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Trump administration finally allows Biden transition to begin

WASHINGTON/WILMINGTON, Del. — After weeks of waiting, President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday cleared the way for President-elect Joe Biden to transition to the White House, giving him access to briefings and funding even as Mr. Trump vowed to continue fighting the election results.

Mr. Trump, a Republican, has alleged widespread voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election without providing evidence. Although he did not concede or acknowledge his Democratic rival’s victory on Monday, Mr. Trump’s announcement that his staff would cooperate with Mr. Biden’s represented a significant shift and was the closest he has come to admitting defeat.

Mr. Biden won 306 state-by-state electoral votes, well over the 270 needed for victory, to Mr. Trump’s 232. Mr. Biden also holds a lead of more than 6 million in the national popular vote.

The Trump campaign’s legal efforts to overturn the election have almost entirely failed in key battleground states, and a growing number of Republican leaders, business executives and national security experts urged the president to let the transition begin.

The president-elect has begun naming members of his team, including tapping trusted aide Antony Blinken to head the State Department, without waiting for government funding or a Trump concession. But critics have accused the president of undermining US democracy and undercutting the next administration’s ability to fight the coronavirus pandemic with his refusal to accept the results.

On Monday, the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency that must sign off on presidential transitions, told Mr. Biden he could formally begin the hand-over process. GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said in a letter that Mr. Biden would get access to resources that had been denied to him because of the legal challenges seeking to overturn his win.

That means Mr. Biden’s team will now have federal funds and an official office to conduct his transition until he takes office on Jan. 20. It also paves the way for Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to receive regular national security briefings that Mr. Trump also gets.

The GSA announcement came shortly after Michigan officials certified Mr. Biden as the victor in their state, making Mr. Trump’s legal efforts to change the election outcome even more unlikely to succeed.

Mr. Trump and his advisers said he would continue to pursue legal avenues but his decision to give Murphy the go-ahead to proceed with a transition for Mr. Biden’s administration indicated even the White House understood it was getting close to time to move on.

“Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good … fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter.

A Trump adviser painted the move as similar to both candidates receiving briefings during the campaign and said the president’s statement was not a concession.

The Biden transition team said meetings would begin with federal officials on Washington’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, along with discussions of national security issues.

Two Trump administration officials said the Biden agency review teams could begin interacting with Trump agency officials as soon as Tuesday. “This is probably the closest thing to a concession that President Trump could issue,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Top Democrats in the House and Senate on Monday warned that an executive order signed by Mr. Trump in October could result in mass firings of federal employees in the final weeks of his presidency and allow the Republican president to install loyalists in the federal bureaucracy.

FOREIGN POLICY TEAM TAKES SHAPE
The now formalized transition and Michigan’s certification of Mr. Biden’s victory could prompt more Republicans to encourage Mr. Trump to concede as his chances of overturning the results fade.

Top Republicans in Michigan’s legislature pledged to honor the outcome in their state, likely dashing Mr. Trump’s hopes that the state legislature would name Trump supporters to serve as “electors” and support him rather than Mr. Biden.

Mr. Trump has been consulting his advisers for weeks, while eschewing standard responsibilities of the presidency. He has played several games of golf and avoided taking questions from reporters since the day of the election.

Mr. Biden, who plans to undo many of Mr. Trump’s “America First” policies, announced the top members of his foreign policy team earlier on Monday. He named Jake Sullivan as his national security adviser and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as US ambassador to the United Nations. Both have high-level government experience. John Kerry, a former US senator, secretary of state and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, will serve as Mr. Biden’s special climate envoy.

The president-elect is likely to tap former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to become the next Treasury secretary, according to two Biden allies, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel decision that was not yet public.

Mr. Biden also took a step toward reversing Mr. Trump’s hard-line immigration policies by naming Cuban-born lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security. — Reuters

Taiwan to protect sovereignty with fleet of new submarines amid tensions with China

TAIWAN is building a new fleet of domestically-developed own submarines. — REUTERS

KAOHSIUNG — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday vowed to defend the democratic island’s sovereignty with the construction of a new fleet of domestically-developed submarines, a key project supported by the United States to counter neighboring China.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has been for years working to revamp its submarine force, some of which date back to World War II, and is no match for China’s fleet, which includes vessels capable of launching nuclear weapons.

At a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a new submarine fleet in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, Ms. Tsai called the move a “historic milestone” for Taiwan’s defensive capabilities after overcoming “various challenges and doubts”.

“The construction demonstrates Taiwan’s strong will to the world to protect its sovereignty,” she told the event, which was also attended by the de facto US ambassador in Taiwan, Brent Christensen.

“Submarines are important equipment for the development of Taiwan’s navy’s asymmetric warfare capabilities and to deter enemy ships from encircling Taiwan.”

