Unilab donations for COVID response already at P665 million and counting
Unilab Inc. has quietly released some P665 million worth of donations to its partner-institutions, with the amount seen to surge to a billion pesos in the next few weeks as the Campos Hess-led Filipino pharmaceutical firm commits to continue sharing its resources for the country’s COVID-19 response.
In its recent Facebook advisory for its stakeholders, Unilab updated its employees and partners on the company’s COVID-19 initiatives, anchored on its core corporate values of Husay (Excellence in execution) and Malasakit (Compassion).
Its Facebook post showed that the country’s leading pharmaceutical and healthcare company already delivered to its partners P317 million worth of essential medicines and vitamins; personal protective equipment (PPE) sets which consist of coveralls, isolation gowns, face shields, N95 and surgical masks, gloves and shoe covers worth P192 million; alcohol, hygiene and basic protective kits worth P45 million; support for COVID-19 test kit development worth P50 million; and P11 million worth of ventilators.
It also supported the fundraising drives of civil society groups for the underprivileged communities with donations worth P50 million.
Netizens cited Unilab for working with government agencies, local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations and the private sector even without getting media attention, in keeping with the company’s low-key policy for its philanthropic works as espoused by its founders.
It also demonstrated its excellence in execution by closely coordinating with the Department of Health and the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in identifying the types of critical support required by priority recipients, especially the frontliners and vulnerable sectors. Currently, more than 400 hospitals nationwide have already received support from the company.
By partnering with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) and other government and private organizations, Unilab is also working on the possibility of significant increase in the country’s capacity to do testing, which is an important component of the drive to contain the spread of COVID-19.
COVID-19 Cases in ASEAN
As of April 16, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries recorded a total of 22,869 confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, with 975 deaths, and 6,151 recoveries.
Shipping time bomb ticks as thousands of Filipino sailors get stuck
By Genshen L. Espedido
VENCITO U. OPEN, 31, is one of about 50 Filipino seamen who have been stranded in a cramped dormitory in San Andres — Manila’s second-most densely populated district — jobless and about to become penniless after his flight to Saudi Arabia was canceled when the government locked down the main Philippine island of Luzon to contain a novel coronavirus pandemic.
The building owner had threatened to close the two-story dorm after many of them missed their daily rent of P80 and for fear that the virus could spread among the transients, the messman from Cagayan de Oro province said.
“We badly need electric fans because it’s hot and humid inside,” Mr. Open, who shares a room with five other seafarers, said by telephone. “The water pressure is low and life gets harder each day. Village officials asked for our names, but we have yet to receive any help.”
The Philippines is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of sailors on international ships, and apart from the jobless seamen stuck at home, thousands more have been stranded on cargo and cruise ships amid global travel curbs.
Industry groups have been lobbying to lift travel restrictions on seafarers to defuse a shipping sector time bomb.
The pandemic that has sickened two million and killed more than 130,000 people worldwide is expected to hit the global shipping industry, said George N. Manzano, dean of the University of Asia and the Pacific’s School of Economics.
“This would put a drag on the employment of seafarers,” he said in an e-mailed reply to questions. “Filipinos make up a significant portion of the global seafaring community, and many of them have started to feel the impact of the health crisis.”
Of the $30.1-billion cash remittances sent home by Filipino workers overseas last year, 22% or $6.5 billion came from seamen, who make up a quarter of the Philippines’ more than two million workers abroad, according to data from the central bank.
MODERN HEROES
Personal remittances — whether in cash or in kind and capital transfers between households — hit a record $33.5 billion last year, a 3.9% increase from a year earlier and accounting for almost a tenth of the Philippine economy, data showed.
The data only counted money sent home by the country’s modern heroes through official channels such as banks and remittance centers.
“Remittances provide a steady stream of foreign exchange to help offset the widening trade gap and limit the current account deficit,” Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa, a senior economist at ING Bank N.V.-Manila, said in a note.
