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Tatum: NBA sees players like Sotto further shoring up league’s growth

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

ALREADY one of the biggest sports brands in the world, the National Basketball Association (NBA) knows there is always room for growth and it was happy to share that it is going in that direction, aided, among others, by the growing number of international talent joining its family.

In a global media conference call last week, NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum said there is no denying how international influence has done wonders for The Association in becoming the league it is today.

And it is set to continue with players like Kai Sotto of the Philippines choosing to continue to develop their game through the NBA.

“We see incredible excitement in the Philippines as a result of Kai Sotto’s involvement with Team Ignite,” said Mr. Tatum of Mr. Sotto, who is playing for Team Ignite in the NBA G League.

“What we see is continued unprecedented interest in the game in the Philippines and other parts of the world. Players like Kai, who grew up in our Jr. NBA program and is now playing in the G League, that will [spur] development of players coming from around the rest of the world,” the NBA executive added.

Mr. Sotto is among the players of champion NBA player and coach Brian Shaw at Team Ignite.

The team is composed of standout talents from different parts of the world under a program designed to develop young players and, hopefully, prepare them for the NBA Draft and provide them with professional life skills that they could use in and out of the court.

Mr. Sotto is joined in the team by Filipino-American Jalen Green, among the top prospects in next year’s draft, as well as Princepal Singh, an NBA Academy graduate from India.

“We are continuing to invest at the grassroots level in Jr. NBA programs around the world, in Basketball School programs around the world, and then NBA Academies in certain parts of the world continue that process of developing elite talent that will eventually play in our league,” said Mr. Tatum in describing one of the ways they are tapping to fortify the league.

As the NBA rolled out its 2020-21 season last week, 107 international players from 41 countries were part of opening-night rosters.

It marked the seventh consecutive season that opening-night rosters featured at least 100 international players.

All 30 teams have at least one international player.

Canada (17 players) is the most-represented country outside of the United States, followed by France (nine players), Australia (eight players), Serbia and Germany (six players each).

The Washington Wizards have an NBA-high seven international players. The Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets each have six, while the New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder and Toronto Raptors each have five.

There are also a number of American players with ties to other countries, including more than 30 players with at least one parent from Africa. Among the American players with ties to other countries are Jordan Clarkson (Utah Jazz; ties to the Philippines), Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers; ties to Nigeria), Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia 76ers; ties to Australia and Haiti), and Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves; ties to the Dominican Republic).

BEING READY
Meanwhile, Mr. Tatum also took time to discuss the uncertain times with the coronavirus pandemic and how they are being ready for any eventuality.

“We’re obviously very closely monitoring the situation with the pandemic here in the United States and in our cities. We feel very confident in our protocols, in working with our medical experts, public health officials, the Players Association, and our teams that we have the sort of protocols that will keep us safe and healthy,” he said.

Adding, “There’s going to be a level of uncertainty here, and we’re managing through that and we’re monitoring it every single day. We need to remain flexible, and we understand that.”

One of the ways they are going about it, Mr. Tatum said, is managing the season schedule.

They released the schedule only for the first half of the season last Dec. 22, recognizing the flexibility needed to adjust to situations that lie ahead, and is set to release the schedule for the second half on March 4.

Russell, Timberwolves hang on to spoil Jazz’ home opener

D’ANGELO Russell scored 25 points, including three key free throws in the final seconds, to lead the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves to a 116-111 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Malik Beasley and rookie Anthony Edwards each scored 18, while Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 16 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocked shots as Minnesota won its first road game after opening the season with a home win over Detroit.

The Timberwolves led by as many as 17, but needed to play a full 48 minutes to escape Utah with a win.

Russell left the door open with 4.2 seconds remaining after hitting just 1 of 2 free throws to give Minnesota a three-point lead. Utah hauled in the rebound and, after a time out to advance the ball, Bojan Bogdanovic was called for a five-second penalty after not being able to find an open teammate on the inbound pass.

Russell then hit two free throws with 3.3 seconds left.

It was the first loss of the season for the Jazz in their home debut.

Jordan Clarkson led Utah with 23 points, but the Jazz shot only 38.3% and were hurt by rough shooting nights by Donovan Mitchell and Bogdanovic. Mitchell heated up late, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers as Utah rallied, but the All-Star hits only 6 of 23 shots for 21 points. Bogdanovic scored nine on 3-of-16 shooting.

Mike Conley scored 20 points for Utah, which won big at Portland on Wednesday. Rudy Gobert, fresh off signing a $205-million contract extension, finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds.

Naz Reid hit a 3-pointer with 2:34 remaining in the third to put the Timberwolves up 86-69, matching the visitors’ biggest lead of 17.

Former Jazz guard Ricky Rubio, a fan favorite while in Utah from 2017-19, scored nine points with six assists off the bench for Minnesota.

The Timberwolves were hot from beyond the arc, hitting 13 of 29. Utah cooled down after hitting 19 of 50 3-pointers in a season-opening win at Portland by shooting 10-for-34 from deep.