The US government in 2018 gave the green light for US manufacturers to participate in the programme, a move widely seen as helping Taiwan secure major components, though it is unclear which US companies are involved.

State-backed CSBC Corporation Taiwan said it would deliver the first of the eight planned submarines in 2025, giving a major boost to Ms. Tsai’s military modernization and self-sufficiency plan.

Company chairman Cheng Wen-lung said they had faced major challenges, including difficulty procuring parts as well as “external forces hindering the development of this programme.”

Taiwan’s armed forces are mostly equipped by the United States, but Ms. Tsai has made development of an advanced home-grown defence industry a priority.

In June, Ms. Tsai oversaw the first public test flight of a new locally designed and made advanced jet trainer.

Chinese forces have ramped up their military activities near Taiwan, on occasion flying fighter jets across the unofficial buffer median line of the sensitive Taiwan Strait. — Reuters

Qantas to require COVID-19 vaccination for international travelers

SYDNEY — Australia’s Qantas will insist in future that international travelers have a COVID-19 vaccination before they fly, describing the move as “a necessity.”

“We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say, for international travelers, that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft,” Chief Executive Alan Joyce told broadcaster Channel Nine.

“Whether you need that domestically, we will have to see what happens with COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) in the market. But certainly, for international visitors coming out and people leaving the country, we think that’s a necessity.”

Australia closed its international borders in March during the first wave of the pandemic and currently requires returning travelers from overseas to quarantine for two weeks.

Australia’s Victoria state, meanwhile, the country’s virus hotspot, said on Tuesday it had zero active cases of coronavirus for the first time in more than eight months, putting it on track to effectively eliminate the virus.

Australia’s second-most populous state reported zero new cases for a 25th straight day, having imposed restrictions on public movement and shut down large parts of the economy after daily infections peaked at more than 700 in early August.

Victoria accounts for more than 73% of the country’s total virus cases and 90% of national deaths. Australia has reported more than 27,800 cases and 907 deaths since the pandemic began. — Reuters

Collectively attack the crises

In this time of pandemic, the proclivity of societal responses to mitigate the ravaging impact of the crisis is carried out on three fronts — government’s effort to control the spread of infection, the private sector’s sensible reaction of saving and protecting human capital, and civil society’s endeavors to promote philanthropy and volunteerism.

Remarkably, the three fronts have been characterized by a degree or, at least, a tinge of collaboration between and among social actors. And in this health-cum-economic predicament, the imperative for a tri-focal arrangement to transform crises into opportunities and lay the foundations of national economic recovery has been exposed.

The recently concluded Session 1 of the Pilipinas Conference hosted by the Stratbase ADR Institute, dubbed “Rebooting the Economy Post-Pandemic: Cushioning the Long Emergency,” voiced a multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder perspective as to how we could get back on our feet and prosper once again.

In terms of reviving the economy, Dr. Ernesto Pernia (former  National Economic and Development Authority secretary and professor emeritus at the UP School of Economics) opined the need to ramp up government COVID-19 response and spending. This is in recognition of the underinvestment that our health infrastructure has suffered and the importance of boosting the capacity of our health system.

Further, he called on for a “unified effort toward the country’s development goal.” This means, according to him, to “foster or strengthen public-private partnerships a la bayanihan spirit” wherein “mutual trust and empathy” govern the relationship between the public and private sector, rather than being “adversarial.”

For Diwa Guinigundo (former deputy governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), he emphasized on what is called the “green shoots” or the “initial signs of economic activities” as the starting point of recovery. He then spoke on the issue of “restoring confidence” as the second proposition to strengthen the preliminary foundations for growth. The third proposition, he said, is “to manage the economic scars of lost jobs, lost income, and lost productivity.”

Dr. Raul Fabella (National Academy of Science and Technology and professor emeritus at the UP School of Economics), for his part, underscored the ever-growing importance of having an investment-led economy that could achieve the desired economic growth that a consumption-led economy has not. To achieve economic recovery, he clearly hints on the good economic performance associated with public-private partnerships in the last three decades. Besides, according to him, the private sector provides or fills in the gap where government’s “comparative competence” is absent or lacking.

From an academic perspective, Dr. Ronald Mendoza (Dean of the Ateneo School of Governance) highlighted the 3Ts as components of inclusive recovery, namely, “technology, trust, and transform.” According to him, technological applications cater to rapid testing, tracking, information sharing, and telemedicine; while “trust” pertains to the compliance with quarantine and willingness to share information; and “transform” refers to the need to alter our healthcare system to build a surge component and emphasize inclusion.

