STAYCATION was a clever marketing strategy for hotels to fill up rooms over lean days like weekends which business travelers seldom book. It meant staying a weekend in a nearby luxe hotel, requiring a short car trip (free basement parking) at the same time enjoying fresh bed sheets, fluffy towels, a swimming pool, and free breakfast buffet. And this is offered as a package with hefty discounts for a family staying in the city and having a vacation. This is not to be confused with the shorter stay for a couple where the fluffy towels also come in handy along with a preference for in-room dining — no breakfast required.
Can staying at home even on a work day and going to the office downstairs in pajamas be the new meaning of staycation?
Even those retired from work, including those “between jobs,” had a schedule involving getting out of the house. This may even have been a daily routine with a digital calendar slicing up the day’s to-do list into hours, lest they be forgotten — check out the new jazz pub in Timog. These activities filled up the hours which included commute time. Often did we airily dismiss this boring routine and envied start-up entrepreneurs in the fin tech space looking for angels and whose run of the day was more freewheeling but longer.
Of course, staying home and making a tour of corners and checking the aquarium for bubbles and what’s still there in the attic can be something of a routine too, especially in a household where division of labor is enshrined. (You can’t just lie around the house and read about stoicism.) Home work (two words) is a routine for the homemaker.
Breaks from routine are also scheduled. Isn’t this what vacations are for? There was a time when such breaks were an option. Not these days. But vacations were welcome disruptions of routine. They were stress-relievers when the office rut (from the same root word) got too repetitive or pressured. The very novelty of a new place to visit like Milan or Davao offered a break from routine, especially with the option of customized tours, and lots of unscheduled activities like shopping and trying out restaurants.
Still, the person used to routine and having something definite to do with a schedule to follow during the day seems at a loss when the calendar is blank. Isn’t this the biggest fear of someone retired from work? Second only to the loss of revenues, or their lack of regularity. Dipping into savings can be stressful.
We are supposed to be creatures of habit. Routine provides a certain structure to life, like three meals a day. Even the scheduled change of scenery going from home to office and the commute time this involves can be comforting. A full calendar seems to define the value of a person. And staying home, even when this entails working on a computer or phone and attending virtual meetings is a new routine that takes getting used to.
Routine is not really something we embrace. It can be stultifying too. So, maybe staying at home at this time has become, even if only temporarily, the new normal in terms of work habits. What is missing are the little breaks from routine. The coffee chats, the meetings outside the office, the training sessions, and dropping in on colleagues, these are not possible when forced to stay home.
Maybe the next wave of medical attention will involve psychiatric therapy. The findings posted on social media may not be as compelling as the present updates on the contagion spread. Still, the sense of alienation and the interruption of the circadian sleep patterns will be pronounced. When asked what exercise was preferred, do “climbing the walls” and “tearing out my hair” qualify?
Who would have thought that anyone would miss traffic jams with motorcycles weaving in and out between the stuck cars, of people lining up for their rides? People were going somewhere. Economists arguing lost productivity and man hours from commute time are also quick to point out the increase in car sales and the boom in SMEs. They point out that heavy traffic is an indicator of economic growth. Hmmmm.
The empty streets with checkpoints along the way are eerie. True, the skies are bluer… and so are those under them.
By the Ateneo de Manila Department of Political Science
(Third of an eight-part series)
THE COVID-19 pandemic has re-worked the economic, social, and even political fabric of countries around the world. In the Philippines, problems of slower — or even contracted — economic growth, large-scale displacement of workers, and food insufficiency are expected effects of the adoption and extension of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) policy. The pandemic as such has brought to the fore the importance of social policy — both in the form of social services provision, and social protection mechanisms.
A crucial aspect of the National Action Plan (NAP) for COVID-19 is the Social Amelioration Program (SAP). Dubbed by the president himself as the most ambitious social protection policy by far, the SAP intends to aid the sectors made most vulnerable by the pandemic. It includes social assistance in the form of cash or in-kind transfers specifically targeted for the poor, as well as for the workers displaced by the pandemic, including those in the agricultural sector. The program also has an aid package for micro- and small-scale entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the SAP sets up income-generating activities in the form of short-term public employment programs.
Several difficulties in effectively implementing the SAP at once present themselves. The duration and substance of the aid, and the tensions between the implementing agencies, as well as tensions between the national and local levels of government are some of the relevant issues that need to be addressed.
We argue as such that an effective social policy is founded on two interdependent factors. First, it must be designed well. And second, it must be supported by a strong administrative system.
DESIGNING SOCIAL POLICY THAT WORKS
First, the design of social policies and programs should reflect long-term solutions, not just short-term fixes or one-off legislative acts, because social issues transcend beyond a generation. The goal is to achieve intergenerational and sustainable security and productivity, able to absorb shocks brought about by disasters and disruptions.
The pandemic has caught many off-guard, but a country like ours that has experienced multiple disasters in the last decade should have been at least half-prepared to respond. The devastation caused by the typhoons and tropical storms such as Ondoy, Sendong, and Yolanda, the earthquakes in the Visayas and Mindanao, the eruptions of Taal and Mayon volcanoes, and the Marawi siege should have enabled us to create innovative and long-lasting social policies that would cushion many of the impacts most of us are facing today. Hence, social policies must be able to respond to social issues not only of the present, but also of the future by building on the lessons of the past.
