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Red Cross warns coronavirus is driving discrimination in Asia

THE INTERNATIONAL Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned on Thursday that the novel coronavirus is driving discrimination towards vulnerable communities in Asia, including migrants and foreigners.

The humanitarian agency surveyed 5,000 people in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Pakistan and found about half blamed a specific group for spreading the coronavirus, with many mentioning Chinese people, immigrants and foreigners.

“It is particularly concerning that both national migrant and foreign workers are blamed for the spread of COVID-19 as they are quite vulnerable already,” Dr Viviane Fluck, one of the lead researchers and the agency’s Asia Pacific community engagement and accountability coordinator, told Reuters.

She said there should be more focus on combating “rumors that are linked to underlying power dynamics and structural issues of inequality.”

More than half of the Indonesians surveyed blamed “foreigners and rule-breakers” while in Myanmar, the groups most often thought to be responsible were people from China and other foreigners.

In Malaysia, two-thirds blamed a “specific group,” most frequently mentioning migrants, foreign tourists and “illegal foreigners,” the researchers said.

Malaysian authorities arrested hundreds of undocumented migrants and refugees in May in a crackdown the United Nations said could push vulnerable groups into hiding and prevent them from seeking treatment.

Police said at the time the operation was aimed at preventing people from traveling amid movement curbs.

In Pakistan, most people surveyed blamed inadequate government controls on the Iranian border, followed by nationals including pilgrims coming back from Iran and then people from China.

In all four countries, higher education had a small impact on whether respondents blamed a specific group, with university graduates slightly less likely to hold certain people responsible, the researchers said. — Reuters

Now would be a good time to invest in commodities, ex-Goldman CEO says

It’s probably a good time to invest in commodities now when prices are lower, according to former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein.

“From an inflation point of view, as an investor, I think investing in material sectors while they’re under-appreciated is not a bad thing now,” Mr. Blankfein said at the CME Group Inc.’s virtual metals briefing. “Everyone has decided that we’ll never have inflationary pressure again, oil prices will never go up again. I don’t think so.”

The Bloomberg Commodity Index is down almost 11% this year, compared with a 2.1% return for the MSCI World Index and 8.8% for iShares TIPS bond ETF.

Mr. Blankfein’s comments echoed value investor Kopernik Global Investors LLC, which has has about $3.3 billion in asset under management. Its Kopernik Global All-Cap Fund is up about 23% this year, beating 97% of its peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Kopernik’s director of research, Alissa Corcoran, said that even though some short-term events such as demand destruction due to COVID-19 haven’t been positive, some commodities would likely see higher prices in the longer-term due to better supply-demand fundamentals.

Mr. Blankfein, who joined Goldman as a metals salesman in 1982, wasn’t as optimistic about precious metals, however. He said he’s unclear if it’s a good idea to invest in gold and silver “because it’s been so long since those metals played a role as a store of value.”

Gold jumped to a record in early August and has soared almost 30% in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic sparked a surge in demand for haven assets. Unprecedented economic stimulus from governments and central banks worldwide has also raised the specter of inflation, adding to the appeal of bullion. — Bloomberg

Trump’s vaccine promises defy the lessons of pharmaceutical history

Every effort to develop a new medicine is like launching a ship across the ocean to hunt for riches. Over the years, we’ve improved the hulls and masts, the maps are better, the sailors more experienced. But even so, vessels get turned back or new lands are barren. And, sometimes, a squall takes down the boat and all her crew.

The Trump administration has set sail on one of the most ambitious vaccine development efforts in history. Operation Warp Speed is likely to deliver a COVID-19 inoculation in a fraction of the years it would usually take. If it does so, it could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and economies around the world.

But the administration has also offered timelines for a vaccine that fly in the face of almost every experience in pharmaceutical history. On Tuesday night, President Donald J. Trump said a shot could be ready in three or four weeks. Then, on Wednesday, Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services and one of the senior leaders of the Warp Speed program, said every American could be vaccinated by the end of March.

Mr. Mango said that there are enough doses in production and that trials are moving at a speed so that “the combination of those two will permit us to vaccinate every American before the end of first quarter 2021.” A few hours later, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that “we do believe that it will be widely available by the end of” this year, though also referred to doses of the vaccine being production by then, as opposed to actually distributed. 

