SMC’s Chua sees player trades to happen after draft

January 4, 2021 | 6:33 pm

WHILE the Philippine Basketball Association is set to lift the moratorium on trading players this month, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) sports director Alfrancis Chua expects bulk of movements happening after the rookie draft.

Speaking on The Chasedown television program on Saturday, Mr. Chua, also the concurrent Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings top official, shared that while he has heard of some teams angling to make moves early, nothing definite has come out of them yet and sees deals being consummated after the draft set for March 14.

“Right now, there is not much movement. I think everybody is waiting for the draft. That is when trades are really made because the teams already have draft picks and have a better view of what they have,” Mr. Chua said in Filipino.

Adding, “And they base their moves from there. They send a player to another team in exchange for another player to address what they need. Right now, there is not much movement. Although I have heard some teams are trying to make moves, but nothing definite yet.”

The PBA suspended player trades last year because of the situation with the pandemic, which greatly disrupted the league’s 45^th season.

It was to allow teams to have more time to evaluate their moves carefully.

The only deals allowed last year were extension of player contracts until Dec. 31 and acquisition of players in free agency.

Mr. Chua, also a former PBA coach, did not say whether they at SMC are looking to trade for players or eyeing certain athletes to get.

He, however, shared that every move they make goes through a process.

“I talk to the coaches and discuss what they need and then I consult RSA (SMC President/CEO Ramon S. Ang) about it. It’s hard to trade players, especially here in SMC because players don’t want to be traded, so we make sure that the deals we make will be beneficial for all,” Mr. Chua said.

The ongoing offseason is expected to be a busy one for the PBA with a deep talent pool available in the rookie draft and the number of quality players seen to be made available for trade.

Terrafirma Dyip star CJ Perez and Northport Batang Pier’s Christian Standhardinger are among the often mentioned to be on the move while players like Joshua Munzon, Jason Brickman, Alvin Pasaol, Santi Santillan, and those coming from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League bannering this year’s rookie draft.

Deadline for the application for the draft is set for Jan. 27.

Terrafirma holds the right to pick first in the draft, followed by Northport, NLEX Road Warriors (third and fourth), Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, and Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok.

The rest of the draft order for the first round has Alaska, San Miguel Beermen, Meralco Bolts, Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters, Northport and Barangay Ginebra picking. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao behind possible Pacquiao-McGregor boxing fight

January 4, 2021 | 6:33 pm

WHILE it is still to be made official, a Manny Pacquiao-Conor McGregor super boxing fight could be one of the marquee sporting events for the year 2021.

And count Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao as one of those who would not miss catching it.

Negotiated to happen this year, the Pacquiao-McGregor bout will see superstars in boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) collide anew.

It if happens, it will mark the first time boxing legend Pacquiao (62-7-2) is taking the ring in one and half years. He last fought American Keith Thurman and won by split decision to wrest the World Boxing Association welterweight belt.

Mr. McGregor, who is a two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship champion, for his part, tested his boxing skills versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017 and lost by technical knockout in the 10^th round.

But given the kind of athletes Messrs. Pacquiao and McGregor are, the billing has the makings of a must-see event, said Mr. Sangiao.

“It is a good strategy for Pacquiao because everybody is craving to watch him fight again,” said Mr. Sangiao, whose Team Lakay boasts of MMA champions, including current ONE Championship strawweight champ Joshua “The Passion” Pacio and Brave CF bantamweight titleholder Stephen “The Sniper” Loman, in a release.

“On McGregor, he really knows how to sell his fights, too. It’s going to be a blockbuster fight for sure,” he added.

The Pacquiao-McGregor fight has been floated around for some time now, but gained traction late last year.

Both fighters are signed with Paradigm Sports Management of Audie Attar. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Curry hits career-high 62 as Warriors blast Blazers

January 4, 2021 | 6:32 pm

STEPHEN Curry exploded for 21 of his career-high 62 points in the first quarter Sunday night, helping the Golden State Warriors take a lead they never relinquished in a 137-122 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in San Francisco.

The game was a rematch of a 123-98 Trail Blazers win on Friday night in a game also played at the 2-year-old Chase Center in San Francisco.

Curry topped his previous high of 54 with two free throws with 2:23 to play.

He wasn’t done. With the Warriors comfortably ahead, Curry bombed in consecutive 27-footers, the second of which came with 42.2 seconds left to cap his 62-point night.

The 50-point night was the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) first of the season, while the 60-pointer was the first for a Warrior since Klay Thompson had 60 in 2016.