Second, there should be broader participation in designing social policies and programs. As Amartya Sen mentioned most recently, add ressing social calamities like this pandemic is less a matter of approaching it like being engaged in a war, but more of engaging in public discussion and participatory governance. It does not also help that most of our policymakers are detached from the realities of ordinary people. Citizens, especially the poor, should be able to voice their concerns and suggestions, for no one understands their situation better than themselves.
However, meaningful participation in policy making is difficult if certain political, economic and social conditions have not yet been achieved. Hence, we need to encourage intermediaries that promote the organization of voice, important of which are social movements, community-based groups, labor unions, and cooperatives to name a few. We also need to encourage new tools and channels of participation as well as the opportunities given by information communication technologies (ICTs).
Third, LGUs must be enabled to contextualize national social policy. Although the pandemic undoubtedly does not choose its victims, its aftermath, and the policies intended to control it will be experienced differently across geographical lines. Public policies do not operate in a vacuum. It is a product of its place. Part of its success or failure will depend on how well it is able to address the specificities of its context.
For instance, the epicenter of the pandemic in the country, Metro Manila, is one of the densest urban areas in the world. It is not only the country’s center of economic, social, and political activities, but also a hotbed of poverty, poor living conditions, unsatisfactory water and sanitation facilities, job insecurity, and overcrowding of public schools and health facilities. Such conditions might not necessarily be true in other places in the country, hence blanket social policies and programs might bring more problems than solutions.
Fourth, social policy should be universal, in the sense that programs should not be targeted only towards the poorest of the poor. There is preference for developing countries whose financial resources are limited, to implement social protection that is residual — one that specifically targets only those who are in most need. While this is the most intuitive way of proceeding, it must be emphasized, however, that finding those who are “in need” is like trying to hit a constantly moving target. For example, many families of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were considered “not poor” became vulnerable when cruise ships, construction work, and hotel industries in other countries shut down and sent their workers home.
While targeted social policies might be more economical in the short term, they are more politically problematic as they create tensions between those who are part of the list of beneficiaries, and those who were excluded. More importantly, targeting makes the programs a source of patronage, given the clientelist nature of Philippine politics. In the long term, therefore, a universal social policy is the more effective and enabling way of moving forward.
THE NEED FOR A STRONG ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM
A strongly-designed social policy will be brought to naught if it is not coupled with an equally strong administrative system. This need for a strong administrative system, however, does not mean a recourse to authoritarianism.
Characteristic of a strong administrative system is recruitment based on ability, technical knowledge, and merit. The COVID-19 pandemic reveals the importance of technical competence. Now more than ever, there is a demand for decision-making based on evidence and data analyzed with the appropriate tools of public health and its allied sciences. A militaristic response to the pandemic is not apt given the different competency of the military; in fact, such a response is indicative of our weak administrative system.
Another cornerstone of a strong administrative system is the presence of mechanisms that promote transparency and accountability. By allowing citizens to access information, check and question decisions, it prevents abuse of power and corruption. This highlights that power comes from the people and the institution should, therefore serve the people, not the politicians. In becoming so, it is able to defend itself from — if not withstand — bad leaders, and adapt as well as maximize its potential in the presence of a good leader.
The administrative system should also allow for, and give value to innovative solutions at the local level. We have seen how local business communities, homeowners’ associations, students, researchers, professional groups, and grassroots organizations have creatively supplied solutions to their respective local government units (LGUs). An administrative system responsive to the needs of its people, and a people critically engaged with the affairs of the administrative system are important ingredients for democratic governance.
Building a strong Philippine administrative system therefore requires having: 1.) public servants who are able to generate evidence-based policies, 2.) mechanisms that promote transparency and accountability, and 3.) trust in the LGU, private sector, and civil society’s capability to share in the governance of social policy.
TOWARDS POLICYMAKING ‘FROM BELOW’
Post-pandemic, we are given a unique opportunity to construct social policy from below. We have seen how, despite the lack of organized voice, we are able to collectively revise misleading narratives, push for better policy designs, demand for clarity when confronted by incoherent utterances, and find creative solutions to localized problems brought about by COVID-19.
The many disruptions brought about the pandemic have affected both our individual and collective lives. The boundaries we drew to separate ourselves from the others collapsed, because regardless of inequality — the rich, the poor, well-educated or not, factory workers, farmers, business people, jeepney drivers, medical practitioners, teachers, lawyers, OFWs, business process outsourcing (BPO) staff — we are all in the same boat; that we do not have a choice but to rely on each other because our institutions simply cannot protect us all. This sense of fraternity has always been alive in moments of calm and calamity, proof that the “imagined community” theory of political scientist and historian Benedict Anderson is real.
We must seize this moment to reclaim the power to participate in crafting and implementing policies that are and will be affecting our lives and the next generation. This is the only way for our institutions to remain resilient and rational during the most irrational and dysfunctional times.
THE Philippines now has 15 testing centers for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), allowing it to test 3,000 samples daily, according to a government task force against the pandemic.
“We’re now in a better position to reach our target of 3,000 tests per day, then eventually 8,000 to 10,000 tests per day,” Cabinet Secretary and task force Spokesman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said at a news briefing on Monday.
The Department of Health yesterday reported new 284 COVID-19 infections, bringing the total to 4,932. Eighteen more patients died, raising the death toll to 315. It said in a bulletin. Forty-five more patients have gotten well, bringing the total of those who have recovered to 242, it added.
