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Stuff to do at home (04/29/20)

CCP shows online

THE Philippine Madrigal Singers will serenade netizens once again with Tanghalan Naming Tahanan, with choirmaster Mark Anthony Carpio, on April 30. The Ramayana-inspired ballet musical Rama Hari will once again come alive on the virtual stage on May 2. Subscribe to the CCP YouTube channel at bit.ly/CCPOnlineYT.

PETA shows on YouTube

CATCH PETA Theater’s rap musical William online on the theater group’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/petampro). In commemoration of William Shakespeare’s 404th death anniversary, PETA also launches the online series #ShakespeareInTheTimeOfCovid featuring works by and inspired by the renowned poet and playwright. Meanwhile, the Let’s Get Creative series continues at PETA’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/PETATHEATER) at 3 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On April 29, join Gold Villar for a DIY dreamcatcher workshop. On May 1, join Jeff Hernandez in the Connecting Thru Music session.

Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration

After streaming Love Never Dies last week at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Show Must Go On YouTube channel, Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration will premiere on May 1 (7 p.m. BST, 2 p.m. EDT, 4 a.m. AEST). The show will be available for 48 hours. To watch, visit https://www.youtube.com/theshowsmustgoon.

National Theatre online

LONDON’S National Theatre launched National Theatre at Home on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/ntdiscovertheatre). Every Thursday (7 p.m. BST, 2 p.m. EST) they will release free to watch shows which will be online for one week. Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller premieres on April 30. Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra starring Ralph Fiennes premieres on May 8.

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.

Gardening 101

NATURE therapy advocate and founder of creative nature business Plant Project PH Jennie Agcaoili launches Gardening 101, an online series about growing plants while living in the city. On May 2 (4 p.m.), she will teach how to grow plants from vegetable leftovers with Re-growing from Kitchen Scraps. The 45-minute episodes will be streamed on www.facebook.com/AssemblyGrounds. For more information, visit www.assemblygroundsattherise.com. Follow Assembly Grounds on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @assemblygrounds.

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 will be available to stream for free for 48 hours. Watch at https://www.youtube.com/user/enballet or https://www.facebook.com/EnglishNationalBallet/.

The Royal House shows online

THE Royal 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 on Sunday 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) premieres on April 30 (5 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. ET). 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/.

Movie night with Jamie Lee Curtis

EVERY Saturday (in the Philippines) until May 8, Lionsgate and Fandango’s Movie Clips YouTube channels will be streaming films. On May 2, watch La La Land (2016) by Damien Chazelle, and John Wick (2014) by Chad Stahelski. Aside from the screening, Ms. Lee Curtis will also engage with the online audience via real-time chats and movie trivia.

Color Tolkien characters

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

National Museum’s turtle illustrations online

The National Museum of the Philippines offers its second coloring sheet to raise awareness about Philippine biodiversity. The coloring sheet was illustrated by Larie Dianco. To download the illustration, visit www.facebook.com/nationalmuseumofthephilippines/photos/a.195151237175869/3165177150173248/?type=3&theater.

The Paris Opera Online

The Paris Opera offers free ballets and operas for streaming. The scheduled shows are: Carmen (2017) on April 27 to May 3; and the Cycle of Tchaikovsky’s six symphonies played by the Orchestra of the Paris National Opera, conducted by Philippe Jordan from March 17 to May 3. To watch, visit https://www.operadeparis.fr/.

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 National Theater online

London’s National Theater offers free plays online at its YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUDq1XzCY0NIOYVJvEMQjqw).

The Nanny’s Pandemic Table Read

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

Free Nikon photography class online

Nikon is offering free online photography classes until April 30. Topics include fundamentals of photography, shooting for landscape, portraiture, and music videos, and speedlight control. To participate, visit https://www.nikonevents.com/us/live/nikon-school-online/.

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 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.