Mr. Mango’s and Ms. McEnany ’s remarks were contradicted by the head of the Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC), Director Robert Redfield, who told Congress Wednesday that it would likely take until late spring or the summer of next year for most Americans to have access to a vaccine. Other top US health officials have said it’s not likely a vaccine will be ready until the end of the year, and that expanding access to the more than 300 million people living in the US will take longer.

“It would be aspirational to do that,” said Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “But I think it’s more toward the middle to the end of the year that you can get people vaccinated. It depends on what the vaccine is.”

The US has launched many ships. Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc., and AstraZeneca Plc have headed out at a rapid clip. The early data look promising, and late-stage trials in tens of thousands of volunteers could produce a rapid answer.

But to deploy a vaccine widely by early next year, it’s worth keeping in mind what has to go right:

  • One of the vaccines has to work.
  • The vaccine that works has to be one of the handful that are already in late-stage trials.
  • There can’t be a major safety concern or delay.
  • The clinical trials have to generate strong evidence.
  • The FDA has to accept that evidence and review it rapidly.
  • The manufacturing has to go near perfectly.
  • Hundreds of millions of doses must be delivered around the country, likely with some degree of low-temperature storage requirements.
  • Even in vaccination efforts that the US runs every year, it’s hard to meet the goal of wide uptake. For the 2017–2018 flu season, only 37% of Americans actually got a vaccine, according to the CDC. Many people get it at work, at school, at drugstores, or in hospitals—places that are largely closed or that many Americans are avoiding because of the pandemic.

There are a few loosely understood rules of running a pharmaceutical company, outside the necessity of making a reasonable return for shareholders.

A first rule is don’t kill anyone. A second one is to help people live longer, better lives. The third is not to get sued by securities regulators.

It’s a simple set of goals that often runs into the brutal reality of drug development, often summed up by insiders with the oft-repeated pearl, “science is hard.” Every year, the pharmaceutical industry spends billions on failure. Drugs seem like miracles, then turn out to be a mirage. Much of the money companies invest in research goes toward projects that are stopped because they either don’t help people or might hurt them.

The result is that most companies—there are, of course, exceptions—are conservative in their pronouncements. And some have been in preparing for a vaccine. Merck & Co. has been quietly betting that the first shot across the line won’t necessarily be the best, and that its experimental vaccine could top the early winners. Some form of vaccine is likely to be needed for years, as well, leaving plenty of room for incremental improvements like better protection, more durable immunity, and more certain safety.

To that end, earlier this month, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a report summarizing expert recommendations for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine.

On page 11, it cites a key lesson from past mass vaccination efforts: “Under-promise and over-deliver.”

Having violated the first half of that advice, the best hope now is that the US delivers on the second. — Bloomberg

Globe Honored as Employer of the Year – Telecom Stevie® Award Winner in 2020 Stevie Awards for Great Employers

For the third consecutive year, Globe Telecom bagged the Gold Stevie Awards for Employer of the Year in Telecommunications.  The company also received four other recognitions primarily for its efforts to secure the workplace and take care of its employees during the pandemic.

The Stevie Awards for Great Employers recognize the world’s best employers and the human resources professionals, teams, achievements and HR-related products and suppliers who help to create and drive great places to work.

“We are honored to receive the Stevie Award for Employer of the Year for Telecommunications.

Globe is always committed to the creation of a workplace that can provide a holistic development for our employees — where they can learn, grow, and help in nation-building.  Even in these trying times, we will continue to dedicate each day to enhance the lives of our employees so that together we can create innovative products and solutions and be of better service to our customers,” said Renato Jiao, Globe Chief Human Resource Officer.

To create a high-performing organization through a purpose-driven workforce, Globe continues to come up with programs and opportunities that empower its employees such as flexible work arrangement even before the work-from-home (WFH) setup became the norm, a one-stop app for human resource requirements, flexible benefits program, learning interventions to sharpen employees’ technical and leadership skills, and paid time off for volunteering activities, among others.

As a result of these programs, Globe’s employee-centric organizational culture has been recognized widely in the industry in 2019. The organization has generated a 91% rating in the Sustainable Engagement Index, an above industry average rating in the Human Resource Asia Awards, and an 88% rating on the Organizational Health Index Score.

