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Nationwide round-up

Poultry sector press for halt in chicken imports

THE poultry sector has opposed the recommendation of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to continue poultry imports amid excess local supply. In an open letter addressed to Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, the United Broilers and Raisers Association (UBRA) and the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) dismissed BAI’s claim that poultry imports are minimal and will not hurt Filipino producers. “Imports are not a ‘mere threat.’ But it has caused actual damage in the last 25 years. The volume of imports need not be overwhelming to cause damage. It only takes a relatively minimal volume to move farmgate prices from profit to loss as agricultural products are commodities,” UBRA said. PCAFI President Danilo V. Fausto said Mr. Dar has not given serious attention to the difficulties experienced by the poultry industry. “Food production is the main focus of the economic managers to recover from COVID-19. But the people of the Department of Agriculture recommend the opposite in favor of foreign producers,” Mr. Fausto said.

EXCESS SUPPLY
Industry stakeholders have already called for a temporary ban on poultry imports due to excess supply as commercial buyers such as restaurant chains have been forced to close during the lockdown, prompting a drop in farm gate prices. BAI met with UBRA and PCAFI officials on May 4 to discuss meat supply. The two groups petitioned for the immediate suspension of poultry meat and products importation. BAI, however, asked the local poultry raisers to ‘self-regulate’ and limit local production, according to the two groups. “It is bizarre to think. At a time when the DA Secretary, together with the economic managers, is encouraging local production, BAI is telling a key industry to limit production in order to give space to imports,” UBRA said. In a virtual briefing on Tuesday, DA Undersecretary Ariel T. Cayanan said poultry imports will be regulated instead of imposing a temporary suspension. Mr. Cayanan added that additional guidelines will be imposed by the government on the approval and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances on meat commodities. Philippine poultry imports for 2020 is seen to increase 13% to 390,000 metric tons (MT), according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture–Foreign Agricultural Services. As of May 25, the inventory of dressed chicken in accredited cold storages was at 89,601 MT, according to a report from the National Meat Inspection Service. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Cash aid 2nd tranche distribution starts next week


THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will start distributing next week the second tranche of the government’s cash aid program for poor households who have been affected by the lockdown to contain the coronavirus spread. In a briefing on Tuesday, Palace Spokesperson Harry L. Roque said beneficiaries can expect faster distribution in the second round. “It will take them two days to distribute electronically and the rest with the assistance of the Armed Forces,” he said. In a separate briefing, DSWD Undersecretary Rene Glen Paje said they are currently just doing “finishing touches” on the first tranche distribution. Meanwhile, Mr. Roque said the administration is still assessing if there will be enough funds for an additional round of distribution specifically for jeepney drivers who have been banned from operating since the start of the lockdown in mid-March. He added that the government plans to provide alternative livelihood to jeepney drivers in the delivery service business. — Gillian M. Cortez

DA signs deal of satellite imaging for better crop productivity

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is tapping satellite technology to help farmers increase productivity. The DA announced Monday that Secretary William D. Dar has signed an agreement with Philippine-based agro-chemical company Planters Products Inc. (PPI) and Switzerland-based Satsure AG for a project that will provide satellite imaging for 100,000 hectares of rice farms and another 40,000 hectares planted with various crops over a six-month period. “This will help in our ongoing efforts to provide our farmers with direct and targeted assistance to improve their productivity,” Mr. Dar said. The project, with an initial funding support of P5 million, will be launched in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Iloilo, and North Cotabato. Mr. Dar said the project is also intended to help the DA strengthen its disaster response, especially on risk insurance, and improve crop monitoring. “The traditional source of information which relies heavily on fieldwork will be insufficient in the country. As we modernize our agriculture sector, we must continuously explore for relevant technology to increase sufficiency and productivity,” he said. Satsure AG works on remote sensing satellites and other sensing sources to monitor agricultural crop portfolio and estimate agriculture yields. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

BoC finds 2 bonded warehouses with ‘blatant’ violations

THE Bureau of Customs (BoC) found two bonded warehouses to have “blatant and blaring” violations, with P180-million worth of unpaid duties and taxes. “Out of the 28 warehouses that we have so far inspected, 20 were found to be compliant and five were recommended for review (while) two were found to have blatant and blaring violations. If we take Mofels (Food International Corp.) as an example, we are demanding P90 million for the unliquidated goods… (and) Felmocor (Food Processing Corp.), so another P90 million,” BOC Deputy Commissioner Edward James A. Dy Buco said during a virtual hearing of the House ways and means committee. A bonded warehouse is a customs-controlled building for the retention of imported goods until the duty owed is paid. According to the BOC, there are 181 such facilities in the country. Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita B. Suansing, who presented the report of the committee’s initial findings on the import and export transactions of the selected bonded warehouses, said the liquidation documents submitted by both companies “showed many loopholes” as well as “consistent lack of information.” Ms. Suansing added that the commodities indicated in the companies’ bills of lading were sold domestically. A bill of lading is a detailed list of a shipment of goods issued by a carrier to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment. BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero said they air to complete their audit of bonded warehouses in three to four months. — Genshen L. Espedido

