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From lockdown to unlocking growth: Investment and optimism paving way to a better normal

THE RAPID SPREAD of coronavirus resulted in a global lockdown that is still in effect today. The United Nations (UN) has forecast that global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows may decrease by up to 40% in 2020, which could have a severe impact on developing economies such as the Philippines.

But as we approach the end of a tumultuous year, we are grateful for many reasons in the Philippines, not least for the continued optimism and investment in our country that is enabling us to not only survive, but also positioning us to thrive in 2021.

From April this year, the Philippine government’s Board of Investments (BoI), in cooperation with our partner the UK government, set about promoting our country’s stimulus package to both domestic and foreign-owned companies based in the Philippines that have been affected by the virus. The campaign’s success speaks for itself — in a matter of months we’ve seen a 138% increase in company support, and a 405% increase in business engagements on specific channels.

Building upon our strong economic foundations, the Philippines firmly remains an attractive destination to do business, considered one of the top emerging economies for companies looking to expand in Asia by the likes of The Economist. Multilaterals including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund forecast a V-shaped recovery in our immediate future, with the Asian Development Bank anticipating a rebound of as much as 6.5% for the Philippines in the year ahead. Inclusive growth is being realized as further government stimulus measures are implemented and structural reforms take effect.

FDI plays an essential role in the strength of the Philippines’ economy, increasing by 40% in the three-year period to 2019. Our growth to date has been driven by our capacity and capability in leading sectors, including electronics manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, information technology (IT), and health. The Philippines already attracts a host of leading international businesses such as Siemens AG, Dyson, Mitsubishi, and Lufthansa Technik, all of which are established in the market.

There is reason for a positive outlook here as well, with foreign investment inflows rising for the third consecutive month of 2020. Philippine FDIs are projected to reach $7 billion in 2021.

This is made possible by our market’s competitive advantages and specifically cited by most locators, such as a highly skilled workforce, highly educated English-speaking people, an abundance of natural resources, and a growing domestic market, as well as our strategic geolocation in the heart of Southeast Asia. Rapid development of IT parks and economic zones in the Philippines and its focus on sustainable economic development through infrastructure are also key strengths.

But there is another perhaps less-known factor in the Philippines growth story, and one that is innate to our culture and our people: optimism.

It is why, with the aid of our UK government partner, we are proud to launch the Philippines’ first sustained multi-sector, multi-market investment brand — “Make It Happen in the Philippines.”

Specifically designed and developed to generate foreign investment leads, the new brand encapsulates the spirit of our country, our workforce, and our success, plus our “make it work” mindset that makes us a unique and attractive investment landscape in the ASEAN region for foreign investors. There is much evidence to support our country becoming the investment choice for businesses looking to go global.

Through our spirit of “can-do” optimism, combined with investment, we are determined to create a “Better Normal” out of the pandemic, where all our countrymen will have greener jobs and better and more sustainable livelihoods in a safe and secure post-pandemic future.

As the Duterte administration is working hard towards the Philippines’ recovery against coronavirus, we are committed to continuing our country’s economic growth story. That is why we are calling on our international friends to take a closer look at how they can partner with the Philippines. They will surely see how we can ably support their business expansion plans so that they too may “Make it Happen in the Philippines.”

 

Ramon M. Lopez is the Secretary of Trade and Industry.

Incorporating public health security into the National Security Strategy

On May 16, 2018, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the Philippines’ first National Security Strategy (NSS) since it became an independent republic in 1946. The NSS provides a state’s overarching plan in addressing the country’s security in the form of guidelines for implementing the National Security Policy (NSP). It is a vital input for the integration and coordination of decisions and activities by the various government agencies involved in managing the country’s national security.

The 2018 NSS paints a pessimistic/realist picture of the country’s external environment. It notes that the Philippines has not been confronted by any direct threat of foreign aggression since the end of the Second World War. However, it warns that the current regional security environment has become increasingly uncertain and dangerous for the country. It observes that Pax America is about to end because of the geostrategic competition among the great powers in the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and the transformation of international order from a unipolar to a multipolar one. It focuses on the perils of traditional geostrategic threats — competing interests of great powers and other countries converge, that require the Philippines to chart its role in an increasingly multi-polar system.

The 2018 NSS, however, overlooked a lurking security challenge — emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). The COVID-19 pandemic is the first major and unexpected biological upheaval that has rocked the 21st century global society. Prior to the 20th century, low population densities, infectious diseases, outbreaks of epidemics and pandemics were generally rare and were primarily driven by natural disasters, inter-state wars, revolutions, and other social upheavals. However, since the end of the 20th century, as the human population has increased exponentially, the global spread of EIDS has accelerated because of economic globalization, massive urbanization, revolution in transportation and communication, decline in biodiversity, and climate change.