In his perspective, Dean Mendoza prioritizes the concern to boost the healthcare industry. He also expressed that together with Dr. Pernia they are “allies in terms of opening up the economy.” However, Dean Mendoza qualified: “But along with that opening up, we need to build stronger institutions, so that we don’t open up blindly and create the political pushback that will stop that opening up,” particularly referring to what he calls “questionable investments.”

Interestingly, the realities on the ground could be more challenging based on the subsequent discussions. What Dr. Mahar Mangahas (President, Social Weather Stations) and Dr. Ronald Holmes (President, Pulse Asia, Inc.) respectively talked about joblessness and economic optimism and robust democracy in this time of pandemic illustrates and describes the level of public opinion or what is referred to as people’s perspective or facts. Taken together, recovery from the pandemic should undoubtedly and seriously take into consideration the political-economic concerns of the people.

In their entirety, the discussions echoed what Ambassador Albert del Rosario (Chair, Stratbase ADR Institute) explained in his opening remarks about “strengthening collaboration for collective recovery.” Prof. Dindo Manhit (President, Stratbase ADR Institute) discussed in his closing remarks of Session 1 the definitive role of “paving the way for sustainable long-term investments.”

Done in a simultaneous and coordinated fashion, collaborative and transformative investments from the public and private sector on one hand, and from domestic and foreign sources on the other hand could serve as a resilient anchor for sustainable recovery.

The spirit of public and private partnerships emphasized by the economic thought leaders of the Pilipinas Conference is not just a point of intellectual assessment but an urgent call for synergy between government, private enterprises, and civil society to collectively attack this complex crisis and move toward recovery and sustainable growth.

 

Jaime Jimenez, Ph.D is the Deputy Executive Director for Research of Stratbase ADR Institute.

Unintended consequences of the Special Resident Retiree’s Visa

The Philippines prides itself on its tropical weather, pristine beaches, thousand islands, scenic natural wonders, delicious local cuisine, and hospitable people, making it one of the most sought-after travel destinations for tourists looking for recreation and relaxation. For these same reasons, the country makes for an appealing retirement haven not only for Filipino citizens but foreign nationals as well.

Since 1985, the country has been offering the Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRV), a special non-immigrant visa entitling foreign nationals and former natural-born Filipino citizens to reside in the Philippines indefinitely with multiple entry-privileges. Subject to compliance with additional requirements, SRRV holders are also eligible to work, study or invest in the Philippines.

The SRRV is the core product of the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA). The PRA — formerly known as the Philippine Retirement Park System — is a government-owned and controlled corporation by virtue of Executive Order No. 1037 signed in 1985. The PRA was created as part of an effort to attract foreign investment into the country since the Philippine economy was then coping with its tight foreign exchange situation.

Pursuant to Executive Order No. 26, Series of 2001, the Philippine Retirement Park System was renamed as the PRA. Furthermore, control and supervision was transferred from the Office of the President to the Board of Investments (BoI) under the Department of Trade and Industry in recognition that the BoI is the appropriate government agency responsible for promoting investments in the Philippines in accordance with national policies and priorities.

The PRA is now an attached agency of the Department of Tourism (DoT) and placed under the supervision of its Secretary pursuant to Republic Act No. 9593 or the Tourist Act of 2009. PRA is mandated to develop and promote the Philippines as a retirement haven as a means of accelerating the social and economic development of the country, strengthening its foreign exchange position, and at the same time, providing the best quality of life to the targeted retirees.

Since 2011, the PRA has been offering four different SRRV options for foreign retirees and former Filipinos namely: SRRV Classic, SRRV Smile, SRRV Courtesy and SRRV Human Touch. Foreign nationals or former Filipino citizens who are at least 35 years old may qualify for an SRRV. They may also be joined by their legal spouse and unmarried legitimate or legally adopted children below 21 years old. Specific requirements vary depending on the SRRV option but generally, retirees are required to inwardly remit visa deposits from foreign sources. It is one of the significant qualifications for the SRRV through which the country was able to increase its foreign currency deposit.

SRRV holders enjoy benefits, including, special, non-immigrant status with multiple entry privileges, exemption from customs duties and taxes for one-time importation of personal effect and household goods worth $7,000 which should not be of commercial quantity and must be availed of within 90 days upon issuance of the SRRV, exemption from the Bureau of Immigration Alien Certificate of Registration Identification Card, and employment in the Philippines upon securing an Alien Employment Permit (AEP) from the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), among others. The SRRV is valid for an indefinite period as long as the required visa deposits remain intact, whether as deposits in PRA-accredited banks or as active investments.

