307,930 in 24 hours.

The biggest increases were from India, the United States and Brazil, according to the agency’s website. Deaths rose by 5,537 to a total of 917,417.

India reported 94,372 new cases, followed by the United States with 45,523 new infections and Brazil with 43,718. Both the US and India each reported over 1,000 new deaths and Brazil reported 874 lives lost in the past 24 hours.

The previous WHO record for new cases was 306,857 on Sept. 6. The agency reported a record 12,430 deaths on April 17.

India leads the world in new cases reported each day and set a global record last week with 97,570 cases reported in a single day, according to a Reuters tally.

In some parts of India, medical oxygen is becoming hard to find as total cases exceed 4.75 million. Only the United States has recorded more cases at 6.5 million. COVID-19 infections are still rising in 58 countries, including surges in Argentina, Indonesia, Morocco, Spain and Ukraine, according to a Reuters analysis.

New cases are falling in the United States and are down about 44% from a peak of more than 77,000 new cases reported on July 16. Cases in Brazil are also trending downward. — Reuters

Taking charge of personal finance through healthy cash flow

By Patricia B. Mirasol

Achieving life goals entails the proper management of personal finances. “But do you know where your cash goes?,” asked Camille D. Francisco, head of Insular Life’s InLife Learning Academy. 

In the first part of “Shaping Her Future: Sheroes Guide to Financial Freedom,” Ms. Francisco explained basic personal finance concepts and shared tips on how Filipino women can take charge of their economic well-being. Here are the steps to achieving a healthy cash flow.

MINIMIZE BAD DEBTS
Good debts, such as business loans, increase one’s net worth. Bad debts, such as loans to sustain a lifestyle, do not. The road to becoming debt-free starts with asking these questions: How much of one’s income goes to debt? In what order should these debts be paid? How much is needed to pay all these? Creditors can be prioritized through the high-interest method (paying the debt with the highest interest first while just making minimum payments on the rest) or the small debt method (paying the smallest debt first while making minimum payments on the rest).

A crucial step in debt management is realizing that credit cards are not manna from heaven. Aim to pay credit card statements on or before the due date—and in full. Credit card companies earn from the interest of such statements not paid in full. Avoid cash advances and be aware too of any unauthorized purchases.

STICK TO A BUDGET
The struggle is not in creating a budget—it’s in sticking to it. As leadership expert John Maxwell said, “A budget tells your money where to go instead of asking where it went.” Setting oneself up for success involves simple actions like reviewing your monthly subscriptions (are you still utilizing a co-working space or are you now working from home?) and canceling the ones that are no longer applicable.

Download personal finance apps that help track income and expenses. Note that financial planning is not a one-size-fits-all. What works for a two-income family of five does not work for a single mother with a toddler. Create household budget targets that take into consideration the reality of one’s life.

INCREASE INCOME
Look for a suitable side hustle in line with one’s schedule, resources, and company policy. Do it outside of office hours. 

Invest in yourself regularly through continuing education or new skills. This is non-negotiable because of inflation and a rapidly changing world. Workplaces are ever-evolving and there will be few “jobs for life.” Take advantage of free courses online.

INVEST WISELY
Before investing, ensure an emergency fund of at least three to six months’ worth of living expenses. Ideally set aside at least twenty percent of one’s net income each month as savings, else start small. Never borrow to invest. Never borrow from your savings either. “Don’t touch it,” said Ms. Francisco. “This is the worst type of debt because you don’t pay it back.”

When investing, learn more about the product first. If it’s too good to be true (“Risk-free! Double your money in 30 days!”), then it’s not good at all. Choose among the most common ways to invest based on one’s financial goals and appetite for risk. Understand that all investments come with some form of risk. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. 

Shaping Her Future: The Sheroes Guide to Financial Freedom is part of the InLife Sheroes Movement, a program that aims to empower at least one million Filipinas and expand their access to risk-mitigating solutions and investment opportunities. The aforementioned module was co-developed by the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE), Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PhilWEN), and InLife. The module comes in three parts: Basic Financial Literacy, Investment Planning, and Estate Planning. 

Denver Nuggets force Game 7

Jokic second-half surge fuels Nuggets past LA Clippers

NIKOLA Jokic totaled 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, and the Denver Nuggets overcame a 19-point second-half deficit in a 111-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to force a Game 7 in their Western Conference semifinal series near Orlando.