“Together with business process outsourcing receipts, overseas Filipino remittance flows augment domestic wages, translating into potent purchasing power to fund household consumption, and even capital formation,” he added.
But the coronavirus pandemic poses a risk to remittances this year, as travel restrictions and the closure of some companies mean fewer Filipino workers being deployed overseas.
“The outbreak also forces people to go into quarantine or affects consumption patterns which could have an adverse impact on the service industry, where most overseas Filipinos are employed,” Mr. Mapa said.
“The recent plight of cruise ships around the world will likely put pressure on cruise liners and the hospitality industry as a whole, making it difficult for Filipinos to send home remittances should their salaries be curtailed or they lose their jobs altogether,” he added.
The government has repatriated more than 14,000 Filipino workers during the health crisis, mostly seafarers displaced by the pandemic, according to the Foreign Affairs department.
Overseas Filipinos’ failure to send money home to their families “may have adverse effects on the Philippine economy in the short and medium terms,” De La Salle University (DLSU) Economist Tereso S. Tullao, Jr. said.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles earlier said the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) would probably shave 0.8 percentage point off the growth in personal remittances this year, with the total amount expected at $34.2 billion.
Cedric V. Caguioa, a marine operations superintendent at Maersk Tankers, cited “massive disruptions” in the shipping industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We could no longer berth and do cargo operations or what used to be routine husbandry — crew changes, supplies and provisions — at some ports that are now considered a no go,” he said in an e-mail.
“It led to a freeze in the businesses of some shipping lines, while also affecting port employees who are now out of work due to the halt in port operations,” he added.
Mr. Caguioa said crew morale is “very low,” many of them in constant fear of getting infected with the coronavirus for which there is still no vaccine.
“There are very limited ports that accept crew changes and, more importantly, seafarers are affected by the thought that they are not with their families in these trying times,” he said.
WAITING GAME
The spread of the coronavirus has resulted in many countries closing their borders and restricting port entry, Guy Platten, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping, said in a statement on the group’s website.
“Limitations on crew change (the replacement of one of the ship’s crew members with another one) have the potential to cause serious disruptions to the flow of trade,” he added, noting that about 90% of goods that people use are transported by sea.
DLSU’s Mr. Tullao said the global recession could be extended if the travel restrictions on seafarers continue.
“Countries recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic may find it difficult to import or export goods because the manpower for maritime services is restricted,” he said. “This will further lengthen the global recession.”
The container throughput index fell by 10.9 points to 102.5 in February from 113.4 in January, according to the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute for Shipping Economics and Logistics.
The index, which is an indicator of global economic activity, includes information on container throughput in 89 international ports, which account for about 60% of global container throughput.
“The halt of industrial production due to the COVID-19 pandemia and the related drop of imports and exports is likely to show its full effect in March only,” the institute said on its website.
Back home, the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) said about a third of shipping operations had been affected by the Luzon-wide lockdown.
Mr. Open, the messman from Cagayan de Oro, said he couldn’t do anything but wait for his job agency to reopen once the lockdown is lifted.
“Most of us have signed our contracts. We’ve lost communication with our employment agencies in Manila because they’ve been closed,” he said in Filipino. “All we can do now is play the waiting game.”
Extending lockdown beyond April could be ‘difficult’ — Pernia
By Beatrice M. Laforga and Jenina P. Ibañez
Reporters
EXTENDING the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) beyond April 30 would be “difficult,” according to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, who is backing a gradual lifting of the Luzon-wide lockdown which would allow malls and public transportation to resume partial operations.
“I guess there will be some lockdown and probably it will be more localized, not like now which is the whole of Luzon, and some loosening up in some areas, that have low risk of COVID-19 contagion will be opened up, will be unquarantined,” Mr. Pernia told BusinessWorld Wednesday when asked for his recommendations after the ECQ ends on April 30.
