JAKARTA — Indonesian President Joko Widodo defended his record of fighting the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, asking for no “polemics” or “commotion” amid criticism that he is putting the economy over public health.
The video statement late on Saturday came as the world’s fourth-most populous country’s COVID-19 caseload rose to 299,506. Its 11,055 coronavirus-related death toll is among the highest in Asia.
The government’s handling of the pandemic since March has drawn criticism from some public health experts for prioritizing economic over public health concerns.
The health ministry has recently come under heavy criticism from volunteer groups and more generally on social media for what they say is insufficient spending on the pandemic, insufficient protection for health workers and high prices for private coronavirus tests.
“I can say that the COVID handling in Indonesia has not been bad, indeed it has been quite good,” the president said in the statement on his official YouTube account, arguing the country’s total cases and death toll are lower than countries with comparably large populations.
The president, known by his popular name Jokowi, defended his decision not to impose province- or city-wide lockdowns in places where cases continue to surge because he said that would have hurt people’s livelihood.
“Prioritizing health matters does not mean we are sacrificing the economy, because sacrificing the economy is equal to sacrificing the lives of tens of millions of people,” he said.
“Overcoming the pandemic is difficult, it requires hard work together, but I’m sure we can do it,” he said. “The most important thing in this situation is we should not make polemics and there should be no commotion.”
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is set to enter its first recession since the 1998 Asian financial crisis this year due to the pandemic. But the government’s worst-case forecast of a 1.7% contraction in 2020 is better than many economies, officials say.
The president also pledged to order his ministers to improve their response to the crisis and urged people to complain or provide suggestions to the government. — Reuters
A victory by US presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden in next month’s election could push up Treasury yields, according to some analysts. In Southeast Asia, that may be especially bad news for holders of Thai and Indonesian bonds.
A study by Bloomberg of six emerging Asian debt markets shows those two countries are among the most vulnerable to yield moves in the world’s biggest economy, ranking only behind South Korea as the most responsive. A major reason behind the heightened sensitivity of South Korean and Thai bonds is the nations’ relatively high dependence on trade, open capital accounts, and narrow yield spreads over Treasuries.
A Democratic clean sweep of the Presidency and both houses of Congress may jolt US Treasury 10-year yields higher 30 to 40 basis points over the following month, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a research note last week. Some analysts are already predicting President Donald J. Trump’s positive coronavirus test increases the odds of a Biden victory.
South Korea’s bonds have shown the most consistent moves in response to those in similar-maturity Treasuries, shifting an average 24 basis points versus a mean 43 basis-point swing in the US, or a ratio of 0.56, based on the Bloomberg study. Thailand’s 10-year yields have a ratio of 0.45, and Indonesia’s stands at 0.81, the analysis found.
At the other end of the spectrum, China’s debt has been the least sensitive, with a ratio of just 0.02. The lack of responsiveness appears due to the nation’s relatively low dependence on trade as a percent of gross domestic product, and the subdued level of foreign ownership of its bonds. This dynamic could change moving forward, due to rising overseas participation in the country’s debt market and its recent inclusion in the FTSE Russell benchmark bond index.
China, though, is definitely an outlier. The relatively high level of sensitivity to US Treasuries through the rest of the region means the outcome of the Nov. 3 election may end up being just as important in Asia as it is to US investors.
WHAT TO WATCH
• Thailand will release inflation data on Monday, with economists predicting the report will show a seventh straight month of deflation
• Indonesia will hold a conventional bond auction on Tuesday
• The Philippines will announce CPI data on Tuesday, and trade numbers on Friday
— Marcus Wong/Bloomberg
Marcus Wong is an EM macro strategist who writes for Bloomberg. The observations he makes are his own and not intended as investment advice.
ASSISI — Pope Francis traveled outside Rome on Saturday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic broke out to sign his latest encyclical in the crypt where St. Francis of Assisi is buried.
The encyclical, titled “Fratelli Tutti” (Brothers All), will be released on Sunday. It covers solidarity among people in the post-pandemic world.
The title has prompted criticism, particularly in the English-speaking world, where it was seen as not being inclusive.
In Italian, fratelli means brothers but it is also used to mean brothers and sisters, as is the masculine plural in other romance languages.