It was the Nuggets’ fifth consecutive win in an elimination game in these playoffs. They will need a sixth to advance to the conference finals.

But Denver’s resilience was present in its second consecutive furious rally after the break.

The Nuggets outscored the second-seeded Clippers 64-35 in the second half, and held Los Angeles to 26.3% shooting. That included a stretch of 10 consecutive Los Angeles misses in the third quarter, which helped Denver trim a 19-point deficit before taking control in the final period.

Jokic scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Nuggets a 91-84 lead with 8:14 to play. Later, a Jokic jumper pushed that lead to 10, before another 3-pointer by the two-time All-Star made the score 106-93 with 2:27 to play.

The Nuggets outscored the Clippers 30-16 in the third quarter, including a 17-0 run to slice Los Angeles’ advantage to 73-72 on a Gary Harris layup with 3:29 to play in the period.

Denver tied the game at 79 on a layup by Torrey Craig in the fourth quarter’s opening minute, then took its first lead since the opening minute when Craig buried a corner 3 on Denver’s next possession.

The Nuggets shot 61.1% in the second half, including a seven-of-12 mark from 3-point range.

Denver’s Jamal Murray finished with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists, and stayed in the game after hitting the floor hard after getting blocked by Paul George under the basket early in the third quarter. Gary Harris added 16 points, four rebounds and four steals.

George finished with 33 points, six rebounds and five steals, while Kawhi Leonard totaled 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.

The Clippers built a 10-point first-quarter lead. Denver used a 17-7 second-quarter run — highlighted by a one-footed, hoisted 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock by Jokic — to cut that advantage to 47-45 with 5:52 to go before the half. But the Clippers answered with 10 consecutive points, and eventually took a 63-47 lead into the locker room. — Reuters

US Open champion Dominic Thiem

FACTBOX on Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who beat German Alexander Zverev 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(6) to win the US Open title on Sunday.

Born: Sept. 3, 1993 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria (age 27)

Grand Slam titles: 1 (US Open 2020)

EARLY LIFE
• Born to Wolfgang and Karin Thiem, both of whom are tennis coaches, and began playing at the age of six.

• Made his ATP Tour debut in 2011 at Kitzbuehel as a wildcard, losing to Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round.

• Won his first main draw match later that year, against compatriot Thomas Muster at Vienna.

CAREER TO DATE
• Finished in the Top 125 for the first time in his career in 2013 after reaching the quarter-finals at Kitzbuhel and Vienna.

• Made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in 2014, defeating Joao Sousa before losing to Kevin Anderson in the second round.

• Reached his first ATP Tour final later that year at Kitzbuehel – losing to David Goffin – and ended the year inside the top 50.

• Won his first ATP Tour title in Nice the following year and followed it up with titles in Umag and Gstaad, finishing as the youngest player in the top 20.

• Broke into the top 10 in 2016 after winning titles at Buenos Aires, Acapulco, Nice and Stuttgart, and qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time in his career.

• Advanced to his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros in 2018, losing to Rafa Nadal.

• Won his maiden Masters 1000 crown the following year at Indian Wells, defeating Roger Federer in the final. Ended the season with five titles, joint-most with Novak Djokovic.

• Defeated by Nadal in the 2019 French Open final and by Djokovic in the Australian Open title clash in 2020.

• Won his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open with victory over Zverev in the final. — Reuters

PBA sets key meetings in preparation for possible resumption of 45th season

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has calendared key meetings with stakeholders this week as the league looks to fortify further plans for the resumption of its currently suspended season.

Commissioner Willie Marcial is set to meet player-representatives of the 12 member teams on Wednesday and then with the PBA board the following day.

The league will be seeking input from the players on the PBA’s push to resume its 45th season in October after action was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, with only one game played in the Philippine Cup.

Said to be discussed with the players are the tournament format and venues to be used in the restart and, at the same time, get their thoughts on playing with the pandemic still very much a concern.

“It’s important that we get input from the players, especially since they’re the ones going to play and entertain the PBA fans,” said Mr. Marcial, in Filipino, of the meeting with the players.

The teams are expected to send two representatives each.