The Jazz were allowed to have 1,500 fans in the stands for their home-opener.

The Timberwolves outscored the Jazz 31-27 in the first quarter and then surged into the locker room ahead 68-53 after a 24-12 push. — Reuters

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rout Detroit Lions, clinch first playoff berth since 2007

TOM BRADY threw four first-half touchdown passes and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinched a playoff berth by pounding the host Detroit Lions 47-7 on Saturday.

The Buccaneers (10-5) qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2007. Brady completed 22 of 27 passes for 348 yards despite sitting out the entire second half. Backup Blaine Gabbert threw two touchdown passes.

Mike Evans caught 10 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns, and Chris Godwin had five receptions for 84 yards and a score. Tight end Rob Gronkowski scored on both of his receptions.

Jamal Agnew scored on a punt return for the Lions (5-10). Detroit’s starting quarterback, Matthew Stafford, injured his ankle in the first quarter and did not return. The Lions have lost seven of their last nine games.

Tampa Bay raced to a 34-0 halftime lead, scoring touchdowns on five of its first six possessions.

Brady connected with Gronkowski, who beat one-on-one coverage, from 33 yards out for the first score. The extra point was missed.

The Bucs needed only four plays to drive 80 yards on their next possession. Brady’s 47-yard hookup with Godwin set up his 27-yard scoring strike to Evans.

Leonard Fournette ran 4 yards up the middle for Tampa Bay’s third touchdown.

Later in the second quarter, the Bucs drove 91 yards in seven plays. Brady connected with Godwin, made a leaping grab in the end zone, from 7 yards out to complete that drive.

A nine-play drive finished off the Bucs’ big first half. Brady’s fourth touchdown pass of the game was snared by Antonio Brown, who scored from 12 yards out.

Lions rookie running back D’Andre Swift fumbled on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Gabbert threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Gronkowski on the next play. Ryan Succop missed another extra point, leaving the score at 40-0.

The Lions finally got on the board when Agnew returned a Bradley Pinion punt 74 yards with 9:38 remaining in the third quarter.

Gabbert threw a 22-yard scoring pass to Evans midway through the quarter. — Reuters

Holcim Philippines taps Vera for ‘Built to Excel’ campaign

RECOGNIZING their common push for excellence, Holcim Philippines, Inc. recently tapped mixed martial arts (MMA) champion Brandon “The Truth” Vera for its newest campaign — “Built to Excel.”

As Holcim’s latest brand ambassador, Mr. Vera, the reigning ONE Championship world heavyweight champion, will help highlight Holcim Excel, the company’s flagship general purpose cement brand, which is set to celebrate its 20th year in 2021.

The company, along with Mr. Vera and ONE Championship, has lined up activities over social media for the campaign. It has also produced materials for its trade partners nationwide.

“We are excited to work with ONE Championship and Brandon. Aside from tapping into their growing fan base, which aligns with our own customers, we decided to continue this partnership due to shared values with them,” said Holcim Philippines President and CEO John Stull in a press release of their latest tie-up.

“Our Holcim Excel brand is set to reach its 20th year in 2021. During this period, billions of bags of this product have been used by our partners to build important structures all over the country. It’s a testament to the trust it has built in delivering excellent performance. We believe that Brandon embodies what Holcim Excel means to our partners and thrilled to have him for this campaign,” he added.

Mr. Vera, who has been ONE champion since 2015 and has had two successful title defenses to date, welcomed being part of the Holcim family built on “excellence.”

“Many thanks to Holcim for trusting me to be the face of their brand. I am honored to have been chosen by a company who is known in its industry for products that stand out for their excellent performance, strength, and durability,” said Mr. Vera, who is a veteran MMA fighter with a record of 16-8.

The partnership between Holcim and ONE Championship dates back to the launch of the former’s road and infrastructure cement Holcim Solido in 2019 with ONE helping generate interest in the product through engagements and activities at the promotion’s “Roots of Honor” event fight also on that year. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

49ers hand Cardinals costly defeat

C.J. BEATHARD threw two touchdown passes to Kyle Juszczyk, Jeff Wilson Jr. rushed for a career-best 183 yards and Ahkello Witherspoon thwarted a late Arizona Cardinals threat with an end-zone interception Saturday afternoon, lifting the visiting San Francisco 49ers to a 20-12 victory in Glendale, Arizona.

The loss was a costly one for the Cardinals (8-7), who with a third consecutive victory could have earned a wild-card playoff berth by winning their last two games. Instead, now the Chicago Bears (7-7) can eliminate Arizona by winning their last two, including Sunday at Jacksonville.

Juszczyk’s touchdown catches covered 9 yards in the third quarter and 1 yard in the fourth, allowing the 49ers (6-9), who snapped a three-game losing streak, to extend a 7-6 halftime edge.

When Robbie Gould missed right on his point-after attempt following Juszczyk’s second score with 8:36 remaining, the Cardinals needed a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie.