The Vatican said the title was taken from the first two words of guidelines, known as “Admonitions,” written by St. Francis to his followers in the 13th century and thus could not be changed.
The pope always uses “brothers and sisters” to open his weekly general audiences on Wednesdays and his Sunday blessing.
Encyclicals are the most authoritative form of papal writing but they are not infallible.
Because it deals with social issues, “Fratelli Tutti” is what is known as a social encyclical, as opposed to those about Church doctrine.
When he was elected in 2013, the Argentine pope took his papal name after the saint to show his closeness to the poor. St. Francis is known as “The Little Poor One” because he renounced his wealthy family to serve the needy.
The pope signed the encyclical after saying Mass in the crypt where the saint in buried in the basilica of the hill town in Umbria. — Reuters
Emboldened by regular testing of himself and those in close proximity, US President Donald J. Trump continued to hold large campaign rallies and events with donors where masks were optional. Mr. Trump announced on Friday that both he and his wife, Melania, tested positive for coronavirus. Image via Reuters.
Early in the coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald J. Trump put his faith in a toaster-sized machine that could spit out test results in a matter of minutes.
In late March, Mr. Trump hailed the launch of Abbott Laboratories’ ID NOW test at a Rose Garden event and embraced its widespread use at the White House to keep the deadly virus at bay. The president often skipped his own administration’s public health recommendations on mask wearing and social distancing, explaining that “everyone’s tested” around him using the Abbott device.
His strategy was no match for the virus.
The president announced Friday that both he and his wife, Melania, tested positive—news that raised questions about the health of other top US officials and threw the final weeks of the presidential campaign into disarray. On Friday, Mr. Trump began an experimental treatment and checked in to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a precautionary measure, a White House official said.
“The reliance on a rapid test, with its limitations, unfortunately gave the White House and its staff a false sense of security that they were in control of the virus,” said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
“You cannot rely on that test to create a barrier between you and the virus,” he said, adding that people “have to wear masks, do social distancing and not go to all these rallies.”
While rapid tests can help contain the spread of a highly contagious virus, they were not designed to be used in isolation. A negative result merely captures a snapshot in time and doesn’t guard against infection soon after. And a person may be infectious for days before the amount of virus in their body registers positive on a test.
Krutika Kuppalli, an assistant professor and expert on infectious diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina, said not enough is known about how these rapid tests perform in people who are asymptomatic.
“Trump was playing with fire and it was really a matter of time before something like this was going to happen,” she said. “Even if Trump had been around someone who was sick, wearing a mask could have prevented him from getting the virus.”
The White House said in a statement Thursday that Mr. Trump “takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously” and that the administration followed guidelines for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible.
As of midday Saturday, a growing number of Trump administration officials and allies had tested positive for the virus, including former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway; three Republican senators including Mike Lee of Utah; Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel; and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Mr. Trump’s close aide Hope Hicks’ positive test was disclosed on Thursday.
DOUBTERS AND DEFENDERS An Abbott spokeswoman said the company’s ID NOW test for the coronavirus—used by more than 11 million Americans since regulators approved it for emergency use in March—yields reliable results. The company referred questions about its use in the White House to the Trump administration.
The gold standard in diagnostic testing is known as polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, testing and is performed in a laboratory. But these tests can take hours or days to process. Abbott’s ID NOW device offers two major advantages: a quick turnaround on site and portability.
The Abbott test, which involves putting a nasal swab in a liquid solution and heating it to amplify genetic material from the virus, produces results in 13 minutes or less.
“In a pandemic, the world needs all types of testing for different settings and stages of the virus, including lab-based testing and rapid point-of-care testing,” Abbott said in a statement.
The White House hasn’t released details on what tests were conducted in recent days on Mr. Trump and Ms. Hicks. And there is no evidence that the Abbott tests routinely performed on White House staff and visitors produced inaccurate results, nor that Mr. Trump or Ms. Hicks were infected in the White House rather than in other settings.
However, despite Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement of the Abbott ID NOW test, some researchers have raised doubts about its accuracy.
In May, a New York University study said the Abbott test could be missing a third to nearly half of positive cases. That same month, researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center found that the ID NOW test identified only 73.9% of infectious samples.