PUBLIC HEALTH SECURITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
As discussed during the recent Pilipinas Conference Session on responding to the emerging regional political and security environment, organized by the Stratbase ADRI Institute, health security emphasizes the need to take preventive measures to protect people from infectious diseases, distress of insufficient healthcare, and poor public infrastructure. Since the end of the Cold War, it became one of the most important areas of foreign, development and security policy in the past three decades as human security became an overarching contextual framework in several countries’ political health and foreign policy documents. This, in turn, led to the securitization of pandemics as a key feature of the global public health system. The global public health system’s goal in the late 20th and early 21st century is geared toward pandemic preparedness through health surveillance, along with emergence intervention to control epidemic outbreaks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) lies at the heart of the global system for preparedness, as a security paradigm, in securing the global community against potentially catastrophic pandemics. The WHO has been particularly influential in setting priorities for countries and regions that oriented toward preparedness. Preparedness emphasizes institutional readiness and emergency management, treating a variety of potential catastrophic threats — terrorist attacks, hurricanes, and pandemics — under the same category and rubric.

China, however, prevented the WHO from performing its role in managing the global spread of COVID-19. The Chinese government ordered a media blackout of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan City as it gave false information to the WHO about the nature of the COVID-19. It also falsely claimed that there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission. Beijing’s denial about the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan City, and the WHO’s failure to investigate the nature of the infection led to decisions that allowed hundreds of thousands of Chinese to travel abroad during the Lunar New Year. This prevented any meaningful measures to contain the virus inside China and allowed COVID-19 to ravage the global society.

INCORPORATING HEALTH SECURITY IN THE SECURITY DISCOURSE
That the Philippines is geographically close to a country that has been the source of two 21st century EIDS — China. This is further complicated by the fact that the Philippines possesses one of the most fragile public healthcare systems in East Asia. The current pandemic is a wake-up call for Filipinos to prepare themselves against future EIDs that will hit and ravage the nation in the 21st century. This will require the Philippines to develop its public health infrastructure and systems as critical strategic and security assets that require public attention, legislation, funding, and a whole-government approach. The Philippines must also ensure that the WHO should uphold its autonomy from influential and rich countries to make it better equipped in leading the global public health system against the future pandemics of the 21st century.

Hence, the next administration should incorporate public health security in the NSP, NSS, the National Defense and Military Strategies, and in the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Five-Year Development Plan. Public health security focuses on taking preventive measures to protect the nation from current and more importantly future infectious disease, insufficient healthcare, and inadequate public health infrastructure. Operationalization of public health security in terms of policy will require the securitization of EIDS, and examining how the management of infectious diseases could converge with the broader configuration of national security and economic development.

 

Dr. Renato De Castro is a trustee and convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs Program, Stratbase ADR Institute.

2020’s retail wipeouts warn of permanent pain

IT’S BEEN A TOUGH YEAR for all sorts of businesses. For clothing stores, 2020 has been extraordinarily grim.

The lockdowns in the spring took a considerable toll, of course. But even in June, as nonessential retailers were beginning to reopen their doors and, in some cases, reported upbeat signals about returning foot traffic, the worst was not over for apparel chains. In fact, it was just getting started. July and August brought a raft of failures: Lucky Brand, Brooks Brothers, and Ann Taylor’s parent company filed for bankruptcy; so did New York & Co.’s corporate parent as well as the storied department store Lord & Taylor, which soon resulted in those two chains liquidating. The pain continues: Francesca’s, a women’s clothier with 558 stores, filed for bankruptcy this month.

The 10 largest public US companies that are either clothing retailers or department stores will collectively have $38 billion of revenue wiped out this year, a hole that amounts to 23% of their collective 2019 sales, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Commerce Department figures show clothing-store sales through November were down 28.5% from a year earlier, the worst decline of any retailing segment, including restaurants.

Consumers won’t be holed up at home in sweatpants forever. Whenever America is able to stop social distancing, demand for clothes will improve. Yet the effects of this damaging year will be long-lasting.

Old-school malls and clothing retailers are highly dependent on each other, and each has felt the other’s pain. The goods offered by apparel stores haven’t been in high demand amid stay-at-home living, which has hurt foot traffic to these centers. And the enclosed mall format does not, in a pandemic, hold the safety appeal of e-commerce or outdoor shopping centers, which has kept a lid on the number of people willing to stop in and browse.

The result is a shopping ecosystem that is becoming even more fragile after years of erosion amid the rise in online buying. On a single day in November, two large mall-owning real estate investment trusts — Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. — filed for bankruptcy. They were struggling after tenants such as J.C. Penney Co. themselves filed for protection from creditors and closed stores. While other mall operators with more upscale centers have some advantages in weathering the pandemic, they still face significant challenges. According to a recent report from S&P Global Intelligence, several other mall REITs have similar, and in some cases even worse, traffic declines than those that fell into bankruptcy. And they, too, have an unfavorable proportion of total tenants in bankruptcy.

