D&L INDUSTRIES, Inc. is allocating P100 million to give out as financial assistance to employees and donations to institutions combating the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
In a statement over the weekend, the listed manufacturer said the new pledge comes on top of its previously announced commitment to pay employees their full salaries for the period of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
“Despite the various challenges due to the (quarantine), our plants remain operational… This is only possible as our people remain committed in fulfilling their various roles in the organization. Likewise, we are equally committed in taking care of them and providing adequate assistance when they are most vulnerable,” D&L President and Chief Executive Officer Alvin D. Lao was quoted as saying.
The company is also giving added compensation to rank and file employees that are part of its skeletal workforce. A 30% increase in regular rate, 60% increase in overtime rate, meal stubs, shelter and household disinfecting chemicals will be given to them.
Externally, D&L’s Lao Foundation, Inc. donated P15,000 financial assistance to 99 families where the company’s operations are based. It also allocated P5 million to give to institutions in need, on top of personal protective equipment and sanitation chemicals distributed to various hospitals.
“[W]e will remain steadfast in our genuine commitment to keep our people safe and to fulfill our crucial role in the Philippine manufacturing sector,” Mr. Lao said.
D&L is a manufacturer of customized food ingredients and chemicals used in alcohol, disinfectant sprays and sanitizers. In 2019, the company posted P2.62 billion in net earnings, 18% lower from a year ago due to reduced sales. — Denise A. Valdez
IN ASIA and Oceania, approximately four billion people — 92% of Asia and the Pacific’s population — are exposed to air pollution levels that pose a significant health risk. This was further highlighted with the February 2020 launch of the world’s largest real-time air quality data bank under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), indicating that much of the region endures “unhealthy” air-quality levels. Air pollution is now globally the fifth leading cause of death among all health risks, with nine percent of deaths attributed to it.
To address this as part of its commitment to reduce CO2 emissions, Nissan, which made the world’s first mass-production electric vehicle Leaf, collected analysis of the impact the vehicle has had worldwide since its 2010 debut. At the same time, there is “compelling data” to demonstrate how electric mobility can be part of solutions to address air pollution levels.
Studies show that just one electric vehicle (EV) can save 4.6 metric tons of greenhouse gases each year — equivalent to planting 209 trees.
More than 460,000 Nissan Leaf owners throughout the world have jointly contributed to saving around 2.1 million metric tons of CO2. More than 81 million trees are needed to process that much CO2 in a year. Over 13 billion emission-free kilometers have been driven by Leaf owners — the distance of driving to the moon more than 33,800 times.
With a 55% reduction in current CO2 emissions needed by 2030 to halt global warming, Nissan says that 2020 could be the “catalyst year” of change for consumers making choices, like switching to EVs, to have a direct impact on air pollution. For more information, visit https://asia.nissannews.com/en/ElectricMobility.
THE PESO may weaken against the dollar this week, with more infections of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reported around the world and amid market volatility due to fears of the outbreak’s economic impact.
The local unit ended trading at P51 versus the dollar on Friday, stronger by seven centavos from its Thursday close of P51.07, according to data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.
However, it weakened by three centavos from its P50.97-per-dollar close on March 20.
The peso strengthened on the back of better market sentiment due to the stimulus package in the US, an analyst said.
“Market risk appetite (improved) in view of the passage of the $2-trillion US stimulus package and after Federal Reserve Chairman (Jerome J.) Powell reassured that the Fed will never run out of ammunition in infusing liquidity,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a text message.
Last week, the US Senate passed a law which will allot $2 trillion in stimulus package for those unemployed workers as well as industries that will be hit by the pandemic, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Mr. Powell said Thursday that the Fed will do whatever possible to support a vigorous rebound in the US economy.
Early last week, the Fed committed to purchase corporate bonds and backstop direct loans to companies. It said that it will also soon roll out a program to provide credit line for small and medium-sized businesses.
For his part, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said currency volatility is still being observed amid the ongoing pandemic.
