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Mindanao railway bidder shortlist expected this month

DAVAO CITY — The government is expecting to receive the shortlist of bidders for the first phase of the China-funded Mindanao railway from the Chinese Embassy within the month, a transport official said.

“The Embassy of China in the Philippines promised to send the shortlist of bidders for the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP) this month,” Transportation Assistant Secretary Eymard D. Eje, who handles the Mindanao cluster project implementation and special concerns, said in a phone interview last week.

The P82.9-billion project will be financed through an official development assistance (ODA) loan package from China.

Mr. Eje said that under an executive agreement between the two countries, “only Chinese contractors will be nominated by the Chinese government to join the bidding” for the MRP.

The railway’s first phase runs between Tagum City in Davao del Norte and Digos City in Davao del Sur, passing through Davao City.

Two contract packages are up for bidding, one for project monitoring consultancy and the other for design-and-build.

Mr. Eje said the department will immediately proceed with the bid as soon as it receives the list.

The MRP, one of the Duterte administration’s priority infrastructure projects, was originally scheduled to start construction in January 2019 but right of way (RoW) issues, mainly in Davao City, held back the timetable.

Mr. Eje said the railway realignment in Davao City has been identified.

Tagum City, where a depot will also be located, will start accessing RoW funds for land acquisition this month and the other local governments along the 102-kilometer track are scheduled to follow soon.

The national government allocated P500 million for the railway’s land acquisition component, including fees for appraisal, survey works, and administrative costs.

The MRP will be a single-track, non-electrified railway with eight stations located in Tagum, Carmen, Panabo, Sta. Cruz, Digos, and three in Davao City. — Maya M. Padillo

New Clark airport terminal building almost completed

THE new passenger terminal building at Clark International Airport is on track for completion by next month, bringing the northern gateway’s overall capacity to 12.2 million passengers yearly.

“As of March 2020, the Clark International Airport Expansion Project is 98.73% complete,” Corporate Communications Officer Maricar Gay Savella-Villamil of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) told BusinessWorld in a phone message Monday when asked for an update.

In its annual report for 2019, the Transportation department said the P12.55-billion project is set for completion by July.

Clark International Airport has a capacity of 4.2 million passengers with the current terminal building.

According to the official website of the Public-Private Partnership Center, the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the project was signed in January 2018.

The new passenger terminal building is being built by Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

The Transportation department said the construction and rehabilitation of alternative airports, alongside the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), will boost connectivity and mobility for Filipinos, giving them additional travel options.

Clark airport is being pushed by the government as an alternative to Manila’s NAIA, which has been operating beyond its 30.5 million passenger capacity, recording throughput of 45.3 million passengers in 2018, 42 million in 2017 and 39.5 million in 2016.

The Transportation department also expects that the development of Clark International Airport will generate jobs and push for economic growth in Northern and Central Luzon. — Arjay L. Balinbin

PCCI backs more liberal foreign direct investment regime to aid recovery

THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said Congress needs to pass laws further opening up the economy to foreign investment by August to help the economy recover from the impact of the pandemic.

PCCI President Benedicto V. Yujuico in the chamber’s online Sulong Pilipinas event proposed plans to improve the competitiveness of Philippine business, including tourism recovery plan and laws facilitating foreign direct investment.

The PCCI is asking Congress to pass the Public Service Act, Foreign Investment Act, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, and the Liberalization of the Agriculture sector by August.

These bills would open up full foreign ownership for more sectors like telecommunications and reduce the required minimum paid-up capital for foreign entrants into the retail sector.

The chamber urged the government to improve digital tools and connectivity, saying that the government should implement the national ID system to help connect and digitalize government functions.

Mr. Yujuico said the National Telecommunications Commission should increase the number of internet service providers, and backed a proposed bill that allows for infrastructure sharing among service providers.

“The executive and legislative branches of government should certify the Open Access in Data Transmission Bill as urgent and ensure its passage into law by July 2020.”

