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Moving on

This is my 10th weekly column written in “quarantine.” And in that period, Metro Manila has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic by going through varying degrees of lockdown. The “stay at home” protocol has disrupted many if not most aspects of people’s daily lives. By next week, however, there may be changes to the situation in and of the National Capital Region.

The Philippine Star has reported that all 17 mayors of Metro Manila were recommending the shift to general community quarantine (GCQ) starting June 1, from the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) that started May 16. Under GCQ, however, mayors may still impose localized lockdowns in barangays or areas with many cases of COVID-19.

Reacting to the mayors’ recommendation, Palace spokesperson Harry Roque was quoted as saying that this should be reviewed in relation to COVID-19 cases’ “doubling rate” and “critical care capacity”; the need to “pay attention to our economy”; and, “our ability to adapt to a new lifestyle.” The President is expected to decide on the matter by this weekend.

Since May 16, Metro Manila, Laguna, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Zambales, and Angeles City have been under MECQ from ECQ. Only Cebu City and Mandaue City on Cebu island in the Visayas remain under ECQ, while the rest of the country is already under GCQ. For the National Capital Region, the main difference since MECQ last May 16 was that more businesses were allowed to operate partially, but mass transportation was still prohibited. Some public transportation may resume only after we transition to GCQ or its modified version.

Allowing more businesses to reopen since May 16 is a welcome relief particularly to many who have lost their sources of income during the quarantine period. It is a needed boost to the economy as well. However, relaxing restrictions appears to have its price, as COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila are seemingly on an uptrend once more. A more comprehensive study of data from May 16 onwards will indicate if this is, indeed, the case.

On my part, even if we transition to GCQ or modified GCQ by next week, I am not exactly raring to go out. I am not sure how many other Metro Manila residents feel the same way since not everybody has the opportunity or the capacity to work from home, or to stay at home longer than mandated. It all depends, I guess, on whether necessity can overcome people’s fear of getting sick.

I hate to admit this, but COVID-19 has made me paranoid. In fact, in the last 10 to 11 weeks, I have been out only a few times since I am the designated “market” person in our home. And after every trip, I go back anxious and worried if I have brought the virus home with me. Everything from “outside” goes through a tedious process of washing and disinfecting, including me. The same goes for my wife every time she comes back from the occasional trip to the office.

There is nothing “normal” about this “new normal,” but I am sure many other homes have adopted extraordinary “protocols” at the household level if only to give themselves some degree of assurance that they are sufficiently protecting themselves from COVID-19. While I am certain that we can get used to this new lifestyle, I am sure the present situation has been particularly hard for our seniors, our minors, and those requiring regular medical care.

We can do away with haircuts and leisure activities for the meantime. A trip to the mall is not necessary, at least, for me. But my family has been in need of a visit to the dentist. And while income taxes have all been settled, car insurance and registration are due, as well as periodic maintenance. Some home repairs and other services are likewise needed, but have had to be put off. I have managed to temporarily remedy some minor plumbing and electrical issues.

But while I welcome the possibility of transitioning to GCQ, primarily to allow people access to more goods and services, without public transportation, service people may not be available still. More important, if service people have access to transportation, their mobility might make them high-risk individuals. In this line, will I be ready to welcome these “outsiders” in my home to provide me some service?

As any homeowner knows, things break down at home all the time. From a busted fuse to a leaking roof or a broken window. And while some issues can be handled with DIY fixes, major problems like a broken air-conditioner require “professional” help. Moving forward, what will be the “protocol” when it comes to having service people come around?

Should I be ready with a thermal scanner and a disinfecting booth for them at the front door? Should I be taking down personal information and other particulars for possible contact tracing in the future? If service people come from utilities and service companies, should they present “certification” from their companies with respect to their fitness to work and the required form indicating that they are adhering to required work standards?

Businesses and offices that are reopening are required to follow specific standards or guidelines for employees returning to work. But similar protocols are not in place for service people in household situations, other than requiring a “face mask” and “physical distancing.” How are homeowners to go about these things, then?

Car repairs are obviously different in the sense that one can actually leave the car at the shop. The same for those needing appliance repair. But what about home repairs like plumbing and electrical work? The homeowner cannot exactly leave the home while the workers undertake repairs. To begin with, the homeowner is covered by the “stay-at-home” protocol. Physical distancing is practically impossible especially in small homes.

It is easy enough to reason that common sense should prevail in such situations. But, the fact of the matter is, COVID-19 is such a game changer for everybody. There are no ready-made playbooks for it. So, there is no telling if we are dealing with it correctly or not. And the pandemic has obviously made people more anxious and worried than ever before. In this line, for me, transitioning to GCQ from MECQ is both a welcome development and a source of major concern. But, we do have to move on. So, I guess we just have to take things one day at a time.