“The peso slightly strengthened but the volatility is expected to continue amid the struggles against the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said in a text message.
For this week, Mr. Asuncion said currency markets will continue to track developments related to COVID-19.
“Downward pressure may be expected [this] week as the number of COVID-19 infections worldwide continue to rise and amid lingering uncertainty to global markets,” Mr. Asuncion said.
Infections in the Philippines climbed to 1,075 as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Department of Health. Deaths also rose to 68, while 35 patients have recovered.
Aside from the rise in infections, markets will monitor the government’s response to the pandemic, according to RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort.
“Major catalysts would be any proposed stimulus to fight risks related to COVID-19, especially in terms of increasing government spending,” Mr. Ricafort said.
Last week, Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act was signed into law, allowing the government to realign as much as P275 billion for its emergency subsidy program to those affected by the pandemic. Prior to this, an initial P27.1-billion stimulus program had already been rolled out by economic managers to aid affected sectors.
UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion sees the peso moving around the P50.80 to P51.20 while RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P50.75 to P51.15. — L.W.T. Noble with Reuters
DAVAO CITY — The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has launched a program to directly connect local government units (LGUs) in the southern islands with suppliers of agricultural produce, with the aim of identifying local surpluses and transferring them to LGUs in need.
Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, MinDA chair, said despite national policies in place to ensure the continued deliveries of food, community quarantine restrictions adopted by LGUs could hamper distribution.
“The lockdowns implemented by the local government units due to COVID-19 could also affect food distribution,” Mr. Piñol said in a statement last week.
MinDA’s Self-Sustaining Food Security Strategy (SSFSS) calls for each LGU in Mindanao to inventory the current supply of basic food items, identify food producers, and forge alliances with other LGUs.
Mr. Piñol said that Davao Oriental and Davao de Oro were among the first two LGUs to participate in the SSFSS, and determined that the latter has excess rice inventory which the former can absorb.
The goal, MinDA said, is to create a common network that can be tapped beyond the current COVID-19 public health crisis for other disaster situations.
Governor Nancy A. Catamco of Cotabato, the hardest-hit province during last year’s series of earthquakes in Mindanao, said the province plans to distribute vegetable seed and livestock to help meet local demand initially.
“We don’t know how long this problem will last, that is why we have to be prepared,” the governor said. — Carmelito Q. Francisco
FASHION designer Ito Curata died at the age of 60 on March 26. According to reports, he died of pneumonia caused by the COVID-19 virus, which has killed thousands around the globe.
Mr. Curata, educated in the US but raised in Batangas, had a storied career spanning three decades. Among his clients were San Francisco socialites and Hollywood actress and fashion icon Sharon Stone. In the Philippines, he was known for dressing former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, several actresses, countless executives, and many socialites. A fixture of the Manila social scene, Mr. Curata held many intimate parties in his well-appointed Alabang home.
The Filipino art and fashion scene has been in mourning since Mr. Curata’s death last week. In an Instagram post by Ballet Philippines, they said, “We cannot express enough how saddened we are to lose a cherished and respected patron and friend, Ito Curata.” Meanwhile, lifestyle blog Handpicked by Ron & Chris, also in an Instagram post, called him, “A proud dad, a consummate aesthete, and a generous soul.”
Mr. Curata is survived by his partner, Robert Miller, and their son, Taj. As of the time of writing, Mr. Miller is still in the ICU. — JLG
SHARES are expected to remain volatile this week, with investors still reacting to developments regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 134.96 points or 2.49% to 5,266.62 on Friday. But on a weekly basis, the main index climbed 10% to put an end to four straight weeks of decline.
Value turnover fell 7.6% to an average of P6.94 billion week-on-week, while net foreign selling slowed to an average of P773.91 million from the previous week’s P1.27 billion.
“What started off as another week of losses turned into a new entry for the history books as global equities markets reversed sharply and ended with massive gains,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in a market note.
He noted the central bank’s several policy actions were well-received by investors, resulting to calmer trading through the week.