However, Mr. Pernia said in a radio interview with DZMM it would be hard to extend the Luzon-wide lockdown, as many business groups have been calling for a “partial reopening” with safety measures in place.
Shopping malls, he said, could be allowed to resume operations at 50% capacity or implement a “calibrated opening” if measures such as physical distancing will be strictly observed.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief noted more businesses that address “other needs of people like haircuts, laundry, housecleaning” may be allowed to open.
Mr. Pernia also said restrictions on public transportation can also be eased provided that commuters will observe proper distancing measures.
However, he acknowledged that this may not be possible in congested Metro Manila, so companies that are allowed to resume operations should provide shuttle services for employees.
“Physical distancing can be better achieved [if the] big companies that have workers ay may mga shuttle buses silang sarili para mabawasan ’yung (have shuttle busses of their own to lessen) public commuting… So that the more general public can take public transportation with physical distancing,” Mr. Pernia said.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) on Sunday recommended the inclusion of the public transport sector in the list of “essential industries” allowed to operate in the event of a partial lifting of the ECQ.
“Premised on the (future) decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to partially lift the Luzon ECQ, PCCI recommends the partial lifting of the public transport sector in support of the slow but steady journey towards economic normalcy while strictly enforcing social distancing policy,” it said.
Mr. Pernia also thumbed down suggestions that the severely battered tourism industry resume operations, saying it “can be done later” as it is still “risky” to allow people to travel.
While infrastructure works for some projects have already been exempted from quarantine protocols, Mr. Pernia said the government wants to resume the “Build, Build, Build” program soon.
“All these things have to be accompanied by rapid testing,” he said.
As of Thursday, the Health department reported COVID-19 deaths reached 362, while infections have increased to 5,660. Total recoveries stood at 435.
Mr. Pernia warned that a second wave of infections may happen if safety measures are not observed after the lockdown is lifted.
“This has happened already in China, in Wuhan because when they lifted the lockdown there were some relapses. Even Singapore also is suffering some relapse and [South] Korea, so we have to be careful in opening, lifting the quarantine in some areas, to be very careful in having precautions to avoid a relapse,” he said.
For Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, any recommendation for the gradual resumption of economic activities “should include a clear analysis of the tradeoffs involved.”
IMPROVED TESTING NEEDED
Meanwhile, business groups reiterated the need for improved testing for COVID-19 and targeted quarantine measures if the lockdown is gradually lifted.
“Many (businesses) are looking for much more testing and strengthening of public health infrastructure,” Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce of the Philippines (JFC) Senior Adviser John Forbes said in a mobile message.
He said companies are also seeking easier movement of cargoes and essential workers, continued quarantine where needed, and the gradual return of public transport and infrastructure construction projects under health protocols.
Mr. Forbes also recommended the successful implementation of support programs for small and medium-sized enterprises, and continued work from home measures with better commerce. He said mass gatherings should still be banned.
Semiconductors and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI) President Danilo C. Lachica in a mobile message said companies that can demonstrate safe practices should be allowed to increase the level of operations.
Philexport President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said in a phone interview that there should be improved mass testing and isolation measures in quarantine centers.
He said the distribution of cash aid should be simplified, adding that infrastructure projects as well as some malls and restaurant operations should be allowed.
“Test and isolate. That’s the name of the game. And let the rest of the economy and the rest of the people do their own thing, to work,” Mr. Ortiz-Luis said in Filipino. “Those who can work, let them come to work.”
Relaxed power supply contracts ‘disastrous’ to plant operations
By Adam J. Ang
POWER producers said they cannot relax their supply contracts with distribution utilities (DU) and electric cooperatives (EC) to lower generation costs as this move would disrupt the energy supply chain.
Their stand is a response to the appeal by a consumer group that called on them to cut generation costs being passed on to consumers as demand for electricity during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) continues to drop.