Surviving mall-based retail chains might pick up some market share and have a stronger hand in lease negotiations with landlords. That said, it is undesirable to be a tenant in a space that is dotted with empty storefronts, and with more carnage likely on the way. Jay Sole, a UBS retail analyst, wrote in a December research note that poor holiday sales could lead to a wave of store closings and liquidations among apparel and accessories sellers in the first quarter of 2021.

Even for the clothing retailers that make it through the worst of the public-health crisis, I worry some will continue to have problems because of the ways American consumers have retrained themselves during the pandemic. Target Corp., for instance, recorded a 10% increase in comparable sales from a year earlier in its apparel business in the latest quarter. That almost certainly represents the big-box giant taking market share from the likes of Macy’s, Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. as customers aim to do one-stop shopping to reduce potential exposure to the coronavirus. I suspect some of the people that started buying clothes at Target — which has a reliably trendy lineup of private brands — are not going to go back to their old haunts.

While the distribution of a vaccine promises to bring back some normalcy, I predict some chains will continue to suffer because many shoppers’ wardrobe needs have changed permanently. Demand for sparkly dresses, leather pants, and beach caftans will return as soon as proms, first dates, and vacations do. But office attire probably won’t make much of a comeback. Working from home will be a more widespread practice among white-collar office workers, reducing demand for this type of attire. This change will clearly be painful for a chain such as Banana Republic, which had a 30% plunge in comparable sales in the latest quarter. The Gap, Inc.-owned chain is doing the right thing by shifting its assortment toward sweatshirts and jogger pants, but it will be difficult for it to compete with the likes of Nike, Inc. or Lululemon Athletica, Inc., who have years of brand loyalty built up in the categories.

When you look back on your sartorial choices in 2020, you’ll probably remember it as the Year of Sweatpants. When the retail industry looks back on this time, they’ll see a turning point for the clothing sector, a year when the unfortunate fates of troubled chains and malls were sealed, even if it wasn’t the year they actually fell.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

The proposed Internet Transactions Act and the uncertainties in online retail

Online retail and other e-commerce services are now a mainstay of Philippine commerce. The exponential rise and consequent prevalence of online purchases are partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns that have constrained the everyday consumer to stay at home. This holiday season, Shopee, an e-commerce platform, reported that its “12.12” Christmas sale broke records with around 12 million products sold in the first 24 minutes of the sale.

The growth in e-commerce transactions, however, also resulted in the apparent need for government regulation. In November, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported that “the country’s two biggest online shopping applications have been recorded as having the most number of transaction complaints.”

On Nov. 24, the House of Representatives approved on its final reading House Bill No. 7805 or the Internet Transactions Act (ITA) which seeks to “ensure an effective regulation of commercial activities through the internet” in the promotion of consumer and intellectual property rights, data privacy, fair advertising, and competition. It is interesting to note that, in interpreting its provisions, the ITA commands that e-commerce activities should be equally treated as offline transactions.

Among the salient provisions of the ITA is the provision on extra-territorial application, wherein a person engaged in e-commerce who “purposefully avails of the Philippine market” shall be deemed as doing business in the country. The “accessibility of goods and services to consumers in the Philippines” is considered for this purpose. This new presumption appears to modify the present criteria for the determination of “doing business” in the Philippines under jurisprudence and the Foreign Investments Act of 1991, which generally requires the implication of “continuity of commercial dealings” and the performance of acts “normally incident to and in progressive prosecution of the purpose and object” of the entity.

Foreign entities covered by the ITA that do not have any real or legal presence in the country are required to notify the eCommerce Bureau, a new body created under the ITA, for their inclusion in the Registry of Online Business or may designate a resident agent to receive notices on their behalf. Due to the use of the conjunction “or,” it is unclear whether mere inclusion in the registry is sufficient to acquire jurisdiction over a foreign entity in the same way as in the service of process to a resident agent.

Another significant provision of the ITA is the requirement for “all individuals engaged in eCommerce” to register either as a sole proprietorship, a one-person corporation, a partnership, a corporation, or a cooperative. This appears to be a blanket requirement only limited by the coverage clause which expressly excludes consumer-to-consumer transactions or “one-off, petty, or occasional low-value transactions” that are not made in the ordinary course of business of any party. The ITA, however, does not provide as to how a transaction is deemed “petty” or “low-value,” and it appears these qualifications are left for further determination by administrative bodies. Nonregistration is penalized by a fine equivalent to 100% of the amount of goods offered or sold in addition to the confiscation of such goods.