Globe also received two Silver Stevies for “Most Valuable HR Team” and the “Most Innovative Use of HR Technology During the Pandemic” for its WOW from Home: How Globe redefines working from home and DUDE Bot projects, respectively.  The DUDE bot or Digital Usher for Disasters and Emergencies was created to monitor employees’ health and respond to their COVID symptoms as well as provide them with links to official resources and tips on how to deal with the virus.

WIth working from home becoming the standard arrangement, numerous challenges have surfaced. Globe responded to these challenges by providing WFH tools such as an updated mobile data plan and partially subsidized broadband plans, a virtual Information Technology bar with remote support, vacation leave encashment for personal finances or availment of gadgets, employee discounts on laptops, accessories, and ergonomic chairs, and an in-house courier service that buys and delivers groceries and other necessities.

The company also has an employee wellness program that connects employees to consultation channels for physical or mental health concerns. There are virtual wellness programs webinars, online workout sessions, and even quiz-show podcasts to keep employees healthy and happy.

Likewise, Globe provides work and meeting etiquette tips to ensure work-life balance and assist employees during the transition. It also led to bots that automate health check-ups, helpdesk, and give virtual recognition.

Globe also received a Bronze award for “Most Valuable Employer” for its COVID-19 response. Aware of its crucial role as a telco, Globe has implemented measures and strategies as early as February to ensure that customers are connected,while its employees remain safe from the virus.  Members of the critical skeletal force are also provided additional support through food subsidy, free transportation, free accommodations, complete medical coverage, life insurance, personal protective equipment, and premium pay.

Globe’s Wonderful Employee Experience program also bagged a bronze for “Achievement in Employer Engagement.”  The program’s purpose was to deliver a wonderful experience to employees, uplifting their lives, promoting their wellness, and engaging them to have their best Globe Life.

The awarding ceremonies will be held virtually on November 5, 2020.

To learn more about Globe, visit https://www.globe.com.ph/.

Forget banana bread, try this dish sponge: pandemic inspires ‘illusion cakes’ in Hong Kong

HONG KONG — A bakery studio in Hong Kong is aiming to bounce back from its COVID-19 slump with “illusion cakes” that appear to be everyday objects until you take a slice.

Dear Harley Cake Studio’s founders Alison Chan and Cony Lam came up with the idea after baking a custom cake for Ms. Chan’s nephew, who loves bananas: a thin layer of yellow fondant wrapped around dark chocolate and Italian meringue butter cream.

Posting such creations on social media brought a new wave of customers to their shop, prompting them to switch the focus of their business to special orders and workshops for wannabe cake illusionists.

Now they can make-to-order cakes that look uncannily like almost anything, from a pair of flip-flops to sea-urchin sashimi or even a dish sponge.

“This illusion cake wave is … kind of saving our business,” Ms. Chan said.

From a crisis level of three-to-four weekly orders during March and April, the studio is now receiving 15-20 orders a week. An illusion cake costs at least HK$1,500 ($194), with some going for HK$12,000-HK$13,000.

“I’m personally super thrilled that we have reached this stage … We never expected that this will blow up,” Ms. Chan said.

“We were just making things that we love, we love baking, we love cake decorating, and we are just making things for fun.”

Customer Chase Ko attended one of Dear Harley Cake Studio’s private classes to learn how to make custom cakes for her boyfriend’s birthday.

“My boyfriend likes Japanese food and Pokemon a lot. Their sushi illusion cake is very cute so I want to design another version with dolls on top of the rice,” Ms. Ko said. — Reuters

Sony PlayStation 5 to launch In November

TOKYO/STOCKHOLM — Sony Corp. said on Wednesday the next-generation PlayStation 5 console would launch in November priced at $499.99 and $399.99 for a version without a disk drive, as it squares off against rival Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox console.

The pricing announcement sets the stage for a year-end showdown between Xbox and PlayStation, as consumers continue to flock to gaming optimized consoles offering exclusive titles.  — Reuters

Fears surge in demand for hand sanitizer could fuel child labor

LONDON — Soaring global demand for hand sanitizer to combat the new coronavirus could increase the use of forced and child labor in sugarcane plantations, UK-based researchers said on Thursday.

Sugarcane is used to make ethanol for alcohol-based gels and seven of the world’s largest sugarcane producers—including Brazil, Mexico and Thailand—have a high to extreme risk of child and forced labor, said analytics firm Verisk Maplecroft.

