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Nationwide round-up (12/08/20)

Makabayan bloc to Duterte: Take your public accusations to court

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte should file a formal complaint before the court instead of repeatedly tagging progressive lawmakers and other individuals as armed communist movement members in his public speeches, a progressive bloc in the House of Representatives said Tuesday. In his televised address Monday night, Mr. Duterte again hit on BayanMuna Party-list Rep. and House Minority Deputy leader Carlos Isagani T. Zarate, saying the latter’s “act” is “the act of a soldier NPA (New People’s Army).” The NPA is the armed group of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The Makabayan bloc, in response, said the President “cannot be allowed to pass” and perpetuate “a flawed and dangerous legal theory” which “erases any distinction between the legal and illegal, the unarmed activists and armed rebels.” The bloc is composed of six lawmakers from BayanMuna, Gabriela, ACT Teachers, and Kabataan. “Pres. Duterte and his ilk do not have any credible evidence against us, because if so they would have gone to court a long time ago,” they said, “He is a lawyer and he knows that, but he continues to ignore what the law dictates and imposes his own self-serving perspective on everyone.” National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon, Jr. earlier said the government would move to disqualify the left-leaning lawmakers from the elections in 2022 for their failure to condemn the alleged atrocities of the NPA. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Bill seeks programs for incarcerated parents and their children

A MEASURE seeking to institutionalize a program for incarcerated parents and their children has been filed at the House of Representatives. ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France L. Castro filed House Bill No. 8153, titled Parents in Jail Act, which tasks the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to confer with incarcerated parents on various options available “in relation to the care and custody of their minor children.” The bill states, “After arraignment and upon plea of  guilty, the court shall inquire from the accused if the latter has any minor children and in whose custody the minor children are.” The bill also mandates the court to give an appropriate warning of the “special  consequences concerning the parental rights of the accused that may result from a plea of guilty or conviction, especially the loss of parental authority. The proposed law also provides for the creation of a “Coordinating Body” that will be composed of representatives from the DSWD, Department of Justice, Bureau of Corrections, and Department of Health. This body will be tasked to come up with “specific procedures for the placement of children of the accused or for infants born to women already incarcerated in state prisons,” among other responsibilities. The bill also mandates the establishment of child-friendly prison facilities and the creation of visitation opportunities for solo parents and children. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Regional Updates (12/08/20)

MRT-3 starts running at 60 kph

THE Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) further increased its speed to 60 kilometers per hour (kph) starting Dec. 1, reducing the average time between trains to four minutes from the previous five minutes at 50kph, the Transportation department said on Tuesday. “The improvement in train speed is a result of rail replacement works in the rail line, as part of the MRT-3’s massive rehabilitation program, which is being implemented by its maintenance provider Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from Japan,” the department said in a statement. MRT-3 currently operates 20 trains per day. The department said travel time from the North Avenue station to Taft Avenue will now take 50 minutes from the previous one hour and 15 minutes. MRT-3 Director for Operations Michael J. Capati said, “The increase in train speed will provide our passengers a safer, faster and more reliable public transportation… This is a significant accomplishment for the Department of Transportation.” — Arjay L. Balinbin 

Tourism losses in Davao Region estimated at P4B

THE Davao Region tourism industry’s losses due to coronavirus-prompted restrictions is estimated at about P4 billion, a Department of Tourism (DoT) official said. DoT Regional Director Tanya Rabat-Tan said the closing of borders, airports, and hotels as well as limitations on mass gatherings, land travel and related services have affected about 1,750 tourism-related establishments and some 26,000 workers. Ms. Tan said they are continuously working on the cash assistance distribution for affected establishments and workers. She also called on other potential beneficiaries to avail of the aid under the government’s expanded response program. “Once again, all DoT primary and secondary tourism establishments can avail,” she said, including those without accreditation from the department but licensed under the local government. Aside from hotels and other accommodations, Ms. Tan said the program is open to “travel and tour agencies and transport operators exclusively serving tourist land transport, sea transport, and air transport. Other primary tourism enterprises include MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) organizers, MICE facilities, adventure sports and eco-tourism facilities and tourism frontliners and trainers.” The DoT official said the regional office’s priority next year will be promoting community-based tourism sites, farm tourism, and “MICE as it will always be a strong product of the region.” She added that they will be pushing for local and intra-regional travels. — Maya M. Padillo