Sotto asks DepEd to come up with staggered tuition payment scheme

SENATE President Vicente C. Sotto III on Tuesday asked the Department of Education (DepEd) to develop an installment scheme for tuition payments in private schools in consideration of households hit hard by the lockdown. “The DepEd should come out with more flexible payment terms so students can continue to enroll for this school year,” Mr. Sotto said in a statement. “Private schools should be more accepting of proposed different payment schemes which are more affordable to parents who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) lockdown,” he said, citing government estimates that about 10 million workers could lose their jobs this year. The 2020-2021 school year for basic and primary education will open August, with academic institutions expected to implement a blended learning system to avoid physical classroom sessions. This is in compliance to the directive of President Rodrigo R. Duterte against the reopening classes in the absence of a vaccine. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

ADB says spending no basis for judging effectiveness of government response

THE size of a government’s spending package is not a reliable indicator of how effective its response is to the pandemic, an advisor to a research office run by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

Jesus Felipe, an advisor to the ADB’s Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department who oversees the bank’s COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) Policy Database, said all countries were caught unprepared when the pandemic hit and there is no absolute way to measure the “appropriate” amount that a government should spend, adding that comparisons of spending packages within the region have little validity.

“Numbers are important and numbers guide you… (but) a mistake is to start comparing the packages and think that the package of country X should be bigger just because the neighbors’ are bigger. There is absolutely no rationale for that… There is no such thing as the bigger, the better. You need to study likewise the quality of the measures,” Mr. Felipe said in an interview Friday via Zoom.

“Should the package (of a country) be twice as big as it is? I have no idea. How will you know that it is the appropriate package? The general answer is that this is not the way to evaluate the soundness of a package,” he added.

The database maintained by the ADB shows that the Philippine government’s pandemic response package is the sixth-largest in Southeast Asia and fifth-smallest relative to population.

According to the ADB’s COVID-19 Policy Database, the Philippine package was $20.078 billion as of June 1 from $19.8 billion in mid-May, after additional amounts to support health-related expenses and other measures were included.

The latest total is equivalent to 5.46% of gross domestic product (GDP) and $188.26 per capita, up from 5.39% of GDP and $185 per capita previously.

The Philippine package was the sixth largest of 11 Southeast Asian countries, lagging leader Thailand’s $84.092 billion.

On a per-capita basis, the Philippines lags leader Singapore’s $9,821.42.

According to Mr. Felipe, most countries have implemented “relatively similar” policy measures to respond to the pandemic, including direct support to consumers and businesses and the use of monetary policy tools, varying only in manner of implementation and other package details.

Other large economies such as the US and Europe, he said, have unveiled huge packages, largely because they were among the hardest hit by the pandemic.

He said the Philippines “is doing a very good job” by “reacting positively” as needed, with about half of its package or $10 billion allotted for direct income support for its vulnerable population.

“Also, the central bank is actively supporting the actions of the government and this is very unique; very few countries in the world are doing it the way the Philippines is doing it. This is… going in the right direction,” he said.

Among the measures the government has rolled out so far are a P200-billion cash aid program to workers in the informal sector, a P51-billion wage subsidy program, a P120-billion loan guarantee program, regulatory relief and deferment of tax payments.

Mr. Felipe said governments, in general, should not worry too much about fiscal deficits but instead focus on addressing the health of the private sector in a sinking economy.

“I think (it) is absolutely crucial to ask how you want your private sector to be at the end of the pandemic, because the fragility of the private sector tends to be a very good proxy for a crisis. I would advise policymakers to be much less concerned with the fiscal deficit,” he said.

The Philippine government is projecting a budget deficit this year of between 8.4% and 9% of GDP amid deteriorating state revenue and higher pandemic expenses. — Beatrice M. Laforga

House bill to propose pooling of resources by farmers’ cooperatives

REPRESENTATIVE Geraldine B. Roman of Bataan’s First District has filed a bill seeking to organize farmers’ associations in “clusters” to encourage the pooling of resources that will reduce production costs and enable direct marketing, leading to potentially higher farm incomes.