The last Warrior to record more than 62 points in a game was Rick Barry with 64 in 1974.

Curry’s record-setting night came in the same game in which his streak of consecutive free throws made, which dated back to last season, ended at 80.

Damian Lillard was on hand for the performance, leading Portland with 32 points.

Seeking their first win of the season, the Warriors trailed 9-2 before Curry hit three shots, including a 3-pointer, in a 17-3 flurry that gave Golden State the lead for good.

Curry had 31 points by halftime and 45 by the end of the third period, during which the Warriors led by as many as 20.

The Trail Blazers, who were wrapping up a California swing in search of a third win in four games, didn’t go quietly. They closed within eight on two occasions in the fourth quarter, the last time on two free throws by Enes Kanter with still 2:53 to play.

But Andrew Wiggins hit a 3-pointer 17 seconds later, ending any suspense other than Curry’s final point total.

Curry finished 18-for-31 from the field overall and 8-for-16 on 3-pointers. He also shot 18-for-19 at the foul line.

Wiggins added 21 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 17, James Wiseman gained 12, and Eric Paschall did 10 for the Warriors, who shot 55.7%.

CJ McCollum (28) and Kanter (24) backed Lillard for Portland, which shot 41.8 percent. Anthony chipped in with 10 points.

Kanter was the game’s leading rebounder with 12. The Warriors’ Wiseman also recorded a double-double with a team-high 11 rebounds. — Reuters

New tax relief for small businesses

January 4, 2021 | 5:59 pm

On May 2, 2020, I published an open letter to all legislators and sent a copy to both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Basically, the message is urging our legislators to end injustice by legislating tax policy reforms to help all businesses adjust to the new normal.

It underscored the fact that 99.52% of businesses in the country are micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which employ 63.19% of total workforce. While we laud the government’s efforts to help MSMEs, here’s a list of proposed tax relief measures which can help address cash flow or liquidity issues of a lot of small businesses while encouraging the large taxpayers pay taxes with lower rates:

1. Implement a general tax amnesty to broaden the tax base and collect without the need for an audit;

2. Lower the corporate income tax from 30% to 20%;

3. Implement a tax holiday from business taxes which will eventually transition to a flat tax for self-employed and professionals (SEPs);

4. Provide wage or payroll subsidy which will benefit both employers and employees especially those who incurred significant losses and debts due to the pandemic;

5. No audit program (proposed to the Bureau of Internal Revenue).

GENERAL TAX AMNESTY
Still pending in Congress is the general tax amnesty which was initially vetoed by the President due to the absence of the provision lifting the bank secrecy law on tax fraud cases. The same provision remains its major hurdle as legislators may not be keen in lifting the bank secrecy as it may backfire on them when they get audited in the future. Although the tax amnesty on delinquency has been extended until June 20, 2021, a general tax amnesty will help collect more taxes from taxpayers without the audit and investigation.

INCOME TAX CUT
After reading the 170-page Senate Bill No. 1357 or Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprise Act (CREATE), it felt like our legislators listened and considered our proposals seriously with the lowering of corporate income tax from 30% to 25% effective July 1, 2020 and just 20% for those with P5 million net taxable income (with total assets less than P100 million excluding land). This is indeed a welcome development and a good Christmas gift to all our small businesses.

However, I hope with the approval of the CREATE bill, the oversight committee of both Houses will revisit the TRAIN law to align the tax relief extended to individuals owing to the fact that small businesses are mostly self-employed or sole proprietors registered with the Department of Trade and Industry and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as individual taxpayers. The Barangay Micro Business Enterprise law may also need to be reviewed to address possible tax leaks by using annual gross revenues or net taxable income as the basis instead of total assets to rationalize income tax exemption.

TAX HOLIDAY
The self-employed and professionals may not be getting any tax holidays but proprietary educational institutions and hospitals which are non-profit will get the biggest tax break from 10% to 1% in income tax beginning July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2023, provided their gross income from unrelated trade, business or other activity does not exceed 50% of their total gross income.

PAYROLL SUBSIDY
Whether you earned a small profit or incurred losses this year, the 13^th month pay is a mandatory benefit of all employees due on or before Dec. 24. Definitely, it should not be deferred despite the financial position of the company as most employees rely on it to celebrate Christmas with their families. The question is, where will the money come from if employers don’t have the available cash to release the 13^th month pay? That’s why a payroll subsidy is needed either in the form of a tax-free loan or a partial subsidy to help small businesses release it without delay.