 

Marvin Tort is a former managing editor of BusinessWorld, and a former chairman of the Philippines Press Council.

matort@yahoo.com

Drug price control, winners and losers

Some questions on Executive Order No. 104 (EO 104) — the new drug price control via the imposition of a maximum wholesale price (MWP) and a maximum retail price (MRP) which was issued on Feb. 17, to be implemented on June 2:

1. Is price control being imposed on the most prescribed innovator medicines in the hopes that the products will be pulled out, to make the less-prescribed medicines make money? Is the Department of Health (DoH) advancing pharma and health cronyism?

2. EO 104’s four criteria are subjective while RA 9502 (Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008) and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) have objective, legislated criteria, so why were all of these ignored?

3. From 2014-2019, only nine of 166 new molecules or modern medicines that were launched in developed economies were launched in the Philippines, and this after two years’ delay. What is the DoH explanation for this?

4. When the anti-COVID-19 medicines and vaccines are finally available abroad, they may not be made available in the Philippines because the price control penalizes and demonizes successful medicines — is this the DoH goal?

These are the questions I raised during the DoH Advisory Council’s virtual meeting last Tuesday, May 26.

The Council is composed of many stakeholders — government (the Departments of Health, Trade and Industry, Finance, the Food and Drug Administration, the Philippine International Trading Corp.), private companies (innovator and generic pharma, drugstores, hospitals), and NGOs (patient groups, think tanks, health professional organizations).

Questions Nos. 1 and 2 were answered by the health department, saying that they are not advancing cronyism but only fair pricing of highly priced drugs, and that RA 9502 does not preclude or stop the health department from generating new criteria for price controls.

Questions Nos. 3 and 4 were not answered by the health department.

EO 104 will cover 133 drug preparations, expandable to 205. Surprisingly, some medicines have an anomalous situation where the projected retail margin is big but price reduction to consumers is zero or almost zero. Consider these 17 drugs (see the Table).

So EO 104 will have winners and losers. The favored winners will be: 1.) non-innovator manufacturers as their less-prescribed drugs will become more-prescribed if the successful innovator drugs (or companies themselves) pull out; 2.) retailers and drugstores, thanks to higher margins on certain products; 3.) Health Secretary Francisco Duque and some legislators like Senator Bong Go who will claim political credit for political intervention in pricing.

The penalized and losers will be: 1.) innovator manufacturers, since the law will force them to sell at low profit or at a loss, and they may consider pulling out their successful drugs, if not the companies themselves; 2.) physicians, who will have fewer drug options for their patients if innovator drugs are pulled out; 3.) patients, especially when the drugs they particularly need become unavailable; and, 4.) the Department of Finance since tax revenues will decline when some products or companies pull out.

There are other distortions that EO 104 has created, like certain drugs which were procured months ago by hospital pharmacies and drugstores and projected to be sold out by June 1 but are still there due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Low demand for certain products bought at higher prices and which must be sold at lower, MRP levels. There are two options, extend the transition period and EO implementation beyond June 2, or reimburse the price difference between acquisition cost and MWP. This cropped up during the Advisory Council meeting last Tuesday.

Then I heard on the radio Vic Dimagiba of Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) praising price dictatorship, saying that the innovators’ federation scenario of potential tax losses of P28 billion under price control is teasing and provoking the government.

Vic should see the table in this column — some or many LKI supporters and donors may be among the losers of the price dictatorship that he advocates. The Finance department should remove the VAT exemption of drugs procured by senior citizens to raise more revenues — after all, the seniors, rich and poor, already get a mandatory 20% discount.

I saw the statement by the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) dated May 19, “Recommendations for Facilitating Business Operations of Healthcare Companies Under the ‘New Normal’” that was sent to officials in the Executive and Legislative branches. In their five-pages position, they stated, “the JFC urges the Philippine government to rescind the implementation of Executive Order No. 104… Alternatively… Institutionalizing price negotiation based on sound review of medicine prices and economic viability of reduced prices of pharmaceutical products.”

Amen to this. Market mechanisms and not political coercion will produce non-distortionary outcomes and compromise among various stakeholders.

 

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Will household income recover too?

By Tony Samson

IT SEEMS economic scenarios from government and bank economists for the rest of the year through the full lifting of quarantine restrictions deal with macroeconomics. This category covers country-wide numbers like the impact of the shutdown on GDP, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation, and sovereign credit ratings. Sometimes, the economics of the firm, or “microeconomics,” also get into the conversational soup in terms of companies and sectors that are at risk and the rescue plans being put in place, including debt moratoriums and easing of bank provision for doubtful accounts.

But what about household income, an even more micro sector of the economy?

Thomas Schelling (2005 Nobel for economics for his game theory shared with Robert Aumann) used the term “egonomics” for self management where one person may have within him warring selves wanting one thing in the past and despising the same thing in the future, much like buyer’s remorse — why on earth did I buy this heavy leather jacket for Baguio?