Intramuros virtual tour

Visit the sites of Intramuros through its virtual tours at https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/intramuros-administration?fbclid=IwAR0aRtUOboFvmpk73FwjO_OZBBD5OKRfoFBWUOGgPAUUpaA7DquxNG0Jlks. The walled city’s sites may also be visited through the Experience Philippines augmented reality app. The app is free and available on Google Play or the App Store.

Photography workshops with Canon PH

Canon Philippines is offering photography workshops for the month of April via its official Facebook page. The workshops will feature Canon brand ambassadors and professional photographers who will tackle basic to advanced techniques, and specialized topics such as food, architecture wedding and music events photography, and vlogging. View the workshop schedule at https://www.facebook.com/canonphils/photos/a.436807569702668/2967524323297634/?type=3&theater.

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/.

NFB animated shorts online

Watch animated short films from the National Film Board of Canada’s website at https://www.nfb.ca/animation/.

Silverlens launches Art Boost

To keep in touch with art lovers, Silverlens presents Art Boost, an online drive to maintain our engagement with art through social media, exhibition catalogues, and videos. Follow Silverlens’ official social media pages for a series of #athomewith, #weeklyartwork, #trivia, and #sundayread. Visit Silverlens’ official YouTube and Vimeo for artists profiles such as Gary-Ross Pastrana, and Patricia Perez Eustaquio.

PEZA firms donate P110 million as response to pandemic

COMPANIES at ecozones registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) have donated over P110 million worth of food, medical, personal protective equipment (PPE), and monetary donations to medical institutions and frontliners addressing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

PEZA in a statement on Tuesday said 137 companies from 45 PEZA-registered economic zones have donated supplies and cash aid.

As of April 27, the companies donated P56 million in cash, P39 million in food, P12 million in PPEs, P2 million in medical supplies, and P304,000 in medical equipment.

Donations have been given to the Philippine General Hospital, the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine, and the Philippine Red Cross-Laguna.

The companies also distributed donations to local government units and “areas with families from poorest of the poor, senior citizens, solo parents, and PWDs (persons with disability), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and volunteer-frontline checkpoints, and not-for-profit organizations like the Project Pearls, SOS Children Village Alabang, and Vice President Leni Robredo’s Angat Buhay.

Some donations were given with the help of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI), the North Luzon Tollways Corp., the Philippines Science High School-Batch 76, and the Philippine Navy.

“As we continue to fight the effects of COVID-19 in our country, we sincerely thank our registered companies for their outpouring help and support to those in need,” PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza said. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Fed’s slowing Treasury purchases may boost yields

NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve’s gradual withdrawal from the US Treasury market as the coronavirus pandemic eases and liquidity improves could dry up appetite for longer-dated government debt and push up long-term interest rates months from now.

The Fed has purchased about $1.3 trillion in Treasuries since an emergency plan kicked off last month to address liquidity issues in the $17-trillion market.

For now, there is no indication that Treasuries have become less popular, with most auctions of US debt being oversubscribed. In an era of negative yields, benchmark 10-year yields between 0.5% and 0.8% still stand out, analysts said.

But the Fed is slowly reducing its purchases, to an average of $15 billion per day last week from a peak of $75 billion per day from March 19 to April 1. Analysts are growing worried there may not be enough demand for Treasuries if the Fed is pulling back.

“If they do withdraw support, it will be the long end that will be under pressure,” said Priya Misra, head of US rates strategy at TD Securities. “People are not getting paid to take on duration risk.”

US Treasury yields raced higher in 2013, an episode in financial markets referred to as a “Taper Tantrum” as the Fed signaled it wanted to slow the pace of asset purchases. The Fed was only able to start shrinking its balance sheet in 2017, nine years after it began expanding it during the global financial crisis.

Treasury has so far issued more than $1 trillion in bills and other types of short-term debt to finance the government’s roughly $3-trillion stimulus package in response to the pandemic’s economic devastation. It has focused on the front end of the curve where there is ample demand from investors fleeing risky assets or trying to raise cash as a liquidity buffer.