NO AUDIT PROGRAM
The BIR has issued Revenue Regulation 21-2020 on the implementation of a Voluntary Assessment and Payment Program (VAPP) for the taxable year 2018. This is very similar to our proposed “No Audit Program” as the VAPP allows taxpayers to voluntarily pay their unpaid taxes so they will no longer be subject to an audit for the taxable year 2018. The deadline to avail of this has been extended until June 30, 2021. Clarifications were also made in RMC 111-2020.

But the greatest tax relief was initiated by the BIR. It is the ongoing digital transformation of the tax administration which resulted in 86% tax payments made through online platforms, i.e., P1.241 trillion of P1.45 trillion between January and September, tax returns filed online hit 16.45 million or 94% of the total in the nine months. Some of the projects or programs introduced or completed during the quarantine period:

1. Internal Revenue Integrated System in April;

2. Electronic Audited Financial System in June;

3. E-appointment facility in October;

4. Online Application for Tax Clearance for Bidding Purposes in November;

And on Dec. 21, 2020, an online program called BIR IN ACTION Live was launched to highlight the programs, accomplishments, new policies, and regulations of the BIR, and to answer tax questions from netizens or taxpayers who can watch it via the Facebook Page of the Bureau of Internal Revenue Philippines every Monday at 3 p.m. The show was simulcast live on FYE Channel via Kumu and TaxWhizPH YouTube Channel.

You may also download TaxWhizPH mobile app for free to ask tax questions and use a tax calculator to help you pay your taxes correctly and on time. Visit www.taxwhiz.ph for more information and www.acg.ph for tax assistance so you can stay out of trouble with the BIR.

This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or the MAP.

Raymond A. Abrea is a member of the MAP Ease of Doing Business Committee, co-Chair of the Paying Taxes – EODB Task Force, Chair and Senior Tax Advisor of the Asian Consulting Group (ACG), the founder of the TaxWhizPH mobile app and the Center for Strategic Reforms of the Philippines (CSR Philippines), which is the advocacy partner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Trade and Industry, and Anti-Red Tape Authority on ease of doing business.

mon@acg.ph

map@map.org.ph

http://map.org.ph

Damage control wreaks more damage

January 4, 2021 | 5:58 pm

In a public address the other Saturday, President Rodrigo Duterte said, “Almost all soldiers have been inoculated. I have to be frank and I have to tell the truth. I will not foist a lie. The reason why is that they have to be in good health all the time because they are responsible for the law and order of this country.”

When asked in a radio interview where the decision to vaccinate military men against COVID-19 came from, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Commanding General of the Philippine Army, said, “Our President is our commander-in-chief. I should say it’s from the chain of command of the Armed Forces,” indicating it was authorized by the President himself.

That revelation by the President himself belied the sincerity of his avowed concern for frontline health workers, the poor, and the elderly and manifested once again his cavalier attitude towards the law and protocols.

National Task Force Chief Implementor Carlito Galvez had said that health officials were considering giving priority to frontline health workers in public and private health facilities, followed by the indigent, then the elderly when it came to getting the COVID-19 vaccines. The uniformed personnel are only No. 5 in the priority list.

Republic Act (RA) 9711 prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale, distribution, promotion, advertising or sponsorship of health products not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA Director-General Eric Domingo said on Dec. 28, 2020 that the President’s announcement caught him by surprise as no vaccine has been approved by the FDA for use in the country.

To handle the fallout caused by the President’s reckless announcement, his underlings went into a frenzy of damage control. However, their haste to disperse the deleterious effect of the President’s revelation wrought more damage.

To correct the impression that the President had gone against his word that he would give the health frontliners priority in the distribution of vaccines, and to free him from culpability of violating RA 9711, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said, “No public funds were used that is why there was no deviation from the priority we announced to the public. Our priority remains the same — the poor, the elderly, the frontliners both health and otherwise.”

When asked if there was any violation of the anti-graft law by the Presidential Security Group (PSG) when they accepted the donation of COVID-19 vaccines, Mr. Roque declared: “I am a lawyer. That’s not absolute. Tokens can be received, those without much value, especially during Christmastime. I’m not arguing, but that’s what’s in the law.” The law states that unsolicited gifts of small value offered or given as a mere ordinary token of gratitude or friendship are not covered.

The President said, “almost all soldiers have been inoculated” and “they are responsible for the law and order of this country.” So, the PSG personnel were not the only ones inoculated.