Egonomics pertains to the individual. It refers to his economic decision-making. This very micro perspective is the intellectual playground of the new branch of the dismal science, called behavioral economics which differentiates itself from rational economics based on perfect information and the attractiveness of the lowest price. The behaviorists use psychological tools to analyze real incentives and motivations behind economic decisions. Do you prefer to have unlimited choices for your burger? Nope. You just look at three combo meal options. And you order the same one every time.

Will the projected NEDA V-shaped quick recovery chart of the GDP apply to household income? The short answer is “not likely,” not even for the macro picture. A more realistic shape for post-Q semester would be an L-shaped chart with a slightly upturned tail in December 2020 to suggest a fractured U-shape.

Since over 90% of employees work in companies with less than 30 employees, the hard-hit SMSEs (restaurants, barber shops, art galleries, theater companies, and retail outlets) reeling from the lockdown and the new ways of doing business will need to scale back if not close. The seating capacity and available space for adequate social distancing discourages patronage.

The glut in labor supply from layoffs or reduced work hours, as well as from returning OFWs, may lead to the bidding down of wages and benefits, further depleting household income.

A rising economy usually encourages entrepreneurship. This surge or recovery of lost momentum will need to wait a bit with the prospect of negative GDP growth. Franchise businesses that afford a way in for the starting entrepreneur will also be consolidating.

The dismal “egonomics” scenario will hopefully be temporary. But it will last at least a year. In this period, the household sector will be on survival mode. Living on debt will be the new normal for the household. And the most readily available source of needed cash, even for necessities, will be the credit card. This is an opportunity for card companies to extend pay-now-pay-later programs and creative installment payment plans for their card holders. And since most card companies are owned by large banks, this new consumer loan business should be supported by the BSP.

The household sector that needs to adjust covers the previously employed. They may even belong to the DINKY (double income, no kids yet) category, with disposable income going beyond food, utilities, and rent. It’s this once upwardly mobile segment that could afford a car and dine out twice a week that may be shaken up. It’s not just an economic adjustment but also a psychological one. Acceptance of the new survival normal can be stressful.

The macroeconomic picture of GDP growth is discouraging enough as it introduced the year’s first negative quarter in 21 years (or 84 quarters) of steady positive growth. The next three quarters will not be pretty either. Economists are still hopeful of a turnaround maybe in the first semester of 2021. The household income may follow the coattails of this hoped-for rise.

As some have pointed out, we are in the same storm but not in the same boat. Even those in the same boat may find that not all passengers are in the same condition. Many are seasick, but a few are still robust, waiting for a safe harbor… where they can spend the money still in their pockets.

 

Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda.

ar.samson@yahoo.com

The more COVID-19 vaccines, the merrier

By Faye Flam

THE WAY the COVID-19 crisis ends is with vaccines — not a vaccine. More than one horse can win this race. Some of us might end up getting a shot of a more traditional vaccine, which uses parts of an inactivated virus to stimulate immunity. Others might get vaccines based on emerging technologies that use synthetic versions of the virus’s genetic code.

One such novel candidate, based on RNA and made by Moderna, showed promising results in early human trials, though critics warned the evidence is preliminary. Meanwhile, a different prototype based on DNA made headlines for an experiment that showed it worked in monkeys.

In the end, some vaccines might be extremely effective but harder to scale; others the opposite. Even a less-effective vaccine might work well enough to provide herd immunity in a wider population. Other vaccines might be more appropriate for health care workers, who have to risk exposure on the job, and need protection as soon as possible.

Scientists have created more than 70 vaccine candidates so far. “If we end up with two, three, or four vaccines, that’s good, since we have seven billion people,” says Harvard vaccine researcher Dan Barouch, who led the development of one of the vaccines featured in recent news. His group began working on a vaccine in January, after the virus started spreading in China.

There are good reasons for him and other scientists to be optimistic. “For COVID-19, it’s clear most humans who get infected recover… that alone shows the human immune system can eliminate the virus,” he says. That makes it a much easier target than HIV, which he calls unprecedented in the history of vaccinology for its ability to evade the immune system. And the SARS-Cov2 virus doesn’t have the fast mutation rate that makes flu viruses a moving target.

Art Krieg, a physician and founder of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, says he’s very optimistic that because the human immune system can successfully battle the virus, so will one or more of the many experimental vaccines.

All vaccines have to provide a danger signal to “prime” the immune system into acting against an invader. In 1995, Krieg reported the discovery of one of these danger signals — called CpG DNA — which has been used in several vaccines, including one for hepatitis B, and is in some of the experimental candidates against the virus that causes COVID-19.

Next, the vaccine has to mimic the invader in order to get the immune system to create specific antibodies that target the intended enemy. Vaccine designers using genetic material (DNA or RNA) have to stimulate the immune system enough to generate those antibodies, but not so much that the immune system destroys the vaccine before it can complete its mission.