The chamber proposed plans to help aid people affected by the crisis, saying that the government should pass a bill that would provide guidelines for non-government organizations and the private sector to effectively offer aid to affected communities.

The chamber proposed that the government create a system where small farmers can deliver produce to food hubs in cities and provinces, with prices to be regulated by local governments.

The PCCI also recommended that the collaboration between agriculture and manufacturing be strengthened, prioritizing homegrown resources and raw materials and improving product specialization.

Mr. Yujuico said that the government should allow the operation of public transportation while adhering to safety standards, and proposed sustainable transportation measures including wider pedestrian and bike lanes.

He added that the government should align law and order initiatives with good governance.

“The Department of National Defense (DND), Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) should reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law and to defend and uphold the constitution, as well as engage multi-sectoral dialogues to promote cooperation rather than animosity across sectors of the society within the next two months.”

Mr. Yujuico said that the government should offer flexible learning materials, free wifi connection, and access to computers for both students and teachers before the start of the next school year. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Unemployment rate seen hitting 14.5% in 2020

THE unemployment rate is likely to average 14.5% in 2020 with the next labor force survey expected to reflect a more dismal picture of the job market than the April findings and a grimmer outlook for the economy, according to Nomura Global Markets Research.

“Taking into account the outturn in April, we raise our 2020 unemployment rate forecast to an average 14.5% from 7.1% earlier, up more sharply from 5.1% in 2019,” it said in a note Monday.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s April had unemployment at 17.7% in April from 5.1% a year earlier. This translates to 7.25 million jobless Filipinos during the month, more than three times the 2.27 million in April 2019.

Nomura Global noted that double-digit unemployment was seen across all regions. Metro Manila, where the restrictions were first implemented, saw unemployment rise to 12.3% from 6.2%, milder than the gains in other areas such as Central Luzon (27.3% from 6%) and Ilocos region (22.3% from 8.8%).

“We think the relatively low pickup in the unemployment rate in Metro Manila (one of the lowest across the regions) is only temporary as the city has been placed under strict lockdown measures for a more extended period than other areas,” it said.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua hopes that the job market will somehow be better this month with restrictions eased in many regions.

“Starting June and when we capture the June outcome in the July survey that we will be conducting, we can see a significant improvement because the economy has actually started quite a lot,” he said in an online forum.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno has said that the increase in unemployment was the result of a policy decision weighted towards saving lives amid the pandemic.

Nomura Global said the “low level of fiscal support” during the lockdown compared to other countries has added to the uncertainty of the job market outlook. It said the government should work to give more support for the small and medium enterprises given that they generate more than half of the country’s employment and are now on the brink of insolvency.

“The administration’s economic team is also more in favour of a longer-term reform measure that, in our view, does not necessarily address the immediate need of job preservation measures particularly for SMEs, as its proposal seeks to build on the earlier package of corporate tax cuts combined with fiscal incentive rationalization,” it said.

On Thursday, ARISE (the Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy bill) was approved on third and final reading at the House of Representatives. It is a P1.3-trillion stimulus package that includes P110 billion in wage subsidies and a P10 billion allocated for support to small businesses.

Meanwhile, the CREATE bill (the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act) was still pending at the Senate as Congress adjourned. The bill proposes to reduce corporate income tax by an outright 5% from the current level of 30%. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Bill protecting food and grocery delivery riders filed at House

A LEGISLATOR has filed a bill seeking to protect food and grocery delivery riders from canceled orders.

Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo A. Garbin, Jr. filed House Bill 6958 on June 4, which if passed will be known as the Food and Grocery Delivery Services Protection Act.

The bill prohibits all customers from canceling confirmed orders for the delivery of food and grocery items when the order has been paid by or is in the possession of the delivery rider or otherwise is in transit to the customer.

The measure also covers instances where customers order food and grocery items for the purpose of pranking, which causes financial injury to the delivery riders and their service providers.

Violators are fined P100,000, directed to reimburse the value of the food and grocery items, and pay the service provider double the value of the canceled transaction.