“The trend has been the same, we would see a sell down at the open as buyers would not be present, and then, as prices would stop going lower, bargain hunters would come in and scoop up everything they could causing sellers to walk away which would then drive prices higher,” Mr. Mangun noted.
But for the coming week, he said volatility may remain. “Some investors refuse to agree that this is a crisis and are treating it like one massive dip that can be turned into an opportunity. On the other hand, some see it worse than a crisis as human lives are at stake as well as economies. The result is wild swings and colossal reversals….”
Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Piper Chaucer E. Tan shared the same outlook. “We expect that the market will remain volatile and might take cues from US market as COVID-19 still lingers in developed economies and in Europe as well,” he said via text.
He noted while US President Donald Trump approved a $2-trillion fiscal stimulus to address COVID-19 concerns, investors might still focus on how the government will arrest the further spread of the virus.
“We think investors are looking right now for short rallies since the market is very volatile and might remain volatile up until the end of March,” Mr. Tan said.
For AAA Southeast Equities’ Mr. Mangun, trading this week may end lower after the stronger-than-expected gains last week.
“Most investors are not convinced that we have seen the worse. Last week’s rally is widely considered a ‘dead cat bounce’ …based on the notion that even a dead cat will bounce if it falls far enough and fast enough,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the government’s effectivity in handling this crisis will ultimately spell disaster or triumph for our market,” Mr. Mangun added.
AAA Southeast Equities is putting support for the PSEi within 5,000-4,700 and resistance within 5,400-5,800. Philstocks Financial sees the support at 5,000 and resistance at 5,700.
A LAWMAKER has called on the management of Grab Philippines to make proper representations with car dealerships and auto-loan companies to forego amortization collection during the months covered by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and suspend all foreclosures for their partner-drivers.
“Nakikiusap po ako sa Grab na bigyan ng kalinga itong kanilang mga driver-partners. Marami sa kanila ngayon ang problemado na maaaring mabawi ang kanilang mga sasakyan dahil hindi nila ma-update ang payment sa kanilang mga loans. Kung maaari ay makipag-usap ang Grab sa ating mga bangko at sa mga car dealers para matigil muna pansamantala ang kanilang paniningil at huwag munang ilitin ang mga sasakyan kapag hindi sila nakapagbayad,” Puwersa ng Bayang Atleta (PBA) Rep. Jericho Jonas B. Nograles said in a statement Sunday.
The lawmaker said that many of Grab’s 60,000 or more driver-partners are still paying monthly amortizations and their sole source of income is by being a transport network vehicle service (TNVS) provider.
As such, Mr. Nograles recommended that Grab could offer to pay in advance or underwrite the unpaid loans of the driver-partners who are now left without any livelihood because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Apart from making representations to ensure that their vehicles are not repossessed, Mr. Nograles added that Grab should also extend financial assistance with zero interest to their driver-partners to ensure that that they can get by during the duration of the ECQ.
“It is just right that Grab should share the risk of their driver-partners. Itinaya nila ang kanilang life-savings upang maging Grab drivers kaya sana naman tumaya rin ang Grab para sa kanila. Napakarami sa kanila ngayon ang nanganganib na tuluyan nang mawawalan ng kabuhayan dahil maaaring bawiin ng mga bangko ang kanilang mga ipinanghahanapbuhay na mga sasakyan,” he said.
The lawmaker noted that saving their driver-partners from foreclosures would be a “wise business decision” as this would ensure that Grab will continue to have enough TNVS operators when the ECQ is lifted and the COVID-19 crisis is over.
“Grab is making tons of money because of the commission that they get from their driver-partners. Therefore it is to their best interest if they can ensure that all their driver-partners will still have their vehicles after this crisis is over,” Mr. Nograles said. — Genshen Espedido
EMISSIONS ANALYTICS, the leading independent global testing and data specialist for the scientific measurement of real-world emissions and fuel efficiency for passenger and commercial vehicles and non-road mobile machinery, said that “pollution from tire wear can be 1,000 times worse than what comes out of a car’s exhaust.”
