Stuff to do at home (05/13/20)

May 13, 2020 | 12:01 am

Razorback holds charity auction

The rock band Razorback, together with Kevin Roy and Basti Artadi, will have a special online performance on May 15, 8:30 tp 10:30 p.m., for the benefit of Rise Against Hunger Philippines. The concert — presented by Jam88.3, Red Horse Beer, PouchNation, and clique — will be streamed via Facebook Live @razorbackmusic and Google Play’s myclique.app.

Jerrold Tarog’s Senior Year

Written, directed, edited and scored by Jerrold Tarog, the film Senior Year (2010) is now streaming on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/404089376). Set in a Catholic school the story follows the struggles and anxieties of students during their final year in high school.

Dulaan UP’s Adarna

Dulaang UP’s play Adarna (2013) is now streaming online. Adapted by Vlad Gonzales and directed by José Estrella, the story is based on the narrative poem about three princes’ quest to save their ailing father by capturing the Adarna bird which is believed to have curative powers. To watch, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=hV2UPXi1wMA&feature=emb_title.

CCP Online

Catch the following shows on CCP Online this week: Ballet Philippines’ Tales of the Manuvu premieres on May 14, (3 p.m.). Choreographed by National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes in 1976, this dance production tells the creation story of the Manobo tribe in Mindanao. Philippine Ballet Theater’s Mir-I-Nisa premieres on May 16 (3 p.m.). Based on the story by National Artist for Literature Jose Garcia Villa, revolves around a Muslim princess who follows the Muslim betrothal custom. Watch the ballets for free at bit.ly/CCPOnlineYT.

PETA’s Rated: PG

Liza Magtoto’s Rated: PG, a play on positive discipline which was directed by Mae Quesada-Medina, is now available for streaming on PETA’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/petatheateronline).

Andrew Llyod Webber’s Cats

Andrew Llyod Webber’s Cats will be streamed for free online on his YouTube page The Show Must Go On, from May 15 (7 p.m. BST). It will be available for 48 hours. The stage production stars Elaine Paige, John Partridge, Jacob Brent, Jason Gardiner and Sir John Mills. To watch, visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmPjhKMaXNNeCr1FjuMvag.

The National Theatre

The National Theatre is streaming Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra, directed by Simon Godwin, and starring Ralph Fiennes as Antony and Sophie Okonedo as Cleopatra. It is available for viewing until May 14. To watch, visit (https://www.youtube.com/user/ntdiscovertheatre).

National Library of the Philippines

The National Library of the Philippines offers free scholarly eResources including research related to COVID-19. The list of resources come from the National Emergency Library, Cochrane Library (Medical & Health Science), De Gruyter — Journals (Multidisciplinary), and more. To view access links to eResources, visit https://www.facebook.com/NLP1901/photos/a.375779479606724/912930019224998/?type=3&theater.

Jenkins at Royal Albert Hall

Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins performed alone at The Royal Albert Hall. The online show is the first in a series of performances of the London Together initiative as a tribute to the COVID-19 frontliners. Watch the concert at The Royal Albert Hall’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugNt9gmBgZSFEv4lc4B6Zg.

The Royal Opera House online

As part of its #OurHousetoYourHouse, the Royal Opera is now streaming Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata at its official Facebook page at (https://www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/). The show stars Renée Fleming as Violetta and Joseph Calleja as Alfredo.

PBT’s Darangen ni Bantugen

Philippine Ballet Theater’s 2016 production of Darangen ni Bantugen is currently streaming on its YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn-3UHbvnSrbZY8fXPViw4A). Depicting the story of the Maranao hero Bantugen, the show is choreographed by Gener Caringal and Ronilo Jaynario, with music by Jesse Lucas. It is available until May 15.

Guggenheim artbooks

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum offers downloadable items from its archives for free. Titles include modern and contemporary art books about Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Vassily Kandinsky, Gustav Klimt and more. The archive is searchable by artist, year, medium and artistic style or movement. Visit the archives, https://archive.org/details/guggenheimmuseum.

Silverlens Galleries’ At Home With series

To keep in touch with art lovers, Silverlens presents Art Boost, an online drive to maintain engagement with art through social media, exhibition catalogues, and videos. The current At Home With series features Bernardo Pacquing, Hanna Pettyjohn, and Chati Coronel. Revisit contemporary artist Gary-Ross Pastrana’s notes on collage making; and Mit Jai Inn’s use of light, color, and structure in his Actantis exhibit. Visit Silverlens’ official social media accounts and its website (https://www.silverlensgalleries.com/) to view the exhibitions.

BenCab Museum online

Azor Pazcoguin’s solo exhibition, TAYP. RAYT. ER, which features oil paintings of items such as typewriters, phones, cameras, is now online from the BenCab Museum’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pg/bencabmuseum/photos/?tab=album&album_id=3024306460961023&__tn__=-UC-R.

BioBalance Wellness consultation

The BioBalance Wellness Institute offers the following services and features: free online consultation with its clinical nutritionist and nurse practitioners, wellness expert psychologist; online health and immunity risk assessment; and more payment options for availed services and products. For more information, contact 0917-521-4860 or concierge@biobalanceinstitute.com.

IkotMNL tour from home

The Museo de Intramuros, Ayala Museum, and Presidential Museum and Library in Malacañang Palace have partnered with Google to put their works online. Learn new things at home and visit the museums through a virtual tour: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/malacanang-presidential-museum-and-library; https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/ayala-museum; and https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/intramuros-administration.