Murray drove Arizona to the San Francisco at 14, but his floater intended for Christian Kirk was picked off by Witherspoon.

Arizona got the ball back one more time after Gould missed his second field goal attempt of the day, a 37-yarder with 1:09 remaining. But the Cardinals couldn’t get out of their own territory as Murray finished a 31-for-50, 247-yard, touchdown-less game.

Starting in place of injured Raheem Mostert, Wilson rushed 22 times and hauled in Beathard’s first of three touchdown passes, a 21-yarder in the first quarter.

Beathard, San Francisco’s third-stringer getting an opportunity with both Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Mullens out, went 13-for-22 passing for 182 yards and the three scores.

DeAndre Hopkins was the game’s top pass-catcher with eight for 48 yards, while teammate Kirk went for a team-high 76 yards on seven catches.

Kenyan Drake scored Arizona’s only touchdown on a 1-yard plunge with 12:08 left in the game, but a two-point conversion pass from Murray to Hopkins went incomplete, leaving the Cardinals two points behind at 14-12.

George Kittle, returning to the San Francisco lineup after suffering a broken foot in Week 8, had a game-high 92 receiving yards on four receptions.

Arizona’s Mike Nugent sandwiched Wilson’s touchdown with a pair of field goals — from 27 and 43 yards — to keep the Cardinals with 7-6 at halftime. — Reuters

Arsenal stops rot by beating Chelsea, Everton moves second

MANCHESTER — Arsenal ended their seven match winless run in the Premier League with a surprise 3-1 London derby victory over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday while Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw at Leicester City.

Everton moved into second spot with a late winner in a 1-0 defeat of bottom club Sheffield United, while Manchester City moved fifth thanks to a 2-0 win over Newcastle United.

Manchester United, who had won their last 10 away games in the Premier League, dropped to fourth on 27 points, with third-placed Leicester on 28 and a resurgent Everton on 29.

Leaders Liverpool (31) can extend their lead when they face West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Chelsea’s third defeat in four games drops them to seventh, behind Aston Villa on goal difference after Dean Smith’s side beat Crystal Palace 3-0.

Under pressure Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s troubles looked to have increased with several regulars ruled out for the visit of a Chelsea side that could have gone second with a win.

But the Gunners took the lead in the 35th minute through an Alexandre Lacazette penalty after Kieran Tierney was adjudged to have been clipped in the box by Reece James.

Nine minutes later, Granit Xhaka’s unstoppable freekick past Édouard Mendy made it 2-0.

Visibly frustrated Chelsea coach Frank Lampard replaced out-of-form Germany striker Timo Werner with winger Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mateo Kovacic with Jorginho at halftime, but Arsenal sealed a timely win in the 56th minute when Bukayo Saka’s cross floated over Mendy and the ball went in off the post.

Tammy Abraham grabbed a late consolation from a Hudson-Odoi cross and Chelsea could have scared Arsenal further if Jorginho had not had a 90th-minute penalty saved by Bernd Leno.

“That shows you that we’re able to do it when we’re at our best. Can we do it every three days? That’s the question mark we need to respond in the next weeks or so,” Arteta, whose side are in 14th spot, told reporters.

Marcus Rashford put United ahead in the 23rd minute with a cool finish after being slipped in by Bruno Fernandes, but Harvey Barnes equalized eight minutes later from the edge of the box.

Fernandes restored United’s lead in the 79th minute, drilling into the bottom corner after being found inside the area by substitute Edinson Cavani.

Again though, the lead was short-lived as Vardy’s first time shot on the half-turn from a low cross from Ayoze Perez, deflected off United defender Axel Tuanzebe.

“One point is not the worst result but we’re disappointed to not get the three points against a tough side,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær said.

Aston Villa made light of playing half the match with 10 men to thrash Crystal Palace (3-0).

Bertrand Traore put an impressive Villa side ahead early on, but the hosts had Tyrone Mings dismissed shortly before the break after picking up a second yellow card.

It made little difference as they outplayed Palace in the second half with Kortney Hause heading in from close range to double their lead in the 66th minute and Anwar El Ghazi’s rasping finish 10 minutes later wrapping up the points.

Everton left it late with Gylfi Sigurdsson’s 80th-minute goal earning them the points at Sheffield United.

Goals in each half from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres allowed Manchester City to cruise past Newcastle.

City have kept their 13th clean sheet of the campaign, more than any other team within the top five European leagues this season. They travel to second-placed Everton on Monday.

Southampton were left frustrated by a 0-0 draw at Fulham as James Ward-Prowse hit the woodwork with a 26th minute freekick and both Shane Long and Theo Walcott had efforts ruled out.

Fulham remain in the relegation zone, on 11 points in 18th place, while Southampton are ninth on 25 points. — Reuters

Dominant Brady

When the Buccaneers went after Tom Brady in the offseason, they were dead set on breaking the second-longest playoff drought in the National Football League (NFL). They understood the risks; even as they knew the pluses of getting arguably the best player in history, they acknowledged that he was likewise all of 43 and on the downside of a long pro journey. And it was precisely his extraordinary body of work that made him a question mark moving forward; with 20 extended seasons’ worth of pounding compelling the Patriots to part ways with him, how much more of a beating could he still take?