The United Kingdom-headquartered company said that harmful particle matter from tires — and also brakes — should be regarded as a very serious and growing environmental problem. It is made worse by the “increasing popularity of large, heavy vehicles such as SUVs, and growing demand for electric vehicles, which are heavier than standard cars because of their batteries.”
Emissions Analytics further contends that vehicle tire wear pollution is completely unregulated, unlike exhaust emissions which have been rapidly reduced by car makers, thanks to the pressure placed on them by emissions standards around the world.
The concern thus is on non-exhaust emissions (NEEs) — particles released into the air from brake wear, tire wear, road surface wear and resuspension of road dust during on-road vehicle usage. The company observed that no legislation is in place to limit or reduce NEEs, but they cause a great deal of concern for air quality.
NEEs are currently believed to constitute the majority of primary particulate matter from road transport, 60% of PM2.5 and 73% of PM10 — and in its 2019 report “Non-Exhaust Emissions from Road Traffic” by the UK Government’s Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG), it recommended that NEEs should immediately be recognized as a source of ambient concentrations of airborne particulate matter, even for vehicles with zero exhaust emissions of particles such as EVs.
Emissions Analytics performed some initial tire-wear testing. Using a popular family hatchback running on brand-new, correctly inflated tires, the company discovered that the car emitted 5.8 grams of particles per kilometer.
Compared with regulated exhaust emission limits of 4.5 milligrams per kilometer, the completely unregulated tire wear emission is higher by a factor of over 1,000. Emissions Analytics notes that this could be even higher if the vehicle had tires which were underinflated, or the road surfaces used for the test were rougher, or the tires used were from a budget range — all very recognizable scenarios in real world motoring.
Senior researcher at Emissions Analytics Richard Lofthouse said: “It’s time to consider not just what comes out of a car’s exhaust pipe but particle pollution from tire and brake wear. Our initial tests reveal that there can be a shocking amount of particle pollution from tires — 1,000 times worse than emissions from a car’s exhaust.”
Added company CEO Nick Molden: “The challenge to the industry and regulators is an almost complete black hole of consumer information, undone by frankly out-of-date regulations still preoccupied with exhaust emissions. In the short term, fitting higher-quality tires is one way to reduce these NEEs and to always have tires inflated to the correct level.
“Ultimately, though, the car industry may have to find ways to reduce vehicle weight too. What is without doubt on the horizon is much-needed regulation to combat this problem. Whether that leads to specific types of low emission, harder wearing tires is not for us to say — but change has to come.”
WE ARE ALREADY in the middle of a stealth contagion. We just do not have enough testing capacity to show it.
South Korea, at its peak, was doing 10,000 tests a day. We did 11,000 tests last month, for just 2,000 individuals (with retests et. al.), and 800 were positive. Half our COVID-19 patients got their test results on the day they died or after.
The Medical City (TMC), along with other hospitals, will soon run COVID-19 tests to help the heroic and overworked staff at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). This will result in a big jump in COVID-positives, as 10 labs will produce at least 1,200 results daily. And it is still not going to be enough.
US Coronavirus Health Czar Dr. Anthony Fauci warns that “this outbreak… putters along and you think you’re okay. Then it starts to go up a little and then bingo, it goes up in an exponential way.”
Let’s stop thinking we are okay. We’re not. We need to implement the five key action points below to combat COVID-19. If, instead of doing these steps now, we again say “pasensiya na” (please be forgiving) for one reason or another, we will all soon be “pasyente na” (already patients).
1. INCREASE THE NUMBER OF TEST KITS
We need more test kits. The UP-invented test kit is still in field testing, but foreign-made kits are automatically accepted at their “local” Food and Drug Administration (FDA) face value. However, the Department of Health (DoH) has started discarding some of the donated Chinese test kits as they were shown to be only 40% accurate.