The US Food and Drug Administration acknowledged there were concerns about “potential inaccurate results” from ID NOW in May. The agency said it had received 302 “adverse event” reports as of Sept. 30, including numerous reports of false negatives—results showing patients were not infected when they actually were.
In its authorization of ID NOW for emergency use, updated last month, the FDA warned that more testing may be warranted to confirm initial results.
In a statement on Friday, Abbott said the NYU study was flawed and “rife with limitations.” The company said its device produces results similar to lab-based methods and that even the most sensitive tests can post false negatives depending on the infection cycle in a person’s body and how much virus they are shedding.
A company spokeswoman said “no test detects the virus immediately after the person becomes infected.”
In a statement Friday, White House doctor Sean Conley said the president’s diagnosis was confirmed with traditional PCR testing.
‘DEEMED SAFE’ Emboldened by regular testing of himself and those in close proximity, Mr. Trump continued to hold large campaign rallies and events with donors where masks were optional. He flew to his New Jersey golf club Thursday for a fundraiser and speech.
“It was deemed safe for the president to go. He socially distanced, it was an outdoor event and it was deemed safe by White House operations for him to attend that event,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday.
Mr. Trump and his staff regularly do not wear masks. Last month, Mr. Trump publicly disagreed with Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who testified to Congress about the importance of the face coverings.
And at Tuesday’s presidential debate, Mr. Trump disparaged his opponent, former Vice-President Joseph R. Biden, for his frequent mask use. “I don’t wear masks like him—every time you see him, he’s got a mask,” the president said.
Now, the fallout from the White House’s focus on testing as a precaution could extend far beyond the president and his wife, experts say.
“I expect we will see more positive cases” connected to the White House, Ms. Kuppalli said. “I pray that doesn’t happen.” — Carl O’Donnell and Chad Terhune/Reuters
Being the pioneer in 5G service in the country, Globe is committed to make this cutting-edge technology accessible to more areas in Metro Manila and nearby locations. Check if your area is in one of the newly-fired up 5G sites.
As part of this mission, Globe is delighted to announce the addition of new 5G locations in strategic areas in the following cities:
Valenzuela: Pan Philippine Highway, Tamaraw Hill Road
Mandaluyong: Shaw Boulevard; Boni Ave.
Pasig: C. Raymundo Ave., Medical City Bus Stop
Las Pinas: Alabang Zapote Road, Marcos Alvarez Ave.
Makati: Pasong Tamo, JP Rizal, and strategic areas in Magallanes Village
Taguig: Lawton Avenue, Philippine Army, McKinley Road, and Forbes Park
Paranaque: East Service Road, Dona Soledad Ave., Dr. A. Santos Ave.
Strategic areas along SLEX and NLEX
Globe’s 5G network coverage expansion is a huge milestone—expanding from the central business districts of Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Makati, Rockwell Center, and Ortigas, as well as in strategic areas along EDSA and C5 to now more areas. This milestone also comes shortly after the announcement of the availability of mobile 5G to its Globe Prepaid and TM customers who have 5G devices and are within 5G areas.
With this expansion, more customers can experience faster speeds that they can use to stream movies and TV shows at the highest-quality; lower latency to play immersive online games with fewer lags; and clearest resolution for video chats. Businesses, learning institutions, hospitals, and other related industries in Metro Manila can also take advantage of the benefits of 5G’s next level connectivity.
To experience 5G to the fullest, customers have to make sure that they are on a Globe LTE or TM LTE sim paired with a 5G-enabled mobile device. Upgrading to a 5G phone is made easier and affordable with Globe Postpaid’s selection of the latest 5G phones that can be availed at much lower prices with ThePLAN. The introductory price and discounts applied to these mobile phones are available until September 30, 2020 via Globe’s online shop and stores nationwide.
In 2019, Globe became the first telco in Southeast Asia to launch 5G when it introduced its AirFiber broadband service for Globe at Home subscribers. Now, the service is also available to all Globe Platinum, Postpaid, and Prepaid customers.
To know more about Globe’s 5G network, visit globe.com.ph/5g.