CAST recordings on Spotify

CAST PH offers CAST Recording, a collection of one act plays, recorded online and released as radio/audio drama. The first recordings are A Matter of Husbands by Ferenc Molnár, featuring Pinky Amador and Giannina Ocampo-Van Hoven; and Enemies by Neith Boyce and Hutchins Hapgood, featuring David Bianco and Jennifer Blair-Bianco. Listen at https://open.spotify.com/show/5bLSOsJPkZnlaEFDfSSHbl?si=fDsW-kNpT6iP89En-dWbog.

National Bookstore delivery

National Book Store has reopened its branch in Cubao, Quezon City and now offers delivery services for its supplies to selected areas around Metro Manila. For orders from Marikina, San Juan, and Quezon City, contact 0917-631-1374; Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pateros, and Taguig contact 0917-834-3224; Caloocan, Manila, Navotas, and Valenzuela, contact 0917-302-7475; Makati, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Pasay, and Las Piñas, contact 0917-791-0916. Orders are accepted on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Film masterclasses

Learn film concepts through interviews and film retrospectives from more than 60 directors, producers, writers, and actors including Bong Joon-Ho, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnès Varda, Spike Lee, Werner Herzog (with Roger Ebert), Jane Campion, Jodie Foster, Todd Haynes, Ang Lee, Jessica Lange, and Clint Eastwood. To watch, visit https://walkerart.org/magazine/series/dialogues-film-retrospectives.

Fully Booked delivery

FULLY BOOKED is back in business for book orders (https://www.fullybookedonline.com/). In a Facebook post, Fully Book stated: “[O]ur Lazada and Shopee stores will be back online, too. Please do expect some delays and changes in our processes.” For advisories, visit bit.ly/fb-ecq-advisory.

English National Ballet shows online

ENGLISH National Ballet launched ENB at Home, releasing one show weekly for its Wednesday Watch Parties. The first in the lineup is Broken Wings, a Frida Kahlo-inspired production starring lead principal and ENB artistic director Tamara Rojo as Frida. It is available to stream for free for 48 hours. Watch at https://www.youtube.com/user/enballet or https://www.facebook.com/EnglishNationalBallet/.

The Royal Opera House shows online

THE Royal Opera House in London launched its #OurHouseToYourHouse series where shows can be streamed through its official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/. Watch Arthur Pita’s dance-theater adaptation of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis at https://www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/videos/217068512883588.

Radiohead Concerts

BRITISH rock band Radiohead has been uploading some of its concerts via its official YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/user/radiohead). Fans of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, known for songs like “Creep” (1992) and “Fake Plastic Trees” (1995), can watch the concerts Live from a Tent in Dublin (2000) and Live in Berlin (2006).

David Guetta: United at Home

FRENCH DJ David Guetta, the man behind the song “Titanium” (2011) featuring singer SIA, held a live concert fundraiser inside his Miami home benefitting the World Health Organization and other charities. The two-hour concert is currently available on his YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/user/davidguettavevo).

Josh Groban concerts

JOSH Groban brings his concerts to your home via online, streaming every Thursday on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/joshgroban). The second concert in the series, Stages: Live (2016), premiered on April 30. The singer has also included commentary throughout each film. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/JoshGroban/.

Worldwide Concert for Our Culture

JAZZ at Lincoln Center’s annual Spring Gala: Worldwide Concert for Our Culture is now available to stream online. The honorees of the event are Clarence Otis and Jacqueline L. Bradley (Ed Bradley Award for Leadership in Jazz) and Phil Schaap (Jazz at Lincoln Center Award for Artistic Excellence). Performers at the gala include: Wynton Marsalis, Cecile McLorin Salvant and Sullivan Fortner, Chucho Valdes, Nduduzo Makhathini, and Baqir Abbas. For more information, visit jazz.org/gala2020. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IjJbZetCvGw.

Dior’s Designer of Dreams exhibition

DIOR’S exhibition titled Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams is now available to view online. Originally held at Paris’ Musée des Arts Décoratifs from 2017 to 2018, the exhibition traces the evolution of the house of Dior from post-war Paris to the present through a behind-the-scenes in-the-making of the exhibition, plus a virtual tour of its rooms. Visit Dior’s YouTube channel to watch the documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1521&v=FLWDWzMrkBE&feature=emb_title).

Frank Lloyd Wright virtual tours

THE Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, in partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Unity Temple Restoration Foundation is offering #WrightVirtualVisits every Thursdays (1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific time) in participating sites. Check the participating sites at https://savewright.org/news/public-wright-sites-swap-virtual-visits/.

Color Tolkien characters

THE official Facebook page of the late author J.R.R. Tolkien has uploaded an illustration of Smaug the Magnificent from The Hobbit Movie Trilogy Colouring Book. Download the coloring sheet at https://bit.ly/2wKY3lp.

MoMA free courses online

After offering virtual tours, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is now offering free online courses. The courses include a series of five free classes for contemporary art, fashion, and photography. It includes readings and exercises which can be completed within 12 to 38 hours. For details, visit https://www.coursera.org/moma.

Print & Play activities for kids

Keep kids entertained with new curated Print & Play activities from HP. The activities from craft making, mazes, dot-to-dot drawing and puzzles are suitable for ages 2 to 12. With HP Print & Play, parents can choose from a range of activities that are best suited to their children’s needs to achieve the best possible learning outcomes. To try the activities, visit https://www8.hp.com/ph/en/printers/printandplay/index.html?jumpid=va_u19mhncewr.