Among those said to be going are Ginebra’s LA Tenorio, San Miguel’s Chris Ross, Magnolia’s Marc Pingris, NorthPort’s Sean Anthony, TNT’s Jayson Castro, Meralco’s Reynel Hugnatan, NLEX’s Asi Taulava, Blackwater’s Mac Belo, Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood, Phoenix’s Matthew Wright, Alaska’s Vic Manuel, and Terra Firma’s CJ Perez.

In June, Mr. Marcial met with the players to discuss protocols for the return to modified team workouts.

The PBA workouts have been a success to date with no reported coronavirus cases.

The league is seeking to begin full contact scrimmages this month, writing to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to get its approval.

Meanwhile, the meeting with the Board of Governors will take off from its initial discussion last Friday on the planned bubble setting for the league’s return.

The league board had decided to narrow down the bubble sites to three and is looking to make a final decision soon.

Under the bubble setup, teams, players, officials, and league staff will be holed up in one facility for a duration of time as the tournament is held.

The PBA is considering a bubble similar to that of the National Basketball Association, where all teams and matches are hosted in one place. Another is a semi-bubble type, where participants stay in a designated hotel and go to the venue from there. Third is similar to that of the Bundesliga, where participants restrict their movements to home and venue and back.

The PBA is looking to restart the season on Oct. 9.

PeSO asserts it went through process in getting POC accreditation

ITS accreditation as the country’s national sports association for esports questioned the Philippine eSports Organization (PeSO) on Monday moved to assert that it went through the process and fulfilled all the requirements needed for application as an NSA.

In a statement, PeSO said it deserved the accreditation it got from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to be an associate member of the sports body representing esports, highlighting how the POC recognized PeSO’s compliance with all requisites for membership.

The move was in response to a press release at the weekend by the National Electronic Sports Federation of the Philippines (NESFP), referring to a letter it sent dated Sept. 3 to the POC, asking the latter to reconsider its decision to accredit PeSO as an esports NSA.

The NESFP, through its President Ramon Suzara, said it should be they that be given the accreditation and not PeSO.

“On behalf of the NESFP, I urgently seek a reconsideration of your decision to accredit the Philippine eSports Organization as an associate member NSA for electronic sports instead of NESFP,” Mr. Suzara said in the letter.

Mr. Suzara and the NESFP contend that the decision on the accreditation for esports NSA should be done until after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizes an international federation (IF) for the sport.

They added that given the situation, the NESFP, and not the PeSO, should be “lock as the NSA” for the sport for its experience and active role in furthering the development of esports in the country, including organizing and managing the esports tournament in the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) held here last year where it was played as a medal sport for the first time in the biennial Games.

The POC in a virtual General Assembly on Aug. 29 accepted PeSO as the NSA for esports on the recommendation by the local Olympic body’s membership committee.

The accreditation was given on the strength of PeSO being affiliated with the International Esports Federation (IESF) since 2012.

The IESF is said to be the only esports organization in the world that fulfills all criteria set by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).

Mr. Suzara, however, disputed this, claiming that the IESF is neither recognized by the IOC nor is it on the list of the GAISF.

He went on to say that NESFP enjoys the sanction of the Global Esports Federation (GEF) and its continental confederation, the Asian Esports Federation (AESF).

The AESF, Mr. Suzara stressed, is also the Olympic Council of Asia’s (OCA) partner.

Mr. Suzara requested the POC to revisit the hierarchy of recognition when an IOC-affiliated IF is non- existent.

“The contention is now between one NSA recognized by an IF candidate [PeSO], and one NSA recognized by the AF [Asian Federation], by the OCA, and by another IF candidate [NESFP],” he said.

Mr. Suzara also took notice in the letter the absence of any action or correspondence by the POC to numerous letters and attempts by his group to discuss why the NESFP should be a member of the organization.

PeSO, meanwhile, disputed NESFP’s claim that it managed and organized the esports competition in the 2019 SEA Games, saying it was the Philippine SEAG Esports Union (PSEU) that staged it.

PSEU was composed of both NESFP and the Esports National Association of the Philippines (ESNAP). ESNAP has since merged with PeSO.

As part of PSEU, ESNAP provided valuable contributions to Team Sibol, the Philippine National Team for esports. Among the said contributions of PeSO member organizations which were then under ESNAP included funding and training for esports athletes.