The biggest driver of recent headlines (and stock market drama) was a vaccine produced by the Massachusetts-based company Moderna, which is based on synthetic genetic material identical to parts of the code carried by the coronavirus. The genetic material is RNA — the single-stranded cousin of DNA. (Other RNA vaccines are being studied by BionTech, Translate Bio, and Curevac.) The RNA tricks human cells into making proteins identical to the “spike” proteins the virus uses to penetrate human cells. And that, in turn, stimulates the immune system to make antibodies that will be ready to block that protein if the real coronavirus invades.

The excitement about Moderna’s vaccine followed the release of data from a trial that involved 45 volunteers, though the company only described results for eight of them. Of the eight, all produced antibodies with the desired “neutralizing” property needed to attack the virus in the future. What happened to the other 37 people? Since this vaccine requires two doses, they probably just didn’t have that data yet, says Krieg.

A similar concept is behind DNA vaccines. The one developed by Harvard’s Barouch made the news for a successful experiment in monkeys. Other DNA vaccines are already in early human trials, including candidates developed by Oxford University, Johnson & Johnson and the Chinese company CanSino Biologics.

These DNA vaccines use synthetic strings of code for making the spike protein carried by the virus. In some of these, the synthetic DNA is injected alone, while in others, it rides into human cells inside a deactivated cold virus (called an adenovirus). The human cells transcribe the DNA to RNA, and then into the decoy spike protein used to create immunity to the real thing. While the prototype developed by Barouch’s group at Harvard can be given in two shots, the Oxford DNA vaccine and several others that use cold viruses confer immunity with just one shot, says Krieg.

DNA and RNA aren’t our only options. Yet another vaccine concept, made by Dynavax, uses the spike protein itself and stimulates the immune system using a synthetic DNA danger signal — the CpG DNA. These protein-based vaccines would have to be produced in bulk in fermentation vats, which Krieg says is something the biotech industry is equipped to do.

Krieg says all the novel vaccines work through the same well-established scientific principles, and are very likely to be safe. Still, he says, it’s well known that vaccines don’t work as well in the elderly and immunocompromised. Imperfect vaccines could still eradicate the virus through herd immunity but only if the bulk of the population gets vaccinated. Once the technical hurdles are overcome, there will be social hurdles — already, there are movements among anti-vaxxers to resist — but it’s not too soon to plan to surmount them.

Barouch says the ordinarily competitive nature of science has changed, as everyone understands how much is at stake in terms of lives and economic damage. In retrospect, critics might be able to criticize approaches that didn’t work, but right now, we need all the ideas we can get.

 

BLOOMBERG OPINION

7’s Football League happy how it has taken root and grown

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

STARTED OUT as a small league among friends, the 7’s Football League in just a short time has taken root and grown immensely, shoring up further the push for the sport of football here.

Founded in 2018 by former national player Anton Del Rosario, the 7’s Football League has had four seasons to date and has seen the number of teams competing in it steadily grow in numbers.

It has also attracted a lot of partners, which believe in what it wants to accomplish for the sport, along the way, including insurance firm Philam Life, a presenting sponsor for the 7-a-side league.

“Basically it started when I took some time off football and kind of missed it. And I thought why not gather players and put up a league. It was 7-a-side because I already had a group that I get together with and play,” said Mr. Del Rosario of the beginnings of the league on the “Heroes of Halftime” podcast with Audris Romualdez last week.

“I just phoned a bunch of my friends and they formed teams and we got a league in the first season,” added Mr. Del Rosario, who was joined in the podcast as guest by Luntian Futsal coach, player and manager Johann Casal.

From a league of eight teams, Mr. Del Rosario shared they saw the opportunity to grow the league and provide a venue where players can strut their stuff and play on a consistent basis.

Being smaller in size compared to an 11-a-side league made cost and operations all the more sustainable, which also provides a motor for them to continue doing what they do and seeing their vision through.

Mr. Del Rosario said right now there are over a hundred teams competing in weekend matches in various divisions in different parts of the country, a testament to the kind of reception that the league has been getting and the potential for it to continue to grow.

In the 7’s Football League, teams have seven on-field players as opposed to 11 in a regular association football match.

Matches have two halves with 15 minutes each and are played at a smaller field than the standard football pitch. There are also no restrictions on the number of foreigners a team can field or rules barring individuals with no prior professional football experience from playing.

In the men’s division, Super Eagles have been a steady winner, claiming three of four titles so far, with Ghana FC having won one. In the women’s division, which was launched in season 3, Outkast and Stallion-Hiraya have been champions.

Unfortunately, as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started disrupting different affairs in the country, 7s Football League had to suspend its fifth season, something that is regrettable, said Mr. Del Rosario, considering that kind of momentum it has built in previous seasons.

But the league remains optimistic that action would resume down the line even as it is finding ways for now to reach out to the community.

One of the things they are doing is the launch of the 7x7EFL, an electronic football league where teams compete in.