Harry Potter exhibit online

The British Library’s Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibition is available online through Google Arts and Culture. Its features include video clips and sketches, a Q&A with exhibit curator Julian Harrison. To view, visit https://artsandculture.google.com/project/harry-potter-a-history-of-magic.

The Nanny’s Pandemic Table Read

The cast of the ‘90s comedy sitcom The Nanny reunites for The Pandemic Table Read of the show’s pilot episode. It stars Fran Drescher as Fran Fine who finds a job as a nanny to the three children of wealthy widower and theater producer Maxwell Sheffield (played by Charles Shaughnessy). To watch, visit Sony Pictures Entertainment’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3a6KuP1X14&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1eEwvK0A7lrLMnt2GTXBPoDR7y8_Q5TXMexTLIo9es9Gei4W1Yi-asITM.

Science experiments at home

Enjoy 44 science experiments with the kids at home with the James Dyson Foundation Challenge cards. To download the challenge cards, visit https://www.jamesdysonfoundation.co.uk/resources/challenge-cards.html.

Hogwarts online

Hogwarts Is Here, an online version of the Harry Potter series’ magical school by Harry Potter fans that allows visitors to take courses like the characters from J.K. Rowling’s book series. Various courses include Astronomy, Herbology, History of Magic, and Transfiguration. The website also includes a forum, groups, and library feature. Visit http://www.hogwartsishere.com/.

Color Manolo Blahnik designs

Manolo Blahnik shares a selection of his original sketches for coloring. The shoe designs are downloadable at https://www.manoloblahnik.com/gb/smile.html.

Podcasts on Philippine crime

Stories After Dark features podcasts on Philippine true crime and mystery stories. It currently has 14 episodes including The Maguindanao Massacre (2009), The Ozone Disco Fire (1996), and Pepsi Paloma: Rape or Publicity Stunt? Suicide or Murder? (1982/1985). To listen, visit https://www.facebook.com/storiesafterdarkph/.

Palacio de Memoria virtual tour

Art and history enthusiasts can now go on a virtual tour of Palacio de Memoria, the resplendent Colonial Revival mansion, and marvel at its luxurious facilities and hundreds of Euro-Filipino paintings, sculptures, art displays, and historical pieces online. It features the showroom of Palacio de Memoria’s auction house, Casa de Memoria or the Casa, which houses the Lhuilliers’ unrivalled collection of antiques, the Mosphil Lounge, and a passenger plane that was refitted to be a lounge for special occasions. To view the complete Palacio de Memoria’s virtual tour, visit https://www.palaciodememoria.com/tours. For more updates, follow @thepalaciodememoria on Facebook and @palacio.de.memoria on Instagram.

E-coloring books

The Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute of Los Angeles offers the Color Our Collections edition for 2020. To view, visit http://library.nyam.org/colorourcollections/page/11/.

Expansion of PVB capital stock seen to service more veterans

May 13, 2020 | 12:01 am

Expanding the capital stock of the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) will allow it to service veterans beyond World War II and their immediate heirs, PVB Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Roberto F. De Ocampo said.

Mr. De Ocampo said this during the virtual hearing of the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries on Tuesday to discuss House Bill (HB) 6375 which proposes amendments to the PVB charter.

“The intent really is to align the Veterans Bank capital stock with the rules and regulations of the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) with respect to how much capital stock a commercial bank ought to have. Right now, the old law only says P5 million, the BSP requires P10 million and therefore this draft bill thus provide an alignment with BSP rules and regulations,” he said.

“This opens the door for veterans beyond World War II and their immediate heirs to other veterans who have served in other wars and for those retired military personnel. With the expansion of equity stock of the Veterans’ Bank, it would not only comply with the BSP, it would have the resources necessary in order to service an even wider universe of the heroes of our country,” Mr. De Ocampo added.

Section 6 of HB 6375 says the term “veteran” includes any person who served during World War II and “whose services with such units are duly recognized by the Republic of the Philippines.”

He said the proposed amendment would not “diminish the priority” given to the original veterans of World War II.

“We are not diminishing the priority that was originally given to the founders of this bank who were the original veterans of World War II and making sure that their existing shares are recognized as part of this capital whether those be common stock or preferred shares. And I think these features are probably the most crucial part of this proposed draft,” he said.

HB 6375 is principally authored by Tingog Sinirangan Partylist Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez, House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Partylist Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza.

The House committee on banks and financial intermediaries committee decided to meet again on an unannounced date to discuss the bill. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Cayetano asked to resume ABS-CBN franchise hearings

May 13, 2020 | 12:01 am

AUTHORS of the pending bills for the renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN Corp. urged House Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano to facilitate the “immediate convening” of the House committee on legislative franchises.

“While we also take strong exceptions to NTC’s (National Telecommunications Commission) trickery and the Office of the Solicitor General’s interventionist action, we firmly believe that the House now has the primary duty and responsibility to put an end to the uncertainties and confusion brought by the pendency of the application of renewal of the ABC-CBN’s franchise,” part of the letter dated May 12 read.

Only one hearing on the media network’s franchise has been held so far on March 10, when NTC Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba assured House lawmakers that his office would provide a provisional authority to ABS-CBN to continue its operations.

ABS-CBN went off-air on May 5 after NTC issued a cease-and-desist order to the media network.