He also mentioned Sinopharm as the source of the vaccine. The chief of Sinopharm says the vaccine costs less than $145 for a regimen of two doses. Let us assume the President meant soldiers belonging to the PSG only. Let us assume further that what he meant by “almost all soldiers” is 90%. The estimated size of the PSG complement is 4,000 plus. Ninety percent is 3,600. Therefore the vaccine administered to 3,600 soldiers is worth at least P25 million.

That is no ordinary token. And it could not have been given in the spirit of Christmas as the donation was made in September last year.

A state-owned company donating vaccines worth that much to PSG personnel raises national security concerns, considering Philippines-China relations are uneasy, to put it mildly.

When a number of senators branded as blackmail President Duterte’s demand that the US give at least 20 million doses of vaccine if it did not want the Visiting Forces Agreement terminated, Mr. Roque said it was not blackmail. He argued, “We need vaccine. You have vaccine, give us. You need our territory for the Visiting Forces Agreement, okay we will give that but if you don’t give us vaccine then do your VFA in countries that you had given vaccine. Isn’t that only right?”

If foreign relations is done on the basis of quid pro quo as suggested by Mr. Roque’s argument regarding the VFA, then the PSG must have given China something in return for the vaccine worth P25 million. The use of the PSG’s camp in Malacañang Park as the center of China’s communication network in the Philippines perhaps?

But if “almost all the soldiers responsible for the law and order of this country” were beneficiaries of the Sinopharm vaccine, the Armed Forces of the Philippines must have given more. The use of the military camps as relay stations for China’s network in the country perhaps?

As regards the decision to vaccinate military personnel, Mr. Roque said, “It must have been the decision of the commanders and the soldiers.” That statement implies that military commanders can take action independent of their commander-in-chief and in violation of the laws of the land. Such a situation gives rise to military adventurism like those led by a renegade colonel in 1987 and 1989.

When asked if the vaccine administered to the PSG men was smuggled into the country, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana answered, “Yes, smuggled, because they were not authorized.” But he added, “It is justified … it will protect them so they will not be infected and at the same time they can protect the President.”

Imagine, the Defense secretary finding nothing wrong with soldiers assigned to guard the President dealing clandestinely with dubious characters such as smugglers. Can those soldiers be trusted to protect the President? Can Secretary Lorenzana be trusted with the defense of the country?

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, who is also vice-chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, said, “There’s no need for FDA approval for that. These vaccines have its (sic) EUA in that originating country. If somebody would like to try that for personal consumption, I don’t see any conflict on (sic) the law.”

If there is no need for FDA approval of vaccines or any health product that is for personal consumption, then the FDA should be dissolved as what that body regulates are all for personal consumption or use. RA 9711 defines “food” as any processed substance which is intended for human consumption and “drugs” as articles intended to affect the structure of any function of the human body.

The cultivation of cannabis or marijuana has been banned since 1972 by virtue of RA 6425, or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972. On the basis of Secretary Año’s reasoning, the cultivation of marijuana should be allowed if it is for the personal consumption of the grower.

In a text message to reporters, staunch Duterte ally Tito Sotto said, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong about that. There is no law that says you cannot take any medicine or vaccine that FDA has not approved. Last I recall, there is even no law vs. suicide. So what’s the fuss?”

Last I recall he made a big fuss about birth control pills. On Aug. 13, 2012, he told the Senate that birth-control pills taken by his wife Helen Gamboa in 1974 had led to the death of their son.

There was no law in 1974 that said a woman could not take birth control pills, whether approved or disapproved by the Bureau of Food and Drugs, forerunner of the FDA. If Ms. Gamboa became pregnant even after being on contraceptive pills, she must have been taking pills not approved of by the BFAD.

Just as there is no law against suicide, there was no law either against taking pills which could lead to the death of one’s child. So, Senate President Sotto, why the fuss, dramatized by unashamed weeping, in 2012?

But the most laughable attempt to clear the President of responsibility for the vaccination of soldiers with a vaccine not registered with the FDA and ahead of health frontliners was that of PSG Commander Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante. In an interview on Karen Davila’s Headstart, he intimated, “Actually, we were the ones who requested… for the vaccines. We acted independently without the knowledge of any other, especially the President.” He said he informed the President about the matter in October, after his men had been vaccinated. Strange that he felt obligated to inform the President of a matter he didn’t think required clearance from him.