Results of the local field test will be out April 1. But test kit design is not rocket science — the genetic footprint of the virus was decoded on Jan. 10, 2020, a week after the Wuhan lockdown, and released globally by Chinese scientists. In February, our scientists already had the testing solution (the one that is now being field tested).
Once approved, the local kit will be made in a facility with the highest levels of international biosafety, the only one of its kind here. The local kits are also open-source, meaning they can be run on all Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR machines) that are available here and now. But, in the meantime, we are all waiting for FDA approval.
2. INCREASE TESTING CAPACITY
Getting more test kits is not enough. We have to get more labs. The good news is that we actually have them. We have 1,436 hospitals divided into 476 public and 960 private. The most sophisticated, around 10%, are Level 3, which are medical centers and teaching hospitals. Following the model of South Korea, we should harness the laboratory power, with the right biosafety protection, of these estimated 140 hospitals.
Because South Korea trusted its scientists, early on, to find the reagent mix to get ahead of the testing curve, it can now screen up to 20,000 people per day. That is the number we should aim for.
An increase in testing means an increase in COVID-19 positives. Can our healthcare system handle an increase, including the tracing and quarantining of Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) and (Persons Under Monitoring) PUMs?
3. REPURPOSE FOR BED TRIAGE
There are now three nationally run hospitals in Metro Manila for COVID-19. Not enough. A distraught family reports that, because of the long lines, it took 11 hours for their father to be admitted to the Lung Center — only for their father to die alone a day later.
We need to triage beds by repurposing what exists. We need to create community hospitals for the mild to moderately symptomatic and use Level 3 hospitals for severe cases needing advanced breathing support. More capacity is available with our LGUs. For example, on March 20, TMC’s President, Dr. Gene Ramos, met with Mayor Vico Sotto of Pasig to discuss converting the 100-bed Pasig City Children’s Hospital for COVID-19.
Let’s use ULTRA in Pasig, Rizal Memorial in Manila, for PUMs. Gymnasiums. Churches that can also feed with community support. Hotels lent to the LGUs. Schools, like De La Salle University, that open their doors to the homeless. We all need space to recover in densely populated urban areas, to quarantine PUMs, PUIs, and the mildly symptomatic and their families living in close quarters. A surprising 75-80% of the patients in China were from families and workers that infected each other.
4. INCREASE THE POOL OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS (HCWS)
The biggest constraint to managing patients descending on already crowded hospitals is the HCW resource. A few days ago, both St. Luke’s Hospitals announced 592 HCWs under quarantine. The University of Santo Tomas hospital declared 530. On March 27, TMC reported 122.
COVID-19 ICU patients need one nurse each, while coverage for regular COVID-19 patients/PUIs is one nurse to two patients. ER coverage is a bit of a stretch at four patients, non-COVID-19 patients/PUIs at four. TMC can convert more rooms in its 520-bed hospital for COVID-19 use, but if there are not enough doctors and nurses, then both patient and HCW safety are compromised.
There are 500,000 registered nurses in the Philippines, but only 200,000 are active. We average 38,000 nursing graduates annually, with about half passing their boards. Around 18,000 migrate yearly. Those who stayed transferred to the growing BPO market for insurance claims processing and online healthcare support where pay is higher. As for doctors, there are 130,000 registered, but only 70,000 practicing.
The Philippine Regulatory Commission should relax its three-year relicensing (CME) provision for doctors and nurses so that those who left for the BPO industry, or OFWs who returned to retire here, can be pulled in to help. Maybe nursing graduate Board takers in the last five years can be given special passes to man the gyms and churches. Maybe we can stretch the definition of HCW to those LGU community workers manning the public spaces.
We will also need to train these HCW assistants quickly. The National Institute of Health, UP Manila, is offering free Online Biosafety Training for Laboratorians handling COVID-19. We need to have a similar course for LGUs, community leaders, and volunteers. We can then mobilize more COVID-19 warriors quickly.