Agriculture department earmarks P454M for Cebu

THE Department of Agriculture has allocated P454 million in its 2021 budget for Cebu province. Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, in his visit to Cebu on Monday, said next year’s fund for the province is 5.3% higher than this year’s P431 million. “Among those who will receive this assistance include our sugarcane farmers, coconut farmers, our fishers, and other marginal farmers,” he said. Mr. Dar also turned over several projects to Cebu farmers such as a biogas digester and farm animals, a coconut hub, 90 units of fiber boats, and a processing center for sisal fiber, among others. He also signed the release of indemnity checks to farmers covered by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. and gave certificates of commitment for the establishment of an urban-agriculture community garden, monolithic dome, and food security program. Meanwhile, Mr. Dar said almost 900,000 marginal farmers and fisherfolk across the country will benefit from the department’s P4.5 billion cash and food assistance initiative funded by Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act. He said eligible farmers who are listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture will receive P5,000 worth of assistance consisting of cash and food. Beneficiaries can claim the cash aid at payout centers accredited by the Development Bank of the Philippines using an electronic voucher, while the food subsidy can be availed at accredited cooperatives. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Key legislator sees 2021 budget measure ratified by midweek

CONGRESS is set to ratify the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021 by Wednesday afternoon, laying down a possible timetable for obtaining the President’s signature before the new year starts, the chairman of the House appropriations committee said.

Party-list Representative Eric G. Yap said the bicameral conference committee report will be released Wednesday morning for ratification by the House and Senate in the afternoon.

“We will have another bicam tomorrow (Tuesday). We will wrap it up after that,” he told reporters.

Mr. Yap added that legislators plan to submit the 2021 General Appropriations Bill to President Rodrigo R. Duterte sometime before Christmas.

Mr. Yap said legislators are currently finalizing other details of the proposed budget for next year.

“We need to allot time for encoding. After encoding is done, it can be printed after seven to 10 days,” he said, depending on the speed of the printing office.

Mr. Yap said most of the changes in the proposed budget for next year were institutional amendments.

The bicameral panel provided more funding for the government’s pandemic response and the procurement of coronavirus vaccines, he said.

It also prioritized for funding those infrastructure projects that can be finished within 2021, he added.

Mr. Yap said the budget also contains substantial funding for the rehabilitation and recovery of calamity-stricken areas.

Speaker Lord Allan Q. Velasco requested a P5 billion increase in the calamity fund for the reconstruction of areas hit by recent typhoons. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Fitch Ratings warns of low-base distortions in 2021 growth data

THE Asia-Pacific economic recovery in 2021 could be “misleading,” with apparent rebounds that are actually the result of the low base formed by 2020, while fresh outbreaks could also deal setbacks to pandemic containment efforts, Fitch Ratings said in a report Monday.

“In many cases, GDP (gross domestic product) will not return to pre-pandemic levels until the end of 2021 or 2022,” it said.

Fitch Ratings expects the Philippine economy to contract by 8% this year before rising 9% in 2021. Government economic managers expect a contraction of between 8.5% and 9.5% this year and forecast growth of between 6.5% and 7.5% in the coming year.

Fitch Ratings said virus caseloads in the Philippines, India, and Indonesia have only recently levelled off, with China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand having contained their outbreaks earlier.

“Even the successful countries have seen new outbreaks, necessitating re-imposition of restrictions as they await vaccines later in 2021,” it said.

Fitch Ratings added that economies that rely on remittances could undergo a period of adjustment as the migrant workforce is gradually summoned back to the host countries, though it noted that the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have held up better than expected.

“This may reflect temporary factors related to the return of migrant workers and the channels through which they remit funds,” Fitch Ratings said.

Remittance inflows to the Philippines declined 1.4% year on year to $21.886 billion in the nine months to September, less severe than the decline of 2% projected by the central bank over the full year.