House Bill (HB) No. 6761 which if passed will become known as the Bataan Farmer Coopetition Act, encourages farmer associations to engage in “cooperative competition” to help them achieve scale and capture more of the value-added from their produce.

The so-called “coopetition” hubs provide a venue for produce sourcing by major buyers like the government and the retailers, cutting out the middleman.

The hubs open up the possibility of direct marketing for rice and related products to retailers and consumers; manufacturing of rice products by farmers; and shared rice processing and storage facilities.

“We are an agricultural country with a population of over 100 million of which about 10 million — or 24% of the total national employment — are rice farmers. Sadly, over 34% of our rice farmers are poor. They struggle to make less than P200 a day,” Ms. Roman said.

She said HB 6761 will require cooperation among associations in managing multi-purpose hubs suitably equipped to help farmers capture more value from their harvest.

“At present, the government extends farming assistance such as machinery, loans, and training through competing farmer organizations, but farmlands are underutilized because not every farmer organization receives government farming assistance,” Ms. Roman said.

Ms. Roman said the bill will make possible the wider availability of pooled farming resources, increase utilization of farmland, expand rice production, lower dependence on rice imports, and help achieve food security.

On June 4, the Department of Agriculture said it will offer incentives and assistance programs to farmers consolidating their farms in order to increase their harvest and lower costs.

“Farmer organizations should undertake marketing functions in order to minimize inefficiencies in the marketing system and to enable farmers to avail of better returns from their produce,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said.

Ms. Roman added that Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, and Vietnam have adopted such practices successfully. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Rural power co-ops dispute NGCP estimates of consumer charges

RURAL electricity cooperatives disputed claims by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) that their charges to rural consumers account for a third of all power bills.

Over the weekend, the NGCP noted that its transmission charges are only 4% of an electricity consumer’s bill, while generation charges collected by power plant operators amount to 44%, and the distribution charges make up around 33%.

Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca) said the distribution charges of power utilities in the countryside do not make up a third of their customers’ bills.

“There were no instances where the distribution charge of electric cooperatives would reach 33.49% of the effective power rate of the DU (distribution utility),” Philreca Executive Director Janeene D. Colingan said in a statement late Monday.

Ms. Colingan said the share of electric cooperatives’ distribution charges for every peso paid by their customers in their bills amounts to a little over P0.10 or around 10% of the total.

Ms. Colingan said for a cooperative which charges its customers P9.41 per kWh, 11% of the total bill is for the utility’s distribution services, while 16% is for transmission charges.

The NGCP report on electricity bill components is based on a billing statement of a residential customer of a large electricity distributor, “and is not referring to the case of the electric cooperatives,” she said.

The pass-through components in electricity bills, such as generation and transmission dues, which are paid for by consumers, are not remitted to power utilities. Generation charges are for power generators supplying electricity, while the transmission charges go to the NGCP. — Adam J. Ang

PHL awaiting Mexico response on preparations for FTA

THE Philippines has proposed an agenda for talks with Mexico to form a joint economic commission ahead of a possible free trade agreement (FTA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

“We normally start with a joint economic commission. This is more of a collaborative and partnership-based discussions… as we move forward towards a negotiation-based discussion,” Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said in a webinar Tuesday.

He said that the DTI is waiting for Mexico’s response to the Philippines’ proposed draft of the platform to expand bilateral trade and investment.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said he has proposed to the trade minister in Mexico talks for a potential free trade agreement.

“Hopefully we can start to explore the bilateral discussion and a potential FTA with Mexico, recognizing also that Mexico historically has been a strong trading partner of the Philippines.”

Mr. Lopez also said that the Philippines is still committed to a possible FTA with the US.

“However, we also depend on the timing I guess and the moves from the US side. Hopefully, from what we understood, the USTR (United States Trade Representative) will have to have approval from the US Congress and I think that is what we’re just waiting for. But from the Philippine side, we are ready to continue the discussion.”

Mr. Lopez in January said that negotiations for an FTA with the US could be hampered by the mood in the US Congress after Malacañang threatened to withdraw from the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

The Department of Foreign Affairs on June 1 sent a letter to Washington saying that the Philippines is suspending the termination of the agreement.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel G. Romualdez in the webinar called this a positive development.