The Health department would start expanded COVID-19 tests on April 14, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire told a separate news briefing.
The agency would coordinate with the University of the Philippines National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in Diliman, Quezon City for the deployment of 300 volunteer medical technologists, molecular biologists, laboratory technicians and researchers to various laboratories.
“We want to ensure that there are enough health workers at each facility,” Ms. Vergeire said, adding that 1,429 volunteers had finished an online biosafety course organized by UP Manila.
They are also coordinating with the Department of Science and Technology for borrowed supplies and equipment.
Ms. Vergeire noted that aside from the 15 testing laboratories, 28 institutions were undergoing certification and 37 have expressed a desire to become testing laboratories.
She said the agency would prioritize the first and second stages of the certification process for laboratories in the Visayas and Mindanao.
DoH was also looking at alternative approaches that will deliver fast and accurate results to detect the disease, she said.
The agency was awaiting delivery of 3,000 GeneXpert cartridges developed by Cepheid and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 tests.
GeneXpert, which is used in diagnosing tuberculosis, yields faster results than the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction technique used for COVID-19, Ms. Vergeire said.
Mr. Nograles said the testing centers now include St. Luke’s Quezon City and Bonifacio Global City, V. Luna Hospital in Quezon City, Medical City in Pasig, the Makati Medical Center and the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory.
He said 33,814 individuals have been tested for the virus.
Meanwhile, the city of Manila has started localized mass testing and could now test more than 1,000 virus samples a week, it said in a statement.
Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso allowed localized target mass testing to be led by the city’s Health department and six district hospitals.
Seven health facilities in the nation’s capital can conduct 232 swab tests daily, or 1,624 a week, it said.
The swab tests will be processed by the Department of Health’s Research Institute for Tropical medicine or the University of the Philippines Philippine General Hospital.
UP-PGH Director Gerardo D. Legaspi has committed to release results in two to three days, according to the statement.
THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it has released P48 billion in emergency cash subsidies to local governments and welfare offices to help Filipino families affected by the Luzon-wide lockdown meant to contain the coronavirus disease pandemic.
More than 77,000 low-income families not covered by the government’s conditional cash grants have received P424 million in cash aid as of April 13, Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista said at a news briefing on Monday.
About 3.7 million poorest of the poor families under the state’s cash grant program have received P16.3 billion in financial assistance, he added.
Public utility drivers in the National Capital Region were among the first to receive the cash aid, Mr. Bautista said.
He added that more than 368,000 family food packs have been distributed to 12 regions in the country.
The social amelioration program is on top of the agency’s regular financial assistance programs, he said.
“The agency has served 12,204 clients with COVID-19-related concerns, including medical and burial assistance worth P57 million,” Mr. Bautista said.
The government allotted P200 billion in cash aid for about 18 million low-income families under a law that gave President Rodrigo R. Duterte special powers to deal with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Eligible families will get P5,000 to P8,000 depending on the prevailing wage rate.
Mr. Bautista said eligible families “should make a noise” if they haven’t received their share to ensure local government officials are made accountable. — Genshen L. Espedido
MORE than a thousand more Filipinos from the US, Dubai, Indonesia and Barbados have come home amid a COVID-19 pandemic that has sickened 1.8 million and killed more than 114,000 people worldwide, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
About 440 seafarers from Miami arrived on its 14th day of repatriation, the agency said. The batch included the 365 crewmen of the MS Norwegian Epic and 75 from the MS Marina.
DFA said 382 seafarers from the MS Norwegian Spirit from Barbados also arrived on Monday.
“The seafarers of MS Norwegian Epic and MS Marina will undergo a 14-day facility-based quarantine while those of MS Norwegian Spirit will undergo home quarantine,” it said in a statement.
This is based on the assessment of the Department of Health-Bureau of Quarantine.
Their return was facilitated by the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, in coordination with local manning agency CF Sharp as well as the Norwegian Cruise Lines and Oceania Cruises, it said.
DFA said the Norwegian Cruise Lines shouldered the repatriation of more than 3,670 of its Filipino crewmen.
The latest arrivals followed the repatriation of 208 crewmen of Nautica, Norwegian Jade and Seven Seas Voyager from Dubai and 33 Filipino workers from Indonesia on Sunday evening.
This brings the total number of repatriates to 12,966 out of 20,000 target beneficiaries, DFA said.