Over the years, the country has continued to recognize and reap the benefits of the SRRV program as the foreign currency deposits of SRRV holders continue to increase along with the growing number of applicants each year. By the end of 2018 alone, the PRA reported that the total foreign currency generated for that year amounted to $225,345,304.40, making the cumulative outstanding retirees’ visa deposit from 1985-2018 amount to $520,231,067.51. Notwithstanding the aforesaid reported benefits, the SRRV packages are currently being challenged by the country’s lawmakers. The acceptance and processing of applications for new SRRVs have been suspended effective Oct. 23 until further notice, pending review of the SRRV program and PRA’s compliance with the directives set forth by the PRA’s Board of Trustees.

Based on the records presented during the recent budget hearing of the DoT at the Senate, it was shown that for the past years, Chinese nationals comprise the highest number of foreign retirees in the Philippines and the majority of them are 35 years old. Other nationalities that follow the rank are South Koreans, Indians, Taiwanese, Japanese, Americans, British, Germans and Australians. The Senate questioned PRA’s General Manager/CEO Bienvenido K. Chy, for accepting retirees as young as 35 years old, most of whom are Chinese nationals. Mr. Chy explained that the original age for eligibility was 50 years old and above, with a required bank deposit of at least $75,000. However, in 1993, the age requirement was lowered to 35 years old to open the program to military servicemen who retire early such as the Americans, Taiwanese, and Koreans.

Nevertheless, members of the Senate raised concerns in light of the influx of Chinese nationals and the proliferation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in the country. As SRRV holders may engage in employment in the Philippines, young retirees aged 35 years old are most likely to utilize the SRRV to gain employment in the country as long as they secure an AEP from the DoLE, an unintended consequence which may not necessarily be reflective of the intent behind the relevant laws. Instead of opening a window of opportunity for the country from an investment perspective, it may have unduly opened the floodgates to an influx of relatively young foreign nationals, not intending to retire, but looking for gainful employment, effectively bypassing, in some cases, more stringent employment visa requirements. As a result, the PRA was directed to review its policies particularly on age bracket, dollar deposit requirements, and the conversion of these deposits into allowable investments.

While the country significantly benefits from the foreign investments inwardly remitted under the SRRV program, the concessions extended to foreign nationals remain as privileges that may be modified by the Philippine government as it deems fit. As we open our doors to foreign nationals to consider our country as their second home, the grants afforded to them must be balanced with the proper safeguards to prevent abuse. At the end of the day, the promotion of Filipino interests, first and foremost, remains an overriding policy.

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not offered and does not constitute legal advice or legal opinion.

 

Hannah Lizette S. Manalili is an Associate of the Immigration Department of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices or ACCRALAW.

(632) 8830-8000

hsmanalili@accralaw.com

There will be a price to pay for making vaccines too expensive

THE WORLD is unequal enough and the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic threatens to make things more unequal still. Poorer countries have had to take on debt they will struggle to pay back. Their more fragile healthcare systems and crowded cities forced them into stricter and more economically harmful lockdowns, and poverty rates have risen dramatically. Now, they rightly fear a staggered recovery from the pandemic will further disadvantage them, given how expensive vaccine rollouts look to be.

It should not be surprising then that several developing countries, led by India and South Africa, argued last week at the World Trade Organization’s intellectual property rights council that IPR-related payments should be suspended for the duration of the pandemic for COVID-19 related vaccines, therapeutics, and equipment. They worry about “intellectual property rights hindering or potentially hindering timely provisioning of affordable medical products” to their citizens.

The full council will meet on the subject in December. Whatever the outcome, the bid is a shot across the bow of the current IPR system. The issue isn’t just about getting poor countries access to vaccines. It is about allowing them to choose the vaccine that best suits their populations and infrastructure, and ensuring that they get enough doses quickly enough that they don’t have to wait until 2024 to resume normal life while the West and China move forward.

At one level, the current petition clearly amounts to overkill. There’s no reason for all pandemic-related IPR to be suspended. Few developing countries will be interested, for example, in the vaccine produced by Moderna, Inc., which requires the sort of super-cooled storage facilities they would struggle to build.

Most had already bet big on the vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford, which the company has promised to sell at cost to many developing countries. With news this weekend that the vaccine was, on average, 70% effective against preventing COVID-19, any argument that a wholesale suspension of property rights is needed to prevent poor-country taxes flowing into Big Pharma’s coffers begins to sound quite thin.

Yet the fact remains that if those capital flows are forced to materialize — if not for vaccines, then as royalties for therapeutic treatments or cutting-edge tests — then developing countries can and will revolt. We need to ensure poorer countries aren’t pushed to their limits if we want to avoid a breakdown in the global acknowledgement of IPR that would set back innovation worldwide.

This is the first test of importance that the global intellectual property system has faced — and it will not be the last. A future in which owners of algorithms, capital, data, or platforms in the West exact unending rents from consumers and governments in poorer countries is far less likely than a wholesale repudiation of their right to do so by the rest of the world. An intellectual property regime that is not flexible enough to manage this crisis is one that will break under the weight of that techno-dystopia.