“The Committee and the House are now being blamed for the shutdown of the network and for being off the air since then, as well as the displacement of thousands of its employees and workers. That the citizenry also lost one of their main sources of credible and efficient news and information in this time of crisis brought by the covid-19 pandemic was also largely blamed on our chamber,” the letter said.

The following legislators signed the petition: Deputy Speaker Vilma Santos-Recto, Deputy Speaker Johnny T. Pimentel, Deputy Speaker Rose Marie J. Arenas, Deputy Minority Leader Carlos T. Zarate, Laguna Rep. Marisol Aragones Sampelo, Gabriela Party-List Rep. Arlene D. Brosas, ACT-Teachers Party-List Rep. France L. Castro, Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia C. Cullamat, Kabataan Party-List Rep. Sarah Jane I. Elago, Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand R. Gaite, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez, Occidental Mindoro Josephine Y. Ramirez-Sato, Parañaque Rep. Joy Myra S. Tambunting and Nueva Ecija Rep. Micaela S. Violago.

Meanwhile, three House leaders filed on Monday a resolution calling for an investigation on the alleged violations of ABS-CBN of its legislative franchises.

House Resolution (HR) 853 states that ABS-CBN violated its legislative franchise because it is operating a pay-per-view channel through free-to-air signals.

“By charging the public with its pay-per-view Kapamilya Box Office (KBO) channel through ABS-CBN TV Plus, it has been gaining huge profits at the expense of the public while using the air frequencies provided by the government for free,” it said.

Because of the issuance of ABS-CBN’s Philippine Depository Receipts (PDRs) to non-Filipino citizens through ABS-CBN Holdings, the media network allegedly violated foreign ownership restriction of mass media in Section 11, Article XVI of the Constitution, the resolution said.

HR 853 was filed by Deputy Speaker Paolo Z. Duterte, House accounts committee chair Abraham N. Tolentino, and House appropriations committee chair Eric G. Yap.

Mr. Rodriguez filed House Joint Resolution 30 that seeks to grant a provisional franchise to ABS-CBN to be able to operate until June 30, 2022.

Since ABS-CBN’s previous franchise expired on May 4, Mr. Rodriguez also filed House Bill No. 6694 to grant the media giant a new franchise for 25 years.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Minority Leader Bienvenido M. Abante, Jr. filed House Bill 6701 seeking the abolition of the NTC for its alleged “defiance” to Congress over the franchise of ABS-CBN.

There are 11 pending House bills on ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal, but none have hurdled the committee level. — Genshen L. Espedido

The Philippines improves standing on ‘state fragility’ scorecard

May 13, 2020 | 12:00 am

How PSEi member stocks performed — May 12, 2020

May 13, 2020 | 12:00 am

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Tuesday, May 12, 2020.

PSE index closes lower on extended quarantine

May 12, 2020 | 9:00 pm

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX closed in red territory yesterday as investor sentiment turned sour on the extension of the lockdown in Metro Manila, Laguna and Cebu City until the end of the month.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 16.26 points or 0.28% to 5,651.67 on Tuesday. The broader all shares index also dropped 11 points or 0.32% to 3,415.24.

“Sellers led the market after the government’s announcement on community quarantine in the Philippines,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Claire T. Alviar said in a text message.

The government announced yesterday that quarantine measures in the National Capital Region (NCR), Laguna and Cebu City will stay until the end of the month, while the rest of the country will be put under a general community quarantine (GCQ) or no quarantine at all.

But unlike previous quarantine measures, the government now introduced a “modified enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)” which allows operations of selected manufacturing and processing plants but only up to 50% workforce capacity. Transporting services for essential goods and services will also be allowed.

This quarantine type is still stricter than a GCQ, which would allow operation of government offices and industries for up to 75% workforce capacity and flexible learning arrangements for students.

“Given that the NCR will be placed under modified enhanced community quarantine, economic recovery would take a longer period of time compared to placing it under GCQ,” Ms. Alviar said. “But still, I think it seems to be the best option for the NCR right now, slowly reopening the economy.”

For Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan, other factors that affected the local market yesterday were the mixed performance of global equities overnight, pending resumption of construction and recreational businesses in New York, expected reopening of shops and schools in United Kingdom next month and steady price of West Texas intermediate oil at $24.5 per barrel.

Most sectoral indices at the PSE managed to end trading in green territory. Financials picked up 13.10 points or 1.12% to 1,173.16; holding firms added 26.46 points or 0.47% to 5,605.41; industrials gained 33.46 points or 0.44% to 7,539.02; mining and oil grew 19.44 points or 0.42% to 4,607.96; and services increased 4.69 points or 0.35% to 1,321.07. Property was the only index that lost, giving up 98.05 points or 3.33% to close the trading session at 2,839.70.

Some 454.17 million issues valued at P5.37 billion switched hands yesterday, slightly lower from Monday’s 480.05 million issues worth P4.54 billion.

Advancers beat decliners by a point, 87 against 86, while 45 names ended unchanged.

Foreign investors were sellers for the fifth straight day, with net outflows totalling P968.61 million.

Peso slips vs dollar

May 12, 2020 | 9:00 pm

THE PESO depreciated slightly against the greenback on Tuesday as investors await clarity on the lifting of lockdown measures and amid risk-off sentiment following new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in some countries.

The local unit finished trading at P50.31 per dollar on Tuesday, depreciating by a centavo from the P50.30 close on Monday, according to data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

The peso opened the session at P50.38 per dollar. Its weakest showing for the day was at P50.40 while its strongest was at P50.27 against the greenback.

Dollars traded went down to $391.85 million from the $474.21 million logged on Monday.