He refused to name his source of the vaccines. “As I’ve always said, I cannot say publicly and openly about our source because it’s unfair to our source. It could be a person, a state, or a businessman, or anybody.” The source must be shady that is why he refuses to name it. He also said, “We soldiers vaccinated ourselves. It’s so easy. We are soldiers so we have to take risks to accomplish our mission.” But as experts in the US say, a person vaccinated can still be a transmitter of the virus. So, their vaccination does not necessarily protect the President…

That brings up Dr. Leo Olarte’s justification of the vaccination of the PSG men. DOBOL B sa News TV hosts Joel Reyes Zobel and Rowena Salvacion asked former Philippine Medical Association President Dr. Olarte when a doctor can administer medicine not approved by the FDA. Dr. Olarte who is also a lawyer, described three situations: 1. when the medicine the patient has been taking is not effective; 2. when there is no FDA-approved medicine available; 3. when the condition of the patient is terminal.

Asked subsequently if the inoculation of PSG men with vaccine not approved by the FDA falls under any of the circumstances mentioned. Dr. Olarte answered: “Yes, because it was to protect the President from the life-threatening virus.” That’s funny. The President’s condition was not terminal and the vaccine was administered to combat-ready soldiers.

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a retired corporate executive, business consultant, and management professor. He has been a politicized citizen since his college days in the late 1950s.

Bounce back, MSMEs!

January 4, 2021 | 5:57 pm

Small enterprises face major challenges in 2021. Studies done before the pandemic revealed that about 20% of small businesses fail by the end of their first year. By the end of the fifth year, 50% go under, and by the 10^th year, that number rises to 80%. With COVID-19, however, the attrition rate has accelerated substantially. In the Asia-Pacific region, nearly one-third of SMEs expect to lay off 50% or more of their workers just to survive.

Last year, the Philippines implemented one of the strictest lockdowns in the world which disrupted supply chains, introduced transport restrictions, reduced customer demand and affected the life blood of small business — cash flow. With dwindling working capital, rentals, wages, suppliers and creditors could not be serviced.

A survey by the Asia-Pacific MSME Trade Coalition in the first week of April 2020 revealed five major challenges that face small and medium enterprises. Foremost is the lack of operational cash flows as almost 50% of MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) surveyed had less than a month or just a month of cash reserves. The other concerns include low customer demand, business closure due to state lockdown policies, and reduced opportunities to meet new clients. Finally, with the restrictions due to social distancing, MSMEs need to change their business models just to survive. Other concerns are obtaining raw materials, providing logistics, and physically moving products.

Workers are also not able to return to their jobs.

The Asian Development Bank has listed policy instruments that many governments have employed to support small businesses and address the short-term liquidity crunch. Income taxes, property taxes, and other payments due to the government are allowed to be deferred. Governments increased the availability of credit to SMEs through direct lending by state-owned banks, reduced interest rates, expanded credit guarantee schemes, and extended grace periods.

Some governments partially covered the cost of enterprises by providing wage subsidies and income support for the temporarily laid off. SMEs were encouraged to pivot to other business models, mainly by using digital solutions.

In the Philippines, the most visible support came in the form of the Bayanihan Act, which allowed the deferment of loan obligations to banks and a budget for MSME support. Credit assistance was made available through state institutions although its scale and availability remain to be validated. However, the wage subsidy scheme was something that our country could not afford. Many enterprises pursued digital finance and online sales, delivery, and customer service, but the low ICT investment in the country and poor internet connectivity were major bottlenecks.

To bounce back, Philippine MSMEs have to understand their pain points. Some government policy measures are on the way, but these are not sufficient. Our MSMEs must help themselves. Following are key areas that small businesses must address: 1.) find new customers; 2.) build brand awareness; 3.) delight customers; 4.) hire good and reliable people; 5.) improve processes; and, 6.) execute solid financial plans. These should be pursued within the context of adapting new business models.

Identifying the customers means figuring out the ideal customer targets so that appropriate content can be developed for them with recognizable brands and good reputations. Any serious small business today should have a website with a successful lead generation engine that turns visitors into customers. Businesses should understand what customers need, and deliver on their expectations. Whether a transaction is handled digitally or not, a business exists for its customers.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos refers to the need for obsessive customer focus. Hiring is one of the biggest challenges for small businesses especially in these trying times. Businesses should hire people who are excited about the products and services. The next challenge is to manage the workflow whether it be in the production side or in the logistics end.

Finally, decisions must be financially solid. Businesses should use credit wisely, cut costs where possible, manage cash flow by staying on top of billings and suppliers’ concerns, do cost-benefit analyses, and maintain reliable records. Family businesses must separate personal expenditures from business expenses.