PeSO is composed of the largest and most credible esports companies and personalities in the country and seeks to build on the long-standing experience in esports of its members, channelling it to a collective push.

The organization is backed by Smart Communications and features the likes of Bren Esports, Gariath Concepts, Mineski Philippines, The Nationals, PlayBook Esports, Tier One Entertainment, TV5, and TNC Holdings in its fold.

BusinessWorld reached out to POC for comment, but as of this writing has yet to get a response.

However, in earlier published reports, the POC said much research was put into the decision to accredit PeSO.

Among the tasks of an esports NSA include organizing events, promulgation of rules of the sport, promotion and growth of the sport via grassroots programs and other activities, and the recruitment of national players and coaches. – Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Nonoy confirms departure from Growling Tigers; La Salle likely destination

AFTER some uncertainty on his status with the men’s basketball team of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), spitfire guard Mark Nonoy confirmed on Monday that he was leaving the school, with De La Salle University as the likely destination.

In an Instagram post, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) rookie of the year said that after giving it some thought, he had come to the hard decision to leave the Growling Tigers.  

“While this is a tough decision, I had to do it to ensure that I can move on and focus on basketball,” wrote Nonoy in Filipino.

He went on to admit that the past weeks had been tough on him as their team and the school continue to reel from the impact of the alleged illegal training bubble the Tigers had in Capuy, Sorsogon.

The training bubble allegedly had the UST men’s basketball team holed up in one facility since June in preparation for Season 83 of the UAAP and other tournaments when such was still prohibited under regulations put out in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

The bubble is currently the subject of an investigation by the Commission on Higher Education and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

UST could be given sanctions because of the incident.

Nonoy’s announcement confirmed reports the past few days that he and teammate Deo Cuajao were on their way out and set to join La Salle.

The UAAP rookie of the year, however, did not say on his post if he was indeed joining the Green Archers, saying instead, “I will consult first with my family on the next moves I will take.”

Nonoy was the latest Tiger to leave UST in the aftermath of the bubble controversy, joining former captain CJ Cansino who is now with the University of the Philippines; Rhenz Abando, Brent Paraiso and Ira Bataller (now with Colegio de San Juan de Letran); and Jun Asuncion (Mapua ).

Aldin Ayo has also resigned as UST coach.

Nonoy, who hails from Negros Occidental, averaged 11.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists on his way to winning the rookie of the year award in his lone season in the UAAP. He was a key cog in the Tigers’ run to the finals in Season 82. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Head coach D’Antoni says farewell to Rockets

HOUSTON coach Mike D’Antoni said farewell to the Rockets on Sunday after four seasons.

“It is with tremendous sadness and gratitude that my wife Laurel and I announce that our incredible journey in Houston has ended for now and that we’ll be moving to a new chapter,” D’Antoni said in a statement to ESPN that was addressed to the Houston community. “Our time here was among the most memorable experiences of our lives. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for making us feel like true Houstonians.”

D’Antoni, 69, turned down extension offers prior to this season. His contract expired when the Rockets were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers from the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday.

Team owner Tilman Fertitta issued a statement thanking D’Antoni and his wife for the contributions to the Rockets and the Houston community.

“Mike is a true professional and an amazing basketball mind,” Fertitta said. “He is a winner, and we have been blessed to have had such an outstanding coach and leader to work with the past four seasons. We wish Mike and Laurel nothing but success and happiness in their next chapter.”

He guided the Rockets to a 44-28 record in 2019-20 and a 217-101 (.682) mark since taking over in 2016-17. Houston was 28-23 in the postseason during D’Antoni’s tenure, losing in the conference semifinals three times and the conference finals once (2017-18).

D’Antoni will likely be considered a top candidate for the Philadelphia 76ers’ coaching vacancy. He was an assistant there under former Sixers coach Brett Brown in 2015-16.

D’Antoni owns a 672-527 (.560) record in 16 seasons as a head coach with the Denver Nuggets (1998-99), Phoenix Suns (2003-08), New York Knicks (2008-12), Lakers (2012-14) and Rockets.

He was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2004-05 and 2016-17. — Reuters

Three platforms that a business needs for online visibility

By Mariel Alison L. Aguinaldo

Online visibility is as important as ever as the pandemic has driven businesses to the Internet, all of them vying for the attention of a limited number of eyeballs.

