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DTI restores ceramic tile quality-certification

CERAMIC TILES have been returned to the list of products that must be certified for quality before being allowed for sale in the Philippines.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued an order requiring manufacturers to apply for a Philippine Standard (PS) quality certification mark before they can sell their products.

Importers need either a statement of confirmation for PS certified ceramic tiles or import commodity clearances for non-PS certified ceramic tiles.

The PS mark, the DTI said in a statement Thursday, will help ensure that the products are traceable and guide consumers in making their selection.

Ceramic tiles are widely used in flooring and walls.

“The pandemic brought by COVID-19 made people more cautious of the cleanliness of their homes which is why ceramic tiles are utilized in achieving a sanitary environment since they can be easily cleaned and disinfected,” the DTI said.

Ceramic tile traders in 2019 sought to be excluded from the list, saying that the product does not pose safety or health risks.

The DTI in 2019 halted the imposition of safeguard duties on ceramic floor and wall tile imports after the Tariff Commission found no evidence that increased ceramic tile imports seriously injured domestic producers.

Plywood last year was put back on the list of products that must undergo quality certification. Plywood had been removed from the list in 2015, attracting a surge in imports. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Pandemic derails gains made by PHL creative industry

THE GROWTH of the creative economy was stunted during the pandemic as entertainment industry operations either stopped or slowed down, the Department of Trade and Industry said.

Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba cited international data identifying Philippine creative services exports as the largest within ASEAN, which she said was generated mainly by the information technology and computer services segments.

“At the time when our creative industries have been gaining growth momentum, the pandemic hit us and as a result the creative sectors have been badly affected,” she said at an online event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines on Thursday.

While movie theaters shut down and live events had to be cancelled, the animation and game development sectors suffered a dip in productivity and revenue due to cancelled contracts, she said.

The Creative Economy Council of the Philippines said that the industry sustained a 90% decrease in revenue compared to 2019.

Crowd-sourcing platform Ilostmygig.ph recorded more than P268 million in lost income from creative-sector workers as of June.

But she also said that digitalization created new opportunities for creative-industry work.

“One silver lining is the crisis has actually accelerated the rapid digitalization of the economy and this reinforced trends, opened new opportunities for the creative industry,” she said.

Digital platforms have made content production cheaper, for example, for creatives who are now able to access a global market.

Ms. Aldaba added that the Philippines must address constraints to industry expansion, including high costs in the film and gaming sectors, low levels of investment, and a Philippine bias for imported creative goods. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Senate hearing set for creative industries bill

A SENATE committee will discuss on March 1 a bill aiming to promote and develop the creative industries.

Senator Aquilino L. Pimentel III said the Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship committee will conduct a hearing on Senate Bill No. 411 filed by Senator Maria Imelda Josefa R. Marcos in July 2019, which seeks to establish a charter for the creative industries.

“Arguably defining the creative industry is a crucial legislative process, there is a need for the most updated and accurate data on the creative industries in the Philippines… Truth be told the sector is broad and pandemic digitization even contributes to its diversification,” he said in a briefing organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.

“Hence, it may be asked for more specificity as creative industries have the tendency to overlap with other existing industries,” he said.

Mr. Pimentel also noted the rise in the number of content providers online as well as game developers.

“People now sell ideas, people now buy ideas, so if you want our creative industries to grow, we must empower our young entrepreneurs and we must capitalize on their creative ideas,” he said.

The bill sought to establish a Creative Industries Development Council to “formulate the development and promotion of original Filipino content and protection and commercialization of Filipino intellectual property.

It also provides for startup capital support via the council for creative entrepreneurs, as well as preferential loans, and subsidized rents, among others, in consultation with the stakeholders and in line with the National Creative Industries Plan.

Mr. Pimentel said that having a “consolidated job” for the council is better “than having too many collaborating government offices without well-defined roles or worse with overlapping jurisdictions.”

“Hopefully we can now avoid the situation where the government programs and projects are either duplicated, repeated or even contradictory,” he said.

He noted, however, that the function of the council in ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property laws should be studied and reconciled with the functions of the Intellectual Property of Office of the Philippines. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Farmgate price of palay drops 0.5% in 3rd week of Jan.