We can only hope that our government will muster enough discipline to choose the right policy tools, and more importantly, execute them well for our small businesses. For their part, entrepreneurs need to retool, re-engineer, and rehash their business models if 2021 is to be their year for bouncing back.

Benel D. Lagua is former Executive Vice-President at the Development Bank of the Philippines. With an AIM-MBM and a Harvard-MPA, he is a part-time faculty member of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University.

benellagua@alumni.ksg.harvard.edu

Why Indonesia is vaccinating its working population first, not elderly

January 4, 2021 | 5:04 pm

By vaccinating more socially mobile and economically active groups first, Indonesian government officials hope the government can quickly reach herd immunity.

JAKARTA — As Indonesia prepares to begin mass inoculations against COVID-19, its plan to prioritize working-age adults over the elderly, aiming to reach herd immunity fast and revive the economy, will be closely watched by other countries.

Several countries such as the United States and Britain that have already begun vaccinations are giving priority to elderly people who are more vulnerable to the respiratory disease.

The following are experts’ views on merits and risks of the Indonesian approach, under which working-age adults will be vaccinated after frontline health workers and public servants.

WHY 18–59 YEAR-OLDS FIRST?
Indonesia, which plans to begin mass inoculations with a vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, says it does not have enough data yet of the vaccine’s efficacy on elderly people, as clinical trials underway in the country involves people aged 18–59.

“We’re not bucking the trend,” said Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a senior health ministry official, adding authorities would await recommendations from the country’s drug regulators to decide on vaccination plans for the elderly.

While Britain and the United States began immunizations with a shot developed by Pfizer Inc. and its partner BioNTech that showed it works well in people of all ages, Indonesia has initial access only to the Sinovac vaccine.

The Southeast Asian country has a deal to receive 125.5 million doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac shot, and a first batch of 3 million doses are already in the country.

Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine to the country are expected to begin from the third quarter, while a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University will start being distributed in the second quarter.

“I don’t think anybody can get too dogmatic about what is the right approach,” said Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases at Australian National University, adding that Indonesia’s strategy could slow the spread of the disease, although it may not affect mortality rates.

“Indonesia doing it different to the US and Europe is of value, because it will tell us (whether) you’ll see a more dramatic effect in Indonesia than Europe or US because of the strategy they’re doing, but I don’t think anybody knows the answer.”

Professor Dale Fisher from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore said he understood the rationale of Indonesia’s approach.

“Younger working adults are generally more active, more social and travel more so this strategy should decrease community transmission faster than vaccinating older individuals,” he said.

“Of course older people are more at risk of severe disease and death so vaccinating those has an alternative rationale. I see merit in both strategies.”

WILL IT HELP ACHIEVE HERD IMMUNITY QUICKLY?
By vaccinating more socially mobile and economically active groups first, Indonesian government officials hope the government can quickly reach herd immunity.

Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia’s health minister, said the country needs to vaccinate 181.5 million people, or roughly 67% of its population, to reach herd immunity, and requires almost 427 million doses of vaccines, assuming a double-dose regimen and a 15% wastage rate.

Some experts are skeptical about reaching herd immunity, as more research needs to be done to ascertain whether or not vaccinated people can transmit the virus.

“There could be the risk of people still capable of spreading the disease to the others,” said Hasbullah Thabrany, chief of the Indonesian Health Economic Association.

WILL IT HELP ECONOMIC RECOVERY?
Economists have argued a successful vaccination program covering around 100 million people will help jumpstart the economy, as they are more likely to resume economic activity such as spending and production.

Faisal Rachman, an economist with Bank Mandiri, said that the 18–59 age group has consumption needs that are higher than other groups.

“They could jack up the economic recovery faster because household consumption contributes more than 50% to Indonesia’s economy,” he said, warning that rising COVID-19 cases in the country could also risk lowering people’s confidence.

The pandemic pushed Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, into its first recession in more than two decades last year, with the government estimating a contraction of as much as 2.2%. — Stanley Widianto and Tabita Diela/Reuters

Japan PM mulls declaring state of emergency for Tokyo area

January 4, 2021 | 4:46 pm

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday the government would consider declaring a state of emergency for the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area as coronavirus cases climb and strain the country’s medical system.

The possible emergency declaration would mark a reversal, as has Mr. Suga resisted any such drastic steps to restrict economic activity.

Japan saw a record 4,520 new cases on Dec. 31, prompting the capital, Tokyo, and three neighboring prefectures to seek an emergency declaration from the national government. The region now accounts for about half of new nationwide cases.