Separately, S&P Global Ratings Asia-Pacific Chief Economist Shaun Roache said in a webinar Monday that Asian economies will experience “less acute” downside risk from US-China tensions and cited the possible impact of “stimulus withdrawal” next year.

“Supply-side, Asia is leading the recovery, but  Asia leading the demand-side is not true,” Mr. Roache said, noting that consumption is still far behind the pre-pandemic levels.

S&P expects the Philippine GDP to contract by 9.5% this year before growing 9.6% and 7.6% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Funding for nuclear studies points to ‘tacit’ approval from Senate, legislator says

THE chairman of the Senate energy committee said the chamber’s funding support for developing a nuclear energy program, worth nearly P192 million since 2018, may be taken as “tacit” approval for government initiatives studying the use of the energy source.

“The allocation of these funds is tacit approval from the legislature that we should continue to look at nuclear power as a possible source of energy in our energy mix,” Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chaired the Senate Committee on Energy, said on the first day of the Philippine Nuclear Research and Development Conference.

The Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee is expected to submit its recommendations to President Rodrigo R. Duterte soon.

During his presentation, Mr. Gatchalian outlined the various allocations for the Department of Energy’s (DoE) nuclear energy program between 2018 and 2021. “We have already injected close to about P192 million; forty eight (million pesos) of which will come next year to DoE so that they can conduct their independent…research into nuclear power,” he said.

Mr. Gatchalian also reiterated his position that the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) not be revived because the Marcos-era project is “shrouded in a lot of controversy.”

The Philippines spends around P40 million a year to maintain the BNPP, Mr. Gatchalian said, adding that the cost could rise to P90 million next year for repairs.

“Next year, it will go up to P90 million because they have to repair ‘yung mga bubong (and) civil works (the roof and civil works),” he said.

He said the government is still trying to determine the best use for the BNPP. — Angelica Y. Yang

Farmers’ association calls cash-assistance bill a departure from rice competitiveness goals

SENATE BILL (SB) 1927, or the proposed Cash Assistance for Filipino Farmers Act of 2020 runs counter to the original intent of Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, which was to fund competitiveness initiatives for the rice industry, a farmers’ organization said.

In a mobile phone message, Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said the Senate bill is not in accordance with RA 11203’s original intent, which is to help farmers who are affected by the entry of imported rice.

“What they are proposing now deviates from the original intent of the law both in the manner by which the funds are appropriated and in the use of the funds,” Mr. Montemayor said.

On Dec. 6, the Senate unanimously approved SB 1927 on third and final reading.

Under the bill, financial assistance to farmers will be sourced from rice import tariffs in excess of the P10 billion a year allocated by RA 11203 to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). The bill’s proponents have said that farmers have been suffering due to recent calamities and low prices for palay, or unmilled rice.

As of the third week of November, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the average farmgate price of palay rose 1.6% week on week to P15.63 per kilogram, well below the P19 per kilogram maximum buying price of dry palay set by the National Food Authority.

The bill identifies those eligible for cash aid as rice farmers tilling one hectare of land or less, with the Department of Agriculture (DA) in charge of determining the beneficiaries from those listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.

“Farmers are also asking why the cash aid is limited to those tilling one or two hectares or less when all farmers regardless of farm size have been affected by falling palay prices and other events,” Mr. Montemayor said.

Former Agriculture Undersecretary and current Monetary Board member V. Bruce J. Tolentino said the bill is more inclusive and will be helpful to more farmers.

“The proposed SB 1927 — if enacted — will certainly help farmers who till land of size one hectare and below,” Mr. Tolentino said.

The DA had yet to reply to requests for comment on the FFF’s position at deadline time.

In an October hearing, Senator Cynthia A. Villar said the Bureau of Customs has collected P13.86 billion worth of import tariffs in the year to date.

Under RA 11203, an annual budget of P10 billion sourced from import tariffs is allocated to RCEF, which will provide aid to farmers in the form of seed, machinery, and extension services. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Free trade agreements seen raising import utilization within ASEAN; Japan lagging

PHILIPPINE FREE TRADE agreements (FTA) have increased imports from ASEAN, but those from partners like Japan have underperformed, according to a study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

The study, FTA Utilization of Philippine Imports, published this month, found that the import ratio increases the larger the gap between the tariff rate under the free trade deals and the duties paid by all members of the World Trade Organization.