They are also crafting guidelines for how the league will be conducted in the “new normal,” with social distancing and other mitigating measures against the spread of COVID-19 in mind.

“Teams are eager to get back but I am sure there are still who are having second thoughts. Hopefully after this, things normalize so that people can come out and support the football community which we have built together,” said Mr. Del Rosario.

“We just have to stay safe for now. These will all fly past and we will get back to kicking football. Looking forward to collaborating with different stakeholders when everything is okay,” he added.

McIlroy says postponing Ryder Cup the right call

BENGALURU — World number one Rory McIlroy believes the Ryder Cup is unlikely to take place this year and postponing the biennial match play event to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic would be the right call to make.

The golf calendar has been decimated by the coronavirus outbreak, with three of the sport’s four majors rescheduled and the British Open cancelled.

The Ryder Cup is due to take place from Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin but fans will almost certainly be asked not to attend.

“My personal hunch is that I don’t see how it is going to happen, so I do not think that it will happen,” McIlroy, 31, told BBC.

“I think the majority of players would like to see it pushed back until 2021 so that they can play in front of crowds and have the atmosphere that makes the Ryder Cup so special.

“The players are the ones that make the Ryder Cup. If they are not on board with it and don’t want to play then there is no Ryder Cup. I see it being pushed back until 2021 and, honestly, I think that will be the right call.”

McIlroy previously said the absence of spectators would ruin the spectacle of the Ryder Cup, while Team Europe captain Padraig Harrington admitted it would be for the greater good of the sport for the event to take place this year even with empty galleries.

Professional golf has been suspended since March but the PGA Tour is hoping to resume its season with the Charles Schwab Challenge in June. — Reuters

Sporting spirit to overcome adversity highlighted in Nike film

THE ONGOING episode with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a rough one for many people from different walks of life but Nike believes there are ways of getting by it, one of which is taking cue from lessons and values that can be taken from the world of sports.

Launched recently, Nike’s Never Too Far Down film, in line with its “You Can’t Stop US” campaign, seeks to inspire people as they find their way amid COVID-19.

Narrated by National Basketball Association superstar LeBron James, Never Too Far Down highlights how huge the world’s ongoing battle with COVID-19 is, with the Los Angeles Lakers stalwart describing it as “fighting for something bigger than a championship right now.”

But despite the rough patch everybody is experiencing, hope still remains, which could be further enhanced by what the world of sports teaches, especially digging deep and staying the course no matter the odds.

In the film, Mr. James is joined by other famous Nike athletes like Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Rafael Nadal, Cristiano Ronaldo and Naomi Osaka, among others, who shared their thoughts on staying positive and forging ahead based on their experience as top-caliber athletes.

“Even if basketball looks different for a while, I’m excited about the possibility of getting back in the game, because I know how inspiring and powerful sports can be. I think the lessons we learn from sports can inspire us all,” said Mr. James, whose Lakers were on top of the Western Conference when the NBA decided to suspend its season in March because of COVID-19.

For Ms. Williams, unity and support like seen in sports would go a long way.

“Sport is the one thing that’s true, it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you’re from. Everything is left out in the arena. For me, I put it all out there on the court as a player, but it also feels that way as a fan. You feel that joy when someone you’re rooting for wins. That’s because of the unity that sports bring us,” she said.

Never Too Far Down can be seen on Nike’s digital channels and social media platforms.

As of this writing, there are nearly 5.6 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and still growing. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Lillard to sit out games if Blazers denied playoff shot on restart

BENGALURU — Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard has said he will sit out the rest of the National Basketball Association season if it resumes in a format that prevents his side from competing for a playoff spot.

Portland was 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies, who occupied the final Western Conference playoff spot, before the season was suspended in mid-March when a player tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The league is considering various options to restart the campaign, one of which would involve scrapping the rest of the regular season and moving directly into the playoffs, according to ESPN.

“If we come back and I don’t have an opportunity to make the playoffs, I will show up to work, I’ll be at practice and I’ll be with my team,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports.

“I’m going to do all that and then I’m going to be sitting right on that bench during the games. I’m not going to be participating. I’m telling you that right now.”

Lillard said he was in favor of a play-in style tournament involving seeds 7-12 to determine the final postseason berths.

“If they come back and say it’s something like a tournament … if we’re playing for playoff spots, then I think that’s perfect,” five-time All Star Lillard added. “We had fought ourselves back into position to get a spot.”

The NBA is currently in talks with The Walt Disney Company about restarting its suspended season at Disney World in Florida in late July. — Reuters

World-class virtual learning for students

Security Bank partners with 88tuition and Edukasyon.ph to provide quality e-learning programs

On the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, classrooms were among many areas where disruption was immediately seen. All of a sudden schools were closed, compelling the education sector to shift to online learning.

Security Bank has taken notice of the current situation of education in the country. While its endeavors to ensure the well-being of employees, customers, and all stakeholders, it also has started seeking out to fill the gap in education caused by the crisis.