THE average farmgate price of palay, or unmilled rice, fell 0.5% week on week to P16.64 per kilogram in the third week of January, with the price up 3.6% from a year earlier, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In its weekly update on palay, rice, and corn prices, the PSA said the average wholesale price of well-milled rice fell 0.1% week on week to P37.34 while the retail price was flat at P40.93.

The average wholesale price of regular-milled rice fell 0.1% to P33.28 while the retail price fell 0.2% to P36.08.

The farmgate price of yellow corn grain rose 0.9% week on week to P12.63.

The average wholesale price of yellow corn grain was flat at P19.97 while the retail price rose 0.04% to P24.35.

The farmgate price of white corn grain rose 3.1% week on week to P14.25.

The average wholesale price of white corn grain rose 2.4% to P17.54 while the retail price rose 0.4% to P25.81. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

SMEs not addressing clients’ preference for customer service apps

SMALL-BUSINESS clients have expressed a preference for dealing with such companies via applications rather than customer service representatives, Microsoft Corp. said, but the adoption of such technology by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is lagging.

“Eighty-six percent of consumers prefer not to talk with customer support and would rather use a self-service application,” Microsoft Corp. said in a statement Thursday, citing a study conducted by BlastAsia, a Philippine software engineering company. “Yet, only 2% of companies successfully address this issue.

“This is why SMEs can lose critical business to larger and more digitally transformed enterprises,” Microsoft said.

BlastAsia President and Chief Executive Officer Arup Maity noted the gap between what businesses have adopted and what suitable technology is available.

Microsoft offers a BlastAsia-developed product called Steer, a no-code development platform, on its Appsource site for business users. Steer enables companies to build apps for customers to order or to check status using their smartphones, as well as for internal teams to manage workflows and records using their phones, tablets, or laptops.

“These apps are fully integrated to back-end processes and systems and are built in a short time — with no coding skills needed,” Microsoft said.

Mr. Maity said the platform, which uses Microsoft cloud technology, is the company’s response and solution for SMEs digitizing their services.

“Custom software development is not for SMEs — it takes too long and has a high upfront cost and risk associated with it,” he noted. BlastAsia, according to Microsoft, hopes to partner with about 2,000 companies here and overseas by the end of 2022 to aid these clients’ digital transition. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Cautious Airbus forecast disappoints after 2020 loss, reduction of dividend

PARIS — European planemaker Airbus axed its dividend for a second year and predicted flat deliveries this year as it braces for more coronavirus uncertainty after posting a 2020 loss.

The planemaker’s decision to restore key business targets is the latest evidence of recovery hopes being watched by financial markets following the pandemic, which severely hurt air travel.

Rival Boeing, mired in a separate crisis over the grounding of its 737 MAX that saw Airbus reclaim the title of largest global jetmaker, is not yet giving detailed views.

But analysts expressed concerns that the deliberately cautious delivery forecast from Airbus jarred with the same company’s plans to start unwinding cuts in jet production, albeit at a slower pace than initially planned.

Shares in Airbus fell 3.4% in early trading.

Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said the forecast was for “at least” 566 deliveries, unchanged from last year when production was 40% below its peak. This will give investors some visibility in a world in which the pandemic seems to be getting worse in the short term, he said.

The actual level of deliveries will depend on demand from airlines rather than supply chains or funding, he added.

A collapse in demand from carriers worldwide has left almost 100 jets sitting outside Airbus factories, down from a peak of around 145. But any shortfall in deliveries compared to factory production could drive the costly stockpile higher again.

“… we remain cautious about the pace at which the airline industry can rebuild its balance sheet to the point where aircraft demand rises significantly,” Jefferies analyst Sandy Morris wrote.

In a sign of the strain on airline finances, Airbus sliced 100 billion euros ($120.5 billion) or 20% off the value of its unfilled order book to 373 billion euros.

While the coronavirus crisis has raised doubts over the ability of airlines to honor contracts, Airbus said the decrease also reflected an unusually low set of new orders during the crisis and a weakening of the US dollar.

Airbus posted a 2020 operating loss of 510 million euros, weighed by charges booked in previous quarters, notably for restructuring and the closure of the loss-making A380 program.

On a widely watched adjusted basis, Airbus stayed in the black but saw operating profit drop 75% to 1.7 billion euros as plunging airline demand drove revenues down 29% to 49.9 billion euros.

The company’s helicopter division outperformed.