“A lot of structural challenges that producing countries … already had are now being laid bare by the pandemic,” said Jimena Blanco, head of its Americas team.

After decades of progress, the United Nations (UN) has warned that millions of children around the world could be pushed into work as schools have closed and families struggle to survive the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The UN’s special rapporteur on contemporary slavery said on Wednesday there was an acute risk the poorest would be pushed into forced labor and firms that exploit workers making drugs and equipment to fight COVID-19 should be held accountable.

A global scramble for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like masks has led governments and businesses to rush into deals with new suppliers.

“They are prioritizing urgency as opposed to social impacts that they are causing,” said Victoria Gama, a human rights analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, calling for increased transparency in supply chains.

She said it was hard to know how much sugarcane ends up as hand sanitizer as it is used in many products, from sugar to biofuels.

CONSUMER PRESSURE

In Mexico, where Verisk Maplecroft rated the risk of child labor as extreme, schools are closed due to COVID-19 and learning is being done via television, although some children in rural areas do not have sets in their homes.

The charity World Vision is currently working to ensure school enrollment for migrant children, discouraging drop outs and improving teacher training.

The project’s director Oscar Castillo is worried that more minors will start working in the fields if schools do not open in January.

“There has to be a comprehensive approach,” Mr. Castillo said, adding that buyers also had to do their due diligence.

“If you say ‘I’m not buying from you anymore’, it creates pressure but you’re not helping solve the problem.”

While fears of spreading the virus and government budget cuts make labor oversight more difficult, potentially leading to more abuses, growing consumer pressure for ethical goods is driving positive change, said Blanco of Verisk Maplecroft.

“We’ve made huge strides and from a business perspective it’s not going to go away, it’s going to become more intense if anything,” she said. — Reuters

Travelers snap up Asian airlines’ scenic ‘flights to nowhere’

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE — Qantas Airways Ltd. said a seven-hour scenic flight over Australia’s Outback and Great Barrier Reef had sold out in 10 minutes, as it joined a growing trend in Asia offering “flights to nowhere” that take off and land at the same airport.

Tough border restrictions to keep the coronavirus under control have led to a 97.5% plunge in international travel in the region, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

Many frequent flyers miss getting on planes and airlines including Taiwan’s EVA Airways Corp and Japan’s ANA Holdings Inc, desperate for revenue and to keep their pilots’ licences current, have offered special sightseeing flights.

The Qantas flight, in a Boeing Co 787 typically used for long-haul international journeys, will fly at low levels over Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Harbour before landing back in Sydney.

Tickets cost between A$787 and A$3,787 ($575 and $2,765) depending on the seating class and the 134 available seats were quickly snapped up, a Qantas spokeswoman said on Thursday.

“It’s probably the fastest selling flight in Qantas history,” she said. “People clearly miss travel and the experience of flying. If the demand is there, we’ll definitely look at doing more of these scenic flights while we all wait for borders to open.”

Taiwan’s EVA used one of its iconic Hello Kitty livery planes for a special father’s day flight last month, while ANA used an Airbus SE A380 that usually flies to Honolulu for a 90-minute flight with a Hawaiian experience on board.

Tickets costing $6,888 Taiwan dollars ($236) for a Tigerair Taiwan flight from Taipei that will circle over South Korea’s Jeju Island reportedly sold out in four minutes. The price includes a one-year voucher for round-trip tickets from Taiwan to Korea, which can be used after COVID-19 travel bans are lifted.

Chen Shu Tze, 44, an engineer from Taipei, said she signed up for the flight because the voucher made it a good deal and she missed being able to travel – especially to South Korea, a favourite destination.

“The pandemic has a devasting impact on the tourism and airline industry, so I want to help boost the economy, and I miss flying,” she told Reuters.

All of the countries where the flights are on offer have relatively low numbers of COVID-19 cases by global standards.

Among other airline stunts, Thai Airways International PCL this month opened a pop-up restaurant on the ground, offering in-flight meals served from airline seats to would-be travellers.

CLIMATE CONCERNS

Singapore Airlines Ltd. is also eyeing scenic flights from next month, the country’s Straits Times newspaper reported on Sunday, an idea that received widespread criticism from environmentalists and online commenters.