Taxpayers don’t have to pay local taxes on stocks sold through an initial public offering (IPO), and documentary stamp tax on extended or restructured loans amid a coronavirus pandemic, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay on Friday issued the rules that will enforce the tax-exempt provisions of a law that details the government’s economic recovery plan during the pandemic.
The latest exemptions are provided for under separate revenue regulations issued by the tax agency.
Republic Act 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act is part of an economic recovery plan that provides relief amid the pandemic, including a 60-day grace period on loans falling due this year.
The documentary stamp tax exemption will cover salary, personal, housing, commercial and motor vehicle loans and amortizations, as well as financial lease, premium and credit card payments. It also covers credit restructuring and micro-lending.
The provision applies to all lenders including banks, quasi-banks, financing and lending companies, real estate developers, life insurers, pre-need firms, companies offering in-house financing for goods and properties, asset and liability management companies and other regulated financial institutions.
The tax exemption could encourage more companies to list on the stock exchange during the pandemic, Maria Lourdes P. Lim, a managing partner at Isla Lipana & Co., PwC Philippines, said in a mobile phone message.
She said the Philippines is the only Asian country that taxes initial public offerings, she pointed out.
Under the BIR rules, interbank loans and bank borrowings are not covered by the tax relief.
The tax agency also released the rules that will implement Bayanihan 2’s provisions on net operating loss of businesses this year, which will be carried over as a deduction from their gross income in the next five years.
The net operating loss for these taxable years may be carried over as a deduction even after Bayanihan 2 expires, these are claimed within the next five consecutive taxable years, it said.
Ms. Lim said this should be complemented with the suspension of the 2% minimum corporate income tax, Ms. Lim said.
“Under the Tax Code, a corporate taxpayer shall pay either the 2% minimum corporate income tax, which is based on gross income, or the 30% income tax based on net taxable income, whichever is higher,” she said.
“So even if the taxpayer is in a net loss position, it will still be liable to pay income tax in the form of the minimum corporate income tax. Unless this is suspended, the carry-over clause may just be a token relief,” she added.
Copies of the circulars were published on Friday and will take effect immediately.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III approved the regulations. — Beatrice M. Laforga
The country’s franchising sector is expected to shrink by almost half by next year as more franchise owners close shop amid a coronavirus pandemic, according to the Philippine Franchise Association, Inc. (PFA).
The sector started the year with 200,000 franchise outlets, and is expected to end the year with just 130,000, PFA chairman emeritus Samie C. Lim told an online news briefing on Friday.
The number of franchise outlets are expected to decline further to 110,000 by the end of the first quarter of next year, he added.
The group initially estimated P700 billion in earnings for the industry this year, but almost three-quarters of franchisees now expect to lose half of their revenues because of the health crisis, PFA Chairman Richard V. Sanz said at the same briefing.
That would mean P200 billion in foregone revenues, he said.
A PFA poll of 720 members showed that 56% thought the change in consumer behavior was the most challenging aspect of the new normal, followed by consumers’ economic condition (51%), health consciousness (27%), internet connectivity (26%), and lack of transportation (24%).
The group said 48% thought declining consumer confidence was the biggest hindrance to their operations, followed by rental fees (41%), limited public transportation (31%), safety protocols (17%), and the rising cost of goods (9%). These are also draining their profitability, according to the poll.
The franchise group recently identified new market opportunities for the retail sector amid the pandemic.
Stores promoting hobbies, arts, crafts, board games and gardening will start to prosper after the pandemic, Mr. Lim said.
Stores selling fitness products, personal protective equipment, “inexpensive indulgences” such as beer, chocolate, junk food and makeup will also experience growth, he said.
Eye makeup would probably sell like hotcakes in the next two years because it’s the only part of the face that remains visible, without everyone wearing masks, Mr. Lim said.
There will be opportunities in home-schooling, healthcare, mental health and counselling clinics, professional cleaning and crematorium services, he added.
Mr. Lim encouraged companies to go digital and boost their business through loans. — Arjay L. Balinbin
The Philippine central bank raised P50 billion in short-term securities on Friday amid sustained investor demand.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) fully awarded the 28-day bills it offered on Friday from total bids worth P87.51 billion, according to a notice posted on its website. The auction was oversubscribed, against the initial plan to raise just P50 billion.