Philippine Independent Power Producers Association Inc. (PIPPA) on Thursday said that relieving their contracts would affect their ability to pay for fuel, operating costs, as well as loans, making it difficult for them to continue their operations.
“Mandating generation companies to FM (force majeure) claims by DUs/ECs not only disrupts the power supply chain, [but] it is also tantamount to one sector taking advantage of the other,” PIPPA President and Executive Director Anne E. Montelibano said.
In late March, Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) demanded power producers to declare a force majeure claim on their power supply agreements (PSA) to reduce the costs of electricity that they pass on to consumers whose livelihoods are affected by measures to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“[I]t is a difficult situation nowadays for the Filipino consumer, especially when it comes to making money since most people are not able to work any longer. Because of this, our group is calling on the owners of the power plants to find a way to lower the power generation costs that they will be passing on to consumers,” LKI President Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba said in a letter to PIPPA.
But Ms. Montelibano warned that bringing down costs upon invoking a force majeure provision on their contracts would have “disastrous consequences if it remains unchecked.”
“It will be each industry player acting solely on the basis of its own commercial interests,” she added.
A force majeure event is an uncontrollable event that makes it impossible for power plant operators to fulfill their obligations. The falling demand for electricity due to the COVID-19 crisis can be treated as such an event, Laban Konsyumer claimed.
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recently declared a force majeure provision on its supply contracts, which effectively cut its generation costs.
However, despite a lowered generation charge of P4.6385 per kilowatt-hour (kWH) from P4.6632 per kWh in March, this did not help its overall electricity rate in April to go down.
Typical Metro Manila households consuming 200 kWh could see a P21 rate hike on their bills this month as rates rose by P0.1050/kWh to P8.9951/kWh from March’s P8.8901/kWh.
“The generation charge actually registered a downward adjustment however the normalization of the universal charges following an ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission)-mandated refund last month caused a slight overall uptick in rates,” Meralco Spokesperson Joe R. Zaldarriaga told BusinessWorld.
Asked about their position to the appeal to reduce electricity rates, he said that Meralco has “always kept in mind consumer welfare in our sourcing strategy.”
PIPPA also called on the government to protect the energy supply chain from any possible disruption that could negatively affect the delivery of essential services, such as medical and government operations, during the ECQ.
It said that power must be treated as an essential service and commodity, especially during this time of a state of public health emergency.
“[A]ssistance meant for vulnerable power consumers must form part of similar assistance given to vulnerable communities for food, water, and other basic supplies,” Ms. Montelibano said.
The field offices of the Department of Energy earlier reported reduced electricity demands of up to 30% in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids, as businesses temporarily shuttered due to the ECQ.
“As PIPPA strives to ensure electricity supply, it is aware of its critical role in supporting the return of the economy and people’s livelihood to health. Thus, it will actively engage stakeholders in keeping the power industry resilient,” the group of power generation firms said in a separate statement.
“We call on all stakeholders and parties of the energy industry to unite and work together towards an equitable solution that will be not only responsive to the present situation, but more importantly, sustainable to the industry as a whole,” it added.
RUNNING ON REDUCED CAPACITY
Asked about its operations, Lopez-led First Gen Corp. said its power plants are currently running at a reduced capacity as it manages its production to avoid creating excess power supply.
“Our plants are running normally although at reduced capacity,” First Gen Vice-President Ramon A. Carandang said.
Meanwhile, Aboitiz Power Corp. said its power demand remained above the minimum demand it can cater to while it observed the must-offer rule in selling their power plant’s maximum generating capacities in the spot market.
“We are offering all of the capacity that’s available in compliance with the must offer rule. If the demand is less than the supply and we don’t get dispatched, we have to ramp down and operate our facilities at a level directed by WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market),” AboitizPower President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio said.
“But so far, the level of our demand for our bilateral contracts and our contestable customers is above our Pmin (plant minimum stable load) requirements,” he added.
The Aboitiz energy unit also built a facility quarantine for its on-site operations and maintenance teams.