A trader said there was cautiousness in the market as investors await clearer guidelines on the lifting of lockdown measures across the country.

“The peso weakened slightly as investors might remain cautious ahead of the expected government’s decision on quarantine policies,” the trader said in an e-mail.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort also attributed the slight weakness in the local unit to the government’s decision to extend the quarantine in major cities.

“The peso closed slightly weaker but still among its strongest in more than two years, after Metro Manila was placed at modified ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) together with Cebu and Laguna,” Mr. Ricafort said via text. “Peso was also slightly weaker amid some profit-taking in some stock markets worldwide amid new COVID-19 cases infections in South Korea.”

For today, the trader gave a forecast range of P50.40 to P50.50 while Mr. Ricafort expects the local unit to trade within the P50.20 to P50.45 band. — LWTN

The duty to disclose and the right to privacy at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic

May 12, 2020 | 8:41 pm

With reports and narratives about discrimination and harassment of suspect, probable, and confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) — including calls to make the personal information of these cases available to the general public — circulating heavily since the government declared a state of public health emergency throughout the Philippines, it is imperative to know that Philippine laws provide adequate measures of protection against the unwarranted invasion of one’s right to privacy.

Per Department of Health (DoH) Administrative Order No. 2020-12, COVID-19 has been classified as a notifiable disease. Republic Act No. 11332 (RA 1133), or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Concern Act, makes it obligatory to report suspect, probable, and confirmed cases of COVID-19 to local or state health authorities, and prohibits and penalizes the non-cooperation of persons and entities that should report and/or respond to such mandates, including those identified as having COVID-19.

Nonetheless, data collection, analysis, and the dissemination of information from official disease surveillance and response systems: 1.) can only be done by authorized personnel from the DoH and its local counterparts; 2.) may only be used for public health concern purposes; and, 3.) is subject to established measures for data security and confidentiality.

To protect such rights, RA 11332 also penalizes with imprisonment of one to six months and/or a fine ranging from P20,000 to P50,000, as well as the cancellation of business permits and licenses to operate, if applicable, the unauthorized disclosure of such private and confidential information pertaining to a patient’s medical condition or treatment as well as the tampering of records or intentionally providing misinformation, unless such a disclosure was made to comply with a legal order issued by a court of law with competent jurisdiction. Liability therefor extends to the chief executive officer, president, general manager, or such other officer in charge if the offense is committed by a public or private health facility, institution, agency, corporation, school, or other juridical entity.

Relatedly, Republic Act No. 10173 (RA 10173), or the Data Privacy Act, considers as “sensitive personal information” any information about an individual’s age, health, and previous or current health records issued by government agencies.

In this regard, processing (or the collection, recording, organization, storage, updating or modification, retrieval, consultation, use, consolidation, blocking, erasure, or destruction) of “personal information” (i.e., any information from which the identity of an individual is apparent or can be reasonably and directly ascertained by the entity holding the information, or when put together with other information would directly and certainly identify an individual) is permitted only if the data subject or his or her agent consents, or the processing is necessary for: 1.) protection of vitally important interests of the data subject, including life and health; 2.) response to national emergency; 3.) public order and safety; or, 4.) fulfillment of functions of public authority, among others.

Further, processing of sensitive personal information, including information about one’s health, is prohibited, except when: 1.) the data subject consents specific to the purpose prior to the processing; 2.) the processing is required by existing laws and regulations, subject to protection guarantees; 3.) the processing is necessary to protect the life and health of the data subject or another person and the data subject is not legally or physically able to express his or her consent prior to the processing; or 4.) for purposes of medical treatment, the processing is carried out by a medical practitioner or a medical treatment institution, and an adequate level of protection of personal information is ensured, among others.

While consent is not at all times a requisite, RA 10173 entitles the data subject to: 1.) be informed of any processing of his or her personal information; 2.) dispute the inaccuracy or error in the personal information and have it corrected immediately and accordingly; 3.) suspend, withdraw, or order the blocking, removal, or destruction of his or her personal information if they are incomplete, outdated, false, unlawfully obtained, used for unauthorized purposes or are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they are collected; and 4.) be indemnified for any damages sustained due to such inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, false, unlawfully obtained, or unauthorized use of personal information.

RA 10173 likewise penalizes with imprisonment ranging six months to seven years and fines ranging from P100,000 to P5,000,000 the following acts: 1.) unauthorized processing; 2.) accessing due to negligence; 3.) improper disposal; 4.) processing for unauthorized purposes; 5.) unauthorized access or intentional breach; 6.) concealment of security breaches; 7.) malicious disclosure; 8.) unauthorized disclosure; and 9.) combination or series of such acts involving personal information and sensitive personal information.

Indeed, while the COVID-19 pandemic requires the mandatory disclosure of cases for investigation, review, contact tracing, specimen collection and testing, risk assessments, and population surveys, among others, such mandate is not inconsistent or incompatible with one’s right to privacy, as both RA 11332 and RA 10173 mandate respect, to the fullest extent possible, of the rights of people to liberty, bodily integrity, and privacy while maintaining and preserving public health and security, through measures of protection and remedies for data security and confidentiality.

After all, while the Constitution mandates the State to protect and promote the right to health of the people (Section 15, Article II, 1987 Constitution), it equally commands that the privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order requires otherwise as prescribed by law (Section 3, Article III, 1987 Constitution). In the words of the Supreme Court, “xxx protection xxx of the dignity and integrity of the individual has become increasingly important as modern society has developed [and] xxx the capacity to maintain and support this enclave of private life marks the difference between a democratic and a totalitarian society” (Morfe v. Mutuc, G.R. No. L-20387, 31 January 1968).