5. STOCKPILE PPES AND CRITICAL SUPPLIES
Our doctor mortality rate is at 20%. Spain, with 90 times our number of COVID-19 patients, has 14%. The lack of PPEs, coupled with the impending explosion of COVID-19 cases, shows the need to stockpile right now. We also need more ventilators so we do not have to face the situation in Spain and Italy where the lack of ventilators forced them to let the elderly die.
Look at the math. Italy had over 60,000 cases cycling through COVID-19 on March 28. If we emulated Italy, in one month, 20% (12,000) would need hospitalization. Of these, 4,000 need intensive care. For 24-hour intensive care, that’s two visits per shift per nurse, plus two from doctors. One full PPE (personal protective equipment) set — cap, goggles, face shield or N95 mask, disposable gown, booties — is P500, with 80% of the cost the mask and gown. PPE monthly cost for ICU cases alone is P480 million.
The private sector has already stepped up. Volunteers are making face shields while the garment industry is making laundry-washable head-to-toe bio-containment suits. New methods of sterilizing N95 masks to make it reusable are being deployed. All these can help bring per use PPE costs down by up to 90%.
The latest Philippine ventilator survey showed 1,572 for all regions, a quarter in NCR. We need at least 600 more mechanical ventilators to cover half the national ICU beds. That will cost around P1 billion — less if we can manufacture these locally.
We also need to prepare ICU tents to augment hospital capacity. Ideally, these tents should have negative pressure, and be equipped with ventilators to handle the patient load. Our estimates are that it will cost around P20 million for a 10-bed tent.
While stockpiling PPEs and medical equipment may seem expensive, running in the billions of pesos, we are foregoing an estimated P1 trillion of GDP production monthly because of COVID-19. There are trade-offs in time and money that we simply have to make right now.
Jose Xavier ‘Eckie’ Gonzales is the Chairman of The Medical City, the largest hospital and clinic network in the Philippines.
“When evening had come…” (Mk 4:35). Pope Francis stood alone on a canopied platform just outside the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica, fronting St. Peter’s Square. He peered into the enveloping dusk, perchance to see the usual throng of some 300,000 or more devotees waiting for the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessings on Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, or on the installation of a new Pope — like when he first blessed the flock as Pope in March 2013. But previous Urbi et Orbi blessings were given in the clarity of daylight.
That Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome (Urbi — for the city, “urban”) and Catholic leader for the world (Orbi — for the world, “orb” or “globe”) set the special Urbi et Orbi blessing in the darkened St. Peter’s Square was a metaphor for this troubled time of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has afflicted 621,592 people worldwide, killed 28,791 (as of March 28), and from which only 22% definitely recovered, for lack of a vaccine so far.
“For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm.” And Pope Francis talked about Jesus calming the storm, in the gospel of St. Mark (4:35-41).
“The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have been allowed to become dull and feeble at the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities,” Pope Francis said in his homily. “We have gone ahead at breakneck speed, feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and lured away by haste.” And now, in lockdowns of communities around the world, we are forced to slow down, and we have all the time to think inward.
“…seize this time of trial as a time of choosing. It is not the time of (the Lord’s) judgement, but of our judgement: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not,” Pope Francis exhorts. In the Christian theme of “Man fallen but redeemed,” faith in a Savior saves all from the storms of life: “Why are you afraid, have you no faith?” Jesus asks the disciples. But the allegory of the calming of the storm also calls up an apostrophe to free will: we are what we are, and we are where we have chosen to be.
And Pope Francis blessed the unseen multitudes watching from their quarantine in their homes, raising the gilded monstrance with the Body of Christ, in the Urbi et Orbi signum crucis. “The blessing grants a plenary indulgence to everyone who unites spiritually to this moment of prayer, including through media platforms in this special time, assuming one’s sincere intention of going to confession and receiving the Eucharist as soon as possible,” the Vatican statement on the Urbi et Orbi reminded. In the Catholic faith, contrition for sins and confession of these in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is followed by compliance with the penance given by the confessor-priest and voluntary retribution and rectification for the sins committed.