To protect and uphold consumer interest, the ITA provides for a code of conduct to which “all businesses engaged in eCommerce” must adhere to. E-commerce platform operators and merchants must also comply with a set of obligations, under pain of criminal prosecution, to ensure the fairness and safety of online transactions.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the ITA is the imposition of solidary liability upon the e-commerce platform with the online merchant in specific instances. The platform shall be liable “only to the extent of civil damages suffered by the consumer as a direct result of the transaction.” One of these instances is when the customer’s loss or damage is the result of the platform’s failure to exercise ordinary diligence in complying with its own obligations under the ITA which, as noted, is also deemed a criminal offense. It appears that the legislative intent is for the e-commerce platform to bear much of the onus of legal compliance. The ITA, however, grants the platform reasonable defenses against solidary liability as when it has relied on the online merchant’s representations and warranties on the latter’s compliance with the law.

There is indeed a need to protect consumer rights in online transactions, and this concern will likely be held paramount as the ITA hurdles the Senate, where, as of the time of writing, two other bills also covering the same subject remain pending. The Legislature must be cautious, however, so that the rights of the other stakeholders — the e-commerce platform, the merchant, and even the courier — are likewise amply upheld considering that the greatest uncertainty caused by the ITA is whether it will result in overregulation and stifle growth. 

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not offered and does not constitute legal advice or legal opinion.

 

Michael Ryan Natividad is an Associate of the Corporate and Special Projects Department (CSPD) of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices or ACCRALAW.

(632) 8830-8000

mrnatividad@accralaw.com

NBA’s 72-game season unfolds; playoff play-in tourney in effect

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

A BRAND-NEW season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is upon us; a modified version to adapt to the prevailing conditions with the coronavirus pandemic.

Unlike the customary season that features 82 regular season games, the 2020-21 edition of The Association will have a 72-game slate for each team. A playoff play-in tournament to determine the teams that will fill the seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference will also be implemented.

As per the structure and format for the about-to-start season of the NBA shared to members of the media, each team will play three games against each opponent in its conference (42 total games per team), with each pairing featuring either two home games and one road game or one home game and two road games. Within each team’s division, the league office has randomly assigned which two opponents will be played twice at home and which two opponents will be played twice on the road.  

All five teams from within a division will play all five teams from one other intraconference division twice at home, and all five teams from the remaining intraconference division twice on the road.

Each team will play two games against each opponent in the other conference (30 total games per team), with each pairing featuring one home game and one road game.

The 2020-21 regular-season schedule is being released in two segments. The schedule for the first half of the season was released on Dec. 4. The schedule for the second half of the season will be released during the latter part of the first half portion of the schedule.

The All-Star break is scheduled to take place on March 5-10, 2021, between the first half and second half of the regular season.

Meanwhile, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved a proposal to implement a playoff play-in tournament on a one-year basis for this season.

Initially applied in the successful NBA “bubble” in Orlando, Florida, last season, the play-in tournament expands the league playoffs as it will be determining the teams which will fill the seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference.

It will take place after the regular season and before the first round of the playoffs and will include the teams with the seventh-highest through the 10th-highest winning percentages in each conference.

The teams with the seventh-highest and eighth-highest winning percentages in each conference will each have two opportunities to win one game to earn a playoff spot. The teams with the ninth-highest and 10th-highest winning percentages in each conference will each have to win two consecutive games to earn a playoff spot.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the team with the seventh-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the eighth-highest winning percentage in its conference in a Play-In Game (the “Seven-Eight Game”). The winner of the Seven-Eight Game in each conference will be the seventh seed in the playoffs for its conference.

The team with the ninth-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the 10th-highest winning percentage in its conference in a Play-In Game (the “Nine-Ten Game”). The loser of the Seven-Eight Game will host the winner of the Nine-Ten Game in a Play-In Game, and the winner of that game will be the eighth seed in the playoffs for its conference.

The NBA saw its 2019-20 hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but the league survived it, holding a bubble tournament beginning in July till October with the Los Angeles (LA) Lakers emerging as champions.

In the Philippines, NBA games are broadcast over Cignal TV – Channel 96 SD and Channel 262 HD.

The season-opener between the defending champs Lakers and cross-town rivals LA Clippers will be available on Wednesday at 11 a.m. with replay at 8 p.m.

On Dec. 24, it will be the New Orleans Pelicans versus the Toronto Raptors at 8:30 a.m., Utah Jazz against the Portland Trail Blazers at 11 a.m., and Milwaukee Bucks vs. the Boston Celtics (delayed telecast) at 1:30 p.m.

Silver admits potential NBA expansion has been addressed

NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the topic of expansion on Monday, something that he has dismissed in previous years.

Although Silver said the league’s position hasn’t changed, he was quick to admit that the NBA has studied the ramifications of expanding beyond the current 30 teams.