“It demonstrates what the alliance means for the Philippines and the United States. The VFA is a critical aspect of our relationship and will play a key role in the security of our nation especially at the time of the pandemic and growing uncertainty in the regional and global area.” — Jenina P. Ibañez

Quarantine is terrible, but it works

By Mark Buchanan

IN MARCH, many governments around the world imposed strict controls on human meetings and movement — “lockdowns” — to slow the spread of coronavirus. The pandemic’s curves were soon “flattened,” sparing health services from being overrun. Now, in China, Europe, the US, and elsewhere, authorities are cautiously relaxing the rules. Lockdowns have been costly, but they helped us avoid a far worse catastrophe.

Yet our very success — tenuous as it is — has suddenly stirred contrarian voices, with some pondering the possibility that the lockdowns may not have had much effect. Statistician William Briggs insists that “there’s no evidence the lockdown made a difference,” noting that the virus waned even in some nations — Taiwan, for example — that did not go into lockdown. An article in a right-wing British newspaper insists that there’s not even a “shred of real proof” the lockdown did any good.

None of this should be taken seriously. The position flies in the face of overwhelming evidence, and accepting it requires the commission of a litany of basic errors in reasoning.

To begin with, Briggs relies on a terrible statistical argument, citing the lack of a strong correlation between the number of coronavirus deaths in a nation and its imposition of a lockdown policy. The UK imposed a lockdown yet has still had the second-highest death rate per capita of any nation. No-lockdown Taiwan, in contrast, had very few deaths. On a graph of lockdown or no lockdown versus epidemic outcome, there’s no clear pattern, so Briggs thinks: “What can we conclude? Only one thing: We cannot conclude that lockdowns worked.”

Yes — if we only consider this kind of misguided statistical comparison. We shouldn’t expect any clear correlation, because we know that lots of other factors matter besides lockdown or no lockdown, including the timing of the lockdown and the presence (or absence) of an effective public-health service to carry out testing, contact tracing, and quarantining of the infected.

Take timing. Of countries taking similar measures, those that acted earlier were more successful in containing the epidemic. New Zealand, instituting lockdown when it had only 102 cases, has had 22 deaths. On March 16, the UK had 3,000 confirmed cases yet delayed lockdown for another week. This one-week delay, a recent study in pre-print estimates, caused roughly 28,000 further, avoidable deaths. Not really surprising, as the number of infected was doubling every three to four days at the time.

If lockdowns were effective, why did some nations without lockdowns have very few deaths? Obviously lockdown isn’t the only way to fight the spread of an epidemic. Some nations didn’t lock down because they didn’t need to. South Korea, Hong Kong, and Canada each had very-well-developed infrastructure for aggressive testing, tracing, and quarantining. They applied more precise anti-epidemic tools than others did.

If lockdown didn’t make any difference, then why, in all the nations imposing lockdowns, did the growth rate of the epidemic soon show marked reductions? Take China, the US, the UK, Spain, France, Italy — each shows the same pattern of sharp change in growth rate soon after lockdown. Is this just a weird coincidence?

There is one conceivable alternative explanation: that the epidemic slowed everywhere as enough people became infected and populations reached herd immunity. Exponential growth of a new epidemic does normally slow when so many get infected that the virus has a harder time finding new uninfected targets. But the evidence weighs heavily against this idea. Estimates in Spain and France find about 5% of their populations may have been infected by early May. The number is similar for the UKoverall, rising to perhaps 15% in London. This isn’t close to herd immunity, with almost everyone in the population remaining susceptible.

Aside from all this evidence, it’s also just very hard to imagine how a lockdown, which greatly reduces the frequency of human contact, could possibly fail to have an impact on the spread of an infectious agent. This is epidemiology in another universe. Indeed, scientists have clearly seen the effects of lockdown on this year’s flu in Northern Hemisphere countries. In January, we had expected this year to be among the worst flu seasons in several decades. But the number of flu infections dropped sharply in April, not long after COVID-19 lockdowns were imposed. Another weird coincidence?

It is hard to understand the motivation for “lockdowns had no effect” thinking. Of course lockdown is unpleasant. It has been socially and economically costly. But it never had any effect? That’s about as plausible as COVID-19 being caused by 5G microwave signals.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Socially responsible partnership

Last week I saw a video circulating on Facebook of a bicycle shop owner giving a teary-eyed street vendor his dream bicycle after noticing that the man had been coming into the shop week after week just to ask about it. Last month, I read about a public-private sector initiative called Taskforce T3 that’s working with hospital groups to increase the country’s much needed COVID-19 testing capacity. A few months ago, there was also Project Ugnayan, a partnership of the country’s biggest businesses that raised over P1.7 billion to give grocery vouchers to millions of poor Filipino families affected by the lockdown. At the beginning of the lockdown, several public utility companies, like Meralco, also announced that they would continue to provide their services while also extending payment deadlines to help affected users.