It said 654 Filipinos overseas have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, 382 of whom were still being treated. It said that 188 Filipino patients overseas have recovered, while 84 died. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
Makati warns quarantine violators of stiff penalties
THE MAKATI City government has warned that violators of quarantine rules and the mandatory wearing of face masks outside homes will be fined with up to P5,000 and jail time. In a statement Monday, the local government stressed that City Ordinance No. 2020-088 imposes a P5,000 fine for first- and second-time offenders of the mandatory quarantine, while those caught a third or more times face one-year imprisonment in addition to the financial penalty. Meanwhile, City Ordinance No. 2020-089 sets a maximum of P5,000 fine or six months imprisonment for residents caught not wearing face masks outside their homes. A fine of P1,000 will be imposed on first-time offenders and P3,000 for the second time. — Genshen L. Espedido
WVMC resumes services to non-COVID-19 patients
THE WESTERN Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Iloilo City, the only tertiary-level public hospital in Region 7, on Monday resumed services for severe cases not related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to cater to indigent patients needing urgent care. Department of Health Regional Director Marlyn W. Convocar said while the COVID-19 situation is a health crisis, there are still patients with other conditions that also require tertiary medical care. “With this protocol, we can prevent the displacement of indigent patients with severe medical cases,” she said in a press conference. The 450-bed WVMC, which was earlier designated as a dedicated COVID-19 hospital, will now just allocate 100 beds for COVID-19 patients. WVMC Chief of Hospital Joseph Dean Nicolo said starting Monday, they will accept patients requiring tertiary health care under the Internal Medicine and Obstetrics-Gynecology Departments. “Other departments are now ready to accept extreme emergency cases or life-threatening cases only. We ask everybody to remain patient as we gradually make our services available to the general public based on our capacity as a dedicated COVID-19 and non-COVID hospital,” he said. As of April 11, the region had 40 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 13 were admitted in hospital, 14 under home quarantine, six have recovered, and sever died. — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo
Food delivery thrives in Davao City amid quarantine
FOOD delivery service in Davao City — including for fresh produce, groceries, and cooked meals — has been on high demand amid quarantine measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and suppliers are stepping up to meet orders. The foodpanda Group, for one, is launching bicycle riders and expanding its service area in the city. Reynaldo Rubio, foodpanda PR manager, said they have started to deliver food orders to the Toril area in the southwestern part of the city in addition to Puan in the south and Panacan in the north. The food delivery firm currently has over 30 restaurant partners in the city. Dine-in operations at restaurants is prohibited under existing restrictions. “Foodpanda has hundreds of riders serving daily and we will be launching the bicycle riders soon as well,” Mr. Rubio said in an e-mail interview. He noted that the company has more than a thousand riders nationwide, with bicycle riders comprising about 10%. He added that “walkers as part of the delivery fleet might also happen soon.”
NCCC
The New City Commercial Center (NCCC), a homegrown supermarket operator, has also enhanced its delivery service that was seldom used before the COVID-19 outbreak. Thea Septann S. Padua, NCCC public relations manager, said it has started hiring more drivers to speed up delivery. “Our target is to make 50 deliveries in a day,” she said in an online message. The company has also opened a “call and pick-up” service wherein a customer gets a “personal shopper” to put together the items on the list. The customer then picks up the bags at a designated parking slot. Ms. Padua said the company believes these services will become an “essential component of retail operations” after the COVID-19 health crisis. The Department of Agriculture-Davao Region office and several groups on social media, particularly Facebook, have also been actively posting delivery services for agricultural goods. Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry President John Carlo B. Tria, in a statement, said the community quarantine has opened work opportunities in the delivery business. “A number of delivery and courier service providers like Errands Davao have told us that they are facing shortage of riders due to the overwhelming demand from customers, or are limiting their services since they cannot cater to the large demand,” Mr. Tria said. “It is important for business to keep running especially the ones that would supply daily commodities as demand remains high. One way to do this is to utilize social media for delivery services,” he said. —Maya M. PadilloandCarmelito Q. Francisco
Solon says ban on health care worker deployment constitutional but…
PHILSTAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
THE TEMPORARY ban on the deployment of health care workers abroad is constitutional, Albay. Rep Edcel C. Lagman said.
“The temporary ban on overseas employment of doctors, nurses and other health care workers imposed…on April 2, 2020 because of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic is constitutional. However, the ban must be coupled with adequate compensation and other benefits to medical professionals and workers who volunteer to be in the frontlines against the viral menace,” he said in a statement on Monday.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) approved the temporary suspension of health workers to ensure that the country has enough medical workers amid the public health emergency.
According to Mr. Lagman, the rights to travel and non-impairment of contracts are “not absolute and are subject to restrictions or limitations which the State may enforce in exercise of its police power.”
He added, however, that the government must negotiate with the host countries to preserve the employment contracts of the affected medical professionals and workers during the imposition of the deployment ban.
“The enforcement of the ban on foreign deployment of migrant workers has been duly delegated by the legislature under the established standards of national interest or public welfare to the POEA Governing Board. With respect to the imposition of the ban, the Department of Foreign Affairs has to be merely consulted but it has no veto power over the decision to terminate or ban foreign employment,” Mr. Lagman said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. has expressed opposition to the policy and vowed to lobby for its withdrawal before the government’s COVID-19 task force. — Genshen L. Espedido
Gov’t to issue data sharing guidelines for COVID-19 patients
THE GOVERNMENT is still preparing guidelines on data sharing to ensure privacy protection for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients following its announcement of the mandatory reporting of personal and health information.
In a briefing Monday, Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Spokesperson Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said the use of patient information and privacy security in consideration of public welfare is a “delicate balancing act” that is still being discussed by the task force.
He assured that the Department of Health’s (DoH) guidelines will respect both Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act and Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
He explained that patient information will mainly be shared with government enforcement agencies and other authorities for the purpose of contact tracing and policy making.
“We’re not asking the patient to disclose to the public. We’re asking them to disclose to the DoH,” Mr. Nograles said.
“The DOH will be coming up with guidelines… So in the IATF meeting today and the next IATF (meeting), hopefully, the DoH will finalize the guidelines regarding data sharing and contact tracing and using of the mandatory disclosure of patients regarding personal information,” he said. — Gillian M. Cortez
Senate, DSWD rebuff proposal to reduce cash aid for more beneficiaries
THE SENATE and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) opposed moves by local governments to halve the P5,000-8,000 monthly emergency subsidy to cover more beneficiaries amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said the set monthly subsidy per low income household is already a small amount.