“I think I’ve always said that it’s sort of the manifest destiny of the league that you expand at some point,” Mr. Silver said. “I’d say it’s caused us to maybe dust off some of the analyses on the economic and competitive impacts of expansion. We’ve been putting a little bit more time into it than we were pre-pandemic, but certainly not to the point that expansion is on the front burner.”

The NBA hasn’t added an expansion team since the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) began play in 2004.

Speculation has revolved around Seattle being near top of the list, should the NBA approve another franchise. Seattle previously was home to the Supersonics, who moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and became the Thunder.

One area of concern for Mr. Silver when it comes to expansion is competition level.

“You know, we’re very appreciative of the markets that have indicated an interest in having an NBA team,” Mr. Silver said. “One of the issues for the league office, and this comes up all the time in terms of competitiveness, it’s not a secret that we don’t have 30 competitive teams at any given time right now when you go into the season, measured by likelihood of ability to win a championship.”

Each potential expansion team would need to pay a sizeable entry fee, a number that could reach well over $1 billion, and rumored to be as high as $3 billion per franchise. Those funds would then be distributed to the current 30 teams, which operated during the end of last season without paying customers in the stands. It remains unclear when arenas might be full again.

“It’s an economic issue and it’s a competitive issue for us,” Mr. Silver said. “So, it’s one that we’ll continue to study, but we’re spending a little bit more time on it than we were pre-pandemic.” — Reuters

Banario pays homage to Team Lakay through his art

ONE of the stalwarts of Baguio-based Team Lakay, bantamweight fighter Harold Banario makes sure he honors his team and what it stands for every time he competes.

Recently, however, he was given the opportunity to pay homage to, and celebrate, their team by way of a work of art.

Mr. Banario, who parlays his wares at Brave Combat Federation (CF) and a visual artist, was tasked to make a mural of Team Lakay at the iconic Baguio Athletic Bowl.

Titled Heroes, the mural features members of Team Lakay, which put Baguio in the international combat sports map with its numerous title conquests.

The portrait is about nine feet in height and about 24 feet wide, with Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao on top and seven of his prized students who have captured intricately crafted belts in mixed martial arts below him.

“I can say it’s an obvious choice since they’re my teammates and coaches, but perhaps they trust me and believe in my talent. I’m very delighted since this is my first time doing a mural this big. It’s an amazing feeling being chosen to do this monumental painting,” said Mr. Banario, younger brother of former featherweight world titleholder Honorio Banario.

“They’re family to me. It’s almost a decade since I joined them and they helped me a lot in many ways, morally and ideologically. They mean so much to me,” he added.

Mr. Banario has been doing art for a long time now, having participated in several local art exhibits.

“All of my paintings are allegorical paintings or symbolism, and it’s more on human figures and drama,” he said in describing his art works.

The official unveiling of Heroes was supposed to take place during Baguio’s “Ibagiw” 2020 Creative City Festival in November, but its completion experienced some delays due to travel restrictions imposed within the town in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Banario hopes that he can apply his finishing touches before the year ends.

“I’ve been delayed countless times. I completely understand the situation. Our authorities know better. I just wish I can finish it before Christmas or New Year,” he said.

Seeing how Mr. Banario has put in much effort and time to the creation of the mural, his teammates are appreciative of him.

“It’s not yet done, but you can already see that he has made a great deal of effort on this artwork. It’s beautiful,” said Stephen Loman, the Brave CF bantamweight champion and one of the fighters featured on the mural.

As an MMA fighter, Mr. Banario holds a record of 5-2. He last fought in Brave in December, losing to Russian Gamzat Magomedov by technical knockout in the first round. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Messi dragged ill feeling from failed Barca exit into this season

BARCELONA — Lionel Messi has admitted the ill feeling between him and Barcelona over his attempt to leave the club in the close season has affected his form this season, in which he has posted his lowest goal and assist tallies in 13 years.

Messi caused consternation at Barca when he sent the club a burofax (official notice) that he wanted to leave in August, but then president Josep Maria Bartomeu blocked the move and the Argentine committed to stay this season to avoid a legal battle.

He has less than seven months left on his contract and is able to negotiate with other clubs from January.

“Everything that happened before the summer, how the season ended, then the burofax and everything else… I dragged everything into the start of the season a bit,” Messi said in an interview with Spanish television channel La Sexta.

“The truth is right now, I’m feeling fine. But in the summer, I had a very bad time.”

The Argentine struck for the 643rd time for Barca on Saturday to equal Pele’s goals record for a single club. However, he has drastically underperformed this campaign, as have his side, who trail leaders Atletico Madrid by eight points in La Liga.

Messi, who finished top scorer in La Liga last season and routinely gets more than 40 goals each year for his club, has only scored nine times in all competitions this campaign, five of which came from the penalty spot.