For the Buccaneers, the answer had been varying from week to week. For a while there, it even looked as if they had to temper their expectations from doing battle for the division crown to simply getting a wild card slot. Then something happened: Brady happened. They began to win with more consistency anew after an atrocious November that had them being shellacked by the rival Saints and absorbing two more setbacks over the next three contests. Yesterday’s triumph over the Lions both presented their potential and represented their ceiling; everything clicked, and their acquisition at center couldn’t have been better.

How dominant was Brady in his latest outing? Consider this: He led five touchdown drives, four off his passes, in going 22 of 27 for a whopping 348 yards in the first half. No, it’s not a typo. And, yes, it had the Buccaneers up by so much — 34-0, to be precise — at the break that he didn’t need to get back on the field anymore. So good were his numbers that they were just the second set to surpass 240 yards and four touchdowns in a half through the last four decades. The first was, of course, his as well; in 2009, he went for 345 and five.

Always with a flair for the dramatic, Brady went for the record books on the 300th game of his NFL career, which just so happened to begin in the same state 20 years ago. That said, he’s not done — and, if he’s to be believed, nowhere near to being done; he’s angling to play even after he turns 45, and until he can’t. First things first, though, and, for the Buccaneers, it means moving up the standings to secure a better postseason seed. Up next: the dangerous Falcons, who had them on the ropes last week before he managed to engineer a second-half comeback.

As foolhardy as it may be to draw conclusions from a small sample size, the Buccaneers can’t help but be buoyed by Brady’s showing. For all the pitfalls of decency bias, it’s fair to argue that they’re trending in the right direction. Whether or not the pieces are finally falling into place remains to be seen, but there’s no denying the strides they made in any case.

 

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

2021: A better new normal?

Bill Gates says “there is good news coming in 2021.”  But that’s not for the whole world. Perhaps there’s optimism in America, with Donald Trump exiting and a mass vaccination program being set in motion. Mr. Gates acknowledges that the decline in infections and deaths will happen “at least in wealthy countries.”

Sadly for the Philippines, we are far from normalcy, much less from a better new normal.

Consider the following:

1. The world rejoices over the introduction of several vaccines, but the Philippines will not immediately benefit from them. According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the best scenario is having the vaccination started in the second quarter of 2021. But the first best is wishful thinking. In reality, the second best is what works. (In economics, the “first best” is but an abstraction that gets supplanted by the second or third best in practice. Countries with weak institutions like the Philippines settle for the third or fourth best.)

It does not help that “someone dropped the ball.” Officialdom’s incompetency and the systemic mess that impaired the country’s response to COVID-19 presage how the administration will handle the vaccination program.

Further, the logistical and financial requirements for mass vaccination are huge. The budget allocation for vaccination in 2021 is deficient. The health workers have to be first trained on the vaccine protocols. Storage facilities have to be set up or upgraded. Social preparation is necessary, and the people have to be informed about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. It remains disturbing that a Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) September 2020 survey showed that a third of Filipinos are unwilling to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

And so, even with the availability of the scarce vaccine, we really have no choice but dance with the virus. The consolation we get — thanks but no thanks — is some form of aliw (entertainment) from the overexcited singing of the hyper-salivating presidential spokesperson.

2. Arguably, on the economic front, the worst is over. The economy has reached rock bottom.

The economic decline is steep — with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) falling by 16.9% in the second quarter of 2020 and 11.9% in the third quarter. For the whole year, we can expect the economy to have contracted by around 10%.

This is far worse than the recession during the twilight years of the Marcos dictatorship. The difference? Marcos had no credible scapegoat (even as some apologists blamed Imelda for the profligacy), while Duterte can point the finger at coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

But the “worst being over” should not translate into optimism. In the fourth quarter survey of SWS, only 16% of Filipinos said they were not poor, and 30% thought their quality of life would worsen in 2021 (compared to 32% who expected an improvement).

Furthermore, in the longer-term, the economic picture is not so bright. The Philippine scarring is so deep that the economy will suffer from chronic effects. The consultancy Oxford Economics (and cited by The Economist) has announced its research and modeling, showing which countries are most vulnerable to long-term economic scarring and which countries are likely to recover soonest.

To quote  (Dec. 15, 2020): “Yet the distinction between emerging and advanced economies masks large variations: the Philippines and India have especially bleak growth outlooks, whereas China and Brazil are expected to perform better. The Philippines ranked worst overall in the study largely because of its labor market, with high unemployment and skills shortages, and the economy’s dependence on tourism.”

3. By now, the economic authorities can no longer rely on the economic reforms and gains that happened before the pandemic broke out. Surely, the policy reforms, especially on taxation, are assets for recovery. They exhibit credibility and creditworthiness. But a better new normal entails a new set of challenges and a new generation of reforms.