“Even during the three days of the New Year’s holidays, cases didn’t go down in the greater Tokyo area,” Mr. Suga said at a news conference to mark the start of 2021. “We felt that a stronger message was needed.”

He did not say when the government would make a decision, or what restrictions would follow. The first state of emergency, declared last spring, lasted more than a month, shutting down schools and non-essential businesses.

Mr. Suga repeated, however, that many of the new cases with unknown origins were likely linked to restaurants, and that the government’s latest request for restaurants in the Tokyo area to close at 8 p.m. — rather than 10 p.m. — should be effective.

As a third wave of infections hit Japan last month, the government paused a popular subsidized travel programme for two weeks through Jan. 11. Mr. Suga said resuming the “Go To Travel” programme would be tough under a state of emergency.

Toshihiro Nagahama, an economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, estimated that a monthlong suspension of non-urgent spending by consumers in the Greater Tokyo area would reduce gross domestic product (GDP) by 2.8 trillion yen ($27 billion), or an annualized 0.5%.

“The loss of GDP could throw 147,000 people out of work,” he wrote in a note.

Japanese shares fell on the year’s first day of trading, reacting to news of the potential state of emergency.

Although Japan has relied on voluntary closings rather than the sort of rigid lockdown measures seen elsewhere in the world, Mr. Suga said a bill would be submitted to the next session of parliament to give state-of-emergency restrictions more teeth, including penalties.

Although the case numbers in Japan pale in comparison to many parts of Europe and the Americas, Mr. Suga has the challenge of hosting the Olympics in Tokyo this summer after the pandemic caused the Games’ first-ever delay in 2020.

Japan last month said it would temporarily ban non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country after the detection of the new, highly infectious variant of the coronavirus.

Mr. Suga repeated on Monday the government’s pledge to host the Games, and said it would aim to start vaccinating residents by the end of February. — Reuters

In recorded call, Trump pressured Georgia to ‘find’ votes to tilt election

January 4, 2021 | 4:45 pm

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump pressured Georgia’s top election official to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in the southern state, according to a recording of the hour-long call published by US media on Sunday.

The Saturday call was the latest move in Mr. Trump’s two-month effort insisting that his loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election was the result of widespread voter fraud, a claim that has been widely rejected by state and federal election officials and multiple courts.

Mr. Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, came as some of Mr. Trump’s allies in the US Congress plan to object to the formal certification of Mr. Biden’s victory on Wednesday. The former vice president won by a margin of 306-232 in the state-by-state Electoral College, and by more than 7 million votes overall.

On the call, which was released by the Washington Post, Mr. Trump repeatedly pressures Mr. Raffensperger to declare that Mr. Trump has won more votes than Mr. Biden.

“All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Mr. Trump says, according to audio of the call. “There’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you’ve recalculated.”

The state conducted three separate ballot counts, resulting in two official certifications of Mr. Biden’s victory. Final results show Mr. Biden won 11,779 more votes than Mr. Trump out of nearly 5 million cast.

Mr. Raffensperger and his office’s general counsel reject Mr. Trump’s assertions and tell the president that he was relying on debunked conspiracy theories spread on social media about what was a fair and accurate election. “Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong,” Mr. Raffensperger says.

The White House declined to comment. Mr. Raffensperger’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Bob Bauer, a senior adviser to Mr. Biden, said the recording captures “the whole, disgraceful story about Donald Trump’s assault on American democracy.”

POSSIBLY CRIMINAL ACT
Mr. Trump’s action drew immediate criticism from election-law experts and congressional Democrats who said it could amount to an illegal act.

“Not only is pressuring election officials against the law, threatening Raffensperger if he doesn’t comply with Trump’s wishes borders on extortion,” said Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis said Mr. Trump may have violated state and federal laws against soliciting election fraud.

“If any other person did this — someone else with power to leverage over an election official — there is no doubt in my mind that at the very least a criminal investigation would be opened right away,” said Mr. Kreis, adding that he thought that was unlikely in Mr. Trump’s case.

If Mr. Trump were prosecuted, he would likely argue that he genuinely believed that the election was rigged against him in elaborate ways, said Justin Levitt, an election law professor at Loyola Law School.

Mr. Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia was the first by a Democratic presidential candidate in a generation and has raised hopes among Democrats that they could win a pair of US Senate runoffs in the state on Tuesday, giving their party control of Congress.