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

Merceidez Louise S. Ragaza is a Senior Associate of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department (LDRD) of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices or ACCRALAW.

(632) 8830-8000

msragaza@accralaw.com

Pandemic meets geopolitics in the South China Sea

May 12, 2020 | 8:38 pm

Historically, epidemics and pandemics have ravaged societies and civilization as they culled more human beings than natural disasters and armed conflicts combined. Along with natural calamities together with famines and hunger, major epidemics and pandemics have also intensified underlying and existing competitions and conflicts among human societies.

The COVID-19 pandemic provides China with the golden opportunity to flex its diplomatic and military muscle against other claimant states in the South China Sea. As the United States and Japan are distracted by their efforts to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective societies, China is actively pressing its territorial claims in the disputed waters. Chinese warships, coastguard vessels, survey ships, and aircraft have been involved in maritime incidents along China’s periphery. These incidents involved three of the four Southeast Asian claimant states: the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia, as well as Taiwan.

PURSUING MARITIME EXPANSION IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
While China is conducting health diplomacy with its Southeast Asian neighbors, it is simultaneously pursuing the goal of maritime expansion in the South China Sea. In March, the Chinese government opened two research stations on Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) and Zamora (Subi) reefs, two of China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by the Philippines. A Chinese military transport plan was stationed and spotted on Kagitingan Reef. In the same month, a squadron of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft crossed the median line in the Taiwan Straits — an unofficial demarcation line between Taiwan and China — in an aerial exercise aimed at intimidating Taiwan by demonstrating China’s ability to conduct night operation.

In early April, a China Coast Guard (CCG) patrol craft rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing vessel near a small island in the Paracels. On April 18, Hainan Province announced the creation of two districts to administer the disputed waters in the South China Sea. China also deployed a survey vessel, the Haiyan Dizhi 8, supported by a flotilla of CCG and People’s Armed Forces Militia vessels, to shadow a Malaysian-commissioned drillship, The West Capella, near the coast of Malaysia in an area that is claimed by both Vietnam and Malaysia. Analysts see this move as China’s harassment of Malaysian and Vietnamese oil and gas operations by making it prohibitively risky and expensive for both Southeast Asian countries to continue these legitimate activities in their respective EEZs.

BACKLASH FROM THE US!
Although distracted by the deadly pandemic on American soil, the Trump Administration is vigorously reacting to China’s gambits in the South China Sea. In early April, the US State Department issued a strong diplomatic statement expressing serious concerns about the CCG’s sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel and calling on China “to remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemics, and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea.”

On April 18, the US Indo-Pacific Command (USIndoPaCom) deployed three US Navy ships, the USS America, USS Bunker Hill, and USS Barry 50 nautical miles off the Malaysian coast, near the area where The West Cappella was facing the Haiyang Dizhi 8 in a standoff. Later the three American warships were joined by the Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Parramatta. This created a five-state naval impasse that involved US and Chinese warships and raised the prospect of a direct armed confrontation between the two great powers in the South China Sea.

In late April, the USS Bunker Hill conducted an innocent passage maneuver through the Spratly Islands, while the USS Barry sailed near the Paracel Islands as part of the US Navy’s freedom of navigation operations in the disputed waters. Accordingly, these operations were aimed to challenge unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

PANDEMIC MEETS GEOPOLITICS
China’s aggressive moves are not unprecedented, and are not part of a new and post-pandemic maritime strategy in the South China Sea. Rather, they are consistent with Chinese statecraft that relies on taking advantage of any strategic opportunity to expand one’s geopolitical interests relative to other claimant states in the disputed waters. Current US responses, however, implied that despite its preoccupation with the pandemic, it would not give China a free hand in pursuing its maritime ambitions. Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic has not curtailed the great powers’ endeavors to pursue their territorial ambitions — instead, it is intensifying their current geopolitical competitions.

Dr. Renato de Castro is a trustee and convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs Program, Stratbase ADR Institute.

Endangered species may be yet another virus victim

May 12, 2020 | 8:37 pm

By Adam Minter

SOCIAL DISTANCING may save human lives, but it’s wreaking havoc on some of the world’s most threatened species.

In Botswana, which depends heavily on tourism, poachers have taken advantage of suddenly empty wildlife reserves to kill at least six endangered rhinos during the coronavirus pandemic. In South Africa’s North West province, at least nine more were killed as sightseers stayed home. Fears are rising that tigers, elephants, and countless lesser-known species might soon face similar threats.

For decades, there’s been a broad consensus among governments, conservationists and industry that well-managed tourism gives local communities an economic stake in preserving wildlife. It’s a good idea that has supported the conservation of threatened habitats around the world. But the cruel lesson of the coronavirus is that this model isn’t sustainable in a steep economic downturn. If conservationists want to preserve species and habitats for the long term, they’ll need to rethink some long-held assumptions.

Few sectors have been hit harder by the virus than international tourism. Globally, daily flights are down by almost 80% since early April. Those planes that remain in the air are generally flying domestic routes in Asia and the US. The World Travel & Tourism Council, a trade group, estimates that small island developing states like the Seychelles and the Maldives generate as much as 30% of their gross domestic product from tourism. Since flights have been canceled, that industry has been erased.