For 2021, Airbus predicted 2021 adjusted operating profit of 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion).

Stronger than expected jet deliveries in the fourth quarter helped Airbus generate 4.9 billion euros in cash flow before M&A and customer financing, beating a quarterly break-even target.

For the year as a whole, Airbus spent 6.9 billion euros, as the impact of the coronavirus crisis came hard on the heels of a record 3.6 billion euro bribery fine agreed in early 2020. Airbus said it expected free-cash flow breakeven in 2021. — Reuters

Law on vaccine harm fund, LGUs marked urgent

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Vann Marlo M. Villegas, Reporters

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has certified as urgent the proposed laws that will address obstacles in the procurement and delivery of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, the Palace said on Thursday.

The President issued the certification for Senate Bill 2057 and its counterpart, House Bill 8648, the proposed COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act, according to Presidential Spokesman Herminio “Harry” L. Roque, Jr.

“The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed today, February 18, 2021, the memorandum order on the fifteen percent limit on advanced payments for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and the certification of the urgency of the bills establishing a vaccine indemnity fund,” he said in a statement.

“We are confident that both documents would ensure the timely and efficient implementation of the government’s COVID-19 mass vaccination program.”

The President’s certification allows legislators to pass the bill on second and third reading on the same day.

The Senate bill seeks to establish a P500-million indemnity fund that will be used to compensate any vaccine recipient who will experience adverse side effects.

The fund will be administered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Under the measure, manufacturers are not liable for vaccine-related injuries as national governments assume responsibility for the utilization of vaccines covered by an emergency use authorization.

The Philippines failed to receive an initial batch of 117,000 coronavirus vaccine doses secured under the global facility for equal access due to the lack of an indemnification plan, which could give protection to vaccine administrators and drug makers from possible lawsuits.

Vaccine czar Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. earlier said foreign manufacturers were concerned with the country’s past experience with its controversial dengue immunization program.

Drug manufacturers would be held liable for vaccine-related injuries once the shots are authorized for commercial use, Mr. Roque said.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
The measure also empowers local government units (LGUs) to enter into an advance payment scheme for the purchase of coronavirus vaccines and other supplies.

It allows provinces, cities and municipalities to make advance payments to manufacturers with a limit of 50% of the contract price, in cooperation with the Department of Health (DoH) and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 through a multi-party agreement.

Under Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, advance payment shall not exceed 15% of the contract amount pending delivery of services “unless otherwise directed by the President.”

The private sector may also procure vaccines in cooperation with the Health department and the task force through a similar multiparty agreement.

The Senate bill also proposes to make vaccines exempt from customs duties, value-added tax, excise tax, donor’s tax, and other fees. It also wants to institutionalize a Vaccine Passport Program.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri on Thursday said the upper chamber aims to ratify its version of the bill on Monday.

“We will try to pass it on second and third reading by Monday,” Mr. Zubiri told reporters via Viber.  The bill was endorsed to the plenary last Tuesday.

CASES
Meanwhile, the DoH reported 1,744 coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 555,163.

The death toll rose by 96 to 11,673, while recoveries increased by 412 to 512,357, it said in a bulletin.

The death rate is at 2.10% while recovery rate is at 92.3%.

There were 31,115 active cases, 85.6% of which were mild, 8.6% did not show symptoms, 2.5% were critical, 2.5% were severe, and 0.78% were moderate.

The Health department said five duplicates were removed from the tally while 68 recoveries were reclassified as deaths.

Six laboratories failed to submit their data on Feb. 17, the agency said.

According to the DoH tracker website, more than 7.9 million Filipinos have been tested as of Feb. 16.

More than 110.5 million were infected and more than 2.4 million people died due to coronavirus, according to Worldometers website which cited various sources including data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

About 85.4 million have recovered worldwide, it said.

Logistical issues to delay delivery of Pfizer shots — Roque

THE COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, led by the World Health Organization, gave notice of potential delay in the delivery of Pfizer vaccines due to logistical issues, the Palace said on Thursday.

Citing the COVAX interim distribution forecast, Presidential Spokesman Herminio “Harry” L. Roque, Jr. said, “Baka nga po magkaroon ng pagkaantala pag-deliver ng Pfizer dahil nga po doon sa requirement na (There might be a delay in the delivery of Pfizer because of the requirement for) sub-zero transportation at  (and) logistics ng Pfizer,” he said in a televised briefing.