In other words, it is in everyone’s interest — including the residents of the world’s poorest countries, who depend upon innovation in the world’s richest nations to improve their lives — to head off this disgruntlement before it has a chance to gather political momentum. Some corporations recognize this. AstraZeneca, for example, has promised not to profit off the vaccine as long as COVID-19 is a pandemic (though how they will declare the pandemic is at an end remains mysterious).

Some rich-country leaders do as well. Boris Johnson hosted a global vaccine conference and the United Kingdom has so far committed $700 million to the shared vaccine fund, COVAX. French President Emmanuel Macron has helped set up the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, or ACT-A, which offers the best chance of distributing not just vaccines, but also diagnostic tests and therapeutic treatments.

Yet most rich-country governments have produced pandemic-response packages that are sharply nationalist and inward-looking in nature. ACT-A’s $38-billion budget is less than 1% of the amount that the Western world has committed to its lavish stimulus packages. And still Macron’s initiative is struggling for cash, having raised only $3 billion so far.

The biggest culprit has been the United States. Neither President Donald Trump nor Democrats in Congress have shown any interest in helping fund this effort, even though the country’s hopes for future prosperity depend on a functional global IPR system. If President-elect Joe Biden wants to demonstrate that the US is once again a good-faith contributor to global efforts, he could start by promising that his administration will do what’s needed to ensure that ACT-A is fully funded. If the US takes a back seat even under Biden, its hopes of recovering global respect and leadership will be truly finished.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Barangay Ginebra and Phoenix Super LPG go for series closeout

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings and Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters shoot for a spot in the finals of the PBA Philippine Cup when they trek back to the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena in Pampanga on Wednesday.

Up 2-1 in their respective best-of-five semifinal series, the Gin Kings and Fuel Masters use one of their two chances to set up a date in the championship of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) All-Filipino tournament.

Barangay Ginebra reengages the Meralco Bolts in the 3:45 p.m. curtain-raiser while Phoenix takes on the TNT Tropang Giga in the 6:30 p.m. main game.

The Kings seized the driver’s seat anew in their series after their 91-84 victory in Game Three, where they came out with more bounce and consistency in their game to rule the contest from point to point.

Stanley Pringle led a balance by Barangay Ginebra, finishing with 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

He was backstopped by big man Prince Caperal, who had 15 points, with LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar adding 12 each.

Joe Devance was the other Kings in double digits with 10 points.

Barangay Ginebra has been dominant in their wins, beating Meralco by an average margin of 12 points.

But despite that, Kings coach Tim Cone is still wary of the tough challenge they are set to face in Game Four from the Bolts, describing it as a “great force.”

“It’s a ping-pong match. You have good teams playing. It’s not easy to roll over Meralco, They’re going to come back… [we have to] build a good force to beat what we know will be a great force in the next game,” said Mr. Cone following their Game Three victory.

It is the same sentiment Mr. Pringle had, saying “We have to do a better job in our execution if we are to close things out.”

FIRST FINAL APPEARANCE
Meanwhile, Phoenix is girding for what could be the most important game in franchise history as a win over TNT thrusts the former to its first-ever finals appearance in the PBA.

The Fuel Masters put themselves in such a position with a gutsy 92-89 win in Game Three. In yet another close fight between the two teams, Phoenix held strong down the stretch amid a ferocious challenge from TNT.

Matthew Wright, returning to his deadly form after being limited by ankle injury in the first two games, top-scored for Phoenix in Game Three with 25 points.

Calvin Abueva, meanwhile, tallied all-around numbers of 24 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block. RJ Jazul and Jason Perkins, for their part, had 11 markers each.

Despite being in a good position to advance to the “Big Dance,” Phoenix coach Topex Robinson said they are not getting ahead of themselves, letting their play decide their fate instead.

“If we can go to the finals, and inspire a lot of people, that’s where we’re headed,” he said.

For TNT, with its back against the wall, the need to recalibrate their game is needed, said coach Bong Ravena.

“They (Phoenix) have been able to read our game so we have to change our game plan. We have to think out of the box,” he said.

But Tropang Giga coach is taking solace in the fact that the series has been a tight one and that they were in the games in each of the time.

PFF’s futsal thrust set to be ramped up

FUTSAL in the country is set to be given a shot in the arm as the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is girding to ramp up its program for the sport.

In a virtual press conference on Monday, PFF officials said they are ushering in a new dawn in their futsal affairs by lining up activities with the end view of further growing the sport among Filipinos.

“We are marking a new page, a new chapter in Philippine futsal development,” said Kevin Goco, PFF futsal head.

To help the PFF in its push, noted Dutch futsal coach Vic Hermans has come on board to be the organization’s technical consultant for its program.