“Bakit ibaba, kung kaya ‘yung (Why lower it if we can afford) P6,000 and P8,000? Ang liit na nga noon (That is already a small amount),” he told reporters over phone message on Monday.
He insisted that the government has enough funds for the subsidy program and noted that the problem lies in identifying the target beneficiaries.
“Their (local governments’) problem is identification and info dissemination.”
Some local government units (LGUs) have reportedly distributed subsidies lower than the range provided in Republic Act No. 11469, the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
The law mandates a P5,000-8,000 monthly subsidy for two months for low-income households, which will vary based on the regional minimum wage rate.
DSWD Spokesperson Irene B. Dumlao likewise said they are not supporting the lowering of the subsidy, citing that the amount has been determined to fund the basic needs of each household.
“We discourage ‘yung paghahati ng (the division of the) emergency subsidy fund,” she said during the Laging Handa virtual briefing Monday. “Itong amount na ito ay pinag-aralan at ito ang nakita na close approximation na kakailanganin ng isang pamilya para ma-meet ang pangangailangan sa isang buwan (This amount was studied and determined to be in close approximation of what each family will need to meet the basic monthly needs),” Ms Dumlao said. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
Roque returns as Presidential spokesperson
LAWYER Herminio “Harry” L. Roque is returning as the President’s spokesperson effective April 14, the Palace reported Monday.
“The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has offered the position of Presidential Spokesperson to Atty. Harry Roque who, in turn, has accepted the same,” outgoing Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement.
Mr. Panelo, meanwhile, will continue as the President’s legal counsel, which he juggled along with his spokesperson duties from October 15, 2018 to April 13, 2020.
Mr. Roque was first appointed by Mr. Duterte in November 2017, staying in position for almost a year.
Mr. Panelo said the changes were decided upon with the country under a national state of calamity due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. “The present crisis requires a new tack in messaging,” Mr. Panelo said. — Gillian M. Cortez
THE NATIONAL Basketball Association may not know when — or if — play will resume this season, but the league reportedly has a plan to get players into game shape and onto the court should that day come.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on Sunday, the league has a “25-day plan” that would kick in after the league sets a return date from the coronavirus-induced layoff and would conclude with players ready to play regular-season games again.
“They’re spending a lot of time getting a back-to-basketball plan ready,” Windhorst said during a TV interview of what league officials have been working on in recent days.
“What they’re looking at is a 25-day return-to-basketball window,” he continued. “… An 11-day series of individual workouts, where there’d be social distancing for a period of time, and then hopefully … a 14-day training camp.”
The NBA halted its regular season on March 11. Commissioner Adam Silver has previously said the league doesn’t plan to make any decisions regarding the calendar until at least May 1.
The regular season had about a month remaining when it was suspended, and the playoffs typically take about two months to complete. The 2020–21 regular season typically would begin in October, although Silver acknowledged that could be affected as well. — Reuters
LONDON — Stirling Moss, the British racing driver who ranked as an all-time Formula One great despite never winning the world championship, died on Sunday aged 90 after a long illness.
“He died as he lived, looking wonderful,” his wife Susie told the Daily Mail newspaper.
“He simply tired in the end and he just closed his beautiful eyes and that was that.”
A teammate at Mercedes to Argentine five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, the Briton survived one of the deadliest eras of motorsport with 16 grand prix wins in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Four times a championship runner-up, and also third overall on three occasions, no other driver has won as many races without taking the title.
Moss was the first Briton to win his home grand prix, beating Fangio at Liverpool’s Aintree circuit for Mercedes in 1955, with his name becoming a byword for speed for a generation of fans.
He also won grands prix in Maserati, Vanwall, and Rob Walker-entered Cooper and Lotus cars and was admired by generations as “Mr. Motor Racing.”
News of his passing was mourned across the world of motorsport, with Formula One and Jean Todt, president of the governing FIA, hailing a “legend” of the sport and “one of the true greats.”
“Sir Stirling was a larger-than-life figure in our sport and one of the survivors of an age when motor racing was about danger, bravery and camaraderie,” said Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff.
“But most of all, Stirling’s career was characterized by an impeccable sportsmanship and in this he truly set himself apart… it is no exaggeration to say that we will never see his like again.”
Ferrari hailed “a true legend and a wonderful person” and added: “To Scuderia Ferrari, he was a formidable opponent.”
But for his sense of sportsmanship, Moss could have been Britain’s first world champion in 1958 instead of Mike Hawthorn.
He lost the title by a single point that year after asking stewards to reinstate his disqualified compatriot at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
“I felt that it was quite wrong and I went and gave evidence on Mike’s behalf and said no way should he be disqualified,” Moss, who won four races that year to Hawthorn’s one, told Reuters in an interview at his home in 2009. — Reuters
WIM Arianne Bo Caoili died last March 30 from injuries sustained after her car crashed into a supporting column under a bridge in Yerevan two weeks prior. She was only 33 years old. She played for me when I was Team Captain of the Philippines’ 2000 Istanbul Olympiad team, but to describe her as a chess player would be a grave injustice. She couldn’t sit/stand still and always had to be doing something, and she excelled in everything she did. Just read on.