“First, it encourages carbon-intensive travel for no good reason and second, it is merely a stop-gap measure that distracts from the policy and value shifts necessary to mitigate the climate crisis,” said awareness group SG Climate Rally.

Singapore Airlines said it is considering several initiatives but no final decision has been made on whether to offer sightseeing flights.

Qantas said it would pay to offset the carbon emissions on its scenic flight from Sydney, though online critics noted that would not actually reduce emissions.

The concept of scenic flights is not new. Antarctica Flights has chartered Qantas jets for scenic flights over Antarctica for 26 years. An Air New Zealand Ltd. sightseeing flight over Antarctica in 1979 crashed into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board. — Reuters

Huawei phone prices rise in China on fears of chip shortage

SHENZHEN — Chinese consumers are rushing to buy smartphones from Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. featuring its high-end Kirin chips, fearing curbs on the firm’s access to US technology will soon cut off production of its premium handsets.

Phone vendors in Huaqiangbei, the world’s largest electronics market located in the southern city of Shenzhen, said prices for new and used Huawei phones had risen steadily over the past month, by around 400 to 500 yuan on average.

The Porsche design model of Huawei’s flagship Mate 30 was selling for 14,000 yuan ($2,067), from 10,000 yuan in January, one vendor said. The phone was available at a similar price on online marketplace Taobao.

Consumers are increasingly worried over the supply of components for newer handsets, said one vendor.

“The Huawei phones are getting expensive but that’s supply and demand,” said the vendor, who gave her name as Xiao. “If people like the brand, they’ll pay more—and who knows how good the chips they’ll have in the future will be?”

The US government last year moved to prevent most US companies from conducting business with Huawei, saying the world’s biggest maker of mobile telecommunications equipment and smartphones was ultimately answerable to the Chinese government. Huawei has repeatedly denied being a national security risk.

Last month, the United States further tightened restrictions to choke its access to commercially available chips, prompting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) to stop shipping wafers to Huawei.

Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei’s consumer business, subsequently said the company will stop making its Kirin chips on Sept. 15 because of US measures to cut off its chipmaking unit HiSilicon from vital technology.

HiSilicon relies on software from US firms such as Cadence Design Systems Inc. or Synopsys Inc. to design its chips, and outsources production to TSMC, which uses US-made equipment.

Wholesale traders at the market said they had been busy for the last month meeting extra demand for online sales, with prices of higher-end phones rising every few hours. They were uncertain how much supply remained at distributors.

Huawei does not disclose inventory information. A spokesman told Reuters the firm continues to operate according to demand.

It likely has chip inventory to last through the first half of next year, said analyst Will Wong at consultancy IDC.

“One option for them to have Kirin chips last longer is to ship less for the rest of the year,” Mr. Wong said.

Last week, Huawei said it planned to introduce its Harmony operating system on smartphones next year, in part to overcome US limits on its access to Alphabet Inc.’s Android.

Yet analyst Mo Jia at Canalys said launching Harmony would only be a “symbolic innovation” if Huawei no longer had the chip supplies to make high-end phones. — Reuters

Pandemic “hero” Filipino nurses struggle to leave home

From across the Philippines, they gathered to pray by Zoom.

They were praying to be allowed to leave: To be allowed to take up nursing jobs in countries where the coronavirus is killing thousands in hospitals and care homes. In recent months, these care workers have taken to calling themselves “priso-nurses.”

With infections also surging in the Philippines, the government in April banned healthcare workers from leaving the country. They were needed, it said, to fight the pandemic at home.

But many of the nurses on the two-hour Zoom call on Aug. 20, organized by a union and attended by nearly 200 health workers both in the Philippines and abroad, were unwilling to work at home. They said they felt underpaid, unappreciated, and unprotected.

Nurses have been leaving the Philippines for decades, encouraged by the government to join other workers who send back billions of dollars each year.

With COVID-19 sweeping the globalized economy, the Philippine ban squeezed a supply line that has sent hundreds of thousands of staff to hospitals in the United States, the Gulf, and Britain, where some commentators have called the nurses “unsung heroes” of the pandemic.

The Philippines’ healthcare system is already short-handed. In Germany there are 430 doctors and nurses per 10,000 people, in the United States 337, and in Britain 254, International Labour Organization data shows.

The Philippines—where the coronavirus death rate is one of the highest in Southeast Asia—has 65.