He also has no assists in 13 league games after contributing 21 last season, making the start of this campaign his worst since the 2007-08 season, when he was 20-years-old and suffering from injuries.

Barca faces elections on Jan. 24 to pick the successor to Bartomeu, who resigned in October, and Messi remained tight-lipped on where his future lay, saying he was fully focused on helping his side return to form.

“Right now, I’m feeling good and looking forward to fighting for every competition we have ahead,” he added.

“I know the club is in a difficult moment at institutional level and on the pitch and everything surrounding Barca right now is difficult, but I’m feeling excited.” — Reuters

NBA expansion

National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver was his usual candid self in his annual preseason presser yesterday. He responded to queries — even the most sensitive ones — from prying and persistent members of the media directly and with purpose. And he wasn’t doing so to score brownie points with the public, although they were invariably positive offshoots. He was simply being, well, himself, a decided advantage for a league whose status as the most progressive sports organization in the world hasn’t insulated it from the havoc wreaked by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Silver touched on quite a few subjects, including the NBA’s tolerance, even encouragement, of players’ social and political activism and its continued collaboration with stakeholders in framing the future. And, given his usual frankness, what struck a chord was his subtle but nonetheless apparent shift in his views on expansion. Whereas he would previously reply without fail that the acceptance of additional franchises was not under consideration, he admitted to “dust[ing] off some of the analyses on the economic and competitive impacts of expansion. We’ve been putting a little bit more time into it than we were pre-pandemic.”

To be sure, Silver did caution against drawing conclusions that a new franchise would be coming in sooner rather than later. He said due diligence is being done in recognition “of the Manifest destiny of the league that you expand at some point… but certainly not to the point that expansion is on the front burner.” The problem lies in the NBA needing to both address economic considerations and ensure competitiveness. And, as hoops annals show, there is an inherent tug-of-war between the two concerns.

Pegged in the 10 figures for every instance, the entry fees to be earned from expansion would most certainly benefit current teams reeling from financial losses due to quarantine measures, limiting or prohibiting (depending on location) spectators in arenas. On the other hand, a striking imbalance already exists with the current roster of 30 teams; increasing the number will serve to dilute the talent base even more. Which is why there figures to be more — make that much, much more — researching and discussing before the initiative can gain any momentum.

As Silver has indicated, however, expansion is a matter of when, not if. And once it happens, the safe bet is on Seattle getting first crack. After all, it boasted of extremely loyal supporters throughout the 41 years it served as home to the SuperSonics. Meanwhile, fans in the Emerald City will be keeping their fingers crossed, buoyed by the pronouncements of a commish who has historically been as good as his word.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Villar SIPAG recognizes 22 cooperatives for poverty reduction

The Villar SIPAG (Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance) aims to bring Filipinos out of poverty and hunger, and this year, it recognized 22 cooperatives for their contribution in improving the quality of life of Filipinos, especially in the countryside.

Former senate president Manny Villar and Sen. Cynthia Villar led the virtual turnover ceremony which featured cooperatives from different parts of the country. The event capped the birthday celebration of Manny, the founding chairman of Villar SIPAG.

Villar SIPAG Chairman Manny Villar and Managing Director Senator Cynthia Villar

The awardees each received P250,000 in cash. Three cooperatives, which received special citations, were granted P100,000 each.

“Cooperatives play a significant role in realizing the aspirations of our countrymen, especially those from rural areas. They are the true epitome of Sipag at Tiyaga, values that have helped me succeed in my career as a businessman and a public servant,” Manny said.

“Through this recognition, we hope to inspire and encourage cooperatives to continue with their work to uplift the lives of their communities,” added Senator Cynthia, the director of Villar SIPAG.

One of the awardees is the Golden Group Gabay Puhunan Brotherhood MPC from San Fernando City, Pampanga. The credit cooperative started its humble beginnings in 1990, when a group of 15 market vendors pooled their resources to help each other improve their economic plight through savings or paluwagan with low-interest rates and cross patronage of their products and services.

It has now grown to more than 5,000 members composed of market vendors, farmers and fisherfolk, service providers, and micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSME), with total assets amounting to P796 million. The cooperative has expanded to include real estate and solar power generation in their business.

Another awardee, the CAMSUR Multipurpose Cooperative from Pili, Camarines Sur, has been supporting its farmer and MSME members, who have grown to nearly 2,500 since it was established in 2000. With assets amounting to P195 million, the cooperative helps create jobs, promotes business opportunities, and sustains the farm production of its members. The group has taught its members’ entrepreneurial skills and financial literacy while advancing the production of organic fertilizers to improve soil condition.