But it seems that the momentum for reforms has recently lost steam. Proof of this is the stalling of the bill that seeks to rationalize fiscal incentives and make corporate income tax responsive to the stimulus in the short run and competitive in the long run. The bill titled CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) has always been a priority. The Executive long ago certified its urgency.

Yet, its passage has been delayed several times. Some have even packaged the passing of CREATE as an early Christmas gift. The year is ending, and there is no word when the bicameral conference committee will meet to approve CREATE.

What is apparent is that CREATE has been held hostage by politicians and vested interests. And while Congress disrupted CREATE, the Philippine Senate had the compulsion to speed up, nay, railroad, the granting of unnecessary fiscal incentives — contrary to the spirit of CREATE — to the San Miguel Aerocity. The Executive so far has been silent on this.

Does this signal the start of a lame-duck presidency? This can make vested interests happy, but this can likewise abet investors’ uncertainty.

2021 will thus be bumpy, unpredictable, and risky. Take note that we haven’t figured into our discussion the intensifying political conflicts and human rights abuses.

I nevertheless greet everyone a safe and healthy 2021, and pray that we be caring to our people.

 

Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III coordinates the Action for Economic Reforms.

www.aer.ph

Legislation in aid of investments, jobs, recovery

I am pleased to share with our readers a piece based on our latest report for GlobalSource Partners (globalsourcepartners.com), a subscriber-based network of independent analysts covering emerging markets. Christine Tang and I, assisted by Charles Marquez and Shanee Sia, are their local partners.

Since the pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic team has had its hands full trying to save the economy from slipping deeper and deeper into recession. Part of the job was to convince Congress to give the executive branch spending leeway to fight the pandemic, accomplished through the Bayanihan I and II Acts, while reigning in lawmakers’ clamor for higher stimulus spending, done by capping the supplemental budget for this year to less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) and getting both houses to stick to its proposed P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021.

Economic managers needed also to persuade legislators to urgently act on the other elements of the executive’s economic recovery plan consisting of three proposed bills, the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE), the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act, and the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives To Distressed Enterprises For Economic Recovery (GUIDE).

It has so far gotten the green light of both houses on two of the three, i.e., CREATE and FIST, with the less contentious GUIDE still awaiting the Senate’s nod. Although these bills still have some milestones to hurdle, notably reconciliation of differences between the versions passed by the two chambers, hopes are high that the 2021 budget together with CREATE and FIST, will be done by early Q1, 2021.

Many in the business community are rooting for the House to adopt as closely as possible the Senate version of CREATE to facilitate its quick passage. The Senate version keeps the structural reform thrust of the original Executive and House versions but tweaked to be more attuned to the impact of COVID-19 on MSMEs, hospitals and educational institutions, and the requests of PEZA locators for longer transition periods. It will also provide a needed fiscal stimulus of around P250 billion over the next two years (counting the retroactive application to July 2020), and most crucially, will lay to rest contributory uncertainty over Philippine tax regime deterring  investments due to its delayed passage.

To optimize on its impact in attracting investors many of whom are looking for new destinations due to the disruptions from COVID-19 and the US-China trade and tech wars, it would be ideal to package CREATE with a critical mass of other investment reforms that will demonstrate resolve. But with less than 18 months to go before the 2022 elections, has the window closed?

Many are hoping not. After all, amidst the hardships brought about by the pandemic, the President still enjoys tremendous trust and approval with unparalleled popularity ratings of over 90% which ought to give him immense influence over Congress even at this late stage of his administration.

Moreover, with his economic team’s track record of securing difficult reforms, some decades in the making (e.g., TRAIN, Rice Tariffication Act, Bangsamoro Organic Law, National ID Law), the hope is that more landmark laws can be pushed through the legislative mill in the narrow window between now and election season; realistically, about six months’ time.

While a pandemic may not be a good time to be thinking of structural reforms, there may be an opportunity to ride on the recently signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The RCEP binds its 15 signatories, i.e., the 10 members of ASEAN, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand, which together account for about 30% of global GDP and 30% of world population, to higher level commitments compared with existing free trade agreements (FTA).

Analyses of RCEP suggest that the agreement’s immediate value lies not in the incremental tariff reductions, which may take up to 20 years to implement, but in the promise of seamless production networks among the members who will be tied to common standards, disciplines on intellectual property, rules of origin, customs processes, e-commerce, and competition policy. Within this framework of stable and predictable rules, the Philippines could aspire to becoming a regional manufacturing and services hub, thereby creating much needed domestic jobs.

RCEP with the lower tax regime under CREATE along with proposed amendments to the Public Services Act (PSA), the Foreign Investments Act (FIA), and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTA) strung together would send a powerful signal of the Philippine’s readiness to welcome foreign capital to help with post-pandemic recovery, offering a light at the end of the current gloomy tunnel.

The latter three bills have been approved by the lower house and are at varying stages of deliberations in the Senate, requiring the executive’s close shepherding to ensure speed. The RCEP too still needs the Senate’s ratification, a process that based on past experiences could take anywhere from one to three years.

Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Legarde used to counsel countries to fix the roof while the sun is shining. But for those who have spent a lifetime incrementally pushing reforms in the Philippines, one ought never to waste a good crisis.

 

Priority economic bills

A. Pending the President’s Signature

1. NATIONAL EXPENDITURE PROGRAM. The executive proposed a P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021 with spending priorities focused on pandemic response and recovery.

2. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS STRATEGIC TRANSFER (FIST). The executive’s proposal aims to facilitate the disposal of financial institutions’ non-performing assets through tax and other incentives on the transfer of these assets to and from special purpose corporations created under the law. As with CREATE, the House of Representatives adopted the executive’s version while the Senate introduced regulatory and loan coverage amendments.

B. For reconciliation in Bicameral Conference Committee

3. CORPORATE RECOVERY AND TAX INCENTIVES FOR ENTERPRISES (CREATE). (https://taxreform.dof.gov.ph/tax-reform-packages/p2-corporate-recovery-and-tax-incentives-for-enterprises-act/)

C. Approved by the House of Representatives; Pending Second Reading in the Senate

4. AMENDMENTS TO FOREIGN INVESTMENTS ACT. The proposal seeks to exclude the “practice of professions” from the coverage of the law and to reduce the number of direct local hires of foreign investments in SMEs from 50 to 15.

5. AMENDMENTS TO RETAIL TRADE LIBERALIZATION ACT. The proposal seeks to lower the $2.5-million minimum paid-up capital for foreign retailers, among others. The bill approved in the lower house set the threshold at only $200,000.

D. Approved by the House of Representatives; First Reading in the Senate

6. GFI’S UNIFIED INITIATIVES TO DISTRESSED ENTERPRISES FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY (GUIDE). The two main features of the proposal are to (a.) increase the capital of three government financial institutions, namely, Land Bank, Development Bank of the Philippines and Philguarantee Corp. to enable them to assist in pandemic recovery efforts, and (b.) mandate the two banks to set up a special holding company to assist strategically important industries in various sectors.

7. AMENDMENTS TO PUBLIC SERVICES ACT. The proposal seeks to amend the 84-year-old law to exclusively designate as “public utility” the distribution and transmission of electricity and waterworks and sewerage systems. Under the Constitution, a public utility can only be operated by firms that are 60% owned by Filipinos. The aim is to allow more foreign participation in other public services (e.g., in telecommunications and transportation) to enhance competition, improve service quality and lower the costs to consumers.

E. For ratification by the Senate

8. REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (RCEP). (https://asean.org/asean-hits-historic-milestone-signing-rcep/)

 

Romeo L. Bernardo was finance undersecretary during the Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos administrations. He is a Board Trustee/Director of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, the Management Association of the Philippines and the FINEX Foundation.

Children are our future

Today is the feast of the Holy Innocents, Los Niños Inocentes, the very first martyrs in Christian religions. In Europe it is called Childermas or the Mass for the Children.

The Christmas narrative in the New Testament of the Holy Bible relates how King Herod found out from the three visiting Magi that the Child was born who was King of the Jews according to the prophecies. Herod made them promise to return to him and confirm the Child’s birth after they had paid homage in Bethlehem. But the Magi did not.

“When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” (Matthew 2:16)

Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus. And if power was the consuming obsession of Herod, then the survival of a little Child is the most powerful symbol of continuing Hope amidst trials of the present in the uncertainties of the future. Even in nonsectarian symbolism, a child is Hope. Children are our future.

In this most uncertain future for an entire world plagued in the last nine months with the fear and actual danger of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Christmas came quietly, unlike the rowdy celebrations in the past. The silence and isolation of the quarantines have given time and space for introspection. What will happen next, or when will anything happen to end the anxieties for one’s self, and for the future for loved ones and family? We all know that the world has been changed socially, economically, and politically by the protracted pandemic. We will never be the same persons again individually, even as the collective consciousness is likewise morphing into a yet indeterminable better or worse — morally, intellectually, and spiritually. Hopefully, better.

Is there Hope? In the spirit of Christmas, there must be. And in the remembrance of the Biblical “Killing of the Innocents” we focus on children as our symbol of Hope for the future for us all, and specially for them. But children are so vulnerable, as Hope is challenged in the uncertain future post the pandemic.

Dr. Karen Wagner reported (in psychiatrictimes.com on Oct. 8) on the alarming increase of depression and anxiety in children as the pandemic stretched on and on, and quarantines were prolonged. In a study of Italy and Spain, 85.7% of parents reported changes in their children’s emotions and behavior during the quarantine. Yet the anxiety of children may come from the subconscious absorption of the parents’ anxieties and fears for health and for loss of income to support the family and from explosions of pent-up emotions in what may be claustrophobia to the unaccustomed tight closeness of the home.

