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Early warning during calamities must be followed by community-level action — expert

EARLY WARNING of a calamity needs to be matched by appropriate community action, a University of the Philippines (UP) expert said Tuesday.

UP Resilience Institute Executive Director Mahar A. Lagmay said such an integrated approach would have served victims of recent typhoons well.

“In disaster risk reduction, there has to be appropriate warning that is reliable, understandable, accurate and…. (timely). But that needs to be matched by the appropriate response of the people,” he said during a virtual media briefing organized by international research organization ADR Stratbase Institute.

If the community does not know how to act, then no amount of warning will avert disaster, he said.

Disaster victims typically say that they were caught off guard by events such as floods and landslides, Mr. Lagmay said, an observation he formed after observing calamities in Leyte.

He recommended computer modelling to aid preparations that consider all possible hazard scenarios, including calamities of a magnitude never before encountered, on account of worsening conditions due to climate change.

“We need to put in the bigger events that they have not experienced, bigger than the historical record, and we can only do that through the use of powerful computers, frontier science and the most advanced technologies,” he said.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has placed Luzon under a state of calamity after a series of typhoons in November, the last of which — Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco) — caused heavy flooding in northern Luzon and parts of Metro Manila.

Ulysses was the 21st typhoon to hit the Philippines this year. — Angelica Y. Yang

Fish supply declared sufficient until year’s end

THE fish supply has been judged sufficient to meet demand up to the end of 2020, according to the Department of Agriculture.

In a virtual briefing Tuesday, Undersecretary Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero said that at the end of 2020, fish inventory is projected at 87,539 metric tons (MT), equivalent to 10 days’ worth of demand.

Ms. Caballero said for 2020 supply is estimated at 3.42 million MT, against demand of 3.33 million MT.

Ms. Caballero said current constraints on the fish supply include the recent typhoons and the closed fishing season in the Visayan Sea.

“The total losses to the fisheries sector due to calamity have reached 4,552 MT, based on information gathered by BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources), the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA), and the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI),” Ms. Caballero said.

“There should be no worry because despite the effects of the typhoons, the BFAR has implemented interventions to ensure that consumers will have fishery products to eat,” she added.

The BFAR ordered a three-month closed fishing season in the Visayan Sea starting Nov. 15.

The ban will limit the catch of sardines, herring, and mackerel to allow their populations to regenerate. The closed season was declared in Fisheries Administrative Order No. 167-3. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Land registry agrees to share data with BIR

THE Land Registration Authority (LRA) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said they signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) running for five years which will allow the two agencies to share records in aid of improving tax assessments and collections.

The MoA was detailed in Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 123-2020 issued by BIR Commissioner R. Dulay on Monday, a copy of which was published the next day on the bureau’s website.

The agreement allows LRA to share with the BIR the personal data of registered property owners.

The BIR can also share personal data of taxpayers with the LRA, which the latter can use to validate tax declarations.

“BIR and LRA shall implement appropriate security measures… to ensure protection of the personal information of data subjects, including the policy for retention, destruction and disposal of records,” it said.  — Beatrice M. Laforga

NCR construction materials price growth picks up in Oct.

WHOLESALE PRICE growth of construction materials in Metro Manila accelerated in October, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

The construction materials wholesale price index (CMWPI), grew 0.8% year on year in October, against a 0.5% growth in September. The October 2019 growth rate was 2.6%.

The pickup in CMWPI growth was driven by price growth in sand and gravel (1.7% from 1.5% in September); tileworks (13.8% from 13.4%); doors, jambs, and steel casements (0.2% from 0.1%); and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes (4.4% from 3.8%).

Meanwhile, a slowdown in price increases was noted in concrete products and cement (1.1% from 1.2%); hardware (3% from 3.6%); lumber (3% from 4.4%); and electrical works (1.5% from 2.1%).

Growth was unchanged month-on-month in prices of galvanized iron sheets (0.9%); glass and glass products (7.1%); and painting works (0.6%). Asphalt and machinery and equipment rental posted zero growth, unchanged from a month earlier.

Wholesale prices are obtained by large-scale buyers like construction companies, reflecting demand and making such price movements a potential leading indicator for construction activity.

“The increase in CMWPI in October 2020 may be due to faster increases in big-ticket construction developments over retail-type construction, especially the recent months where the Philippines was slowly relaxing its quarantine protocols,” Asian Institute of Management Economist John Paolo R. Rivera said via mobile phone.

“However, it is still slow due to the persistence of quarantines particularly in urban areas,” he added.

Mr. Rivera expects “slight progressive increases” in the prices of construction materials “in conjunction with the slow and progressive opening of the economy.”

“The recent natural calamities have (also) exacerbated time and supply constraints. Hence, some increase in prices,” he said.  — Jobo E. Hernandez

Cybersecurity during the pandemic

(We are publishing the first part of this two-part column today after inadvertently publishing part two out of sequence on Monday. BusinessWorld regrets the error.)