The import ratio refers to the actual use of imports under an FTA compared to the total products eligible under the agreement.

“Preferential or reduced tariff rates encourage importation under an FTA,” according to the report, noting that the result is significant because most Philippine industries rely on raw material imports.

PIDS also found that the utilization rates for some FTA partners remain “unexpectedly low,” including imports from Japan and Singapore.

Referring to other studies, the report concluded that the low rate was likely caused by lack of information about the FTAs, procedural delays, compliance costs, and the availability of other incentives schemes.

The report recommended that governments ensure that importers have information available to them, given the low utilization rates under the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.

“Particular attention should be given to micro-, small-, and medium-sized importers and those located in rural areas,” it said.

“Understanding that the resources of the government may be limited preventing a wider reach, it is recommended that government agencies partner with business groups and organize information sessions and workshops to specifically increase the capacity of importers to utilize FTAs.”

It also concluded that the ASEAN Free Trade Area and ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area should be used as a benchmark for further trade negotiations as both deals have higher utilization rates for Philippine imports.

The report’s authors Francis Mark A. Quimba, Maureen Ane D. Rosellon, and Sylwyn C. Calizo, Jr. view FTAs as a means for Philippine industry to link to other countries, develop regional integration, and create a “testing ground” for trade liberalization.

“For the Philippines, FTAs are viewed as a means of creating a testing ground through which liberalization can be gradually undertaken and the vulnerable sectors are given the opportunity to undertake actions to mitigate the adverse impacts.”

Commenting on FTA utilization, former trade negotiator for agriculture Segfredo R. Serrano in January said that the Agriculture department must strengthen its trade negotiating position with data-based decision making and industry consultations for insight on which sectors would be best for export.

He added that the government must prepare industry prior to trade negotiations and exposing the sector to competition. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Gov’t think tank backs extension of tax amnesty

AN EXTENSION of the ongoing tax amnesty program will raise more revenue and provide relief to taxpayers, according to a study by the National Tax Research Center (NTRC).

“The Tax Amnesty Act, if extended, aside from possibly generating more revenue that can be used by the government, can provide relief to the taxpayers and enough time to avail of the tax amnesties given this pandemic crisis,” according to the study, published in the NTRC’s journal.

Currently, the government has two tax amnesty programs, covering delinquent accounts and estate taxes.

The NTRC said one of the benefits of granting tax amnesty is short-term revenue generation, noting that 14,122 taxpayers availed of the two programs last year. The bulk of the revenue was generated from those settling delinquent accounts.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue has moved the cut-off period for availing of the tax amnesty on delinquent accounts several times from the original April 23 deadline in light of the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Taxpayers can apply for the amnesty program until Dec. 31.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the estate tax amnesty program is still set for May 31.

Legislators in September proposed an extension of the estate tax amnesty by two years as a form of relief for taxpayers. However, Finance Undersecretary Antonette C. Tionko has said that the Department of Finance would prefer to gauge the impact of the program before declaring an extension.

Republic Act No. 11213 or the Tax Amnesty Act was signed in February 2019 but drew a partial veto from President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who opposed a general amnesty without lifting bank secrecy laws.

The amnesty on delinquencies covers all national internal revenue taxes such as income tax, withholding tax, capital gains tax, donor’s tax, value-added tax, other forms of percentage tax, excise tax and documentary stamp tax running back to 2017.

The estate tax amnesty provides for a fixed 6% tax rate of the total net estate of persons who died on or before Dec. 31, 2017, and grants immunity from all other estate taxes and penalties incurred in the past.

“The grant of estate tax amnesty will unlock assets still registered under unsettled estates so that these may be used for commercial or economic activities that would create investment, jobs, and taxable transactions,” the NTRC said.

Granting relief through tax amnesty forms part of the government’s Tax Reform Program, along with measures seeking to increase taxes on “sin” products, fuel and other goods and services, as well as lowering corporate and personal income taxes. — Beatrice M. Laforga

DoH official says climate change bigger challenge than COVID-19

By Angelica Y. Yang

ADDRESSING climate change and protecting the environment will reduce the risk of disease outbreaks, with a government official saying that disrupted climates pose an open-ended threat with a range of impacts on public health greater than the threat posed by COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019).