The April ban has stopped more than 1,000 nurses from leaving the country. Of those, only 25 have applied to work in local hospitals, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told journalists late last month. The Department of Health did not reply to a request for an updated figure.

The government has since partially eased the restrictions, but sometimes also tightens them, so nurses are still clamoring to get out.

On the Zoom call in August, someone played a recording of the Philippine national anthem. A Catholic priest prayed and a man with a soft voice crooned a song about passing off your burdens to God.

One nurse, 34-year-old April Glory, had already spent years away from her young son and had been about to leave again when the ban kicked in. Even before the pandemic, she told Reuters separately, she was better off in a war zone in the Middle East than at home.

Soon after she arrived in Yemen in 2011, a bullet pierced the wall of her private hospital, she said. Staff moved patients to safety.

Still, she said, “we were insured, we had free lodging so my salary was intact and I could send more to my family.” Abroad, there was no need to do any work outside her job description: “You are not expected to sweep the floor.”

SIMPLE MATH

It’s mainly money that drives the Filipinos abroad.

A nurse in the United States can earn as much as $5,000 per month; in the Middle East it’s $2,000 per month, tax free. In Germany, nurses can earn up to $2,800 per month, and get language training, labour organizers, recruiters and the Philippine government’s overseas employment agency say.

Even with its emergency hiring efforts, the Philippine Department of Health is only offering nurses a starting salary of $650 per month. It says it will pay another $10 per day as COVID-19 hazard allowance.

Private nurses sometimes make just $100 per month.

“I felt that I was not earning enough,” said Ms. Glory, explaining why she left. Her son, now 11, was a year and a half old at the time. “My mother told me: Better to leave now because my child will not really remember.”

Abroad, Ms. Glory’s shifts were a standard eight hours and she only looked after one or two patients at a time in intensive care. Working in Yemen and then Saudi Arabia, she said she bought a house and a car.

Nurses have recently left faster than they are trained. Last year, 12,083 new nurses graduated in the Philippines. That same year, 16,711 signed contracts to go abroad, data from the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration shows. Those renewing foreign contracts are counted separately. So far this year there have been 46,000 such renewals.

The Philippine government wasn’t able to provide figures for the total number of nurses overseas, or say which countries they are working in.

Filipinos are the biggest group of foreign nurses in the United States. In 2018, there were 348,000, an analysis of US government data by Washington DC-based think tank Migration Policy Institute showed. Even with the pandemic, another 3,260 Filipinos have passed the US nurse licensing exam this year.

A report to Britain’s House of Commons Library in May said more than 15,000 of the National Health Service (NHS) nursing jobs held by foreigners went to Filipinos—nearly a third of the total and more than any other nationality. The NHS employs a further 6,600 Filipinos in other healthcare jobs.

Labor brokers say that, besides the UK and US, Filipino nurses are sought-after in Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore.

36-HOUR SHIFTS

Nine months into the pandemic in the Philippines, reported coronavirus infections in the Philippines have soared to around 270,000. Not all hospitals allow family members to visit, so nurses must feed and clean patients as well as giving health care, said Filipino Nurses United President Maristela Abenojar.

Some nurses are working up to 36-hour shifts because relief staff are calling in sick or not reporting for duty, she said, and sometimes nurses are issued just one set of protective gear per shift. Nurses can’t get tested regularly and if they get sick, there aren’t always hospital beds reserved for them, she said.

At least 56 healthcare workers have died in the Philippines, Department of Health data shows.

“It seems they don’t really value our contributions,” said Jordan Jugo, who works at a private hospital in the Philippines. “It hurts.” He had a contract to work in Britain, but the ban prevented him from leaving.

He said he could sometimes only eat two meals a day and could no longer support his siblings.

The Philippine Department of Health said its healthcare workers work long hours and “it is natural for them to feel tired and overwhelmed with their immense responsibilities.” It said it had arranged for “substitution teams” in some areas.

It said hospitals should provide sufficient protective gear and that healthcare workers should not go on duty without it. Healthcare workers should be prioritized for regular COVID-19 testing, it said, and the Department would ensure there are enough beds for everyone.

Health Secretary Duque has said previously that the government was appealing to the nurses’ “sense of nation, sense of people and sense of service.”

‘I DON’T WANT TO BE A HERO’

Foreign countries have gone all-out to show Filipino nurses they are valued.