(First of two parts)

Risk professionals around the world have always had pandemics on their radar and rightly so. In the last 20 years, the world has witnessed how diseases such as ebola, chikungunya, SARS, H1N1, and MERS-CoV placed nations in grave danger. However, governments and medical communities were always able to address each situation, and while there may have been some casualties, the contagion was somehow managed, preventing the disease from spreading worldwide. When news of a novel respiratory disease from China broke out in December 2019, it took several months before the World Health Organization (WHO) gave it an official name, declaring a pandemic on March 11.

Because of previous similar outbreaks, many in the Philippine business community reacted coolly to the news. Even when infections started to appear in the Philippines in late January, few businesses saw the urgent need to prepare for a pandemic. Consequently, when the government imposed the lockdown on March 16, many organizations were caught unprepared and had to improvise to survive. Companies scrambled for tools and facilities to allow remote working and continue business operations.

For the past nine months, Philippine companies have learned to deal with COVID-19 and the lockdown. The impact was significant across the board, not only disrupting current operations, but also influencing how businesses will behave in the months and years to come.

Cybersecurity has been no exception. Like with other business functions, the pandemic caused widespread disruption in cybersecurity operations and is expected to have significant impact on cybersecurity strategies, investments and future priorities.

In the first part of this two-part series, we will discuss the challenges of cybersecurity in terms of remote working, identity and access management risk, physical security and data privacy.

WORKING FROM HOME
Remote working has been a notable issue. Shifting the workplace — from central corporate offices to the homes of employees — has expanded the attack surface. The perimeter of the corporate network is no longer defined by the firewalls, and employees can now do more with their company-issued laptops without the traditional firewall controls. For example, personal cloud storage solutions and other non-work related websites that may be prohibited by the company are now readily accessible by employees through their home networks.

Because of the pandemic many companies were compelled to issue a significant number of laptops to their employees. In addition, new applications were deployed to allow employee access to corporate systems using mobile phones and tablets. This further expanded the number of endpoints that can be compromised by attackers.

Adopting new technologies to enable remote working during the lockdown also represented concerns for security professionals. Many companies made quick decisions and deployed tools for collaboration and communication, online selling, digital and contactless payments, and the like. At times, a new vendor is contracted to enable these digital tools, and in some cases even manage these applications for the company. The challenge in this situation is not only procuring reliable external support, but also ensuring that the vendors undergo strict risk assessment and the tools subjected to robust testing prior to their actual deployment. Short-cuts in the deployment process simply cannot be allowed.

ACCESS MANAGEMENT RISKS
Also presenting challenges in the new normal are identity and access management. In many cases, user profiles and roles need to be created or modified to enable the remote access of employees and business partners to the corporate systems. The chief information security officer (CISO) needs to ensure that these profiles were created based on strict business-need only basis. The company’s formal approval and role development process cannot be ignored even if there is a seeming urgency because of the pandemic.

Inevitably, employees come and go even during a pandemic. New hires continue to be onboarded, people change roles and move departments, and some staff members resign for various reasons. User profiles created and roles added should always be accurate to match the employee’s responsibilities. Likewise, user access revocation — including the retrieval of company-issued mobile devices — should be timely.

PHYSICAL SECURITY
A greater challenge with remote working is the physical security of the employees’ homes. This is particularly true for companies with a younger workforce who live in dormitories and boarding houses with roommates and friends who may be working for competitors.

While at reduced risk, those living with their families in cramped spaces may also not be ideal for many companies. In a developing country like ours, these are realistic situations that companies need to manage.

DATA PRIVACY
Data privacy continues to be a major cause of concern not only within businesses but also among consumers who distrust external parties handling their personal data. In the Philippines, companies are required by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Department of Health (DoH) to collect employee and visitor health information and submit monthly reports.

These data are crucial for companies and the government to maintain safe working environments and to help contain the pandemic. However, there are questions raised on access, storage, sharing among agencies, and retention which are valid. Employees need to understand that their employers are required to record their temperature daily, but the security of their personal and household members’ health and travel data will remain a concern. This is a gap that will take a well-engineered bridge to cross.

To illustrate, the lack of trust in providing access to one’s privacy and personal data is exemplified by the unpopularity of contact tracing apps that were developed during the pandemic. While several of these apps have been endorsed by government agencies and companies, their use is still limited among the general public.

In the second part of this article, we will discuss the additional threats to cybersecurity that require recalibrating traditional security for the remote workspace; potential analyst disruption; the pandemic’s impact on cybersecurity budgets; and reassessing the cybersecurity function as we adjust to the new normal of business.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional advice where the facts and circumstances warrant. The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of SGV, the global EY organization or its member firms.

 

Warren R. Bituin is the Technology Consulting Leader of SGV & Co.

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.

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