The downturn has been especially painful in places where biodiversity is the primary draw for travelers. Madagascar, for example, has spent decades promoting its unique habitats and rare species. Its goal was not just to preserve biodiversity, but to create lasting economic benefits for local communities. It has succeeded spectacularly: Madagascar is home to 144 protected areas, most managed by NGOs, which typically work with local communities to ensure that the benefits of tourism and conservation are widely shared.

Thanks to the pandemic, that model is now all but defunct. Since January, the combined impact of travel restrictions and cancellations has wiped out $500 million in expected revenue. Ranomafana National Park, home to 12 lemur species and other rare animals, is generating no revenue at all. Those losses will surely ricochet through the country’s economy and civil society.

And Madagascar isn’t alone. Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have all suspended tourism activities to protect mountain gorillas from the virus, leading to lost revenue for both local communities and conservation efforts. In Costa Rica, a global draw for birders and ecotourists, wildlife guides say that 100% of future bookings have been canceled. In Cambodia, conservationists have seen an uptick in poaching of protected wildlife, including the giant ibis, due to the pandemic’s effect on local economies.

The threat to endangered species is likely to worsen. Studies long ago established that poverty and poaching are strongly correlated, but it doesn’t take a social scientist to understand that communities deprived of tourism revenue will look elsewhere for income. Without an economic rebound, the pressure to poach will only ramp up over time. In previous major epidemics, it took an average of 19 months for visitor numbers to recover, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. The depth of the current downturn will almost certainly require longer.

For now, debt relief and other assistance to developing countries with rich biodiversity could help. Longer-term, conservationists will need to ensure that the economic benefits generated by preserving wildlife and habitats are widely shared. A first step should be including locals in decision-making and the management of wild populations. In practical terms, that generally means giving them hunting and agricultural rights in otherwise protected areas. In Namibia, that approach has resulted in a net increase in rhino, elephant, and lion populations over the past few decades. It could work in other regions too.

Meanwhile, governments and NGOs should tap into the growing sustainable-investments industry for assistance in creating market incentives for conservation. Last year, the Zoological Society of London and Conservation Capital announced a five-year, $50-million impact bond designed to protect rhino populations. If their numbers grow, investors will get back their capital, and a yield. Similar bonds could promote conservation and economic development in emerging regions worldwide.

Of course, there’s no simple recipe for maintaining global biodiversity. But the failure of ecotourism in the midst of a pandemic is a reminder that it takes more than a safari to ensure there’s enough habitat for humans and animals to share.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

The trends that will shape Asian groceries ‘new normal’ — and how retailers can adapt

May 12, 2020 | 8:37 pm

By Charles Ormiston, Marc-André Kamel, Derek Keswakaroon and Gwendolyn Lim

GROCERY RETAILERS around the world learned from Asia’s early experience confronting COVID-19. Now, Asian executive teams are at the forefront of the retail sector’s next challenge — to accelerate into the recovery.

It’s a task fraught with uncertainty. Will there be multiple waves? Will a therapy or vaccine emerge this year? How will consumers respond to the combined pandemic and economic downturn? Yet many of the trends that will shape grocery’s “new normal” are already visible.

Globally, few grocers remain in the initial coronavirus response phase. They have kept their businesses running amid panic buying, supply disruptions, and employee absences, scrambling to protect staff and customers using emergency response teams and lessons learned from China, South Korea, Italy, and other countries hit early by the pandemic. They have hired extensively to meet demand and added online grocery capacity.

Having risen to these operational challenges, executive teams need to plan for the recovery without losing their focus on safety. Grocers in China and other Asian countries are further down this path thanks to the earlier reopening of their economies. Still, no one can be complacent given the risk of additional waves of infection and renewed lockdowns.

On one level, recovery requires a disciplined operational checklist. For instance, retailers need to work with suppliers to increase production of items that fell off shopping lists amid the stockpiling of necessities. Algorithmic buying systems should be restarted, temporary hires trained or released, capability gaps plugged and various other tasks completed.

Speed is vital given the cash impact of remaining in crisis mode. (Some context: Many grocers were blessed with a surge in food sales, but they may have suffered in nonfood categories and were also obliged to spend heavily to keep functioning and protect staff.) To improve their resilience in future crises, grocers should still take time to codify what they learned from Covid-19 before dismantling emergency response teams.

On a strategic level, grocers need to start retooling their organizations to take account of several powerful trends that have emerged or accelerated. The increased importance of e-commerce is the most significant. Many customers who turned to online grocery out of necessity will stick with it to save time. Private-label product supply was frequently disrupted in the initial stages of the crisis; grocers should lean in to private labels, as demand will increase as consumers tighten their belts. A renewed sense of community could benefit local supply sources and regional grocers. Many countries may introduce measures to increase national food security.

The failure of some finely tuned algorithms to cope with the disruptions of the crisis has underlined the need to marry analytics with judgment. Executive teams can also improve their strategic planning by screening out some of the wildly fluctuating macro indicators that are dominating news coverage and focusing more on consumer-level “microdata” instead.

We see other priority areas for action that have particular relevance to regional leadership teams. Many Asian grocers rely on old-fashioned “push” marketing that should be digitalized. Kill the print catalog and replace it with something that works on a mobile phone. Create an integrated view of customers’ online and offline purchases. Make it easier to create and use digital shopping lists. Preferential access to prime delivery slots or urgent supplies may be more valuable to your best customers than promotional discounts, meanwhile.