The daughter of Mr. Arnold Caoili (a former Deputy Minister of Agriculture during the Marcos days) and Ms. Annette Caoili of the Netherlands. I first met her in 1999 when I was still the Executive Director of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and no less than Hon. Florencio Campomanes recommended her as a great talent to be nurtured.
“Campo” as everyone knows was a chess junkie and played chess anywhere and everywhere. During a local tournament he spotted this tiny cute girl playing blitz against all comers and he had to try her out for himself, losing three games in succession in the process.
To make a long story short the Philippine Chess Society sponsored the “Philippine Chess Center Women’s Championship” where all the top women players in the country participated and Arianne confirmed her skill by winning the event.
She played top board for the Philippines in the 2000 Istanbul Chess Olympiad. I was captain of that team (also the men’s team, but they did not need any captaining from me if you know what I mean!), and fondly remember them all: board 1 WIM Arianne Caoili, board 2 Beverly Mendoza, board 3 Leah Bernardo, board 4 Christine Grace Espallardo, Team Captain: WIM Cristine Mariano.
After breakfast each day the team would go out for a walk in the long pedestrian shopping street near Taksim Square, after which we would go to review our various strategies for the game in the afternoon.
During the morning strolls I felt on top of the world because I was rubbing elbows with famous chess organizers and administrators from all over the world and even famous grandmasters like Ulf Andersson, Michal Krasenkow, Peter Leko would stop and chat a bit. Players who I hardly knew would greet me and strike up a conversation. It was only later on that I realized that this newfound “popularity” was because we had two “lookers” in the team, Arianne and Christine Espallardo.
I would regularly go to the Internet cafes to send reports to the Philippines on the performance of our players and these cafes were usually filled with players from other teams playing online games and chatting with their friends on social media. Now, I am aware that Facebook was created in 2004, Twitter in 2006, and Instagram even later, around 2012. At that time what we had was Internet Relay Chat and the chat rooms. Also, online sites like the Internet Chess Club (ICC) allow players to log in, play, analyze and talk/chat/gossip with each other. It was there that I first got wind of the “babes in the Philippine team” and their clueless team captain!
At the end of 2000 the Philippines hosted the Asian Under-16 Boys’ and Girls’ Championship in Bagac, Bataan, and Arianne won the Girls’ event to get her Woman’s International Master (WIM) title.
In 2004 Arianne transferred chess federations to represent Australia. She played for the women’s team Down Under in the chess olympiads of 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012.
2006 was a very eventful year for Arianne. She was one of the celebrity dancers in the fifth Australian season of Dancing with the Stars. Her professional dance partner was Carmelo Pizzino and she finished as the series’ runner-up behind Anthony Koutoufides.
In an episode of the Australian TV show Deal or No Deal she won a car for the home competition entrant.
Later on during the 2006 Turin Olympiad there was some negative publicity. Every Chess Olympiad has a “Bermuda Party” (so named because it is sponsored by the team from Bermuda) held on the eve of a free day, which is usually a big celebration, a wild, noisy affair with multiple imported bands playing well into the wee hours of the morning.
Anyway, Arianne attended that party at the arm of Latvian/German/Azerbaijan GM Arkadij Naiditsch and at some point she started dancing with Levon Aronian then as now considered something of a national hero in Armenia. Suddenly, out of nowhere, England’s GM Daniel Gormally, drunk and in a jealous rage, lunged at Aronian and sent him sprawling on the dance floor. Immediately, GM Varuzhan Akobian of the US team (a native Armenian) rushed Gormally and tried to engage him in fisticuffs. I believe at this stage GM Yasser Seirawan intervened and separated all the parties.
It was not yet over, of course, the next day a group of Armenians waylaid Gormally and roughed him up. The English board 4 was really in physical danger and had to depart from the Olympiad.
Next year when Aronian and Caoili met again in a tournament they connected and started going out. Two years later, in 2008, they were officially in a relationship, became officially engaged in 2015 and were married on Sept. 30, 2017 with no less than Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his wife Rita Sargsyan in attendance.
This game, played 20 years ago almost to the day, was quite a sensation at that time. A cute 13-year old girl defeats Vladimir Epishin, one of the top players of the world then, 3rd placer in the 1991 Soviet Chess Championship and a second to former world champion Anatoly Karpov. He is also a theoretician and even has a variation of the Benko Gambit named after him (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.Nf3 d6 8.g3 Bg7 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.Rb1)
Caoili, Arianne (2097) — Epishin, Vladimir (2667) [E15]
III Open de Malaga (4.12), 28.02.2000
This is a popular line with Black hoping that the little girl sitting opposite him would play 8.Bxb4? axb4 rewarding Black with a semi-open a-file. However, Arianne has done a lot of work in her opening repertoire and knows that the crucial square for this line is e4.
8.0–0 0–0 9.a3
The most common moves here are 9.Nc3 and 9.Qc2. On the other hand, the move 9.Bc3 has largely lost its popularity because of Black’s 9…c5! 10.a3 Bxc3 11.Nxc3 d5 12.Ne5 Na6 and it seems that White does not have anything out of the opening.
Can you believe that a 14–year old girl is handling the white pieces?
20…Qe6 21.Qf5 cxd4 22.exd4 Qc6?!