The only exemptions from the prohibited cancellation of orders are: when the customer uses a credit card and the payment is still credited to the service provider despite cancellation; the customer remits to the service provider any payment as a pre-condition for the cancellation of order; and the delivery of the items will be or was delayed for at least an hour from the expected time of arrival and such delay was not caused by the driver’s negligence.

In the case of unreasonable cancellation of orders, the food and delivery service company is directed to reimburse the delivery riders within 24 hours by way of bank deposit or such other acceptable fund transfer mechanism. Violation of this role penalizes the company with a P5,000 fine, payable to the delivery rider.

Food and delivery service providers will also require their customers, prior to registration, to submit a valid proof of identity and residential address or proof of billing. Violation of this role will render the Food and Grocery Services provider liable for a fine of P1 million per violation.

The bill has been lodged with the House committee on trade and industry. — Genshen L. Espedido

Ease of tax filing and payment during community quarantine

The COVID-19 crisis has been sweeping the globe, affecting Filipinos everywhere. To finance public initiatives and to control the pandemic, the government is increasing its efforts to raise revenue despite the difficulties brought about by quarantine restrictions.

For taxpayers using the calendar year, April 15 of every year marks the deadline for filing the Annual Income Tax Return (AITR) and paying the corresponding tax. However, in March, due to the state of public health emergency, the government declared certain areas under various types of community quarantine. The declaration required many citizens to stay at home, and travel was restricted to within affected areas. Taxpayers were unable to prepare the documents needed to file their AITR and pay their taxes, prompting the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to delay filing and payment deadlines.

The BIR has issued numerous regulations and circulars extending the deadlines for filing and paying affected taxes. The latest regulation is Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 12-2020, which sets the deadline for filing and paying the AITR for 2019 to June 14. Since the deadline falls on a Sunday, taxpayers are given until June 15 to finally settle their tax payments.

ACCESSIBLE FILING AND PAYMENT OF TAXES
The limited means of travel and access to transportation during the community quarantines has made it difficult for taxpayers to comply with filing and payment deadlines. The revenue laws and rules proved to be stringent in requiring the physical submission of certain documents to the BIR. Responding to the clamor of taxpayers, the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 49-2020, which provides additional options for accepting and processing the filed 2019 Income Tax Returns (ITR) and the required attachments. RMC No. 49-2020 allows taxpayers to submit their 2019 ITRs and required attachments to the nearest Revenue Collection Officers (RCOs), notwithstanding Revenue District Office (RDO) jurisdiction, or online through eAFs.

The RCOs shall stamp the submitted returns as “Received.” For electronically filed ITRs, the RCO shall accept and stamp as “Received” only the copies of the Filing Reference Number generated from the eFPS/E-mail Confirmation from the eBIR Forms Systems, as well as the Financial statements.

Taxpayers may also choose to submit a PDF of their filed ITR and the required attachments online through the BIR’s eAFs system. The taxpayer may access the online facility by visiting bir.gov.ph, and then clicking on the eAFS icon. The eAFS will acknowledge successful submission by issuing a system-generated Transaction Reference Number and by e-mailing the system user. The transaction reference number shall serve as the taxpayer’s proof of submission in lieu of the manual “Received” stamp.

The BIR recognizes the importance of the accessibility of payment facilities to taxpayers. To address the need for better access to various payment facilities, the BIR also issued RMC No. 48-2020, which was further clarified by RMC 56-2020, effective until June 14, 2020.

The RMC provides that taxpayers may file their tax return and pay taxes (a) at the nearest Authorized Agent Bank (AAB), notwithstanding RDO jurisdiction; or (b) to the concerned RCOs of the nearest RDO, even in areas where there are AABs; or (c) file through the eBIRForms Facility and use the various payment options.

For payment through RCOs in the RDO, cash payments should not exceed P20,000. Check payments do not have a limitation in amount. Check payments, however, must be made payable to the Bureau of Internal Revenue. It is no longer required to include the “IFO Name and TIN of Taxpayer”; the name and branch of the AAB is, likewise, no longer required.