But with interest rates at record lows, analysts said it would make sense for the US government, at some point, to issue debt with longer maturities.

Investors are operating on the assumption that the Fed will step in any time and increase their purchases again, analysts said.

“It would be difficult for the Fed to withdraw from the Treasury market,” said Vincent Deluard, global market strategist at INTL FCStone in San Francisco. “In Europe, there are emergency measures that last for 10 years. The funding aspect would be very problematic.”

When the health crisis improves, even if that is before the arrival of treatments or a vaccine, the Fed may be constrained to intervene in the market again, especially with a balance sheet that has ballooned to $6.6 trillion, or about 31% of expected US gross domestic product for 2020.

“I would be careful with longer-dated bonds until I see there are others, other than the Fed willing to buy the increased issuance that the Treasury is putting out there,” said Patrick Leary, chief market strategist and senior trader at Incapital in Chicago. — Reuters

How PSEi member stocks performed — April 28, 2020

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Tuesday, April 28, 2020.

Filipinos approve of local institutions’ handling of pandemic, see outbreak to be solved sooner

Filipinos approve of local institutions’ handling of pandemic, see outbreak to be solved sooner

National ID registration to start in Oct. with 10-M sign-up target

FULL-SCALE registration for the National ID is now expected to begin in October with a target to register 10 million people, after pilot registration efforts set for earlier in the year were hampered by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Deputy National Statistician and Assistant Secretary Lourdines C. dela Cruz told BusinessWorld that the October sign up period represents a few months’ delay from the original plan of a June-July rollout.

“Our team decided to move the mass registration to October,” Mr. Dela Cruz said by mobile phone Tuesday, to provide for the safety of the personnel manning registration centers as well as of the applicants.

“Even if we move mass registration to October, (we have increased the target this year) from originally five million individuals (to) 10 million.”

He said the full-scale registration will prioritize heads of household and single parents, in order to capture more information about potential beneficiaries for the government’s cash subsidy programs.

Mr. Dela Cruz said the first pilot registrations took place last year while the second phase, due to start in March, faced delays due to the lockdown. The pilot programs were designed to reduce the time spent in registration booths to 10-12 minutes from the initial 15 minutes.

He said the PSA hopes to register “most” Filipinos before President Rodrigo R. Duterte steps down in 2022.

Mr. Dela Cruz said the PSA will observe social distancing rules during registration and launch an online pre-registration and appointment system to speed up data collection before applicants proceed to registration centers to provide biometric information.

He said the internal target is to launch the online pre-registration initiative by August or September.

National Economic and Development Authority Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua announced earlier that among his priorities is to fast-track the registration for the national ID system, with mass registration to start in June or July.

Mr. Chua had not responded to requests for comment about the new timetable at deadline time. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Essential industries could be offered incentives under CITIRA

THE Senate Ways and Means Committee is considering amending incentives under the proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA) to benefit industries deemed essential during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency.

“Definitely, I see the opportunity for the CITIRA to be used to incentivize industries that we need right now,” Senator Pilar Juliana S. Cayetano, who chairs the panel, said in a virtual briefing, Tuesday.

Ms. Cayetano said she is looking to provide incentives for industries that are sustainable and job-generating as well as those that engage in providing medical supplies, equipment and other critical goods.

She also said the CITIRA bill will complement the “Balik Probinsya” program, proposed by Senator Christopher Lawrence T. Go. “For me, magagamit ko ‘yung structure envisioned by CITIRA to incentivize these (The CITIRA structure will facilitate the provision of incentives for provincial relocators).”

“If you ask me it could be one of the main incentivized programs of the government because I totally agree that areas of NCR (National Capital Region) and other metropolitan areas (are overpopulated).”

Ms. Cayetano said the amendments will require consultation with the Department of Finance and the National Economic and Development Authority.