Saudi Arabia sent chartered planes to help them return to work, and only partly filled them so the nurses could maintain social distance.

British ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce went on an 11-minute segment on Philippine television to praise the “incredible commitment and dedication” of Filipino healthcare workers in Britain.

When nurse Aileen Amoncio, 36, got trapped by a lockdown and then the travel ban during a vacation to the Philippines in March, Britain’s NHS granted her a special “COVID leave” and kept paying her, she said. The NHS said staff stuck abroad due to COVID-19 could qualify for such leave.

Ms. Amoncio got out of the Philippines in June, after the government eased the ban slightly.

Working at an NHS neurological rehabilitation hospital in the UK, she said she sympathized with the nurses back home, where she once handled as many as 80 patients on a surgical ward at a small hospital. Now she looks after no more than 10 at a time.

Not only are the pay and conditions better in Britain, she said, but she also hopes her daughter will one day be able to join her and get free treatment on the NHS. The hearing implant she needs would cost $20,000 in the Philippines.

“I’ve served my country already,” said Ms. Amoncio. “I don’t want to be a hero again. I am looking out for the future of my children.”

On the Zoom call, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III dialed in with an update: Some of those who had existing contracts could leave, he announced. Cheers went up.

Nurse Glory was one of them. She wept.

“I hope the government will not take it against us that we are leaving,” she said. “We are looking forward to helping the government with this fight in other ways. When we are able, when we’ve risen out of poverty, we will.”

Hours later, on the pavement outside the airport, she quickly hugged her son, then raced to board her flight in case the government changed its mind. — Reuters

How TDCX leads the way with a heart

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — which caused total lockdowns, limited transportation, banned mass gatherings, and upended all kinds of businesses — TDCX Workspace Officer Reem Leonardo found herself at a crossroads: go to work and take care of her team, or risk getting sick.

“It was a mess. There was chaos! Nobody was prepared for it,” the working mom lamented, sharing further that she was contemplating even going to work or not. “I tried a few times to find a ride, but it was really difficult finding transportation to work.”

The clincher was her desire to be on-site for her team, who depended on her to accomplish work necessary to make everyone else’s work-from-home transitions easier. Unfortunately, the lockdown protocols just didn’t seem to be in her favor.

But Reem witnessed how TDCX pivoted through the crisis and went out of their way to make things happen for their employees. The company relocated employees unable to go to headquarters to nearby hotels, initially planning a 2-week stay, but extended eventually to a 2- month stay due to uncertainty. “It made me feel at ease knowing that I will be able to work and still be safe since my accommodation is a few steps away from the office. The chance of being exposed is very minimal,” she said. This attention to employee welfare helped make Reem and her colleagues feel better, even happier, about working through the pandemic especially if it meant enabling easier work-from-home transitions for the rest of the TDCX teams.

Meg Trasmonte, a TDCX Workplace Specialist, agrees. The company highlighted how constant, proactive, and clear communication played an important role in efficiently reaching out and helping its employees get through the crisis whole. The approach helped ease any worries and anxiety at work.

“It amazed me how alert, advanced, and hands-on this company is, especially that our country is under a state of emergency,” she exclaimed. “I appreciate the fact that the company never fails to update their employees through advisory emails. I believe this was a huge help, especially to those employees who work the graveyard shift and do not have the time to catch up on the news.”

Navigating the TDCX office in the new normal

TDCX complied with government-set protocolsand rolled out company-specific guidelines so its workforce could continue working safely amid the pandemic.

Reem, Meg, and many of their colleagues noticed the swift imposition of wearing face masks, temperature checking, and proper and thorough handwashing in their office. Disinfectants were also handed out to each employee. A laundromat was even installed on-site so that workers staying over could wash their clothes. TDCX was clearly up for the challenge of adapting to the new normal as quickly and as effectively as possible, for the benefit not just of the company, but of its people who make the company thrive.

“From the very beginning, we employees were the top priority of TDCX. Before the lockdown, they started to provide surgical masks, vitamins, alcohol, fruits — anything to help their employees avoid catching the virus,” Meg said.