Taxpayers filing through the eBIRForms facility may use any of the following payment options: (a) over-the-counter payment through the AABs; (b) RCOs of the nearest RDOs even in areas where there are AABs; (c) Electronic or online payments through Land Bank, Development Bank of the Philippines, Union Bank, and mobile payment (i.e., GCash or PayMaya).

A SOUND TAX SYSTEM DURING THE PANDEMIC
One of the attributes of a sound tax system is administrative feasibility. It means that the tax system should be “capable of being effectively administered and enforced with the least inconvenience to the taxpayer (Diaz v. Secretary of Finance, 669 Phil. 371, 393 [2011]).” In line with this, the BIR issued the RRs and RMCs previously discussed to make the payment of taxes during the pandemic accessible and flexible. Taxpayers will not be considered delinquent for filing in a wrong venue, even if they file outside their RDO. These issuances extend leniency in filing and paying taxes, but taxpayers have until June 14 to maximize the convenience offered by the BIR. After this, taxpayers should follow pre-pandemic tax laws and regulations.

Under pre-pandemic tax rules, filing and paying taxes at an RDO different from where the taxpayer is registered is the same as nonfiling or late filing, if later filed in the correct venue. In other words, the taxpayer becomes delinquent. Nonfiling or late filing is subject to penalties, surcharges, and interests under the laws and regulations. During the community quarantine, however, the government recognized that it should balance fiscal adequacy and the need to ensure taxpayer safety. Thus, the government gives taxpayers an option to file through the nearest RCO or online through the eFPs system and to pay through the nearest AABs, RCOs, or even e-payment facilities. These payment options will not make the taxpayer delinquent if they follow the guidelines in the RMCs and RRs mentioned.

THE NEED TO COLLECT TAXES DURING QUARANTINE
To conclude, this is how the government addresses taxpayer issues on access to filing and paying taxes. These measures adhere to the principles of a sound tax system, as well as help the government collect taxes despite the community quarantines. As taxpayers, we should take this as an opportunity to comply with our obligation to file and pay our taxes. However, the government should also consider assessing its system and make tax filing and payment accessible even after the pandemic. Taxpayers have been clamoring to pay through the nearest AABs and not be bounded by RDO jurisdiction. It would surely help taxpayers if interim measures to make tax filing and payment accessible can be adopted permanently.

Taxation is the power of the sovereign to raise revenue to defray the necessary expenses of government. The power of taxation is essential, as the government can neither exist nor endure without taxation. Taxes are the lifeblood of the government, and their prompt and certain availability is an imperative. During these times, taxpayers who have the obligation and capability to pay their taxes should do so through accessible and safe options provided by the government.

As the government’s ability to serve and protect the people largely depends on taxes, it is especially during crises that taxes are needed to serve, protect, and support the Filipino people.

Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.

 

Mark Ebenezer A. Bernardo is an associate of the Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.

pagrantthornton@ph.gt.com

PBA sets dialogue with players on possible return of activities

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

DETERMINED to get back in the grind, the Philippine Basketball Association is expanding its efforts towards a return to action by setting a dialogue with players later this month.

Following its board meeting last week where it crafted protocols for the possible return of activities, which were later on sent to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for consideration, the league said it will meet with player representatives of member-teams to discuss the guidelines and get their opinions on the direction that the PBA would take.

“We will be calling for a dialogue. We’ll reach out to the players. We will try to get a consensus, get their opinion on the league’s plans to resume activities,” PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial was quoted as saying in the league’s official website.

“We will use the opportunity as well to discuss with them the protocols if the IATF allows us to have team practices already,” he added.

The PBA suspended the current season on March 11 as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started to take further root in the country and the government came out with mitigating measures, including prohibiting mass gatherings like sporting events, to help stop the spread of the virus.

This month, however, the government put the National Capital Region to a more relaxed General Community Quarantine setup, opening up the possibility for leagues like the PBA to resume conducting some activities.