“The programs should really be reviewed at this point, so that we can really incentivize those that would generate employment and income… we might have to go back to the drawing board.”

She said the reaction from the administration and her colleagues will determine whether the bill is declared a priority measure when session resumes on May 4.

The proposed measure will gradually lower the corporate income tax to 20% from the current 30% by 2029 and rationalize fiscal incentives. It was approved on third reading by the House of Representatives, but is awaiting second reading in the Senate.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has certified the bill as an urgent measure, which will allow the chamber to approve it on second- and third-reading on the same day.

CITIRA is among the tax reform measures still pending in Congress, along with the proposal to simplify the tax structure for financial instruments, and provide a uniform framework for real property valuation.

The government has so far enacted a measure cutting personal income taxes and increasing or adding levies on several goods and services and another one granting estate tax amnesty and amnesty on delinquent accounts.

It has also passed laws separately increasing the excise tax on alcohol products and conventional and electronic cigarettes. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Tourism revenue, arrivals both decline over 40%

THE Department of Tourism (DoT) said tourism revenue fell 40.62% year on year in the first quarter, after the industry experienced travel disruptions and lockdowns due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

At a virtual hearing of the House tourism committee on Tuesday, Tourism Secretary Bernadette T. Romulo-Puyat said revenue for the three months to March totaled P79.8 billion, after a 40.2% decline in visitor arrivals during the quarter to 1.31 million.

Ms. Romulo-Puyat said the DoT will launch the Tourism Response and Recovery Program to aid the industry. The program will observe a moratorium on the collection of accreditation fees from new and renewing applicants; provide incentives for domestic tourism; extend interest-free loans for businesses; and provide amelioration assistance for displaced workers, among others.

The DoT also implemented an online training program for workers and developed an application known as Maze, which is designed “to address the congestion of people in essential places by crowdsourc(ed) information on the crowd status of a specific area.”

The DoT said it will also require the regular sanitation of accommodations and tourism transport vehicles; provide sanitation and disinfecting devices for tourism workers; and develop online systems to facilitate tourism-related transactions.

Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) President Jose C. Clemente III said that TCP’s main concern now is “weathering the storm” for the next several months as tourism is not expected to bounce back immediately.

“What we have now is a question of survival for the industry. I fully support the proposal of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines that we need wage subsidies. And at the same time, there should be a window for private facilities that will enable these businesses to have start-up capital… because by this time working capital might have been used up already,” former Tourism Undersecretary Oscar P. Palabyab said.

Meanwhile, Philippine Hotel Owners Association Director Jeffrey Ng said the organization “welcomes” the P42 billion funding earmarked under the economic stimulus package pending in the House of Representatives.

“We very much welcome the funding in the stimulus package of something like P42 billion which these hotel owners will need as zero or negative interest loans for the next five years just to be able to survive,” he said.

Previously known as the Philippine Economic Recovery Act, the latest draft of the Philippine Economic Stimulus Act intends to inject about P1.3 trillion to P1.4 trillion in the first year of the intervention period of 2020-2022 to help workers and businesses deal with the effects of COVID-19. — Genshen L. Espedido

ADB approves $200-M loan to support 4Ps

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved on Monday a $200-million loan to support the government’s cash-transfer program targeted at poor families.

In a statement, the bank said the $200-million loan marked the second additional facility in the Social Protection Support Project, which supports the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

The loan will help finance the $726 million needed to extend emergency cash handouts to some 4.3 million 4Ps families included in the government’s Social Amelioration Program.

ADB Vice-President Ahmed M. Saeed said the loan will help protect the gains made in reducing poverty in the country.

“This global pandemic, of a kind not seen in the last century, has disrupted the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos and could set back the very substantial gains the country has made in reducing poverty in recent years,” Mr. Saeed was quoted as saying.

“The new loan supports the government’s emergency subsidy program, which was designed to help vulnerable households get through this very difficult period and avoid falling into poverty,” he added.