“In this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about our image, has fallen away, uncovering once more that (blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging as brothers and sisters… (It means) finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of the present time, abandoning for a moment our eagerness for power and possessions in order to make room for the creativity that only the Spirit is capable of inspiring. It means finding the courage to create spaces where everyone can recognize that they are called, and to allow new forms of hospitality, fraternity and solidarity,”
Pope Francis suggests as recompense for the calamity we have brought unto ourselves. And in the tempest of this coronavirus pandemic, the whole world stood still, like when Jesus Christ calmed the storm. Space has been created where partisan politics had divided peoples and nations, and corrupted capitalism in its perverted extremes has justified the seven capital sins: pride, greed, lust, anger, envy, sloth, and gluttony as means to selfish ends. The lockdowns and quarantines of communities around the world has forced micro focus on the common welfare within families and communities in lieu of the macro objectives of countries obsessing to walk shoulder to shoulder with the big developed countries and the sprinting developing nations in the dizzying race of global trade and economics. The gap between the rich and the poor in countries rich or poor has been the proof of guilt for a world that has been unaware of, indifferent to, or has out rightly denied culpability of selfish greed of the haves versus the have-nots.
Because of the undiscriminating COVID-19 virus, the proud and mighty United States of America, the top economy in the world, has put aside its trade war with its bitter rival China, second largest, and probably the most influential economy in the world. Though China (not maliciously, for sure) brought the coronavirus to the world from first infestations in the livestock markets of Wuhan in Hubei province, China is now only number three most affected in the viral infection, with 81,439 cases, 3,300 deaths, and 75,448 recoveries. The US has topped the list for the past week, with 123,498 cases, 2,211 deaths, and 3,231 recoveries. Italy has squeezed in between the US and China with 92,472 cases, 10,023 deaths, and 12,384 recoveries. Spain, Germany, France, Iran, the UK, Switzerland, and the Netherlands complete the top 10 listing of the coronavirus infections as of yesterday, March 29, 2020.
For the first time since the World Wars that ended 75 years ago, global trade has not been foremost in the minds of countries around the world. Necessity has forced focus inward, where countries must “beggar thy neighbor” for the survival of their people before the vanities of power and money. With apparent “global distancing” now prevalent, will there be reverse globalization, or a revival of nationalization of economic activities, after COVID-19?
The US has set up a historic $2 trillion stimulus package for the COVID-19 emergency (the Obama rescue plan for the 2008 financial crisis was $800 million) which includes $500 billion in loans and assistance for big companies, with $17 billion specifically for Boeing Co.; $350 billion for small businesses; and direct payments to lower- and middle-income Americans of $1,200 for each adult, as well as $500 for each child. Together with Federal Reserve actions, the legislation amounted to a total $6 trillion stimulus, according to White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, or about 30% of annual GDP.
The rescue strategy for the Philippines centers on emergency powers given to President Rodrigo Duterte authorizing him to undertake extraordinary measures to contain COVID-19 and mobilize at least P200 billion to help over 24 million mostly-poor families in the country. The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed 1,075 cases as of March 28, with 68 deaths and 35 recoveries. The “enhanced community quarantine” in the whole of Luzon has been on since March 15, with noticeable good compliance by the worried Filipinos.
Christians and non-Christians alike have faith in an all-powerful and all-loving Spirit who will calm the storm and end our anxieties about this deadly COVID-19 virus.
“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”
Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.
(This is a shortened and updated version of a policy brief that was first released on March 22 titled “Addressing the Needs of Highly Vulnerable Households in Luzon during the COVID-19 Lockdown.”)
The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon, although necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19, has resulted in the grave vulnerability to hunger and poverty of households reliant on non-regular forms of employment and with no savings and little or no access to social protection. Programs intending to alleviate the impact of the ECQ should target them first.
We propose here a methodology for identifying the “highly vulnerable households” and estimate the monthly cost required to support them during the quarantine. We also propose a way for government to operationalize this in the current crisis.