In the scheduled dialogue with the players, set for June 23, Mr. Marcial will sit down with two player-representatives from the 12 member teams to explain to them the measures the league will be adopting once training and practices by groups is finally allowed to resume.

Other concerns to be discussed as well pertain to the players’ safety and health.

In the protocols sent to the IATF, the PBA said it is looking to start having practices in July under strict monitoring to ensure the safety of all participants.

During practices, only six people, including four players, are allowed per practice session. Temperatures of players will have to be taken before the practice, while sanitizers and alcohols will be put in strategic places for use by the teams. Practice facilities will also have to be disinfected before and after use.

Mr. Marcial underscored that no scrimmages would take place, only conditioning for players.

Players and staff members are also prohibited from taking showers after the workout.

The PBA commissioner also said the league is going to be strict in enforcing the “no test, no practice” policy, meaning players have to be tested for COVID-19 first for them to be allowed to participate in the practices.

“All the necessary safety and health measures we will have them to ensure a successful return for the league,” Mr. Marcial said.

RARING TO PLAY AGAIN
Meanwhile, veteran players Gabe Norwood of Rain or Shine and Jeff Chan and LA Tenorio of Barangay Ginebra shared that they are raring to return to the court and play after three months of not being able to do so.

In the latest episode of the online show PBA Kamustahan at the weekend, the three players said that while the “break” they are having has given them more time to spend with their families and loved ones, training and playing on the court is something they truly miss.

“These last couple of months have been different. None of us really anticipated this. We’re just making the adjustments,” said Mr. Norwood, who also shared that he and his family are doing fine amid the pandemic.

“Being with my teammates and playing for the crowd is something I miss,” he added.

The same goes for Messrs. Tenorio and Chan, more so since they play for crowd favorite Ginebra.

“I miss going to practices and playing for the crowd. And if you play for Ginebra we’re talking of a lot of them. I miss that energy,” said Mr. Tenorio.

“Hopefully soon we could get back to basketball,” Mr. Chan, for his part, said.

The PBA has yet to decide with finality the fate of the ongoing season, reserving to make a definite decision in August.

NBA tweaks standings, will clarify team roster rules

THE NATIONAL Basketball Association continues to fine-tune the structure and rules it will follow when the season resumes July 31 at the Disney World campus in Orlando, Florida, including tweaks to the standings and potential roster changes.

ESPN reported at the weekend that the league will use win percentage — rather than a measure of games relative to .500 — to set the order of the standings, a clarification that is necessary because teams have played a different number of games thus far.

Before the season paused in March, NBA teams had played anywhere from 63 to 67 games. The 22 teams returning in Orlando will each play eight “regular season” games for seeding, maintaining the disparity in total games and thus making win percentage the first tiebreaker.

The Western Conference currently has the Portland Trail Blazers (29-37), New Orleans Pelicans (28-36) and Sacramento Kings (28-36) at 3 1/2 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies (32-33) for the eighth and final playoff spot, but the Blazers’ win percentage (.439) gives them a narrow advantage over the Pelicans and Kings (.438). Similar situations could emerge for seeding in either conference.

The league’s restart plan features 13 teams from the West and nine from the East, with the possibility of play-in series for the final playoff spot in each conference. Memphis (currently eighth in the West) and the Orlando Magic (eighth in the East) must finish at least four games ahead of the ninth-place team in their conference to avoid a play-in series.

If ties within winning percentage exist, they will be broken by the league’s standard tiebreakers, ESPN reported, starting with head-to-head record from the regular-season.

Meanwhile, ESPN also reported Saturday that the NBA is preparing rules for how teams can add players to their roster in the event of injury or a player testing positive for COVID-19. Per the report, teams will likely be allowed to sign as many players as they desire, but only from a particular pool, primarily players who played in the NBA or G League or were on training camp contracts this season.

That would rule out any veterans who have gone unsigned all year, such as guard Jamal Crawford, and any international players. The status of players on two-way contracts remains unclear.

According to ESPN, the league and players union must agree collectively on such regulations, with negotiations expected soon.