The 2020 Winners of the Villar SIPAG awardees on Poverty Reduction:

  • Mandaluyong Traders Development Cooperative (Inocentes St., Barangay Pag-asa, Mandaluyong City)
  • Segunda Mana (2002 Jesus St., Pandacan, Manila c/o Fr. Anton Pascual)
  • Lamut Grassroots Savings and Development Cooperative (LAGSADECO) (Poblacion East, Lamut, Ifugao)
  • Piddig Bassi Multipurpose Cooperative (Barangay 2, Anao, Piddig, Ilocos Norte)
  • Golden Group Gabay Puhunan Brotherhood MPC (Del Pilar, San Fernando City, Pampanga)
  • Caniogan Credit and Development Cooperative (Malolos City, Bulacan but has 11 branches in Bulacan)
  • Taytay Development Cooperative (Taytay, Rizal)
  • Tayabas Community Multipurpose Cooperative (Quezon Ave., San Roque Zone 1, Tayabas City, Quezon)
  • Yakap at Halik Multipurpose Cooperative (Barangay Walay, Padre Burgos, Quezon)
  • CamSur Multipurpose Cooperative (Pili, Camarines Sur)
  • Barcelona Development Cooperative (BADECO) (Poblacion Sur, Sorsogon)
  • Lezo Multipurpose Cooperative (Poblacion, Lezo, Aklan)
  • First Consolidated Coop along Tanon Seaboards (Toledo City, Cebu)
  • Palompon Community Multipurpose Cooperative (Rizal St., Palompon, Leyte)
  • Almeria Seafarers Multipurpose Cooperative (ASEMCO) (Poblacion, Almeria, Biliran)
  • Cassava Growers Processor Association or CAGAPA (Dapitan City, Zamboanga Del Norte)
  • Panabo Multipurpose Cooperative (Panabo City, Davao Del Norte
  • Kapalong Cooperative (Kapalong, Davao Del Norte)
  • San Francisco Growth Enhancement Multipurpose Cooperative (San Francisco, Agusan Del Sur and now has branches in Caraga, Compostella Valley, and in Misamis Oriental).

Recipients of the Villar SIPAG Special Awards are:

  • Nagbacalan Loom Weavers Multipurpose Cooperative (Barangay 22, Nagbacalan, Paoay, Ilocos Norte)
  • Samahang Magpapatubig ng Mansalay, Inc. (Barangay Roma, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro)
  • Ig-Abai Small Farmers Coconut and Agricultural Organization (Balabagan, Lanao Del Sur)

Singapore’s happy ‘glampers’ pick airport stays for year-end holidays

With the coronavirus pandemic severely limiting trips abroad, some in Singapore this holiday season are going “glamping,” or glamourous camping, staying overnight in luxury tents at the retail and leisure wing of the city-state’s Changi Airport. Image via Changi Airport / Instagram

SINGAPORE — Staying overnight at an airport isn’t unheard of, especially if you miss a flight. But choosing to spend your holidays there in a tent is something entirely different.

With the coronavirus pandemic severely limiting trips abroad, some in Singapore this holiday season are going “glamping,” or glamorous camping, staying overnight in luxury tents at the retail and leisure wing of the city-state’s Changi Airport.

“Usually we go out of the country every holiday but since we can’t travel much and it’s a school holiday, I thought why not do something different for the children,” said Fadlina Musa, standing under twinkling fairy lights.

Her husband, Khairil Anuar Malek, said it was nice to get out of the house. “It has been very tough for all of us, so we wanted to experience closeness at a different level,” he said.

Glamping isn’t cheap. Guests spend up to S$360 ($269) a night for queen-sized beds, shopping discounts, a cool box for picnics, and plenty of festive Christmas lights. Private bathroom facilities are not provided.

Air-conditioned gardens, walking trails, and an indoor waterfall provide a sense of the great outdoors, minus the bugs, rain, and humidity.

Serene Beh, an accounting manager visiting the mall with her family, said she liked the idea, at the right price.

“I will look at the package,” she said. “If it’s worth it, then I think it’s a good experience for the children who have never been camping before.”

The “glamp-cations” at Changi Airport were sold out until Dec. 28, reflecting appetite among Singapore residents for creative distractions that have included flights and cruises limited to the country’s airspace and waters. — Travis Teo and Lee Ying Shan/Reuters

Fresh coronavirus wave tests S.Korea’s no-lockdown strategy

TIME AFTER TIME this year, South Korea prevented the coronavirus from spreading uncontrollably, applying its elite testing-and-tracing practices that have become a global model for managing the pandemic without draconian, economy-sapping lockdowns.

Now, this “living with the virus” strategy — as the nation of 51 million calls it — is being tested like never before.

While case numbers are still small compared to the US and parts of Europe, Korea saw new infections top 1,000 for five consecutive days through Sunday, a staggering jump from an average of about 100 in past months. The fierce winter wave has alarmed a country that’s drawn pride from being globally lauded for its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response.