A highly vulnerable household is one that has no source of income during the lockdown period and no savings to tide it over. Operationally, we define a highly vulnerable household as one which belongs to the poorest 30% of all households, and which does not have even one member who has a “quality regular job.”
A quality regular job we define as any of the following: employment in government; permanent employment in a private establishment paid on a daily or monthly basis; an overseas job; or being an employer.
Not counted among quality regular jobs are self-employment among those in the poorest 30% of households, as well as employment in private establishments, where the employer changes on a daily or weekly basis, or where the pay is on a per-day, or per piece, or pakyaw, or commission basis.
In Metro Manila, typical examples of these occupations are car/van, taxi, and motorcycle drivers, building construction laborers, shop sellers, live-out helpers and cleaners, market and sidewalk stall and street ambulant vendors, carpenters, waiters and bartenders, among others. Outside Metro Manila, farm workers would also be included.
Using nationally-representative data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), we estimate the number of highly vulnerable households to total about 2.4 million for the whole of Luzon. These 2.4 million highly vulnerable households are estimated to have about 8.2 million members.
After converting PSA’s 2018 annual regional poverty lines to their monthly equivalents and adjusting for inflation, we get the estimated amount each individual in these households will need to address their monthly basic food and non-food needs during the quarantine. Our estimate is that for the entire Luzon about P17.7 billion per month is needed to address the most basic food and non-food needs of highly vulnerable households, of which P13.9 billion is for food needs alone. The total translates to about P7,500 per household.
If the quarantine were expanded to the entire country, we estimate that there would be 5.2 million highly vulnerable households, needing P40.3 billion per month in total, of which P31 billion is for food.
Note that the monthly amount required to address the needs of the highly vulnerable will rise the longer the quarantine continues, as more households become highly vulnerable due to depleted savings or the loss of jobs from an economic downturn, or even a spike in the cost of goods that will raise the poverty line. To date, a projected decline in Philippine GDP growth is already foreshadowing a recession, which is likely to be aggravated by the pandemic-generated global recession.
The estimated amount needed is well-within the budget amount approved for the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, which promises to provide “an emergency subsidy to around 18 million low income households.” Under the Act, low-income households are to be provided P5,000 to P8,000 per month for two months, depending on the prevailing regional minimum wage, but including what the households already receive from the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) and rice subsidy program. The Act also provides for the implementation of an expanded and enhanced 4Ps and an assistance program for households “with no income or savings to draw from, including households working in the informal economy and not currently recipients of (4Ps), of an amount adequate to restore capacity to purchase basic food and other essential items during the duration of the quarantine”.
It is not yet clear, however, how these would be implemented. The identified 18 million households already make up about three-fourths of all households in the country. We propose prioritization of highly vulnerable households as defined above, and for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to take the lead using its Listahanan database, which is the basis for identifying 4Ps beneficiaries. With information on 15.1 million households included, this database should suffice to identify highly vulnerable households as defined above or even using a refined definition.
As a first step, DSWD can identify who among the current 4Ps beneficiaries are also part of the highly vulnerable households and supplement their regular benefits with the amount needed to allow them to cross the poverty threshold. Doing so will reduce the possibility of “inclusion error,” or of identifying those not (or not yet) highly vulnerable as among the highly vulnerable, which can happen if there is too much leeway in identifying the beneficiaries.
For beneficiaries not yet among the 4Ps beneficiaries, the DSWD could consider drawing from the responses and experiences of governments in other countries, such as the monthly cash grants in Malaysia and Thailand (via e-payment platforms), and the voucher program in Seattle, USA, where grocery vouchers are allotted to families enrolled in the supported child care and food assistance programs, and are also affected by the COVID-19 closures.
Addressing the needs of the highly vulnerable should be prioritized; not only is it the humane thing to do, it may help stem social unrest that is sure to follow a prolonged period of hunger and distress.
Geoffrey Ducanes is with the Ateneo de Manila University, while Sarah Daway-Ducanes and Edita Tan are with the University of the Philippines School of Economics.