These stories remind us that there are a lot of businesses out there, both big and small, that aren’t just about making a profit, but that are also committed to being truly socially responsible. It is companies like these that have the spirit of social responsibility that can serve as reliable partners of the government in responding to the pandemic and beyond. This is something important for the government to keep in mind now that it looks to jumpstart the nation’s economy with a renewed focus on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), an arrangement that involves government and businesses working together and sharing the risks of completing a project or providing a service.

If you recall, President Rodrigo Duterte had originally moved away from the PPP program at the beginning of his term, deciding instead to fund infrastructure development through the national budget and loans from countries like China and Japan. However, due to the economic impact of the pandemic, the administration seems to have reconsidered its position and has increased the number of PPP-funded projects to beef-up its PH PROGRESO recovery program.

Unsurprisingly, the newfound openness of the government towards PPPs was welcomed by the participants of a recent roundtable discussion organized by Stratbase-ADR Institute. Speaking at the event, Prof. Dindo Manhit, President of Stratbase ADR Institute said, “By harnessing the private sector’s support to invest in public infrastructure across the country, our government can appropriately revise and sustain the BBB (Build, Build, Build) program with due consideration to public health, education and social services.”

Rep. Edgard Mary Sarmiento, who was there to share his insight as Chairperson of the House Committee on Transportation, said he believed in the power of the private sector to boost the Philippine economy and cited recent PPP projects such as the Cavite Barge Terminal of ICTSI, the LRT line 1 extension of Ayala and Metro Pacific, and CALAX of MPIC Tollways as examples of private companies working “hand in hand” with the Transportation and Public Works departments to deliver better infrastructure to the people.

Senator Grace Poe, who also participated in the roundtable discussion, spoke about the financial advantages of PPP projects and how these projects can free up government funds to spend on health care and poverty alleviation projects. However, Senator Poe also pointed out the need for good governance and a competitive and stable regulatory environment that respects the sanctity of contracts and rule of law to foster public-private collaboration.

She also had comments directed squarely at the private sector, appealing to them to take on the responsibility of behaving in a socially responsible manner when entering into PPPs with the government as the reluctance or openness of government towards PPP may depend on it.

This is why, now that the government is creating new policies to usher in economic growth in our new normal, it must ensure that a stable and competitive policy environment is created. This policy environment will be key in attracting the right kind of investors.

After all, it is not always easy to do the right thing. For example, the move of public utilities to continue providing services during the three-month lockdown without collecting any fees was indeed a socially responsible thing for them to do. In the case of Meralco, they’ve even decided to stagger the payment of unpaid dues during the lockdown into four equal monthly instalments to ease the burden on consumers. Despite its efforts, however, companies like Meralco, will likely still be criticized moving forward, simply because people just aren’t used to getting two bills from the same utility in a single month.

Doing the right thing is not always easy. This is why it is important to attract the right kind of investors and for the government to only partner with socially responsible organizations, ones that are out to serve not only their shareholders but the Filipino people as well.

 

Paco A. Pangalangan is the Executive Director of Stratbase ADR Institute.

Hydroxychloroquine farce has tragic consequences

By Lionel Laurent

“FOLLOW THE SCIENCE” — these are reassuring words in a pandemic like COVID-19, when widespread fear of a deadly virus can be exploited by unscrupulous politicians, snake-oil salesmen and cranks. Public trust in scientists has risen recently.

But we may be hitting the limits of this trust, just as many countries enter the crucial phase of reopening their economies with a raft of new social-distancing measures meant to ward off a second wave of infections. We’ve seen several confusing U-turns and unresolved debates on issues such as the effectiveness of cloth masks or the risks of reopening schools. Faith in authority is ebbing globally, even in high-trust countries like Sweden, where a famously hands-off approach to lockdown is spreading ripples of doubt. And now the messy rush to find a treatment that works — even if it means throwing long-standing scientific standards out of the window — is veering from farce to tragedy.

Last week, highly respected and peer-reviewed journal The Lancet retracted a bombshell study that suggested hydroxychloroquine, a contested potential treatment for COVID-19, was linked to an increased risk of death and heart ailments. The sheer scale of the retrospective analysis, drawn from more than 96,000 patients in 671 hospitals, had been enough to convince institutions running several global trials of the drug (including the World Health Organization) to slam on the brakes. Only afterward did odd inconsistencies in the data, such as an inflated number of victims in Australia, lead to questions about how exactly its provider, Surgisphere Corp., had compiled it. A lack of convincing answers — flagged by the paper’s own co-authors — led to the retraction. Other studies in other journals have subsequently been retracted.