The Philippine poverty rate declined to 16.6% in 2018 from 23.3% in 2015, the equivalent to 5.9 million Filipinos exiting the poverty category. The government targets to bring this down further to 14% by 2022.

ADB said it is also preparing an Expanded Social Assistance Project to further support the 4Ps over the medium term.

Since 2010, the bank has been providing support for the 4Ps, a conditional cash transfer program whose beneficiaries are required to keep children in school and submit to periodic health checks, conditions which are deemed necessary to help lift them out of poverty.

The ADB approved a $1.5-billion loan for the Philippines on April 23 to support programs to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

The ADB has also extended a total of $8 million worth of grants to the Philippines to provide food packages to poor families and help set up a new laboratory that will expand COVID-19 testing capacity by 3,000 tests a day.

Earlier, the World Bank approved a $100-million loan to also support the government’s emergency measures and the $500-million Third Risk Management Development Policy Loan to boost the country’s capacity to respond to natural disasters.

The government is asking the World Bank for another $500-million Philippines Emergency COVID-19 Response Development Policy Loan. The bank’s Board is scheduled to act on the proposal on May 20.

The Department of Finance has said it hopes to tap a total of $5.7 billion in financial assistance from multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and ADB. — Beatrice M. Laforga

House bill to make mask-wearing, distancing mandatory after ECQ

HOUSE leaders filed a bill Monday seeking to lay down the post-quarantine rules for people venturing outside the home, including mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing.

House Bill 6623 or the New Normal for the Workplace and Public Spaces Act of 2020 makes the wearing of masks in public spaces and workplaces mandatory, and will require the availability of hand washing or sanitizing stations in “high-touch” areas, physical and social distancing of at least one meter, and temperature checks.

The bill sets the penalty for failing to wear a mask in public at P1,000.

Gatherings as well as the flow of people in government-managed spaces such as public markets, parks and plazas, among others, will be “highly regulated” and subject to guidelines set out in so-called “new normal” permits by the local government unit (LGU).

Privately-organized gatherings in “privately-managed spaces” will also be “highly regulated” and dispersed by the LGU “after determination by authorities that the said gathering is not observing the Universal and Mandatory Safety Measures.”

The operation of motorcycle taxis will remain suspended to prevent the spread of the virus through shared helmets and close physical contact between the rider and the passengers.

Passengers in all types of public transportation will be required to wash or sanitize their hands before boarding the vehicle, be seated one seat apart, wear a face mask at all times, and be made to pay through “contactless” methods.

The bill provides for “green lanes” on the road network for health care, emergency, law enforcement, and supply-chain vehicles.

The bill also proposes the suspension of classes and other school activities until further notice “without prejudice to the academic freedom and levels of autonomy of institutions of higher learning,” provided that no student is unreasonably penalized for their inability to participate in online learning.

Educational institutions are required to establish online learning platforms. Funding for research and the development of systems for learning continuity during times of crisis will be made available by the national government.

The bill also requires all private commercial, industrial, and other forms of businesses to submit a “New Normal Workforce and Workplace Management Plan” to the LGU, which will verify the businesses’ compliance with safeguards prior to the resumption of their operations.

Food service workplaces are allowed to resume operations with take-out and delivery service only, while gradually re-introducing in-store dining. The bill recommended that buffets and salad bars be discontinued temporarily and to create more space in the dining area.

Malls and other commercial establishments are required to limit the number of people inside their premises and implement contact-less sales and customer service.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) will be required to fast-track the implementation of the Philippine Identification System Act to facilitate contact-tracing. The bill also calls for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to expedite and fully implement a national broadband program.

Other government agencies will be required to develop and implement a system for facilitating government transactions through online platforms.

HB 6623 violations are punishable by imprisonment of two months or a maximum fine of P50,000.

If passed, the measure will be effective for three years from the date of its enactment or sooner upon official declaration of the end of the crisis by the President, on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases.