Pfizer’s vaccine shot needs to be kept at temperatures of -70°C.

“So they really gave notice that there will really likely be a delay,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

Nonetheless, Mr. Roque said the hold-up will have no significant impact on the implementation of the country’s vaccination road map and all vaccines from the COVAX Facility will still be delivered by July.

The initial 117,000 vaccine doses of Pfizer vaccine was supposed to arrive in the country by mid-February.

Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., the country’s vaccine czar, earlier said about 5.5 million doses of  coronavirus vaccines from British drug maker AstraZeneca Plc under the equal access facility are expected to be delivered to the country by late February.

For vaccines manufactured by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd., Mr. Roque said the expected delivery of 600,000 doses could also be delayed if the country’s Food and Drug Administration will not issue an emergency use authorization (EUA) this week.

Sinovac submitted last month an EUA application before the country’s drug regulator.

Mr. Roque earlier said 100,000 doses of the initial batch of Sinovac shots, donated by the Chinese government, will be used to inoculate members of the Philippine military.

The FDA has so far authorized the vaccines developed by Pfizer and AstraZeneca for emergency use.

Meanwhile, the Energy department on Thursday ordered distribution utilities to ensure reliable power supply to cold storage facilities and healthcare centers in time for the government’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine rollout.

In an advisory signed by Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, electricity distributers have been directed to provide back-up systems to COVID-19 vaccine and cold storage facilities and healthcare centers, lay out emergency protocols, and ensure sufficient capacity to address a possible surge in demand. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Angelica Y. Yang

Capital mayors vote to ease restrictions

MAYORS in Metro Manila have agreed to recommend a further easing of restrictions in the nation’s capital starting March 1.

In a press conference on Thursday, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benjamin de Castro Abalos, Jr. said the recommendation was agreed upon by the Metro Manila Council (MMC), which is composed of the capital’s 17 mayors.     

Mr. Abalos did not disclose how the mayors voted, but some have earlier expressed reluctance to the national government’s plan to put the country under less restrictions to help boost the economy.

Mr. Abalos said the mayors will also push for a more gradual lowering of age limits on strict home quarantine.

Under the current general community quarantine level in Metro Manila, only those 18 years old to 65 are allowed to go out. Other areas allow those 15-65 as prescribed under national guidelines.

On the part of MMDA, Mr. Abalos said they will recommend to the Department of Transportation to allow more digital ride-hailing firms, or Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVS), to operate “for our economy to be lively.”

The MMC is the governing and policy-making body of the MMDA. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago

Education department gearing up for trial run of in-person classes 

THE INTER agency task force leading the country’s coronavirus pandemic response will discuss next week plans to hold a dry run for limited in-person classes, according to the presidential Palace.

The proposed trial run will be taken up during the Cabinet meeting on Monday, Presidential Spokesman Herminio “Harry” L. Roque, Jr. told a televised press briefing.

Education Secretary Leonor M. Briones, in the same briefing, said they are already preparing for the resumption of face-to-face classes in some areas in anticipation of the President’s approval.

“Naghahanda kami. Baka dadating na i-lift na ni President ang deferment ng pilot studies natin na ito,” Ms. Briones said.

She said more than half of the student population are pushing for the resumption of physical classes.

Citing a survey conducted by the department, Ms. Briones said the “strongest supporters” of the resumption of face-to-face classes are the learners themselves with over 50% of the respondents supporting the restart of academic activities this school year.

A “significant portion” of teachers also support the call, while parents remain undecided, she added.

Ms. Briones cited that the Philippines remains the “only country” in Southeast Asia that has yet to resume in-person classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte earlier recalled the task force’s decision allowing a pilot test of limited in-person classes in areas with low coronavirus infections due to the detection of the more contagious virus strains in the country.

“We will give him at least four policy choices because it is his decision whether to allow or not the resumption of limited face-to-face classes,” Ms. Briones said.

MEISTER SCHOOLS
In another development, a House of Representatives panel has approved the proposed establishment of specialized schools for industrial and technical skills to boost the employability of technical vocational students.

In its hearing on Thursday, the committee on basic education and culture approved House Bill No. 6287 or the proposed Meister Schools Act.