For any player who tests positive for COVID-19, a quarantine period of at least a week and up to two weeks is expected. All players and staff are expected to be tested every night at the enclosed campus.

A number of other details, including the schedule for the eight “seeding games,” have yet to be determined. — Reuters

LaLiga to use ‘virtual’ stands and audio for broadcasts

MADRID — LaLiga will use virtual images of stands in television broadcasts with added “fan audio,” produced by the makers of the FIFA video game, when it returns to action on Thursday.

Domestic broadcasters in Spain will offer their viewers the choice of a “natural” broadcast of games played behind closed doors with no fans but the international audience will receive only the enhanced broadcasts with added audio and graphics.

LaLiga said in a statement on Sunday that the use of technology “will allow matches to be seen in an attractive way that closely resembles how they looked and sounded before the competition was postponed.”

The stands will be “virtualized” and will offer to-scale images of seated fans wearing the home club’s colors. LaLiga collaborated with Norwegian company VIZRT on the technology.

“In moments when the game is stopped, this image of fans can be transformed into a canvas that matches the color of the home team and will carry institutional messages among other offerings,” added the league.

The virtual sound has been developed with video game company EA SPORTS FIFA, in a project called Sounds of the Stands.

“Through this, the audio library of LaLiga official sponsor EA, which was recorded in real stadiums, has been used and has been digitally adapted so that it can be implemented in real time during the match,” said the statement.

“It will be adapted to the flow of the game as certain situations occur, such as a goal or a foul, creating what is known as Atmospheric Audio.”

Barcelona leads the table by two points over Real Madrid with 11 rounds of matches left, after the season was paused in March due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, and the two rivals are braced for one of the tightest title races in recent memory.

The fight for Champions League football is even closer, with at least five teams vying for third and fourth place.

The restart begins with Thursday’s derby between Sevilla and Real Betis, while champion Barcelona visits Real Mallorca on Saturday and Real Madrid hosts Eibar on Sunday.

“We have made these broadcasting changes so fans can enjoy LaLiga,” said the league’s President Javier Tebas.

“We work with global partners to offer a great viewer experience. We are in an exceptional situation, but for us it has been important to be able to adapt and offer a compelling, cutting-edge broadcast to our fans,” he added. — Reuters

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang reveals project ‘NEXT’

POPULAR mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang continues innovating and improving to provide shored-up experience to players.

Recently, MLBB launched its latest initiative, dubbed NEXT, which the people behind it boast as their most important initiative of the year.

“NEXT” is a long-term project focusing on hero adjustments, art and sound upgrades, as well as IP development, in order to constantly deliver high-quality game experiences to its loyal players.

Through the initiative, the MLBB team hopes to unveil upgrades and improvements into important aspects of MLBB gameplay, the hero, and game control functions.

“The revamp will be centered around the classic heroes’ core features, giving each one of them a unique symbol. This involves an updated story as well as skill reworks. In addition to these changes, improvements are also being carried out on model appearance, animation, and sound effects,” said William Mei, Marketing Manager of Moonton, in a statement.

“Project ‘NEXT’ aims to progressively work on reworking and improving classic heroes to make them relevant and unique to the current gameplay. The other big asset of the project is the optimization and improvement of the game’s control,” he added, touching on how as the game digs deeper and expands wider in the design of hero mechanics and playstyles, some of the classic heroes have naturally become less impactful in the game compared to newer heroes.

The Moonton official went on to acknowledge the input they have been getting from their loyal players, through steady feedback and suggestions, which is inspiring them to continuously work on the game and keep it a success.

MLBB has been the MOBA game of choice for many for the last few years.

It was featured as one of the games in esports’ debut in last year’s Southeast Asian Games held here in the country.

MLBB tournaments abound, including the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League — Philippines, which recently concluded its fifth season. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Conor McGregor announces his third retirement

STOCKHOLM — Former two-weight Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Conor McGregor has announced on Twitter that he is retiring from the sport for the third time, citing a lack of exciting options as the reason behind his decision to quit.

“Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting. Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!” the 31-year-old Irishman said, adding a picture of him and his mother and promising to buy her a dream home.

“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” McGregor told ESPN on Sunday.

“All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute. There’s nothing that’s exciting me.”

McGregor, who knocked out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds on his return to the Octagon back in January, had hoped to fight twice more in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of interesting opponents seems to have put paid to that.

McGregor had been linked by the media to a number of fights, including a matchup against Brazilian great Anderson Silva, but the Irishman hinted that the UFC was not prepared to meet his price for such a bout.

“When the Anderson one came along, I was like, yeah, that’s a mad fight. And then everyone said he’s old and over the hill,” McGregor explained.

“I was like, what? Fighting a former light heavyweight and the middleweight GOAT (greatest of all time), and the actual GOAT in my eyes — that’s not a rewardable fight?”

UFC president Dana White, who has faced demands from other fighters including light-heavyweight icon Jon Jones and welterweight crowd-pleaser Jorge Masvidal to be paid more money for their fights, appeared to take McGregor’s retirement seriously.

“Nobody is pressuring anybody to fight. And if Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know my feelings about retirement — you should absolutely do it,” he told a media conference following Saturday’s UFC 250 event in Las Vegas.

The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion first quit the sport in April 2016. In March 2019, he again announced he was hanging up his gloves, but on both occasions the retirements were short-lived.

Once again, McGregor is leaving the door open for a return in the future.

“We’ll see what the future holds. But for right now, for the immediate future, 2020, all the best to it.” — Reuters

Only in the Philippines

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man was arrested on a charge of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A white police officer knelt on his neck while he was lying face down handcuffed on the street and repeatedly telling the officer “I can’t breathe.” He died of cardiac arrest caused by the nearly nine-minute neck compression which restricted blood flow to the brain.

Security camera footage and videos made by witnesses circulated widely, triggering fiery protests in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The protest drew sympathy demonstrations in many cities across the United States like what the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.in 1968 sparked all over America.

Floyd had been a truck driver and a restaurant security guard, a job he lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He had been imprisoned twice for armed robbery and three times for possession of cocaine. King was a Christian minister and civil rights activist, becoming in 1955 the most prominent spokesperson and the leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the US. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for combating racial inequality through non-violent resistance.

The explanation of why the death of Floyd at the hands of a policeman has caused so much civil unrest as the murder of King by a white supremacist may be found in the messages in the placards carried by the Minneapolis protesters. “We’ve had enough!,” “It’s about time,” the placards say.

What makes the Floyd death overwhelming are the many other violent events that happened just months before — the killings of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, of Steven Taylor in California, of Sean Reed in Indiana, and of Adrian Medearis in Texas by white supremacists and white policemen.

On Feb. 23, three white Americans on a truck followed 25-year-old black American Ahmaud Arbery while he was jogging on the road in Brunswick, Georgia. One of them fired his shotgun at the young man to get “rid of the nigger.”

On March 7, police shot Steven Taylor after he wielded a baseball bat inside a local Walmart in San Leandro, California. Steven was going through a mental health crisis that day.

On March 13, Louisville policemen in plain clothes entered the apartment of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black emergency medical technician, to serve a “no-knock warrant.” Thinking the officers were intruders, Taylor’s boyfriend fired at the policemen, who returned fire. After the exchange of gunfire, Breonna was found dead with eight bullet wounds.

On April 24, Adrian Medearis, 48, “a talented gospel recording artist on the rise” in Houston, was shot and killed when he resisted being placed in handcuffs by an officer who was trying to arrest him on an overspeeding charge.

On May 6, Dreasjon “Sean” Reed, 21, was ordered to pull over after Indianapolis officers noticed him driving “recklessly.” When Reed began to flee on foot after alighting from his car, officers shot and killed him.

As the placards say, African-Americans have had enough. It’s about time they asserted their civil and human rights. And so they vented their ire by holding protest rallies on the very street where George Floyd breathed his last as well as on other streets of Minneapolis and of its twin city St. Paul.