Loneliness in lockdown is common for kids separated from their friends. “For school-agers and teens, being with parents is all downside, and being with friends is everything. In the case of the pandemic, that essential socializing (is missed),” said the aforementioned article on COVID effects on the family. School, with its built-in peer socialization to the max, would have been an outlet for the young people.

As of May, over 28 million learners in the Philippines have been affected by school closures in the attempt to contain the spread of the deadly virus, data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) showed. School year (SY) 2019-2020 closed haphazardly in March when the coronavirus was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Department of Education (DepEd) worried about 24,861,728 elementary (primary) and high school (secondary) and the 3,589,484 college (tertiary) level students idly waiting five months until Aug. 24 for the new school year, which will end on April 30, 2021.

Some 440 private schools in the country ceased operations in SY 2020-2021 due to low enrollment turnout in the pandemic, according to the DepEd. Around 1.7 million learners have registered in private schools, 41.7% of the total number of private school students last year. Nearly 400,000 private school students have also transferred to public schools.

“Blended learning” through internet online learning platforms, radio, and television has been installed as the means of instruction. The DepEd set up a learning management system (LMS) where teachers can create online classes and schedule online activities and collaborative tasks which can be monitored. LMS can be accessed through a browser or a mobile application and it is zero-rated with the telecommunications companies so that learners need not pay for data to access it with their smartphones. It was announced that about 93% of public schools nationwide already have computers, laptops, tablets, sourced by local government units (LGUs) or from private donors, that can be used by learners.

But educational inclusion in online learning is not easy in a small developing country where the very poor are in remote areas where there may not be cellphone signals or reliable internet connection even if somehow they would have the electronic gadgets to use for this. Printed learning materials will have to be delivered to them through gigantic effort by teachers, who themselves would be poor (if they worked in such disadvantaged conditions). It was recommended by the DepEd that a modified face-to-face teaching be allowed in such areas where internet service is unavailable or unreliable. This was disapproved by the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) over the weekend, as a new variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was officially recognized by the Department of Health (DoH) and social distancing rules were reinforced.

DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones admitted that the role of family in the current system of delivering education is larger because children learning online would depend heavily on parents for close guidance and monitoring, and even rigid tutoring on the learning modules distributed according to grade level of their children. But how to do this if parents have limited education and resources?

The decline in household incomes has affected family well-being second to the fear of contagion by the coronavirus. In May, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III admitted before a Senate Committee meeting that 10 million workers, mostly in the service and transportation sectors will have lost their jobs until the end of 2020 (which is now). About one million Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) will be jobless and home, newspapers announced then. There have been no official updates on joblessness, perhaps because of the panic potential of such news.

The government must help parents carry out magnified roles of nurturing and guiding the hope of the country’s future — the children — who must be molded in the values and the mental preparation to carry on in the evolving New Now. For this, the DepEd secured a P605.7-billion budget for fiscal year 2021, 55% lower than its proposed P1.1 trillion budget, but 9.5% higher than its P552.9 billion budget in 2020. The 2021 Expenditure Budget is pending approval of the President.

Might it not be like Joseph and Mary saving The Child from the massacre of the Innocents, as this ruthless coronavirus that has threatened Hope for survival and finally, Peace? Children are our future.

 

Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

ahcylagan@yahoo.com

The PNP needs a reboot

TARLAC POLICE wait for Philippine National Police Chief General Debold Sinas, Dec. 22. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

The cold blooded killing of Sonya Rufino Gregorio and her son Frank Gregorio should serve as a wake-up call for us all. It is a morbid reminder of how morality, decency, and humanity have eroded among the police. Once trusted members of society, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has become a grotesque personification of the seven deadly sins — pride, wrath, greed, lust, envy, sloth, and gluttony.

The double murder was committed by Sgt. Jonel Nuezca, a policeman on active duty with a rap sheet that includes grave misconduct, refusal to submit to a drug test, neglect of duty and homicide. As to why he was allowed to continue serving in the police force despite grave violations and obvious psychological incapacity speaks volumes about how low the standards at the PNP have sunk. It is indicative of the PNP’s proclivity for making exceptions for favored personalities.

The mother and son were killed without hesitation and for the most banal of reasons — a right of way dispute.

As if wounding the victims were not enough, Nuezca even took a second shot while the mother and son were down, just to finish them off.

All these took place while Nuezca’s daughter watched and recorded a video, as if to immortalize her father’s superiority over the neighbors. What is appalling is that the daughter did not even beg for mercy on behalf of the victims. In fact, the young girl did not even flinch when the father successively shot the victims. With her flared nose and piercing eyes (as seen on the video), the young girl appeared as enraged as her father even after the victims were shot. For her sake, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) must intervene with therapy lest this young kid turn into a psychopath.

In an official statement, PNP Chief of Police General Debold Sinas claimed that this is an isolated case that does not reflect the values of the PNP. With all due respect, I say this argument does not hold water. Killing without impunity has been the standard mode of the PNP since the war on drugs began. In fact, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, some 5,856 low level drug dealers and suspected users have already been assassinated without due process since 2016. With such a ghastly record of violence against civilian society, the police have ceased to be our protectors and defenders but instead, our tormentors and killers. The Gregorio double murder is by no means an isolated case, rather, it is among the rare ones caught on video.