Most retailers we work with in Asia know they offer too many different product variations, many of which are low sellers or barely profitable. They also don’t devote enough shelf space (and buffer stock) to the fastest-moving items, which then run out too often. Many grocers streamlined product ranges to keep trading amid the worst of COVID-19; further slimming down assortment will be wise in the recovery too.

The same goes for promotions. Grocers in Asia are addicted to one-week promotions that create havoc for suppliers and store managers. The strongest operators in the recovery will run fewer of them and increase the duration (and digital component) of those that survive the cull.

Executive teams should double down on their commitment to online grocery, while ensuring that the channel becomes structurally profitable. The cleanest way to achieve the latter is to charge appropriately, either per delivery or via a longer-term membership scheme. A case could also be made for government subsidy of deliveries as an essential service for more vulnerable households.

Grocers will need to adapt their physical store network to the altered retail landscape too. That could involve closures, space reallocations, and closer integration with online channels. The efficiency drive should encompass supply chain and technology systems to ensure long-term cost competitiveness.

Few retailers are going to find the transition to the coronavirus recovery phase easy. Exhausted executives will need to find the bandwidth for strategic decisions while the operational workload remains extraordinarily punishing. Having 90% of your senior team time focused on the day-to-day challenges while 10% is set aside to prepare you for the future is a good rule of thumb.

COVID-19 is likely to alter the competitive balance of the sector, accelerating industry consolidation. While this ought to yield opportunities for grocers to use M&A to reinforce their capabilities, executive teams could have to contend with an upsurge in investor activism too. Those that don’t contemplate bold moves now might well have radical decisions forced upon them.

Charles Ormiston is Chairman of Bain & Company’s Southeast Asia business and formerly led the firm’s APAC Retail practice. Marc-André Kamel is a Bain partner based in Paris and leader of the firm’s Global Retail practice. Derek Keswakaroon is a partner in Bain’s Bangkok office, leading the Southeast Asia Retail practice. Gwendolyn Lim is a partner in the Retail and Customer Strategy & Marketing practices; she is based in Singapore.

10-4: How to reopen the economy by exploiting the coronavirus’ weak spot

May 12, 2020 | 8:36 pm

By Uri Alon, Ron Milo and Eran Yashiv

IF WE CANNOT resume economic activity without causing a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, we face a grim, unpredictable future of opening and closing schools and businesses.

We can find a way out of this dilemma by exploiting a key property of the virus: its latent period — the three-day delay on average between the time a person is infected and the time he or she can infect others.

People can work in two-week cycles, on the job for four days then, by the time they might become infectious, 10 days at home in lockdown. The strategy works even better when the population is split into two groups of households working alternating weeks.

Austrian school officials will adopt a simple version — with two groups of students attending school for five days every two weeks — starting May 18.

Models we created at the Weizmann Institute in Israel predict that this two-week cycle can reduce the virus’s reproduction number — the average number of people infected by each infected person — below one. So a 10-4 cycle could suppress the epidemic while allowing sustainable economic activity.

Even if someone is infected, and without symptoms, he or she would be in contact with people outside their household for only four days every two weeks, not 10 days, as with a normal schedule. This strategy packs another punch: It reduces the density of people at work and school, thus curtailing the transmission of the virus.

Schools could have students attend for four consecutive days every two weeks, in two alternating groups, and use distance-learning methods on the other school days. Children would go to school on the same days as their parents go to work.

Businesses would work almost continuously, alternating between two groups of workers, for regular and predictable production. This would increase consumer confidence, shoring up supply and demand simultaneously.

During lockdown days, this approach requires adherence only to the level of distancing already being demonstrated in European countries and New York City. It prevents the economic and psychological costs of opening the economy and then having to reinstate complete lockdown when cases inevitably resurge. Giving hope and then taking it away can cause despair and resistance.

A 10-4 routine provides at least part-time employment for millions who have been fired or sent on leave without pay. These jobs prevent the devastating, and often long-lasting, mental and physical impacts of unemployment. For those living on cash, there would be four days to make a living, reducing the economic necessity to disregard lockdown altogether. Business bankruptcies would also be reduced, speeding up eventual economic recovery.

The cyclic strategy is easy to explain and to enforce. It is equitable in terms of who gets to go back to work. It applies at any scale: a school, a firm, a town, a state. A region that uses the cyclic strategy is protected: Infections coming from the outside cannot spread widely if the reproduction number is less than one. It is also compatible with all other countermeasures being developed.

Workers can, and should still, use masks and distancing while at work. This proposal is not predicated, however, on large-scale testing, which is not yet available everywhere in the United States and may never be available in large parts of the world. It can be started as soon as a steady decline of cases indicates that lockdown has been effective.

The cyclic strategy should be part of a comprehensive exit strategy, including self-quarantine by those with symptoms, contact tracing and isolation, and protection of risk groups. The cyclic strategy can be tested in limited regions for specific trial periods, even a month. If infections rates grow, it can be adjusted to fewer work days. Conversely, if things are going well, additional work days can be added. In certain scenarios, only four or five lockdown days in each two-week cycle could still prevent resurgence.

The coronavirus epidemic is a formidable foe, but it is not unbeatable. By scheduling our activities intelligently, in a way that accounts for the virus’s intrinsic dynamics, we can defeat it more rapidly, and accelerate a full return to work, school, and other activities.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Uri Alon and Ron Milo are professors of computational and systems biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Eran Yashiv is a professor of economics at Tel Aviv University and at the London School of Economics Center for Macroeconomics.

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