The PFF is hoping that Mr. Hermans’ vast experience in handling futsal in different parts of the world would allow the football body to carve a successful path for futsal’s growth here.

“Vic is well respected by the players and the coaches and they want to learn from him,” said PFF president Mariano Araneta.

It is an involvement that Mr. Hermans is equally excited about, seeing how Filipinos exhibit qualities to excel in futsal.

“I’ve been in the Philippines before and I saw a lot of good qualities to succeed in futsal. I cannot wait to start and thankful for the support I’m given,” said Mr. Hermans, who was due to the country in May but had his arrival deferred to a later date because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The PFF shared that for its futsal program it will try to make it as comprehensive as possible, catering from the youth all the way to the seniors.

Age-group tournaments, which are hoped to start by the second half of 2021, are being planned in different parts of the country.

Futsal courses will also be offered so as to shore up the knowledge of stakeholders.

A professional futsal league down the line is also being envisioned, but the PFF said it is taking it a step at a time to make it sustainable.

“We’re doing it slowly and looking to generate more interest first,” said Mr. Goco.

The PFF futsal head admitted that the pandemic has affected their plans but expressed determination to still see them through when conditions finally permit it just as he underscored the role that the private sector plays in the development of futsal especially during these uncertain times.

“Yes. The pandemic has delayed us a little bit. Given that our program is focused on amateurs right now we are at a point where we can’t play until there is a vaccine. So we’re looking at maybe the end of the second quarter or start of the third next year but we’re optimistic we get to play before that. This is also why we want to bring Vic over as soon as possible so we can plan ahead and put up the needed structures,” said Mr. Goco.

“The private sector, meanwhile, will play a key role in the development of futsal. Sports is in a very challenging moment right now and we need to secure all the support we can get to fashion out a win-win situation where we can get through this pandemic,” he added.

Apart from officials of the PFF and Mr. Hermans, present during the press conference was Danny Moran from the Henry V. Moran Foundation, one of the major proponents of futsal in the country. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

FIFA bans African football head for five years after ethics investigation

MANCHESTER, England — The head of African football, Ahmad Ahmad, has been banned from football for five years by International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) following an ethics investigation by world soccer’s governing body.

Ahmad, who is president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), had intended to stand in an election in March in which he would have faced a number of challengers.

FIFA said in a statement the independent Ethics Committee has found Ahmad guilty of offering and accepting gifts and other benefits, and misappropriation of funds.

FIFA had “sanctioned him with a ban from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for five years,” it said.

It also fined him Sƒ200,000 ($200,000). Ahmad declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Former CAF general secretary Amr Fahmy, who died earlier this year from cancer, had been dismissed after he made corruption allegations against Ahmad last year in a document sent to FIFA.

The document, sent on March 31 2019 by Fahmy to a FIFA investigations committee and seen by Reuters, accused Ahmad of ordering his secretary-general to pay $20,000 bribes into accounts of African football association presidents. They included Cape Verde and Tanzania.

The document also accused Ahmad of costing CAF an extra $830,000 by ordering equipment via a French intermediary company called Tactical Steel. The company denied any wrongdoing and said it had won the contract on merit.

Furthermore, it accused him of harassing four female CAF staff, whom it did not name; violating statutes to increase Moroccan representation within the organization; and over-spending more than $400,000 of CAF money on cars in Egypt and Madagascar, where a satellite office has been set up for him.

Senior CAF officials, speaking on condition of anonymity at the time of his dismissal, said Fahmy was fired in reprisal for compiling the document with the allegations against Ahmad. — Reuters

Lakers sign Harrell

One of the biggest surprises in free agency was the decision of reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell to jump to the Lakers. Not that the move made no sense. In fact, there are no downsides to claiming a crucial spot on the rotation of the defending champions — and especially when doing so makes them even more favored to retain their collective status as the best of the best. Nonetheless, the development raised eyebrows, and not just because he’s fresh off a personally productive campaign with their intra-town rivals.

Not coincidentally, the Clippers were among those taken aback by the turn of events, with longtime teammate and friend Patrick Beverley exemplifying the shock by incredulously tweeting “what” in reaction. For Harrell, however, it was a matter of being wanted. His contributions and ensuing formal recognition from the National Basketball Association notwithstanding, he found his position untenable given lingering ill will following a less-than-stellar playoff stint. Speculation pointed to his rift with All-Star Kawhi Leonard, and while he made no mention of it in his virtual presser yesterday, he said enough to convey his sentiments.