“Meister” schools are senior high schools that offer courses that focus on “highly-specialized, higher order industrial, and technical skills.”

The bill’s author, Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose Maria Clemente “Joey” S. Salceda, said the framework is modeled after Meister schools in other countries.

“We patterned Meister Schools after successful models in Germany and Korea, where industry and schools would work together to craft curricula that suit the needs of the economy. Meister schools in these countries have a strong emphasis on apprenticeship and on learning on-the-job,” he said.

The proposed law also seeks to elevate the status of technical-vocational education with graduates who are highly skilled and hireable to address the issue of skills gap and youth unemployment in the country. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Gillian M. Cortez

Nationwide round-up (02/18/21)

Ayala chair joins Vatican-led council on ‘inclusive capitalism’

AYALA Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala has joined the Council for Inclusive Capitalism with the Vatican, a global coalition that aims to make free enterprise contribute more to human development. The group, launched in December 2020, aims to pool global business and public sector leaders to discuss best practices in achieving inclusive capitalism. It is led by Pope Francis and the Vatican through Cardinal Peter Turkson. Officials from the United Nations, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Bank of America, Ernst & Young, and Mastercard are some of the companies overseeing the council. Ayala Corp. is the first business group from the Philippines to join the coalition. “All of us who thrive on the success of capitalism need to have a sense of responsibility and empathy to counteract the forces of inequity that the system also creates. We need to collectively harness our resources, ingenuity, and energy to align our institutions to the broader, progressive development goals of humanity, in general, and our host communities,” Mr. Zobel said in his message to the council. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte  

Senator proposes extending voter registration period

A senator on Wednesday suggested extending the voter registration period by at least 30 days to allow more eligible individuals to list for the 2022 national and local elections. Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said extending the September 30 deadline by 30 or up to 60 days will help in voter education and awareness as the filing for candidacy starts in October. “Your biggest information dissemination campaign is when the candidates start filing because don nga ngayon magkakaroon ng (that’s when there will be) greater awareness,” he said in a Senate hearing. Election Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo said they are “not closing doors” on the suggestion, but noted that their timeline is tight as the poll body still has to cluster precincts for the elections. He said extending the registration will affect the schedule of the succeeding election procedures leading up to the May vote. “But then again we will look into that situation,” he said. Commission on Elections (Comelec) Deputy Executive Director for Operations Teopisto E. Elnas, Jr. said of the four million targeted new voter registrants, or those who will turn 18 by 2022 elections, 1.3 million have already registered. Another 1.6 million voters who registered for the local youth council elections will be transferred to the database. There were also about seven million deactivated voters after failing to vote in two consecutive elections. Mr. Elnas said about three million are expected to register for reactivation, about 200,000 of whom have already done so. Comelec has 58.2 million registered voters as of January out of around 73 million projected voting population for 2022 based on Philippine Statistics Authority data. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

DoJ respects RTC decision on De Lima acquittal

JUSTICE Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Thursday said he trusts “in the good judgment and impartiality” of a Muntinlupa court on its recent decisions on the criminal cases filed against Senator Leila M. de Lima. In a Viber message to reporters on Wednesday, Mr. Guevarra said the Department of Justice believes that “the honorable judge has diligently examined and weighed all the evidence presented by the prosecution” before deciding on its sufficiency or insufficiency. Ms. De Lima’s Demurrer to Evidence for Criminal Case No. 17-166 was granted by the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 205 on Wednesday. A Demurrer to Evidence is a motion that can be filed by the accused to dismiss a case against him or her for insufficient evidence. Granting such “has the same legal effect as that of an acquittal,” therefore it is not appealable,” Mr. Guevarra explained in a mobile message on Thursday. The case is one of the three filed against Ms. De Lima by the Duterte administration for alleged involvement in illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison. Ms. De Lima’s co-accused, Jose Adrian Dera, was denied his demurrer but was allowed to post bail of P500,000. In a separate 35-page Omnibus Order, the Muntinlupa RTC denied the Demurrers to Evidence and Petition for Bail of Ms. De Lima and her former driver, Ronnie Dayan, for Criminal Case No. 17-165. The detained senator’s camp welcomed the decisions. “To be acquitted even in just one case, in the time of Duterte, is a victory,” Ms. De Lima said in a statement read by her spokesperson, Boni F. Tacardon, in a press briefing on Wednesday. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago

Regional Updates (02/18/21)

Parts of Mindanao, Visayas brace for stormy weekend as typhoon Auring intensifies

TROPICAL depression Auring has intensified into a tropical storm category as of Thursday morning as it continues to move northwestward over the Philippine Sea, weather bureau PAGASA reported. It is forecast to further strengthen into a severe tropical storm before making landfall in the Caraga Region on Saturday evening or Sunday morning. The Office of Civil Defense, in a statement late Wednesday, said the national and regional disaster agencies, along with their local government counterparts, met Wednesday afternoon to discuss preparations for the expected “heavy to intense rains which may cause flooding and rain-induced landslides in highly susceptible areas.” PAGASA said based on the typhoon’s forecast track, affected areas from Saturday to Monday will include the Visayas, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Bicol, CALABARZON, Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Mindoro provinces, Marinduque, Romblon, northern Palawan including Calamian and Cuyo Islands. Tropical wind signal no. 1 will likely be raised by Friday in several provinces in Caraga and Davao “in anticipation of the arrival of strong breeze to near-gale conditions.” As of 10 a.m. Thursday, Auring was located 685 kilometers (km) east-southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. It was moving slowly with maximum sustained winds of 65 km per hour (km/h) near the center and gustiness of up to 80 km/h.

NEA asks electric co-ops to comply with ‘no disconnection policy’ for poor consumers

THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) called on the 121 electric cooperatives across the country to implement the ‘no disconnection policy’ for lifeline consumers as directed by the Department of Energy earlier this month. In a memorandum dated Feb. 10, NEA Administrator Edgardo R. Masongsong also directed the power distributors to post the Energy department’s advisory “on their respective websites and consumer welfare help desks for the information of all concerned electricity consumers.” Under the Energy department’s order, distribution utilities are required to implement the ‘no disconnection policy’ for poor electricity consumers whose unpaid obligations are due by March. This applies to all unpaid regular bills and installment payments. The department added that all electricity consumers — both lifeline and non-lifeline — who still cannot pay their bills may “enter into socially equitable and manageable payment terms to prevent eventual disconnection of electricity services.” On the other hand, consumers who have the means to pay are encouraged to do so to “help manage the cash flow in the energy supply chain and ensure the continuous supply of electricity.” Early this month, the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. said the extension of the ‘no disconnection policy’ would “disrupt the flow of money in the energy supply chain, and that its effects would extend to outside the power sector.” — Angelica Y. Yang

Manila Bay water quality shows improvement

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced on Thursday that it recorded lower fecal coliform levels in Manila Bay last week, based on water samples collected from 21 monitoring stations. In a press release, DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu was quoted as saying that the bay’s water samples, which were collected on Feb. 8, had a fecal coliform count of 4.87 million most probable number per 100 milliliters (mpn/100mL), which was “significantly lower” compared to the annual average reading of 7.16 million mpn/100 mL taken last year. The lowering of fecal coliform levels is in line with meeting the Supreme Court’s previous mandamus in restoring the bay’s water quality to “Class SB” level, meaning it would be suitable for bathing, swimming, skin diving, and other forms of contact recreation. “We will make sure that we continue to clean the waters of Manila Bay until it becomes safe again for contact activities,” Mr. Cimatu, who chairs the Manila Bay Task Force, said. — Angelica Y. Yang

4,400-ha forest in Pangasinan declared as a critical habitat

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Thursday declared a 4,423-hectare forest in Mangatarem, Pangasinan as a critical habitat as part of national efforts to protect wildlife species that are facing extinction. In a press release issued on Thursday, the DENR said Secretary Roy A. Cimatu recently signed an administrative order that named the forest area as the “Mangatarem Critical Habitat.” It is the 9th to be included in the list of declared critical habitats across the country. The Mangatarem Critical Habitat is home to several threatened and endemic animals including Philippine deer, Philippine warty pig, Philippine duck, Flame-breasted fruit dove, Philippine eagle owl, Luzon scops owl, and Rufous hornbill. The habitat also houses several flora species, including endemic plants. “In doing this, we at the DENR can save habitats which are critical for the survival of threatened species or species at risk of extinction, including other associated wildlife, and at the same time provide this land area a legal framework to protect it from destructive uses,” Mr. Cimatu was quoted as saying. — Angelica Y. Yang

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