This kind of embarrassment is nothing new, even for The Lancet, which in 2010 retracted a paper linking autism to vaccines — 12 years after it was first published. We should be thankful this case was dealt with quickly.

But the damage can’t be undone. Yet more precious time studying potential treatments for COVID-19 has been lost, and the retraction played into the hands of conspiracy theorists who promote the unsubstantiated idea that special interests want hydroxychloroquine, a generic drug, out of the running. (The drug’s top supporter, French scientist Didier Raoult, used the hashtag “#LancetGate” on social media.) Surgisphere has defended its approach to consolidating medical records using artificial intelligence and machine learning, according to Bloomberg News, and says it’s not responsible for the source data.

This is a wake-up call for how the public, the media, and the scientific community evaluate research, even the gold standard of peer-reviewed papers. In theory, it should be hard to game the system that underpins journals, which ask relevant experts to confidentially review papers ahead of publication. But, in practice, there are problems. Over the years, researchers have pointed to a lack of consistency and objectivity in responses by peers; a 2012 study found that when papers have been retracted there was often some kind of misconduct involved, including suspected or confirmed fraud. The lack of credit and scientific glory involved in reviewing a paper, along with the knowledge that other people will analyze the study too, might be hurting the quality of gate-keeping.

Whatever flaws already existed in scientific research have been supercharged by the pandemic. Hurried trials have sacrificed rigor for speed, and there has been a “rush to publish” the results in scientific journals, according to Jeffrey Aronson, clinical pharmacologist at the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University. In the case of hydroxychloroquine, the bias toward getting any kind of information out has led to hastily drawn conclusions on both its effectiveness and its dangers in treating COVID-19. That’s meant that the political and social-media fights over the drug have preceded clear results.

This has done sufferers of COVID-19 no favors: While the peak of the novel coronavirus outbreak has come and gone across most of Asia and Europe, major trials have been repeatedly delayed as exaggerated hype and conflicting studies make enrolling patients harder. We still don’t know how decisive a new UK study from Oxford published on Friday, finding that hydroxychloroquine offered no benefit, will be.

More caution, more rigor and more tightening of the peer-review system would be positive consequences of this debacle. But so much time has been lost already. The danger now is that if a severe flare-up in infections were to strike, we would still lack clear evidence of any existing, cheap treatment — and we would also have frittered away the public trust needed to successfully impose measures such as lockdowns or quarantines. “Follow the science” won’t be an effective rallying cry much longer.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

The new normal workplace

The COVID-19 global pandemic has not only struck people’s health, but also the economy, particularly the labor and employment sector. Based on reports by the International Labor Organization (ILO), COVID-19 is currently having a catastrophic effect globally on working hours and earnings. In the Asia Pacific region alone, the crisis is expected to wipe-out almost 125 million full-time employment or 7.2% of the workforce in the region.*

Locally, to avert economic collapse, the Philippine Government is trying its best to cope with the rigors of the pandemic. After having been placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) for more than two months, Metro Manila, the economic and political capital of the country, has now been placed under a less strict scheme of General Community Quarantine (GCQ) effective June 1 until June 15, unless otherwise extended.**

With the GCQ in place in Metro Manila and other regions, more industries and business enterprises are allowed to operate subject to compliance with strict health protocols. The Interim Guidelines on Workplace Prevention and Control of COVID-19 by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), require both workers and employers to abide by mandatory precautionary measures.

The DTI and DoLE Interim Guidelines have set minimum requirements for entry in all work premises: 1.) mandatory wearing of masks; 2.) accomplishment of daily health questionnaires; and, 3.) mandatory submission to temperature checks — where entry shall be allowed only for those with temperature of less than 37.5 degrees centigrade.*** Employers are likewise obliged to provide necessary company policies and resources for the prevention and control of COVID-19, which costs shall be borne by the employer.**** Monthly reporting of illness, diseases, and injuries by utilizing the DoLE Work Accident/Illness Report Form (WAIR) was also emphasized to be mandatory.****

On the other hand, the Department of Health (DoH), through its Interim Guidelines on Return-to-Work, has also reminded employers that all returning employees must be screened for symptoms of COVID-19. The DoH has provided for an action guide to aid in the screening of employees. In line with this, employers are further given the option to conduct testing in a representative sample.*****