For the record, Harrell was asked if the Clippers angled to retain him while he explored his options. The answer “goes without saying,” he noted. “Apparently not if I’m on the other side. So it is what it is, really.” And so he will be burning rubber for the Lakers in the foreseeable future, pledging to give his all every time out in furtherance of his “business decision… When I was playing for the Clippers, I gave it everything I had every night when I laced up my sneakers. And now that I’m here with the Los Angeles Lakers, that’s the same thing I’m going to do.”

No doubt, Harrell’s thought process was facilitated by his association with Klutch Sports, which counts among its clients Lakers top dogs LeBron James and Anthony Davis and vital cogs Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Markieff Morris. That said, he contended that the choice was his. “I talked to my family and, you know, it’s where we decided I wanted to go. Simple as that.” In any case, it’s clear that he has moved on, and that he figures to be a boon for the purple and gold — and, therefore, a bane for the Clippers — moving forward. “I’m just trying to do anything I can to help them get back” the top of the league. Enough said.

 

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.

Japan’s ramen bars struggle to stay open as COVID hammers small firms

TOKYO — Sixty-year-old Yashiro Haga is folding his Tokyo noodle ramen shop after 15 years in December, unable to overcome the prospect of a lasting customer slump due to the coronavirus crisis.

“The flow of people has changed due to the coronavirus,” Haga said, standing behind the counter of his ground-floor shop, Shirohachi. “Customers aren’t coming in and queuing up outside shops any longer.”

The pandemic is damaging Japan’s “mom-and-pop” restaurants—including noodle shops like Haga’s—at a growing rate, despite evidence the government’s massive effort to stave off bankruptcies is working in other sectors of the economy.

Hurt by deflationary pressures and growing competition in the run-up to the now-delayed Tokyo Olympics, noodle bars are particularly prone to the economic malaise the pandemic triggered in the service sector.

Small and mid-sized businesses like Haga’s noodle bar employ about 70% of Japan’s workers and account for 99.7% of the total number of enterprises, according to government data, leading some to worry that a COVID-19 resurgence could trigger an increasing number of layoffs among small firms.

While overall bankruptcies among firms with at least 10 million yen ($96,228) in liabilities in the six months to October fell 5.2% from a year earlier, those among restaurants rose 4.5%, data from private credit company Teikoku Databank showed.

Bankruptcies among restaurants with less than 10 million yen in liabilities were up by 137% for the same period, Tokyo Shoko Research, a firm that monitors similar data, said, while the total for the service sector, including restaurants, rose 64.4%.

But industry insiders expect that is just the tip of the iceberg, as local shops often close up with no official filing.

“Many ramen shops won’t appear in any figures when they’re closing down because they’re small, privately owned businesses,” said Haga, who has gone without salary since April.

Hiroaki Nakazawa, a 42-year-old pharmacist who has frequented Shirohachi for about a decade, said he felt sad about its closure. “There’s only one place like this.”

At least seven other noodle stalls in the central Tokyo area popular with tourists where Haga has his table-less shop, which seats nine people at the counter, have already closed since March this year.

Nationwide, 34 ramen businesses with at least 10 million yen in liabilities went bankrupt during the first nine months of 2020, also a record high for the period, Teikoku Databank said.

LACK OF FUNDS

Another reason why experts say statistics underestimate the true impact of the pandemic on ramen shops is that winding down is expensive due to requirements from landlords to leave the stores stripped down after a six-month notice period.

“There are many firms with a lack of cash flow,” said Manabu Shintani, chief executive officer of Actpro Co., a property intermediation services provider.

Among noodle shops, the first to fold this year were those whose businesses were already on knife-edge before COVID-19, often run by elderly owners, said Takeshi Yamamoto, an independent ramen critic who tracks shop closures.

Those were followed by a wave of noodle chains closing outlets, and now some places with younger owners are shutting down, said Yamamoto, who has eaten at more than 10,000 noodle shops.

He estimated that the real number of ramen shops shutting down nationwide was about 290 in October and November alone.

The spate of closures has helped some. Actpro’s platform for matching businesses looking to shut down with firms hoping to move into the location being vacated has been a hit.

Once a match is made, a restaurant owner and the incoming owner negotiate with the landlord, cutting costs.

The company has seen the matchings quadruple to about 70 to 80 a month after the crisis started taking its toll, Shintani said.

Shirohachi’s Haga used about $29,000 in government subsidies to get through until his closure.

He tried offering his noodles through takeout but was unable to make up for the income he lost after office workers’ visits fell due to work-from-home restrictions.

“Even among the most popular places, sales from takeout aren’t exceeding” the sales drop from the crisis, ramen critic Yamamoto said. — Daniel Leussink/Reuters

Big changes in the global insurance market: will they affect you?

You’ll probably be aware of the terms “bull market” and “bear market” in terms of stocks and shares. But did you know that the insurance world has cycles too? It is useful to know because market changes cause a knock-on effect on insurance policies worldwide.