“I think it’s right to say that climate change is more dangerous than COVID-19 in different ways… Climate change is happening over a longer time frame. There’s no clear start and end to this. It has been happening for many years. And of course, it’s not going to stop,” Dr. Ronald P. Law, the chief of the Preparedness Division at the Department of Health’s Emergency Management Bureau, told BusinessWorld in a video interview.

He added that while the COVID-19 problem is serious, with far-reaching consequences to public health and the economy, “the end is technically in sight” for the pandemic with numerous companies working towards developing effective vaccines.

“Once we attain a sufficient number of people immune, the so-called herd immunity, and of course with the arrival of a safe and effective vaccine, somehow, we can say that the end is in sight, technically. But we cannot say that for climate change,” Mr. Law said.

“(The) increasing temperature leads to our extreme weather events that are experienced through meteorological hazards,” he said, citing the casualties caused by heavy flooding during typhoons Rolly and Ulysses” (international names: Goni and Vamco).

According to Mr. Law, climate change also has indirect impacts on life support systems such as food and water. As a result, numerous diseases related to the phenomenon were on the rise. “Dengue, malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, leptospirosis — these are familiar cases to us but much of these are pretty much determined (or) exacerbated by impacts of a changing climate,” he said.

Gerry C. Arances, the executive director of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, said Mr. Law’s position is well-supported by health experts who have warned of the threats to health posed by climate change.

“For a member of the medical community to say that the pandemic is of less threat than climate change just goes to show how deep the ecological crisis we are in is… As devastating as COVID-19 is, it really is but a symptom of the bigger disease that is a polluting, exploitative economic system that fuels worsening climate disasters while exacerbating threats to the lives and health of vulnerable sectors,” Mr. Arances told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview.

He hoped that Mr. Law’s observations serve as a wake up call to ensure that “pandemic recovery plans… aid the climate-vulnerable Philippines.”

Addressing climate change and protecting the environment will help reduce the risk of disease outbreaks, according to Lia Mai Torres- Alonzo, the executive director of the Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines.

“As climate change and environmental destruction worsen, we can expect the emergence of more diseases that could cause other pandemics. Apart from the plethora of negative impacts of climate change, the aggressive trend of encroachment of human activities on forests and other ecosystems causes the spillover of pathogens,” she told BusinessWorld in a separate e-mail interview.

She said climate change and COVID-19 should “not be treated separately.”

Remembering to recover better and with integrity

This week the United Nations (UN) observes two international days. The first is the International Anti-Corruption Day, observed on the 9th of December. Corruption, of course, affects all countries. It undermines democratic institutions and contributes to governmental instability by warping the rule of law, attacking election integrity, and creating bureaucratic loopholes that facilitate dishonest behavior by those in positions of power. Corruption also slows economic development by wasting public funds, bogging down business operations, or scaring away investments.

Sometimes, corruption is so pervasive that it becomes difficult to imagine just how large an impact it has on us. To put things in perspective, in September 2018, the UN said that 5% of the world’s gross domestic product goes to global corruption. In December 2018, the World Economic Forum and the UN said that international corruption’s annual costs amount to $3.6 trillion in the form of bribes and stolen money. In 2019, Transparency International noted that corruption, bribery, theft, and tax evasion, and other illicit financial flows cost developing countries $1.26 trillion per year. They said this figure was roughly the combined size of the economies of Switzerland, South Africa, and Belgium and would be enough money to lift 1.4 billion people out of poverty for six whole years.

In the Philippines, in 2018, the World Financial Review said the Philippines had lost almost $10 billion every year to illicit financial flows. In 2019, Deputy Ombudsman Cyril Ramos, citing UN estimates, noted that corruption loss in the country was estimated as 20% of annual government appropriations. This meant that the Philippine government might have lost around P1.4 trillion to corruption since 2017.