As a consequence of returning to work, the question of whether an employer may initiate COVID-19 testing of its employees becomes relevant. The DoH Interim Guidelines state that employers may test workers for COVID-19, provided that testing kits used and procured shall be the responsibility of the employer.***** However, in no case shall testing be a condition for returning to work.******

Apart from precautionary protocols, the DoLE has introduced measures on how to deal with decreasing total working hours and earnings. Alternative Work Schemes or Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) are emphasized and encouraged. The more recent DoLE Labor Advisory No. 17 provided for better FWA options. On top of it, employers are now given the opportunity to enter into a Wage and Wage-related Benefits Adjustment Agreement with their employees that is temporary in nature.*******

Government agencies continue to formulate rules and policies relative to COVID-19 prevention and control. Labor policies continue to adapt to changing environmental circumstances, with the end view of helping everyone in the industry. From the words of Guy Ryder, Director General of ILO, it is believed that “this is the greatest test for international cooperation in more than 75 years.” Hence, all must collaborate and do their respective roles to help the nation overcome the pandemic. May all work together and abide by state protocols and rules as the Philippines shifts to and deals, probably for years, with the so called “New Normal.”

* International Labor Organization (Geneva): COVID-19 and the world of work. 2nd Edition

** Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 41

*** Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Labor and Employment Guidelines on Workplace Prevention and Control of COVID-19

**** Department of Labor and Employment Labor Advisory No. 18 Series of 2020

***** Department of Health Memorandum Circular 2020-0220: Interim Guidelines on Return-to-Work

****** Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 37: Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines

******* Department of Labor and Employment Labor Advisory No. 17 Series of 2020

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. This article is for general informational and educational purposes, and not offered as, and does not constitute, legal advice or legal opinion.

 

Agatha Josephine V. Matabuena is an Associate of the Labor and Employment Department of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW).

avmatabuena@accralaw.com

(632) 8830-8000

PBA hopeful of favorable IATF response to request for return

THE PHILIPPINE Basketball Association said on Tuesday that it is hopeful of getting a favorable response from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to the league’s request to resume some activities amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Speaking to members of the Philippine Sportswriters Association in yesterday’s PSA online forum, PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and his deputy and operations head Eric Castro said the league office had already sent its request to the IATF, the lead agency tasked to handle measures against COVID-19 and its effects, for the league to be allowed to squeeze in some activities, particularly for teams to be given the nod to have practices for conditioning.

Along with the request is the set of protocols the PBA has crafted to ensure proper health and safety measures are observed. The league said in coming up with the return rules it was guided by protocols set by concerned governing agencies, including those from health and sports.

Mr. Marcial reiterated that the league’s return to action all begins with IATF giving the thumbs-up for the PBA’s proposal for a phased-in resumption of activities.

“It all depends on the IATF. We have sent our letter of request to IATF and we’re just waiting for the response,” said the PBA chief, who held a meeting with the league board last week to discuss further moves they plan to take amid the pandemic.

“We’ll just wait for the response and see after. If even practices are not allowed, basketball may not push through at all. So, we’ll see,” he added, just as he said that they are willing to revise their proposal if the IATF sees the need for them to do so.

Mr. Marcial also shared the pandemic has surely affected the league in more ways than one, including financially as it has deprived them of income from gate receipts, TV broadcast and sponsorship, among others.

Nonetheless, they are hopeful of getting back to the stream and flowing anew. “Besides earning once again we want to come back to give fans hope. Maybe when they see the PBA back they can feel things are on the way of being okay. I’m sure they miss basketball a lot,” he said.

The PSA online forum was presented by San Miguel Corp., the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, Go For Gold, and powered by Smart. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Warriors unsure if Klay Thompson is fully healthy

ONE WEEK shy of a year after Klay Thompson tore his left anterior cruciate ligament, the Golden State Warriors remain uncertain about whether he is fully healthy.

Golden State general manager Bob Myers addressed Thompson’s status Monday in a conference call with reporters.

“I think we’ve got to take a look at him when we see him. There’s different versions of 100 percent,” Myers said. “One-hundred percent for you or me with being able to walk around the street, that’s not 100 percent for a basketball player playing basketball.

“Until we kind of test him and see him, and start him in one-on-one and two-on-two work — the pandemic hasn’t allowed him that opportunity to do those type of things — there’s no rush, clearly.”

The latter comment is a reference to the fact that the Warriors’ season is over. Golden State is one of eight NBA teams that will not return to action when play resumes this summer at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.