In investing, a bull market is characterised by strong investor confidence: capital flooding into the equity markets, and rising share prices. Conversely, a bear market sees a flight of capital out of the stock exchange to lower-risk investment classes e.g. gold. The demand to buy shares falls. So do share prices, until they dip so low that they’re undervalued. Then investment capital returns and prices begin to rise again.

While not a like-for-like comparison, the insurance world is subject to market forces, too. 

Hard market? Soft Market? What does it mean for me? 

An insurance market cycle consists of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ markets. 

In a soft market, insurance companies are awash with investment capital. This means there is a huge supply of insurance (capacity) available and to win clients, premium prices are low. In a soft market, insurance is freely available to anyone who wants to buy it.  Terms are broad and comprehensive. 

In short, a soft market is a buyer’s market. 

When the market gradually ‘hardens’ towards a hard market, underwriting conditions tighten. In other words, sellers become choosier about who they will sell to and on what terms. As supply contracts, prices begin to rise. 

What market cycle are we in now? Causes of changes in market conditions

Traditional wisdom says there will be a hard market for one year in every seven. More recently, we’ve seen a lengthy soft market, running for well over 10 years. But for the last 18 months or so, many insurers have been running at a negative operating ratio. That is, the amount of premium and investment income they receive is less than the value of claims paid out plus expenses.

In 2020, as well as billions of USD worth of COVID claims, there have been an unusually large amount of major weather events and natural catastrophes, not only in the Philippines, but all over the world. This has resulted in pay-outs of many billions more. 

To further understand the underlying market forces of insurance, let’s look at how insurers share and offset the risk of such huge claims. 

Please put yourself in the perspective of the insurer for a moment. If a client wanted coverage for a fleet of ships, that’s a liability that you may not want on stuck on your balance sheet. Overnight, you could be on the hook for several billion dollars. It could bankrupt your business. 

So how do insurers mitigate such losses? 

They “re-insure” them. This means paying their peers a premium to take on part of the risk. And oftentimes, peers enact their own risk management. To protect their own balance sheet, they go ahead and re-insure the re-insurance, on what is called the retrocessional insurance market. 

Still with us?

Essentially, when insurance companies take on a risk, they seek to offset it. This sets off a chain of risk sharing throughout the interconnected global insurance markets. It’s similar to general insurance: an agreement under what terms each re-insurance policy will pay out on, an assessment of what the chances of a claim are, and the premium priced accordingly. 

At the time of writing, there is a definite tightening of capacity in the retrocessional markets, with reinsurance premiums rising for any insurer wanting to offset risk in this way. 

In more prosperous times, any increased costs of doing business would be outweighed by investment earnings. Insurers are after all, prolific institutional investors. But since the global financial crisis, insurers have been required by rating agencies and regulators to invest ever more conservatively, and even before COVID, yields on ‘safe’ investments had fallen drastically, in some cases, into negative territory. This situation has only deteriorated with COVID.

Are we in a hard market now?

No underwriter likes to use the phrase hard market (just as Harry Potter would rather not say Voldemort). 

But prices are rising, underwriting is tightening and risk appetites within insurers are changing. 

To meet the opportunity of rising prices, there have been record levels of capital raising by insurers, with £29bn’ of new financing so far in 2020. More than usual, insurers are now taking more risk with more of their own money. This is another factor in the tightening of underwriting. 

These are the current market conditions that all brokers and agents are working in. 

So what can I do? 

In a word, tailoring. 

We mentioned that a soft market included very broad conditions. This can often be the result of extra clauses and bolt-ons to add value. 

At your next renewal, you may be offered a policy that doesn’t cover things it used to. At the same time, you may also be asked to pay more. But, just as insurance prices have been impacted by the pandemic and other macro-economic factors, so have the business models and practices of most other industries.

As you adapt to these changes, it might be a good idea to revisit the information that you had provided for renewal quote to evaluate whether it truly represents your business as it is today. By really digging into the information submitted to insurers and thoroughly analysing the underwriting methodology behind the quotes, various improvements can be made in acceptance, pricing and coverage. 

A specialist broker can help you present your business in the best possible light and this can make a big difference.

Howden Broking Group

In just 25 years  Howden has grown from three friends and a dog in the UK, to one of the largest brokers on the world stage. We’re trusted all over the world, advising on more than 7bn USD of premium globally. 

In 2020, Howden has won three of the most coveted awards an insurance broker can win; Insurance Insider Broker of the Year, Insurance Asia News P&C Broker of the Year, and the Advisen Cyber Broker of the Year. 

In the hardening market and the new normal, you may find your existing insurance relationships not delivering the value they used to anymore. We’d be happy to help you and explore whether there is a better way.

 

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s new sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by enabling them to publish their stories directly on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

 

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