Security Bank and its corporate social responsibility arm, Security Bank Foundation, Inc. (SBFI), advocates for education as a long-term solution to poverty alleviation. The foundation has been building classrooms, under their multi-award winning Build a School, Build a Nation program; training and developing teachers, and providing scholarships to deserving students under their “Scholars for Better Communities” program.

“We focused our advocacy on education because we believe that education is the greatest equalizer in life, for it will give every person the opportunity to succeed in life, no matter what his or her social and economic background may be,” Chairman of Security Bank Foundation, Inc.  Rafael F. Simpao, Jr. said.

Even as classes were stopped due to COVID-19, Security Bank and Security Bank Foundation remains committed to its advocacy to provide quality education to all students. In particular, the Bank looked for partners who can provide quality alternative learning services to children and families. Among the partnerships the Bank has formed is with e-learning platform, 88Tuition and with online youth platform, Edukasyon.ph.

World-class e-learning for diverse levels

88Tuition is a Singapore-based e-learning platform with the social objective of making quality video-based learning material available to all students.

With lessons for Grade 1 to Grade 10 students, 88Tuition offers a complete curriculum accessible to one’s fingertips anytime. It also creates a wonderful opportunity for children and parents to bond while they are engaging in valuable learning activities.

Security Bank brings 88Tuition closer to its debit and credit cardholders as they can access the materials for free until June 30, 2020. They will also receive an exclusive discount once the free access ends.

Since the launch of 88Tuition in the country earlier this year, the platform established through the partnership with Security Bank has helped over 2,500 students who have been learning Math, English, Science, and Mandarin Chinese.

“We are delighted to partner with Security Bank, bringing very high-quality education to all students… 88tuition gives the student complete control over the learning process. [It is] affordable education for all,” Founder and CEO of 88Tuition Anil Ahuja said.

Advanced and tailored online learning for seniors

Grade 11 and 12 students are not left behind. With SBFI’s partnership with Edukasyon.ph — the largest online youth platform in the Philippines that empowers students aged 13 to 23 — to make self-aware education decisions that lead to a fulfilling career and life.

Resources of Edukasyon.ph — include Online Ed, Certificate Courses, and Skills Kit — enable students to find and take the paths best suited to their own interests, skills, and priorities.

“For Edukasyon.ph, ‘making the future less scary’ means reducing uncertainty, and we are fortunate and excited to work with Security Bank to promote opportunities that help upskill students and lead them toward their dream careers,” CEO and founder of Edukasyon.ph Henry Motte-Munoz said.

Through SBFI, senior high students can take short courses from Edukasyon.ph for free. SBFI also helped promote the Edukasyon.ph’s platforms through the Bank’s Facebook page, e-mails sent to employees and partner schools, as well as targeted communication to SBFI scholars.

Starting May 27, senior students of Security Bank cardholders can access specialized courses — including computer-related, administration, self-development, and writing — from online institutions such as Udemy, Kadenze, and Google Garage via Edukasyon.ph for free.

For FVP and head of SB Cards Business Development and Operations Group Celeste Lim, Security Bank strongly believes that a better future lies with continuous and more access to learning and development, which platforms like Edukasyon.ph and 88tuition can supplement anytime and anywhere.

“With our partners, we make education easily available to everyone especially during these unprecedented times,” she added.

Security Bank encourages students and families to experience the power of e-learning through 88Tuition and Edukasyon.ph and experience world-class education right at the comforts of their homes.

“We want to support all Filipino families.” President and CEO of Security Bank Sanjiv Vohra said. “We collaborated with Singapore’s 88Tuition, and Edukasyon.ph to provide clients with world-class learning opportunities, and we extended the same opportunities to the broader community and public at large. We are optimistic that with these partnerships, together, we can get better.” he added. — Adrian Paul B. Conoza

BusinessWorld Insights Phase 2: Beyond Survival

Industries face unprecedented challenges amid the COVID-19 crisis. While the pandemic has caused socioeconomic disruptions unseen in recent history, it has also brought to the fore new avenues for growth. Where are these opportunities and what steps can businesses take to rise again?

Watch the first session of BUSINESSWORLD INSIGHTS Phase 2 as industry experts discussed the topic, “Beyond Survival: Charting the Path to Recovery”, with Simon Wintels; McKinsey and Company Singapore partner; Gary de Ocampo, Kantar Philippines, Inc. president and Insights Division CEO; Winn Everhart, Coca-Cola Philippines president and general manager; Nicky Gozon, Entrego Express Corporation director; and Vince Tempongko, Globe Telecom VP for site acquisition and management moderated by Willy Reyes, BusinessWorld editor-in-chief.