The second UN international day observed this week is the International Human Rights Day. It is observed on 10th of December in commemoration of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Health Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees every individual a broad range of fundamental rights and freedoms regardless of their nationality, place of residence, gender, national or ethnic origin, religion, language, or any other status.

According to a 2020 UN report on Human Rights in the Philippines, “while there have been important human rights gains in recent years, particularly in economic and social rights, the underpinning focus on national security threats — real and inflated — has led to serious human rights violations, reinforced by harmful rhetoric from high-level officials.”

“Since the Government launched its campaign against illegal drugs in 2016, official figures indicate that at least 8,663 people have been killed, with some estimates putting the real toll at more than triple that number. The UN Human Rights Office has also documented that, between 2015 and 2019, at least 248 human rights defenders, legal professionals, journalists, and trade unionists have been killed in relation to their work,” the report added.

These figures tell us that corruption and human rights violations are long-standing issues that have plagued the country for years. But this year, especially, forces us to view these persistent issues through the additional lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, for this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day, the UN highlights the need to “recover with integrity.” According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “this year, however, the focus is recovering with integrity. Corruption is criminal, immoral, and the ultimate betrayal of public trust. It is even more damaging in times of crisis — as the world is experiencing now with the COVID-19 pandemic. The response to the virus is creating new opportunities to exploit weak oversight and inadequate Transparency, diverting funds away from people in their hour of greatest need.”

This year, the UN also reminds us to “recover better” and to ensure that Human Rights are at the center of the post-pandemic world. COVID-19 has exposed and aggravated economic and social inequalities, and to fully recover and build back a world that is better, we must close these gaps and advance human rights.

Here in the Philippines, the government’s response to COVID-19 has been characterized by the unchecked movement of large discretionary funds, creating openings for corrupt practices by opportunistic public servants. This creates a multifaceted threat by interacting with the rising trend of human rights violations and persistent impunity.

As we observe International Anti-Corruption Day and International Human Rights Day this week, we should keep in mind how COVID-19 has only exacerbated the challenges that the country faces on these fronts and that mitigating the growing risks demands no less than a whole-of-society response. Both the fight against corruption and human rights violations should hold particular importance to us as these two concepts are central to supporting the rule of law and democracy — themselves crucial to our development as a nation in the new normal.

 

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

What if data scientists had licenses like lawyers?

DATA SCIENTISTS, if they’re poorly qualified or act irresponsibly, can do at least as much damage as lawyers and doctors. The algorithms they create can ruin lives, aggravate social divisions, even facilitate genocide.

Which makes me wonder: Why shouldn’t they have a professional association to guide and police their behavior, like lawyers and doctors do?

Anyone who doubts the power of professional accreditation need only witness the antics of Donald Trump’s lawyers as they seek to challenge the 2020 election results. As soon as they enter a courtroom, their fraud claims dissolve. For good reason: They know they can lose their licenses or even be charged with crimes if they knowingly lie or misrepresent facts to a judge. At a time when truth and honesty seem vanishingly rare, it’s like a miracle.

Granted, occupational licensing has its downsides. As Milton Friedman famously argued, it can insulate incumbents from competition and increase the prices of services. In some cases — such as florists and barbers — it has probably gone too far. That said, I think I’m not alone in being willing to pay more to ensure that buildings don’t fall down, doctors aren’t total quacks, and lawyers aren’t utterly corrupt. And in such crucial areas, where quality can be difficult for individual consumers to assess or act upon, standardized requirements are certainly better than often-biased and easily gamed rankings such as Yelp.

Consider what associations require of lawyers. They must pass the bar exam, which defines what it means to be professionally informed and qualified. They must attend yearly ongoing education, to ensure they stay abreast of developments in the law. They must adhere to ethics standards, many based on the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct — rules that have managed to contain even Trump’s lawyers.

Data scientists have none of this. Although they have many skills in common, there’s no standard curriculum, and boot-camp programs often fail to provide important technical background. Ongoing education is voluntary, despite its necessity in a field where tools are built and discarded regularly. As regards ethics, behold the case of Facebook, where data scientists reportedly weakened an algorithm designed to demote posts deemed “bad for the world” because it threatened to reduce profits.