When the league suspended the season on March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Warriors owned the NBA’s worst record at 15-50. Their season was ruined by the absence of their backcourt stars, Thompson, who was hurt in the last game of the 2019 NBA Finals, and Stephen Curry, who played in just five of the teams’ 65 games due to a broken left hand.

Thompson exited Game 6 of the Finals against the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter due to the knee injury. He still wound up as the game’s high scorer with 30 points.

According to multiple media reports, Thompson did much of his recent rehab work at his Southern California home. He was back in Northern California on Wednesday, when he and Warriors teammates Curry, Damion Lee and Kevon Looney took part in a protest walk in Oakland, California, organized by another Golden State player, Juan Toscano-Anderson.

The rally was one of many held worldwide in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.

Thompson walked the full three-plus-mile path around Lake Merritt and didn’t appear to be in pain or discomfort, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“As far as I’ve heard, he’s been recovering fine,” Myers said. “There hasn’t been a setback. But one thing that has been a little difficult the last couple of months has been our ability to see those things as much as you might normally would.”

Thompson, 30, is a three-time NBA champion and five-time All-Star. He owns career averages of 19.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

REPLACEMENT PLAYERS
Meanwhile, NBA teams will be permitted to carry replacement players who can be added to the active roster in the event of a positive COVID-19 test, ESPN reported.

If a player on the roster tests positive for the coronavirus, they will be quarantined and teammates will be tested.

To fill the vacant roster spot of the player testing positive, a “replacement player” can be called up.

Players on two-way contracts would also be eligible to join the active roster if a team loses a player to injury.

Those rules are yet to be fully approved as the NBA modifies protocol and roster management regulation when the season resumes July 31. — Reuters

URCC ready to go anew when given the thumbs-up

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

ITS EVENTS temporarily halted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) said it remains committed to what it does and expressed readiness to get back into action once conditions permit it to do so.

Founded in 2002 by martial artist Alvin Aguilar, the URCC has been credited largely by many for furthering the growth of mixed martial arts in the country and in Southeast Asia as well as paving the way for many Filipino fighters to establish solid careers not only in the promotion but also in other groups abroad.

Like many sports organizations in the country, the URCC said it laments COVID-19 putting everything to a halt, but it recognizes the seriousness of the situation with the pandemic and is willing to wait it out to ensure the safety and health of every stakeholder.

“As soon as everything, all the guidelines are in and we’re allowed to have major events, we’re all go. As long as everyone’s safe, I don’t want to be responsible for getting people [sick] or [having people] spreading this disease … I don’t want to be known as that promotion,” said Mr. Aguilar, who was the first guest in the inaugural episode of Tiebreaker Vods’ The Hit List on Sunday.

The URCC was scheduled to hold an event in April but was forced to put it on hold as COVID-19 became a going concern and the government came out with mitigating measures to help stop the spread of the virus, including prohibiting mass gatherings like sporting events.

It is looking at resuming activities sometime in September where it hopes the situation would be far better as far as the COVID-19 situation is concerned.

Also in the podcast, Mr. Aguilar talked about how far the MMA in the country, and the URCC as an organization, has gone, something they intend to take further moving forward.

“I knew eventually it would pick up and everybody would start accepting it, but when I first did the event I was expecting you know… five hundred people to show up and five thousand people showed up and that was the start of MMA history here in Southeast Asia,” said Mr. Aguilar, referring to the “URCC 1: Mayhem in Manila” in November 2002.

The URCC founder went on to share that early on they had to debunk a lot of misconceptions about the sport, including it being “brutal” and “gruesome,” and had to convince people of MMA’s value both as a sport and entertainment fare.

Mr. Aguilar said nearly two decades into URCC’s existence they are not done seeing their mission and vision through.

“To tell you honestly, I’m not where I want to be in terms of goals yet. So when we say [we] made it, I have a different made it because I have a long, long game plan. So I have a game plan that no other country would be doing,” Mr. Aguilar said.

Among the things they still want to achieve are shoring up the amateur side of MMA here and taking the sport nationwide once again. These involve helping athletes develop their game with the end view of making them “world-class.”

“So in terms of [having] made it, not yet. We haven’t made it yet but we’ll get there and I’ll tell you right away you’ll see,” Mr. Aguilar said.

Moving forward, the URCC official said fans should expect continuing to see quality action from the promotion.

“I can’t wait to see you [fans] guys again watching all the fights. Don’t worry, we are not going anywhere, we are always going to be here. We’re always going to be a staple in our country and elsewhere. We’re always going to be a staple here, show you the best fights, the most exciting MMA promotion in Asia; real fights,” Mr. Aguilar said.

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