#BUSINESSWORLDINSIGHTS Phase 2 is made possible by SM, Globe, Entrego, Unilab, The Philippine STAR and www.olern.com
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Paving the path towards recovery and resiliency

By Adrian Paul B. Conoza
Special Features Writer, BusinessWorld

MBC forum focuses on recovering post-COVID and resiliency against future disasters

The country’s fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) does not only drive the government, sectors, and communities to create solutions to recover from the crisis. It is also teaching them how to make the country more resilient to disasters of various kinds, as the recent roundtable discussion hosted by the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the National Resiliency Council (NRC) revealed.

The digital forum held last May 22, with the theme “Recovery & Resilience: Rethinking Growth Post-COVID”, highlighted insights from BangkoSentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno, the forum’s keynote speaker, and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chief executive officer (CEO) of Ayala Corporation and co-vice chairman of MBC.

The forum was also participated by Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana; Ambassador Roberto R. Romulo, governor of NRC and chairman emeritus of Zuellig Family Foundation; Nestor Tan, president and CEO of BDO Unibank; Gerardo Borromeo, vice chairman and CEO of Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Inc. (PTC); and Ignacio Mijares, president and CEO of CEMEX Holdings Philippines.

Fast, fact-based response
Providing a perspective from the private sector, Mr. Zobel de Ayala highlighted the value of collaboration and data-based decisions, as well as the need to provide efficient solutions at a fast pace in dealing with the current crisis.

He noted a parallel between how the NRC pursues climate resiliency and how the country combats the COVID-19 crisis as both involve public-private partnerships and the use of data and science.

The Ayala Corporation CEO pointed out that the private sector has working hand-in-hand with the government and local government units in terms of helping vulnerable individuals, protecting frontliners, and sharing data and analyses with key government agencies.

He further noted that data and science are very helpful at a time when both sectors have big and unfamiliar decisions to make.

“The data we use is far from perfect, but it is reassuring to know that we’re making decisions based on facts and not just suppositions,” Mr. Zobel de Ayala said.

The MBC vice-chairman also stressed that employment should remain among the top priorities in the ongoing fight against COVID-19, adding that programs and proposals relevant to the crisis should eventually preserve or create jobs.

Mr. Zobel de Ayala also suggested that the government should formalize a structured wage subsidy program at a time when businesses hardly can pay their employees further and might be forced to lay them off or close down completely.

“The government gives money to those companies that keep their employees,” he explained. “This does not have to be a one-to-one subsidy. For many MSMEs, it is a maximum of just 8,000 per employee per month, for just two months. But that help may be enough to help companies just to keep their employees.”

Furthermore, he emphasized that the speed of execution is key to successfully address the crisis and hasten the path to recovery and resilience.

“We are no longer in a position to hesitate, and an important momentum will be lost if we don’t execute fast,” Mr. Zobel de Ayala said.

Need for structural reforms
For his keynote presentation on macroeconomic recovery and national resilience after the pandemic, Mr. Diokno laid out the big picture of the country’s economic situation during the crisis and stressed certain reforms necessary for the country to thrive from it.

He noted that out of the exogenous shocks in the first quarter—which includes the Taal Volcano eruption, the tensions between the United States and China, and African Swine Fever—nothing comes close to the COVID-19, which has brought the economy to a standstill.

“The confluence of these shocks resulted in the contraction of the economy by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2020,” he added.

On the other hand, Mr. Diokno spotted a positive note on the peso’s performance compared to the depreciation of regional currencies against the US dollar, as well as the reform agenda that the government has pursued across administrations, which he finds has allowed the country to achieve growth.

In terms of how the BSP has tackled the COVID-19 crisis, Mr. Diokno pointed out the measures it promptly implemented to ease liquidity and sustain flow of credit. He also highlighted the Central Bank’s support for the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as it allowed banks to create new loans to the sector.

He nonetheless recognized that there is still much work to be done. “The crisis has exposed the vulnerabilities and gaps in existing processes and systems that we need to swiftly deal with to cover lost momentum because of the COVID-19,” Mr. Diokno pointed out.

The BSP governor shared four structural reform imperatives that are critical as the country recovers from the crisis.

First, Mr. Diokno highlighted the need for modernizing the country’s health system.

“This would require giving incentives to the use of science and technology in health policy decision-making. It would require overhauling of healthcare supply chain management,” he explained. “The government must also initiate the formulation of a national preparedness and response framework for disease outbreaks and pandemics, taking into account coordination gaps across different levels of government.”

The country’s information and computer technology (ICT) system and processes must be massively upgraded, Mr. Diokno added. For the BSP governor, technology will play a pivotal role in reshaping the means of production and delivery of goods and services in the post-COVID world, and the demand for digital technology will be heightened.

He also pointed out that digital technology will be critical in enabling simpler and more efficient transactions with government agencies, and will also serve as a key to the government’s monitoring and evaluation systems for policy responses and action.

Mr. Diokno also recommended the modernization of the country’s agriculture and government’s supply chain management system, with the help of digital technology, which he finds will help ensure that food and essential goods and services will be available, accessible, and affordable.