The protest caused similar demonstrations in many cities across the United States, necessitating the deployment of National Guard troops in more than 20 states to handle the marches that turned violent and destructive of properties.

The protest against racism and police brutality has also gathered support across the globe. Protests have taken place in Canada. Thousands marched in the streets of Toronto, St. John’s, Whitehorse, and Calgary to denounce police brutality against black and indigenous people. In Latin American countries, where blacks constitute a significant percentage of the population, large protest rallies have been held in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires.

In Europe, large crowds have gathered in London, Berlin, and Amsterdam to denounce racism. In Africa, the land of the black race, the killing of Floyd has been condemned in Nigeria and Kenya. In the Middle East, hundreds gathered in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and East Jerusalem demanding “Justice for Floyd” and “Justice for Eyad,” the latter referring to an unarmed, autistic Palestinian man killed by Israeli police.

Big crowds gathered in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide to express solidarity with “all the people who have been oppressed, and exploited, and brutalised by the system.” In Auckland, New Zealand thousands of people chanted “black lives matter.”

Ironically, there has been no similar demonstration of outrage over human rights violations in the Philippines, where killings and arbitrary detentions, as well as the vilification of dissent are committed with impunity, according to the report of the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations released last June 4.

The report noted that many of the human rights concerns it has documented are long-standing, but have become more acute in recent years. This has been manifested particularly starkly in the widespread and systematic killing of thousands of alleged drug suspects. Numerous human rights defenders have also been killed over the past five years.

“While there have been important human rights gains in recent years, particularly in economic and social rights, the underpinning focus on national security threats — real and inflated — has led to serious human rights violations, reinforced by harmful rhetoric from high-level officials,” the report stated. The UN Human Rights Office has also documented that between 2015 and 2019, at least 248 human rights defenders, legal professionals, journalists, and trade unionists have been killed in relation to their work.

There has been near impunity for these killings, with only one conviction for the killing of a drug suspect in a police operation since mid-2016, the report stated. Witnesses, family members, journalists, and lawyers interviewed by the UN Human Rights Office expressed fears over their safety and a sense of powerlessness in the search for justice, resulting in a situation where “the practical obstacles to accessing justice within the country are almost insurmountable.”

One black American with a record of five imprisonments is killed by a white police officer and the American people are enraged. Tens of thousands of poor Filipinos linked to drugs, many falsely, are killed by Filipino policemen and their secret operatives and the Filipino people cower in silence and resignation.

The proposed anti-terror law would make sure no protest rallies will be mounted against President Duterte’s policies, programs, and decisions, no matter if they are in violation of the Constitution or discriminatory against the Filipino people and favorable to Chinese nationals. Proponents and sponsors of the Anti-Terror Bill assure the people that it is meant to prevent the infiltration of foreign terrorists into the country and will not be used against critics and detractors of the Administration.

The apprehension of students peacefully expressing opposition to the Anti-Terror bill inside the university campus and a low-ranking government functionary doubling as a propagandist of the Administration branding the protesting students terrorists belie all the assurances of the bill’s authors and sponsors. The signing of the bill into law will totally suppress public dissent.

I go back to the placards of the Minneapolis protesters. “We’ve had enough!,” “It’s about time,” the placards say. There was a time when the Filipino people voiced the same message, though in their own native language. “Tama na, sobra na,” they shouted in indignation at the abuses of an authoritarian government. The call reverberated all over the archipelago, leading to the fall of the dictatorship. Obviously that generation of Filipinos is gone.

The present generation seems to be more focused on individual needs rather than on societal needs. It does not believe in the value of political engagement. It is convinced that the president can effectively address the country’s major issues: poverty, unemployment, income inequality, health care inadequacy, environmental degradation, civil unrest, and foreign aggression. This generation submits to the doctrine “The law is the law, it is the president’s.”

 

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a retired corporate executive, business consultant, and management professor. He has been a politicized citizen since his college days in the late 1950s.