“When people have problems or pain points and they go online to find solutions, your brand should come up. When people are looking for information or resources… it should be on your platform or website. When someone is ready to buy or looking for a reliable supplier, your brand should be on their options,” said Kelvier Canillo, managing director of web design and development company Webworx Design Studio Inc., during StartUp Village’s Online Visibility webinar.

With the right tools and execution, businesses can create an edge over their competitors. These are the three platforms that they can focus on and tips on how to utilize them.

1. Domain name and custom e-mail address

If the Internet is a map, then a domain name is the address that directs people to an establishment—in this case, a business website. Keep it simple when making the second-level domain, which is the part before the dot and contains the business name. Avoid using slang, shortcuts, numbers, and hyphens.

When choosing the top-level domain, or the part that comes after the dot, try securing various versions that are relevant to the business—for example, getting both the “.com” and the “.ph”. This wards off domain squatters who make a business of buying domain names with the goal of eventually fetching a hefty price for them. Mr. Canillo had a client who paid P250,000 to get the desired domain name. To compare, an initial .com domain name purchase at GoDaddy costs P259.

Creating custom e-mail addresses at your company domain is also advisable in order to look more professional. E-mail services, such as G Suite, are able to provide this service for a monthly fee of $4.20.

2. Website

Having a website does not only make a business more credible; it also makes it stand out from competitors. “If your competitors aren’t online yet, they probably will be soon… Establish yourself as a leader in your field by building a high-quality website first,” said Mr. Canillo.

If budget or technical knowledge is an issue, some website-building platforms like Wix provide templates that can be customized without coding languages. Businesses that want an e-commerce extension can try platforms such as Shopify and Magento.

Just like a physical store, business websites require maintenance. Tools like GTmetrix can help track website speed which is crucial to consumer retention and experience. According to Google, the probability of a website visitor leaving a page increases by 90% if it takes up to five seconds to load.

“Customers can be quite vocal about the slow-performing website as well. That’s why our websites need to be fast… otherwise, they’ll tell others not to visit that business any more. For sure, if they get a bad experience on your website, they will never come back,” said Mr. Canillo.

With the right tools, a website can also provide insights that can help shape a business’ online marketing strategy. Web analytics services, such as Google Analytics, can track information such as the location of website visitors and the search terms that brought them to your website.

3. Social media platforms

Insights from web analytics services can identify which social media platforms are best for a business.  Mr. Canillo’s Webworx, a design studio, has Instagram and Behance accounts because of the visual nature of its portfolio.

Businesses must then figure out the purpose of their social media accounts—are they there to make customers laugh or provide them with information. From there, social media managers can create content that will consistently draw in audiences. “Slowly, you will have your audience who will refer your business without a referral fee… They will join your movement or your drive. That’s why on social media, it’s better to create audiences than look for customers,” said Mr. Canillo.

Generally, businesses are advised to avoid hard-selling and discuss relevant topics instead. Customers should also feel that your brand is authentic and genuinely caring for them. “You will earn their trust, but don’t stop there… This is a continuous process. They should see you consistent in every platform: the message you’ve created, the tone that you’ve set, and the brand that you want to be perceived by them,” said Mr. Canillo.

Migraines can cost businesses millions of dollars — study

By Patricia B. Mirasol

Migraines cost businesses millions of dollars. In Singapore, a study showed that migraines, a neurological condition that can cause debilitating head pain, cost the Singaprean economy SGD1 billion per year. In Malaysia, the productivity loss at work due to migraines was nearly 20-fold higher for presenteeism (showing up to work despite being sick) than absenteeism. In the Philippines, a survey showed that workers lost 14 days due to migraines over a 90-day period. 

“Despite having migraines, employees choose to go to work,” said Associate Professor Dr. Ivy Chung, Deputy Dean of Health and Wellbeing Research Cluster at the University Malaya in Malaysia, as she presented the results of the Malaysia survey in a recent Progressive Alliance Towards Healthy Workplaces virtual roundtable. “Maybe this is (indicative of) Asian culture.”

“The significant impact of migraine on work productivity and regular activity appears to lead to substantial monetary loss, attributed to not only absenteeism but more importantly to presenteeism,” added Dr. Chung.