An efficient logistic system for farmers, for instance, will ensure that farm produce are made available to Filipino consumers and provide Filipino farmers the right full share in the gains from production.

Developing a highly skilled and resilient workforce is also another reform Mr. Diokno finds vital as the country bounces back from the crisis. He suggested strengthening the educational system and providing adequate health protection to workers to future-proof the country’s workforce, which is one of the youngest labor forces relative to other Southeast Asian countries, according to the United Nations.

Furthermore, the BSP governor observed that as the preference for electronic payment and financial services is set to heighten, there is a need to increase contact-less payment facilities such as PayMaya and GCash. He also sees the need to quicken the adoption of a national quick response code standard to enable interoperable payments from person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions.

Mr. Diokno also noted that the national ID system will enable inclusive and innovative digital finance and ensure a reliable database for the design and impact assessment of policies.

Resilient industries
In response to Mr. Diokno’s keynote presentation, Mr. Tan of BDO Unibank, Mr. Borromeo of PTC, and Mr. Mijares of CEMEX Holdings expressed their support for the governor’s initiatives and added their respective insights on moving towards resiliency.

Mr. Tan expressed his support for the national ID system, regarding it as the cornerstone of financial inclusion. He suggested that this system should be biometric-based, federated instead of centralized, self-sovereign, enabled with audit trails, and accessible yet secure.

He also noted that a challenge lies in creating a COVID-safe and controlled operating economic communities. “How do we create self-contained communities that operate with very limited chance or risk of getting infected or infecting others?” he asked.

Mr. Borromeo, meanwhile, stressed that the maritime industry should prioritize preserving the jobs of seafarers as well as shifting towards an innovative and creative way of developing talent.

“This industry is no longer just about putting people on ship,” he said. “It is about putting the type of people who have the skill sets necessary to work in a more digital and technologically-advanced industry, and at the same time to continue to promote digital transformation not only in the way we work but in our ability to handle transactions.”

Mr. Mijares, for his part, anticipates infrastructure to be a crucial part of new fiscal measures to help revitalize the economy in terms of creating jobs and moving towards inclusive sustainable development.

He also sees an opportunity to reduce population density through infrastructure. “The pandemic has highlighted even more the need for accessibility networks, healthcare infrastructure, rethinking urbanization, technology investment, and the need to redistribute growth outside Luzon, particularly Metro Manila,” he said.

House panel OK’s P1.3-T stimulus bill

THE House of Representatives’ Defeat COVID-19 Committee on Tuesday approved a P1.3-trillion economic stimulus package that aims to help industries affected by the coronavirus crisis.

Aside from the Philippine Economic Stimulus Act (PESA), the House panel also approved the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act and a bill seeking to prohibit discrimination against health workers and COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) patients.

The three measures were s taken up at the House plenary on Tuesday.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez called for the immediate passage of the economic stimulus measure, saying there is a need to sustain worker income and help businesses that have been affected by the pandemic.

“By providing working capital assistance, technical and entrepreneurial education and financial management, among others, we will be able to protect Filipinos by ensuring businesses will continue operating post-lockdown and help turn the tide for businesses and workers affected by the health crisis,” he said.

Under the proposed stimulus package, P650 billion will go to the government’s flagship infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program for three years starting 2021. The projects will involve building new facilities for health, food security and education.

For this year, P568 billion will be allocated for mass testing (P10 billion); wage subsidies (P110 billion); cash-for-work program (P30 billion); assistance to students (P15 billion); loans for micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs through Small Business Corp.(P50 billion); loan guarantees (P40 billion); zero interest loans from Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines (P50 billion); and funding for the National Development Corp. (P25 billion).

This year’s allocation also includes assistance to various sectors such as MSMEs (P10 billion); tourism (P58 billion); industry and services (P44 billion); transportation (P70 billion); and agri-fishery (P56 billion).

For 2021, P80 billion will be allocated for loans for MSMEs through SB Corp.(P25 billion) and P25-billion funding for the National Development Corp.

Meanwhile, the House committee approved House Bill 6622, which aims to encourage banks to transfer their bad loans to asset management companies in expectation of a spike in bad loans in the wake of the health crisis.

Also approved was House Bill 6676 or the Anti-Discrimination Bill, which seeks to protect healthcare workers and persons who are declared confirmed, suspect, probable and recovered cases of COVID-19 against prejudice and discrimination.

Meanwhile, the Defeat COVID-19 Committee’s social amelioration cluster approved House Bill 6709 that sets a P1.5-trillion infrastructure spending program over three years to address slowing economic growth and create jobs.

Also known as the proposed COVID-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus Act of 2020, the measure targets increased spending on readily implementable health, education, agriculture, local roads and livelihood spending items.

The Health department on Tuesday reported 14,669 infections to date, with 886 deaths. It said 3,412 patients have recovered. — Genshen L. Espedido and Jenina P. Ibañez

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