An inaccuracy. Better is 22…Qe7 defending his hanging bishop on b7. Now, when White moves out his knight 23.Nxb6 there will follow 23…Rxc1+ 24.Rxc1 Qxa3 and Black’s position is looking decidedly better!
If that wasn’t one of the world’s top grandmasters sitting opposite her maybe Arianne would have gambled with 30.Nxh6+!? Kg7 31.Qd2! because if Black now tries to win the knight by 31…Rh8 then 32.g4! looks strong.
30…Kg7 31.Nf3 Ba6 32.Qc2 Ne6 33.Qd1
Defending her d-pawn and preparing one last thrust at the Black King.
33…Bb7 34.Bh3 Ne4 35.Bxe6 Rxe6 36.Ne5 Nc3 37.Qg4
POSITION AFTER 37.QG4
37…Qxd4??
Pressed for time, Epishin counted only on 38.Qxd4 Ne2+.
Some commentators wrote that Epishin blundered grievously at this point and should have won since 37…h5 would have won Arianne’s rook. That is true if she had intended to play 38.Qf3?? Rf6. But her intention (and Epishin saw this) was to play 38.Nf5+! Now Black’s King cannot go to f6 or f8 because of Nd7+, and neither can it to the h-file because of Qg5 and Qh6. Forced, therefore, is 38…Kg8 39.Qg5! Ne2+ 40.Kg2
• Trying for a win with 40…Rxe5?! backfires: 41.dxe5 d4+ (41…Nxc1? 42.Qh6) 42.f3 White’s threat of Qh6 is deadly.
• Black should agree to the draw with 40…Nxc1 41.Nh6+ Kh7 (41…Kf8?? 42.Nd7+) 42.Nhxf7 Kg8 43.Nh6+ Kh7 (43…Kg7 44.Nf5+) 44.Nhf7 and the draw is a fitting conclusion to this thrilling game.
38.Nf5+! 1–0
Wins the queen and forces Epishin to resign.
Arianne hardly played chess after her 2012 olympiad stint. But that doesn’t mean that she was not active elsewhere. She found time to get her Ph.D. in Economics on “Russian foreign policy, especially its economic and business relations with Armenia on a state and individual level.” She became the Special Economic Advisor for the President of Armenia (2013–2015) and Advisor to Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan.
After working as a consultant at Price Waterhouse Coopers, she founded Akron Consulting in 2015, a global strategy consulting firm based in Yerevan, Armenia, with a presence in Cambridge, Maryland. The firm is active in public policy and economics. In this role she has advised international leaders, including the President of Armenia.
Arianne was also active in several social philanthropic projects. For example in 2018 she made a 2,000-km bike tour from the city of Ayas in Cilicia to Agarak, a town located on the Armenian-Iranian border. Her aim was to raise US $5,500, which she exceeded by collecting US$6,016 in two weeks. These funds were donated to the Children of Armenia Fund which builds schools where chess is now taught.
She was the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Champord, a free mass-distributed newspaper in the Caucasus region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) with a print run almost 10 times larger than any other printed press in Armenia. She also served as Chairman of the Champord Fund, an organization invested in the development and training of young Armenian journalists.
She has accomplished much in her 33 years with us.
Rest in Peace, Arianne.
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
It spoke volumes about the competitiveness — or, to be more precise, lack thereof — of the HORSE matchup between Zach LaVine and Paul Pierce that its most memorable segment involved the former recounting his experience in the shadows of a 40-year-old Kevin Garnett while a rookie with the Timberwolves. Indeed, the 13th overall pick of the 2014 National Basketball Association draft dominated the Challenge, blanking the 2008 Finals Most Valuable Player with an array of shots that highlighted his athleticism and silky smooth touch. Never mind that the rules disallowed any dunking and effectively negated his inherent advantage over the rest of the field.
Not that LaVine was the lone player who impressed in yesterday’s first round. Mike Conley Jr. was likewise a standout, failing to get the better of opponent Tamika Catchings just once. He was a picture of consistency, going to his non-dominant hand — including once from behind the backboard — to get ahead. His Hall-of-Fame-bound opponent was more game, and certainly put up a better fight than the laid-back Pierce did, but he proved to be in his element. And, no doubt, he benefited from having a gym in his home.
The other two set-tos bucked conventional wisdom. Chauncey Billups appeared ready to go down as expected, only to gain confidence midway through and upset pre-event favorite Trae Young. The come-from-behind victory was particularly surprising given the way he crafted it: via three-point shots with a twist that his All-Star foil seemingly had the talent, not to mention the range, to pull off as well. The latter was gracious in defeat, acknowledging the superiority of “a Legend and a mentor of mine” but hinting at a rematch.
Parenthetically, Allie Quigley seemed all too ready to use traditional HORSE fare to upend Chris Paul. For a while there, she looked ready to fold in the face of a spirited comeback. Ultimately, through, the early cushion she built proved more than enough for her to pull through. Forget that she was aided by the point god’s slow start, and, with the outcome on the line, uncharacteristic inability to bank in a shot from the charity stripe. And considering her velvet stroke and willingness to dig deep inside her bag of tricks, she may yet raise more eyebrows.
Moving forward, the Billups-Conley and LaVine-Quigley tiffs are projected to be equally compelling. The format itself lends well to tense moments, but only when participants are eager to push the envelope. In this sense, the four are primed to entertain. And, in a time of COVID-19, the fans win.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
By Aliyya Sawadjaan Features Writer, The Philippine STAR
With the rising number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) confirmed cases, the number of personal protective equipment (PPE) used by medical professionals has become scarce.