Subsequently, Mr. Sinas advised the public not to take videos of crimes as it could be “tricky.” This statement surprised many. It suggests that the PNP Chief himself would rather deprive the public of an actual account of a criminal act and instead have us all rely on the police’ interpretation of the incident. The statement bared to view Mr. Sinas’ apparent aversion for transparency.

Adding insult to injury was the statement of Police Captain Ariel Baruga of the municipality of Bato in Catanduanes who said the murder of the Gregorios should teach the public to respect cops. The statement reeks of arrogance, entitlement, and the delusion of grandeur which now afflicts many members of the PNP.

The police were not always the people’s tormentor and masters of rub-outs and cover ups. I remember a time when the they were revered, respected, and loved by the community. How did they become the nation’s symbol of abuse?

The war on drugs and the manner by which it is waged is to blame for this. Under orders from the PNP’s Commander in Chief, the police were instructed to enforce the law with a heavy, violent hand. They were promised protection even if they killed with impunity. They were allowed to carry firearms even when off duty and out of uniform. All these corrupted the PNP’s psyche and gave them a sense that they are above the law.

The PNP has seen how friends and allies of the administration are made exempt from the law, just as Senator Koko Pimentel and Mr. Sinas were for breaking IATF restrictions. In fact, the latter was even rewarded with a promotion. They witnessed how vicious revenge towards enemies is not only perpetuated, it is lustfully pursued. All these contributed to the rotting of values.

Although the PNP was never given explicit orders to overstep their code of conduct, the examples and actuations of their Commander in Chief lead them to become who they are today.

What should worry us all is that this sense of arrogance, heavy handedness, and entitlement will seep deeper into the PNP’s culture if it is not nipped in the bud. As we all know, the deeper one falls into a rabbit hole of bad behavior, the more difficult it is to change. A case in point is the culture of corruption instilled by Marcos.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do until there is a change in leadership. We cannot expect a zebra to change its stripes. We simply have to wait for 2022 when a new President is installed. When the time comes, let us hope that the PNP’s new Commander in Chief will reboot the entire police force and reset its culture towards honor, trustworthiness, credibility, and a respect for human rights. They need to get centered again on their true role in society, which is to protect and defend our people.

This is why our next President must be morally upright, decent, civilized, and committed to uphold human rights.

Without a reboot of the PNP, Gregorio-style murders will surely happen again with increasing frequency.

 

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist

andrew_rs6@yahoo.com

Twitter @aj_masigan

Europe rolls out vaccines in bid to leave the pandemic behind

EUROPE launches a cross-border vaccination program of unprecedented scale on Sunday as part of efforts to end a COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled economies and claimed more than 1.7 million lives around the world.

The region of 450 million people has secured contracts with a range of suppliers for over two billion vaccine doses and has set a goal for all adults to be inoculated during 2021.

While Europe has some of the best-resourced healthcare systems in the world, the sheer scale of the effort means that some countries are calling on retired medics to help out, while others have loosened rules for who is allowed to give the injections.

With surveys pointing to high levels of hesitancy towards the vaccine in countries from France to Poland, leaders of the 27-country European Union (EU) are promoting it as the best chance of getting back to something like normal life next year.

“We are starting to turn the page on a difficult year,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the Brussels-based European Commission coordinating the program, said in a tweet.

“Vaccination is the lasting way out of the pandemic.”

After European governments were criticized for failing to work together to counter the spread of the virus in early 2020, the goal this time is to ensure that there is equal access to the vaccines across the entire region.

But even then, Hungary on Saturday jumped the gun on the official rollout by starting to administer shots of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to frontline workers at hospitals in the capital Budapest.

Countries including France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Portugal, and Spain are planning to begin mass vaccinations, starting with health workers on Sunday. Outside the EU, Britain, Switzerland, and Serbia have already started in recent weeks.

The distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot presents tough challenges. The vaccine uses new mRNA technology and must be stored at ultra-low temperatures of around -80 degrees Celsius (-112°F).

France, which received its first shipment of the two-dose vaccine on Saturday, will start administering it in the greater Paris area and in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

Germany, meanwhile, said trucks were on their way to deliver the vaccine to care homes for the elderly, which are first in line to receive the vaccine on Sunday.

Beyond hospitals and care homes, sports halls and convention centers emptied by lockdown measures will become venues for mass inoculations.

In Italy, temporary solar-powered healthcare pavilions will spring up in town squares around the country, designed to look like five-petaled primrose flowers, a symbol of spring.

In Spain, doses are being delivered by air to its island territories and the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Portugal is establishing separate cold storage units for its Atlantic archipelagos of Azores and Madeira.

“A window of hope has now opened, without forgetting that there is a very difficult fight ahead,” Portuguese Health Minister Marta Temido told reporters. — Reuters

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