Over the course of the call, Mr. Trump alternately cajoles, insults and threatens Mr. Raffensperger as he tries to convince him to overturn the results.

“We won the election and it’s not fair to take it away from us like this, and it’s going to be very costly in many ways,” Mr. Trump says. “I think you have to say that you’re going to re-examine it.”

Since his election loss, Mr. Trump has encouraged supporters to hold raucous street rallies that have occasionally tipped into violence. Mr. Raffensperger and other election workers across the country have faced harassment and threats, with some going into hiding for their safety.

“There’s turmoil in Georgia and other places — you’re not the only one. We have other states that I believe we’ll be flipping to us very shortly,” Mr. Trump said.

Even if Mr. Trump had won Georgia’s 16 Electoral College votes, he would still have lost the White House to Mr. Biden, who will be sworn into office on Jan. 20.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers have had no luck over the past two months as they have pressured officials in Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and other closely contested states to overturn his losses.

Mr. Trump’s call came days before Senator Ted Cruz is set to lead several fellow Republican lawmakers in a long-shot bid to disrupt the formal recognition of Mr. Biden’s win when Electoral College results are tallied in Congress on Jan. 6.

The move is seen as a mostly symbolic protest and is not supported by Senate Republican leaders.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump supporter, said in a statement on Sunday that Cruz’s insistence on a vote audit commission had “zero chance” of success.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Twitter that if Cruz and “his gang” wanted to investigate election fraud, they should start with Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Raffensperger.

Ten former defense secretaries urged Mr. Trump to concede, writing in a joint article that the time for questioning the results had passed, and that any effort to involve the US armed forces in resolving election disputes “would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory.” — Reuters

UK rolls out AstraZeneca vaccine, touts British science triumph

January 4, 2021 | 4:44 pm

LONDON — Britain began vaccinating its population on Monday with the COVID-19 shot developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, touting its position as the first Western country to roll out an inoculation programme against the novel coronavirus.

Britain, which is rushing to vaccinate its population faster than the United States and the rest of Europe in a bid to put the pandemic behind it, is the first country to roll out the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot.

It last year rolled out the Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech vaccine. Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, was the first to get the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot at 0730 GMT at Oxford University Hospital.

“I am so pleased to be getting the COVID vaccine today and really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford,” Mr. Pinker, a retired maintenance manager who has been having dialysis for kidney disease, said.

He said he was looking forward to celebrating his 48^th wedding anniversary with wife Shirley in February.

“The nurses, doctors and staff today have all been brilliant,” he said.

Britain has put more than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines into arms already — more than the rest of Europe put together, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, adding that the roll out of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was a triumph.

“That’s a triumph of British science that we’ve managed to get where we are,” Mr. Hancock told Sky. “Right at the start, we saw that the vaccine was the only way out long term.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has secured 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine which can be stored at fridge temperatures between two to eight degrees, making it easier to distribute than the Pfizer shot.

Six hospitals in England are administering the first of around 530,000 doses Britain has ready. The programme will be expanded to hundreds of other British sites in the coming days, and the government hopes it will deliver tens of millions of doses within months. — Reuters

Thailand to get 2M doses of China’s Sinovac shots

January 4, 2021 | 4:44 pm

THAILAND will get its first lot of COVID-19 vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. next month, allowing the country in the middle of a resurgence of the coronavirus outbreak to begin inoculating people with the highest risks for infections.

The Southeast Asian nation will receive the Chinese vaccine in three batches, with the first 200,000 doses arriving in February, 800,000 in March, and another 1 million in April, according to the Health Ministry. Thailand has also started local production of vaccines developed by AstraZeneca Plc under a technology transfer agreement, which is expected to be ready for distribution in May, the ministry said.

Thailand is racing to curb the spread of a new wave of local infections that started from seafood markets near Bangkok, the nation’s capital and the largest city. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha has imposed a new set of restrictions on businesses and gatherings in Bangkok and 27 of its worst-affected provinces from Monday to contain the outbreak.

Thailand, which was relatively successful in containing the pathogen after becoming the first country outside China to report the deadly virus, may see cases spike to about 1,000 a day even with strict control measures, according to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The country reported 315 new virus cases on Sunday with 294 of them locally transmitted, taking the nation’s total to 7,694.

Mr. Prayuth’s government has set a target of inoculating 50% of its population, or about 33 million people, by the end of 2021 with vaccines from various sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO)-backed Covax program. It’s also negotiating with other vaccine developers for additional supplies, according to the health ministry. — Bloomberg

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