TRIGGERS AND INTERVENTIONS
Migraine symptoms include a headache that is severe, disabling, throbbing, and lasting from 4 to 72 hours; nausea, vomiting, and light and sound sensitivity. It is caused by a genetically induced hypersensitivity of the brain, said Dr. Wan Aliaa Binti Wan Sulaiman, a consultant physician and neurologist at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. Other triggers include environment, metabolism, hormones, and drugs. Specific examples are alcohol, excessive noise, eye strain, strong-smelling perfumes, lack of sleep, and a change of weather.

Changes in the physical environment can help, advised Dr. Sulaiman. Measures include changing fluorescent lights into less bright ones; providing glare protectors for computer screens; using noise-canceling headphones; and having a rest area that is dark and quiet. Other interventions include taking regular work breaks, keeping hydrated, and being physically active. 

Managing one’s stress also matters. Researchers have discovered links between stress and migraines.

ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM
There are unmet needs in migraine management and a need for awareness about intervention strategies at the individual and organizational level. Employers have a role to play in addressing these. A first step is to understand what migraine is. Another is to break the stigma around migraines in the workplace. 

The stigma is in plain sight and the reason many remain undiagnosed, said Azrul Mohd Khalib, head of Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy. Migraine sufferers are penalized under existing workplace policies that monitor absenteeism and sick leaves. Because of a lack of understanding and tolerance, they are labeled unproductive, difficult, and delicate, and as a result are deemed unsuitable for certain work and left out of the promotion ladder. Mr. Khalib said a low-hanging fruit would be an employee-focused migraine education program. So would adding migraine as part of occupational safety and human resource policies.

Novartis Switzerland shared its Migraine Care program’s key pillars in the virtual roundtable. These are: raising awareness among employees; helping managers enable their team; providing medical expert guidance; tele-coaching with nurses and tele-doctor consultations; and tracking improvement through a mobile app. Complementary access to innovative treatment was also given. The outcome was a 64% migraine disability reduction in nine months. Participants on average gained 10.8 migraine-free working days per year.

­­­The aforementioned Philippine survey was conducted by Wellbridge Health and Novartis Healthcare Philippines this year. It had a total of 727 respondents across 12 companies in the telecommunication, business process outsourcing, and information technology industries. As per the latest results, 511 screened positively for migraines. 

SSS offers online payment channels for employers

The Social Security System (SSS) on Friday announced that regular and household employers may now remit their SSS contributions through several online payment facilities.

“Over the years, we have established a strong partnership with our various bank collection partners who played a significant role in our contribution collections from our members and employers as well. It is why we tapped the internet banking services offered by our partner banks so they can remit their employees’ monthly contributions at their own convenience,” SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said.

Web facilities such as Security Bank Corporation (SBC) –Digibanker and Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) – UnionBank Online may now be utilized for the remittance of SSS contributions both for regular and household employers and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) – Bizlink for regular employers only.

The following eGov BancNet member banks are also available to accept employer’s SSS payments online:

  • Asia United Bank (AUB)
  • Bank of Commerce (BOC)
  • China Bank (CBC)
  • CTBC Bank
  • Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (MBTC)
  • MUFG Bank
  • Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom)
  • Philippine National Bank (PNB)
  • Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC)
  • Robinsons Bank (RBC)
  • Standard Chartered Bank(SCB)
  • United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB)

Aside from these online payment facilities, they may use their My.SSS accounts to check their employees’ contribution payments and loan repayments; generate PRN; monitor the status of their submitted sickness and maternity reimbursement claims; certify their employees’ salary loan and retirement; and submit maternity notification, sickness notification, employment report form (Form R1A), contribution collection list (Form R-3), and loan collection list (Form ML-2).

“This is the reason why we launch ExpreSSS, which maximizes the use of our online facilities amid the pandemic for a safer, faster, and more convenient way of transacting and receiving their benefit reimbursements from SSS. Moreover, we encourage all our employers to enroll their PESONet participating bank accounts through the Disbursement Account Enrollment Module (DAEM) at My.SSS for immediate crediting of their reimbursements,” Ignacio concluded.

Employers may follow the official Facebook page ‘Philippine Social Security System’ and Instagram Account ‘Mysssph’ or Twitter Feed “PHLSSS” for more information and updates.

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