This was the third straight month the central bank fully awarded the debt paper it offers after the launch of its own securities on Sept. 18.
The past three auctions were all oversubscribed as well.
“The sustained market interest for the BSP bill reflects ample liquidity in the financial system,” BSP Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila, Jr. said in an e-mailed statement. “The BSP’s monetary operations will remain guided by its assessment of liquidity conditions and market developments.”
The bills fetched yields of 1.825% to 1.86%, wider than 1.83-1.85% in the auction last week. The debt had an average rate of 1.8423%, slightly higher than 1.8422% last week.
Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion chief economist at UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. said the accepted yield was higher than Bloomberg Valuation Service reference rates. “This means that the market is really looking for opportunities to earn and this new product from the BSP seems to provide the need.”
The rate of the one-month tenor closed at 1.018% on Friday based on the Bloomberg Valuation Service reference rates published on the Philippine Dealing System’s (PDS) website.
Mr. Asuncion said the result of the latest auction shows that the market remains awash with cash.
The central bank on Thursday kept benchmark interest rates unchanged due to benign inflation and ample liquidity in financial markets. The pause was also expected to give the economy more time to absorb the monetary measures it had rolled out.
The BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase, lending and deposit facilities are still at their record lows of 2.25%, 2.75% and 1.75%, respectively.
Liquidity infusion from the central bank’s monetary policy measures has hit P1.5 trillion, equivalent to 7.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP). — Beatrice M. Laforga
The Department of Health (DoH) reported 2,611 coronavirus infections on Friday, bringing the total to 316,678.
The death toll rose by 56 to 5,616, while recoveries increased by 416 to 254,617, it said in a bulletin.
There were 56,445 active cases, 87% of which were mild, 8.8% did not show symptoms, 1.3% were severe and 2.9% were critical.
Metro Manila reported the highest number of new cases with 1,084, followed by Cavite with 202, Iloilo with 182, Bulacan with 163 and Rizal with 132.
Of the new deaths, 22 came from Metro Manila, seven each from Central Visayas and the Calabarzon region, six from Central Luzon and four from the Bicol region.
Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas and Northern Mindanao reported two deaths each, while Zamboanga Peninsula, the Davao region, Soccsksargen and Caraga region reported one each.
More than 3.5 million people have been tested for the COVID-19 virus, it said.
Meanwhile, more than 300 Filipinos in Japan have been infected with the coronavirus, the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo said.
None of them are in a serious condition, Deputy Chief of Mission Robespierre L. Bolivar told an online news briefing on Friday.
The migrant Filipino workers were being treated in various hospitals in Japan and more were expected to be discharged soon, he said.
Mr. Bolivar said about 335,000 Filipinos live and work in Japan, about 57,000 of whom were overseas workers. A big percentage of them live there permanently.
About 35,000 Filipinos live in Tokyo, where the rate of infection is the highest in Japan, he said. Japan remains closed to tourists.
Also on Friday, DoH said coronavirus cases have been increasing due to the country’s expanded testing capacity. The capacity of the health system has also improved, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire told an online news briefing.
The Philippines ranked 20th among countries with the most cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
But Ms. Vergeire said researchers should look at a country’s health system capacity, not just the number of cases, in evaluating its response.
She also said contact tracing efforts have become more efficient, with workers now required to complete tracing all contacts of a confirmed patient within 48 hours.
The Philippine recovery rate for the coronavirus was about 80%, while the death rate was at less than 2%.
Meanwhile, the government approved a program that provides dietary supplements to infants and pregnant women who are at-risk.
Presidential spokesman Harry L. Roque said the program will cover children aged six to 23 months and pregnant women who are nutritionally at risk. They will get the aid through cash or food packages, he said in a statement.
“This forms part of improving the healthcare of citizens and a means to eliminate hunger, which has been aggravated by the pandemic,” he added.
More than 7.6 million Filipino households went hungry at least once in the past three months, according to a September poll by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The hunger rate reached a record 30.7% or about 7.6 million families, exceeding the 23.8% in March 2012. It also rose by 9.8 points from 20.9% in July.
Allies of Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco have threatened to declare the speakership vacant if Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano clings to the post after Oct. 14, a lawmaker said on Friday.