HB 6623 was filed by Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano; Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez; ACT-CIS Party-list Representative and appropriations chair Eric G. Yap; Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. and public accounts chair Michael T. Defensor; Bulacan Rep. and good government and public accountability chair Jose Antonio R. Sy-Alvarado; and Deputy Speakers Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte, Paolo Z. Duterte and Loren B. Legarda. — Genshen L. Espedido

Energy efficiency industry bats for inclusion in stimulus program

THE energy efficiency industry is seeking a share of stimulus incentives to encourage investment in power conservation, which it touted as an opportunity to emerge from the public health emergency with greener power infrastructure.

The Philippine Energy Efficiency (PE2) Alliance said energy efficiency adoption by both the public sector and small businesses will also create jobs and support investment needed to emerge from the economic stagnation caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and lockdowns.

“The urgent PERA bill can potentially include another (“Build, Build, Build”) component intended to accelerate public spending in the next [three] years to bridge a P30-billion portion of a P66-billion capital gap for energy efficiency improvements in public facilities, especially government buildings used by national government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations, state universities and colleges and the multitude of local government units across the countryside,” PE2 President Alexander de Ramos Ablaza told BusinessWorld.

He was referring to the House stimulus legislation originally known as the PERA bill (the proposed Philippine Economic Recovery Act), which has since been renamed the Philippine Economic Stimulus Act (PESA). If signed into law, it will inject between P1.3-P1.4 trillion in the first year of the intervention period of 2020-2022 to help workers and businesses deal with the effects of COVID-19.

“Build, Build, Build” is the government’s flagship infrastructure program.

Mr. Ablaza added that the stimulus bill can include a provision allocating at least P30 billion for concessional loans from government financial institutions to micro, small and medium enterprises to encourage them to adopt energy-efficient equipment.

He claims such investment has the potential to cut the operating expenditures in the public sector and small businesses by about P138 billion between 2021 and 2030.

The investments will also “reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and help the country meet its Paris climate obligations with an estimated 9.4 million tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) share

of greenhouse gas emission reductions due to energy efficiency during the same 10-year period,” he added.

The alliance has proposed in a position paper the inclusion of energy efficiency in the government’s post-pandemic economic recovery program.

In the paper, the group claimed that energy efficiency projects “can be planned, designed and completed to deliver energy savings and job creation impacts in much shorter periods, typically 6-12 months for each commissioned project.”

“Compared to other stimulus activities, a vast majority of energy efficiency projects pose little or no

negative impact on the local environment. On the contrary, energy efficiency projects harvest waste energy from every energy end-use sector and convert such waste into useful energy,” it added.

Malacañang signed into law Republic Act No. 11285 or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act in April 2019. — Adam J. Ang

SRA says sugar stocks adequate amid checkpoint issues

THE Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said the supply of sugar is sufficient to meet domestic demand even with the extension of the enhanced community quarantine in several regions until May 15.

“Sugar milling is on-going and stocks are building up,” the SRA said.

The SRA has received reports of difficulties in the delivery and movement of sugar as local government units are enforcing conflicting standards at checkpoints.

At the national level, basic food commodities have been allowed free passage through quarantine checkpoints, but LGU interpretations of the rules have varied.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has also established the principle of the free movement of basic food commodities in its various resolutions.

“Sugar is a basic food commodity hence, activities related to its production and delivery of supply should be unhampered. With these policies in place, the transfer and transport of sugar from source to market should be unimpeded,” the SRA said.

Meanwhile, the SRA also reported that the two sugar mills in the Bukidnon province have reopened after a lockdown imposed by the provincial government on March 28.

On April 20, Bukidnon Governor Jose Maria R. Zubiri, Jr. allowed sugar companies Busco Sugar Milling Co., Inc. and Crystal Sugar Co., Inc. to resume operations.

According to the Department of Agriculture, these two sugar mills produce 82% of Mindanao’s total output, and 16% of the national total. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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