TDCX also quickly adapted social distancing protocols and skeletal workforce shifting mandates to help further protect employee health and well-being amid the ever-changing community quarantine implementations. “The first month was dedicated to making sure that the work- from-home arrangements of 90% of our employees would comply with DOLE’s advice. For the rest of the skeletal workforce during the lockdown, on-site employees were well-taken care of. We had food provided at least once per shift, and we were given packs of canned goods, noodles, and crackers. We were also given a BCP allowance which helped aid us during these struggling times,” shared Reem.

“TDCX was ready,” emphasized Meg, pointing out that the company readily shifted from normal to new normal. “They have provided reminders not only on main doors but also in meeting rooms, production floors and even in the restrooms. They also did floor restrictions to ensure minimal contact. Shuttles were provided to those who go to the office,” she shared. Through these necessary adjustments, TDCX has stayed committed to its goal of bringing out employee happiness to drive success to the business. By keeping their workforce informed, listening to their concerns, and being proactive, TDCX upheld its value of putting employees first even during tough times.

Encouraging a #BeHappier environment

Aside from proactively complying with health and safety protocols to ensure the well-being of its employees, Meg and Reem also shared that TDCX continues to keep its on-site and remote- working employees engaged through its online employee engagement activities. These online activities aim touplift employees’ spirits, boost their morale, and help them stay in tune with their mental health conditions.

“I found it wonderful that TDCX created online activities on taking care of our mental health, because honestly, while the virus is a threat to our health it can also cause our anxiety,” Meg said. She added that they feel fortunate to even be employed during these tough times in a company that puts employees’ welfare above all. “They made way for everyone. TDCX was able to maintain that homey vibe no matter how stressful the situation became.”

TDCX navigates the new normal with its continuous collective efforts aided by teamwork, clear communication, and positive company culture, proving that it’s not just another BPO, but a place to also grow, stay safe, and even have fun. And though the idea of being ‘happier’ at a time of pandemic seemed foreign to most, Reem, Meg, and their other colleagues know happiness to be true while they work for a company that cares for them.

“It may be challenging now and who knows until when, but I strongly believe we can make it through. We just have to be there for each other,” Reem encourages.

To learn more about TDCX, visit their website https://www.tdcx.com/ or follow them in their social media accounts Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tdcx.philippines and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tdcx.philippines/

TDCX puts their employees first: the skeletal workforce was provided with essentials such as surgical masks, vitamins, and alcohol, and even an on-site laundromat!

Pandemic pulls down wealth of Philippine billionaires – Forbes

The collective wealth of Philippine tycoons dropped 22% to $60.6 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the 2020 Forbes Philippines Rich List.

In a list on its website, Forbes said a total of 32 tycoons, or more than half of its total listees, saw their wealth decline this year.

The Sy siblings of the SM Group had the largest fortune decline despite remaining the country’s richest with a net worth of $13.9 billion, down by $3.3 billion last year.

Former senator and property businessman Manuel B. Villar, Jr. remained the second richest, whose fortune was cut by $1.6 billion to $5 billion. He was the richest individual on the Forbes list.

Enrique K. Razon, Jr. moved up to third spot, but his wealth fell to $4.3 billion from last year’s $5.1 billion.

Only 10 listees saw an increase in their wealth, led by Edgar “Injap” Sia II, whose net worth rose $300 million to $700 million. Mr. Sia, known for creating fast food chain Mang Inasal, leads listed firms DoubleDragon Properties Corp. and MerryMart Consumer Corp.

The list also welcomed two newcomers: Lance Y. Gokongwei and his siblings, who replaced their father John L. Gokongwei Jr. who passed away in November, and Soledad Oppen-Cojuangco, who replaced her husband Eduardo “Danding” M. Cojuangco Jr. who passed away in June.

Six people also fell off the list, including Edgar B. Saavedra, chairman and CEO of engineering firm Megawide Construction Corp.

The top 10 richest in the Philippines are as follows:

Sy siblings; $13.9 billion
Manuel B. Villar, Jr.; $5 billion
Enrique K. Razon, Jr.; $4.3 billion
Lance Y. Gokongwei and siblings; $4.1 billion
Jaime Zobel de Ayala; $3.6 billion
Andrew L. Tan; $2.3 billion
Lucio C. Tan; $2.2 billion
Ramon S. Ang; $2 billion
Tony Tan Caktiong; $1.9 billion
Lucio & Susan Co; $1.7 billion

The full list can be viewed at www.forbes.com/philippines. — Denise A. Valdez

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