Party-list Rep. Michael T. Defensor, a known ally of Mr. Cayetano, earlier challenged congressmen to declare the speakership post vacant to see how other lawmakers would still back Mr. Cayetano’s leadership.
Party-list Rep. Sharon S. Garin, who supports Mr. Velasco, accused the speaker’s camp of defying President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s reported order to honor the term-sharing deal that he brokered between the two last year.
Ms. Garin, along with other key House allies, was present during an earlier meeting with the President to settle the speakership row.
“It was clear to me that what the President said is to pass the budget on time and honor the term-sharing deal,” she told BusinessWorld.
“Do we want an opposition Congress or do we want a Congress that works with the President?” Ms. Garin asked. “When you contradict the President, it means that the members of the House want a Speaker who is an oppositionist.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
The National Bureau of Investigation (NB) on Friday filed corruption complaints against former Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) President Ricardo Morales and eight other officials, according to the Justice department.
They also face complaints at the Office of the Ombudsman for malversation, violation of the Tax Code and for failing to withhold taxes on payments to private corporations, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra told reporters in a Viber group message.
This was in connection with cash advances given to ineligible healthcare institutions in Metro Manila, among other things.
“More complaints will be filed in the next few days/weeks against erring PhilHealth personnel and their cohorts,” he said.
A task force headed by the Justice department earlier submitted its recommendation to President Rodrigo R. Duterte to sue PhilHealth officials for graft. It did not include Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who is PhilHealth chairman, in the charges.
The Senate committee of the whole had sought graft and malversation charges against Mr. Duque, Mr. Morales and other high-ranking PhilHealth officials for corruption.
Mr. Morales has denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, a plan to abolish corruption-laden PhilHealth could lead to more Filipinos being poor, according to a congressman.
The law on universal healthcare provides a 30% health subsidy “for every poor individual’s hospitalization, which is a big amount for every household near the poverty threshold,” Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo told BusinessWorld on Friday.
“If the expense would now shift from PhilHealth to the family, will they now fall below the poverty line?” she said. “Clearly, if your expenses will increase, there is more possibility that you will fall below the poverty line.”
Ms. Quimbo, who is also an economist, said at least 20.9 million Filipinos are at risk of falling below the poverty line.
Based on her conservative estimate, 14.2 million Filipinos belonging to the bottom income decile spend P15,000 for hospitalization, while those with level two to three income deciles or about 24 million Filipins spend P23,000.
“It will be the first to third income deciles who will be the most vulnerable,” she said. “That’s about 20 millon Filipinos.”
The lawmaker said the President should instead privatize PhilHealth. “Whether we privatize it entirely or by segments, it should be a careful study,” she added.
Newly appointed PhilHealth chief Dante A. Gierran earlier said that the privatization of PhilHealth could send a wrong signal that the government could no longer be trusted.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque on Friday said PhilHealth’s privatization “goes against the very principle of universal healthcare.”
But Ms. Quimbo said the public has lost confidence in the state insurer.
She has filed House Bill 7429, otherwise known as the Social Health Insurance Crisis Act of 2020, which seeks to empower the President to privatize the agency. — Vann Marlo M. VillegasandKyle Aristophere T. Atienza
A lawmaker on Friday asked the government to suspend its cashless payment system for public utility buses after reports of long queues at several bus stops at the capital region’s main highway system.
The bus stops had long lines of commuters trying to get so-called Beep cards worth P180 to ride buses, Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said in a statement.
“Just imagine, commuters, mostly low-income workers were forced to pay P80 for a beep card, P100 for load with a maintaining balance of P65 and a P5 convenience fee per load for third-party service providers,” she said.
“Not only commuters are being placed at the receiving end, but also some 300 payment collectors and ticketing inspectors who lost their jobs because of this cashless payment,” she added.
Ms. Brosas said the government should manage the ticketing aspect of transport systems, not private companies.
The payment system Beep is implemented and operated by AF Payments, Inc., which is a joint venture of Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
Ms. Brosas said private corporations have benefited from an instant implementation of cashless payment.
Transport Secretary Arthur P. Tugade wants the reloadable card at Metro Manila’s busway and railway systems to be given for free to commuters amid a coronavirus pandemic. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