South Korea reported a drop in new cases on Monday after posting a record of more than 1,000 infections on Sunday and Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun said implementing the strictest level of social distancing measures is a last resort.

Korean health officials concede the latest outbreak has been particularly challenging to combat as small clusters of infections are more widespread and sprouting across the country. Prior surges were concentrated in a region or among specific groups such as churchgoers or young clubbers.

In an attempt to prevent a year-end surge, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday the country will shut down ski resorts and other tourist spots during the upcoming holiday season, and will restrict entrance to nursing-homes that are typically more vulnerable to virus infections.

The latest measures come a day after Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it and its neighboring Gyeonggi Province and Incheon city will ban holiday parties with five or more people from Dec. 23 to Jan. 3. Weddings and funerals are exempt.

Health experts say South Korea has been hit with a perfect storm: a public tired of restrictions, a government wary of imposing more severe measures and colder weather that makes people spend more time indoors where the virus spreads more efficiently.

The setback comes as other places that previously steered clear of lockdowns like Japan and Sweden also face persistent winter waves, suggesting the virus is testing more laissez-faire strategies that emphasized voluntary actions rather than top-down restrictions.

Korea and Japan, which doesn’t have the legal power to force a lockdown, have dropped out of the top five in Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking, which scores economies on their handling of the virus with the least social and economic disruption. In contrast, places that pursued heavier-handed strategies aimed at eliminating the virus like Australia, New Zealand and China are not seeing cases flare to the same degree.

“Perhaps there is overconfidence with the K-Quarantine,” said Kim Woo Joo, professor of infectious disease at Korea University’s Guro Hospital, referring to a term coined after the country’s K-Pop.

After extensive testing and tracing, Korea contained multiple surges including two major outbreaks in early spring in the southern city of Daegu and then over the summer in Seoul. Daily new cases were brought down to double digits after those outbreaks.—

But as the weather began to cool, virus clusters started to emerge and spread — many of them at restaurants, spas and fitness centers as more people withdrew indoors, where poor ventilation and close confinement can fuel transmission.

BY THE BOOK
As cases inched up, health authorities returned to their tried-and-true playbook. The government gradually raised the virus alert level, triggering stricter social-distancing measures, including limiting the number of people who can attend sporting events or group gatherings.

But this time, the gradual escalation isn’t having the same impact as before, said Ki Moran, an epidemiology professor at the Goyang-based National Cancer Center. South Koreans who diligently wore masks and refrained from dining out during earlier outbreaks seem to be no longer adhering strictly to the social-distancing rules.

“Before, people were alarmed when cases reached just 100 and urged closing day care centers,” Ki said. “Now, even when cases top 1,000, people are complaining that if day care centers close, there will be no other place they can take their kids. People are not as wary of the virus anymore and there is fatigue with the government measures. People are not listening.”

Temperatures dipping below freezing also aren’t helping health authorities fight the surge, health experts said.

“The virus is getting stronger in the winter while the public is getting less alert,” Ki said.

At the same time, the Korean government has been reluctant to move toward stricter restrictions because of the potential blow to the economy, said Jung Ki-suck, former head of Korea’s Center for Disease Control & Prevention who is now a professor at Hallym University Medical Center.

The economy has fared better than in other developed countries because of Korea’s strategy of managing the pandemic rather than pursuing virus elimination, as places such as China and New Zealand have done — an approach that requires lockdowns.

“When South Korea eased social-distancing measures in the fall, the decision was made in consideration of the economy,” Jung said. “So when the virus started to spike, those who argued for containing the virus first and saving the economy later were not heard.”

Last week, senior health ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said in a briefing that while the criteria for raising the virus alert to the highest level was met — reaching a weekly average of 800 or more new cases a day — the government was still weighing the decision because the “social and economic impact would be too great.”

Raising the alert level to 3 could mean closing or restricting operations of as many as two million businesses, according to South Korean government officials.

Health authorities are instead focused on expanding testing: setting up nearly 200 temporary diagnosis centers and doubling the number of people tested to almost 50,000 a day. They’re also boosting the country’s army of contact tracing investigators.

“The increase in preemptive tests and finding hidden patients early will inevitably lead to a temporary increase in the number of confirmed cases,” Yoon said. “But this is an effective strategy to reduce the number of confirmed cases as soon as possible.”

On Monday, Prime Minister Chung said there were “positive signs” that the playbook may be working again. Based on tracking of mobile phone use, vehicle traffic and credit card transactions, there has been a noticeable fall-off in people moving about outdoors. The proportion of confirmed Covid-19 patients age 60 or older is also gradually decreasing, he said.

“The effectiveness of large-scale preemptive testing is being confirmed,” Chung said in a briefing Monday, when daily infections declined to 926, the first time they’ve dipped below 1,000 in a week. — Bloomberg

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