So what would requirements for data scientists look like? Although there’s no obvious way to build the perfect test for technical skills, it would certainly include basic data wrangling and algorithm training, implementation and testing. Its drafters could also borrow ideas from actuary licensing, such as a thorough understanding of linear algebra and statistics.

The ethical standards would have to recognize the peculiarities of the job. As opposed to lawyers, who interact directly with judges and clients, data scientists interact primarily with their employers, typically large technology companies. Their loyalties are split between the people who can fire them and the public they might be harming.

So, where lawyers are required to “Respect the Rights of Third Persons” — for example, by not taking advantage of people who don’t know the law or don’t have legal representation — the rules for data scientists might focus on more fundamental questions. Does this algorithm violate the law — say, by discriminating against people according to race or gender? Does it exploit people’s data or attention in ways that they could not have anticipated or knowingly approved? Professionals should be responsible not only for their own actions, but also for reporting any violations they witness. This could help put a damper on socially undesirable decisions of the Facebook variety.

Data scientists in particular, and technologists in general, build the digital architecture we all rely on. While a poorly engineered website simply won’t work, a terrible algorithm can go undetected and unmitigated for months or years. Considering the increasing role such algorithms play in people’s lives — deciding what they see, whether they get credit, whether they get hired, where they go to college, how much time they spend in prison — placing some responsibility on their creators seems a reasonable ask.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Bob Dylan sells out: Why Universal Music Group dished out for art

BOB DYLAN

IT CAN’T HAVE been a difficult decision for Bob Dylan to sell his songwriting catalog to Universal Music Group (UMG). Perhaps the more interesting question is why the record label wanted to pony up several hundred million dollars to buy it.

The logic for Dylan is straightforward. The copyright on his music will expire 70 years after his death, at which point his work will enter the public domain. The older he gets, the closer his catalog is to depreciating in value. Selling now lets the 79-year-old artist realize the portfolio’s worth, which has likely received a new lease of life as online streaming reignites growth in the recording industry. The value of music catalogs has increased accordingly, and just last week, the 72-year-old Fleetwood Mac star Stevie Nicks sold an 80% interest in her copyrights in a deal that valued her catalog at about $100 million.

What’s in it for UMG? Parent company Vivendi SA is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for the world’s biggest record label next year. The French media conglomerate is therefore in the process of gussying it up to make it as attractive as possible to new investors. Although streaming services such as Spotify Technology SA and Apple Music have reinvigorated the music industry, they’ve also highlighted some of its vulnerabilities.

Digital distribution has made it easier for artists to reach audiences without a record label, which traditionally fronted the studio and marketing costs in return for a slice of future revenue. Cutting through is still a challenge, and a label’s massive marketing budget can help, but the internet has enabled artists such as “Old Town Road” singer Lil Nas X to build a significant following (and gain leverage) before signing to a label.

The shifting power dynamics enabling some artists to negotiate more generous terms have led record labels to place greater emphasis on owning intellectual property — and the reliable income that comes with it.

In this case, it’s Dylan’s compositions. When the time comes for UMG’s IPO roadshow, a deep back catalog of recording and publishing rights will let Chief Executive Officer Lucian Grainge paint a more resilient picture of the company’s earnings. The dependable returns promised by Dylan’s oeuvre will no doubt help with that. UMG can meanwhile extend the lifespan of each song better than Dylan or his estate could alone, for instance by encouraging its stable of artists to record cover versions.

The strategy has already been deployed with some success by rival Warner Music Group Corp., which listed shares publicly for the first time in June. In its IPO filing, it was eager to point out that much of its revenue stemmed from “stable and recurring sources such as our music publishing library,” and that “less than 10% of our total revenues depend on artists without established track records.”

Music publishing (the rights to the underlying composition and lyrics) is also more profitable than the rest of the business, with earnings that represent 23% of revenue, compared with the 15% profit margin from recorded music (the performed versions of songs or pieces). It’s the same reason that Spotify has been charging into podcasts: Owning more content outright means it doesn’t have to pay as much in royalties to other parties.

The times may be a-changin’, but Dylan’s tunes will generate an annuity for many years yet.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

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