PPE sets include gowns, gloves, masks, goggles, and alcohol-based handrubs. PPEs are important in the fight against the novel coronavirus as these help prevent the spread of germs and viruses in the hospital, protecting people and health-care workers from infections. Medical professionals need these when taking care of COVID-19 patients.
To put things in perspective, the Philippines Health System Review of 2018 reported that as of 2017, the Philippines has a total of 40,775 doctors, 90,308 nurses, and 13,413 medical technologists, which is why more PPEs are needed.
UP Medical Foundation Inc. president Dr. Mediadora Saniel estimates that a hospital with 1,000 healthcare workers need 90,000 masks, 2,500 N95 masks, 5,000 surgical gloves, 2,500 hoods, 2,500 caps, and 300 gallons of alcohol in a month.
Due to the global shortage of PPEs, many frontliners have had to improvise using garbage bag or plastic raincoat as gowns, garden gloves instead of surgical ones, plastic bags for shoe covers and surgical hoods, and DIY reusable face shields from acetate plastic sheets and elastic bands.
Helping frontliners, fashionably
Hoping to help in the fight against COVID-19, fashion houses, brands and designers have stepped up to the plate by helping frontliners acquire face masks and PPE sets.
Swimsuit designer Domz Ramos, together with his DR Styles Fashion staff, relatives and neighbors, turned small pieces of cloth (retaso) into 2,000 face masks and distributed these to barangays and hospitals.
Designer to the stars Michael Leyva went back to his studio and created hazmat suits and head covers, as well as washable face masks. His team targets to finish at least 3,000 suits. Following the specifications set by the Department of Health (DOH), the suits are made from non-woven, washable and waterproof fabric — the same fabric used to make eco-bags.
Project Runway Philippines alumnus Santi Obcena and his team have also been sewing masks for donation. He also shared a video tutorial on how to make a reusable face mask using eco bags, umbrella cloth and retaso. The masks they make have an outer water-repellent layer and a pocket for a removable filter. Mr. Obcena also specified in his video that these masks are for communities or households that do not have access to surgical masks.
Fashion designer and milliner Mich Dulce and her team in Manila created the first medically-reviewed open-source PPE suit design. They were able to “reverse engineer” an isolation suit lent to them by Vice President Leni Robredo, creating a pattern and an instructional PDF file for others to follow.
The Office of the Vice President called on Filipino fashion designers to help produce the PPEs for medical frontliners, and Ms. Dulce was one of the first to respond, tapping others to commit to the project. The group is now called the Manila Protective Gear Sewing Club. Aside from calling on fellow designers for help, she also called for donations for fabrics and other materials to make the suits.
Other fashion designers have also chipped in to help address the shortage for PPE suits. Designer Rajo Laurel reopened his factory and his company has donated to different hospitals and healthcare facilities.
Outside of Metro Manila, Cebuano designer Valerie Alvez and her team stepped in by creating PPE sets using eco-friendly material taffeta — a water-repellent fabric. The disposable customized PPE suit has been approved by the DoH. Alvez and her team say they have no plans to stop making the suits as long as it is needed.
Josip Tumapa from Dumaguete City started creating PPE suits for relatives who are frontliners, but then other frontliners requested for these, too. She then created more suits and even personally delivered them to health centers in the city. She has since shared the design for the PPE suit on Facebook.
Adrian Pe, meanwhile, is the designer responsible for the now-viral Teletubbies-inspired PPE suits. He also created suits inspired by Power Rangers and Star Wars.
Pop culture-inspired PPE suits created by Adrian Pe, featuring Teletubbies. Photo from Adrian Pe’s Facebook page
Iloilo-based designer Ram Silva created suits inspired by the popular drama series Money Heist. He gamely posted on Instagram photos of frontliners from Western Visayas Medical Center wearing his creations.
Money Heist-inspired PPE suits created by Iloilo designer Ram Silva. Photo from Ram Silva’s Facebook page
Another Iloilo-based designer, James Roa, created a panda-inspired PPE suit to spread good vibes to patients and medical workers. After reaching out to friends to raise funds for the production of the protective suits, he was able to collect enough to make 100 suits.
Panda-inspired PPE suits created by Iloilo designer James Roa. Photo from James Roa’s Facebook page
The Bunny Project PH, on the other hand, has already distributed more than 7,000 bunny suits or PPEs as of April 7. They were able to produce these suits with the help of the Victoria Tarlac Livelihood Group, the local government of Victoria, Tarlac, and the provincial government of Tarlac who helped mobilize more than 50 tailors and dressmakers.
Just some of the PPE suits prepared and delivered by the team behind The Bunny Project PH. Photo from The Bunny Project PH’s Facebook page
Disenyo Pandi, a group of designers and gown makers based in Bulacan, also created and donated PPE suits for hospitals in Bulacan and Metro Manila.
School of Fashion and Arts (SoFA) Design Institute’s faculty members and alumni have also joined in to address the growing need for the protective suits. Many of the alumni have shared their own designs for the PPE suits and are also available on Facebook for download.
Local clothing brand Penshoppe is also doing its part by working with its vendor partners.
Calls for PPE suits are still on-going with the number of COVID-19-positive cases nearing 5,000.
