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Nationwide round-up

P500M worth of fake goods seized after Louis Vuitton complaint

ABOUT P500 million worth of fake luxury goods were confiscated from a warehouse in Manila on July 6 following a complaint filed by the Philippine representative of Louis Vuitton. The Bureau of Customs, in a statement on Tuesday, said the raid was conducted based on “information and complaint from MANLED Legal Consultancy Services, the authorized representative of a luxury retail company globally known as Louis Vuitton.” Apart from products bearing the company’s logo and designs, other goods found had the brands of Lacoste, Gucci, Balenciaga, Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Hermes, Coach, Burberry, Givenchy, Prada, and Calvin Klein, and Marc Jacobs. “Representative samples of the items found are being forwarded to its respective brand owners to verify its authenticity,” the agency said. An inventory of the goods are ongoing to determine the appropriate cases to be filed in relation to the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.”

Pregnant Filipino worker is Macau’s first COVID case since April

A PREGNANT Filipino worker who returned to Macau is the first coronavirus case in the Chinese special administrative region since April, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported. “Macau PCG (Philippine Consulate General) reports this is the only active COVID (coronavirus disease 2019) case in Macau at present,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido D. Dulay said in a social media post on Tuesday. The worker returned from a vacation in the Philippines. Based on the Worldometer site, the case is Macau’s 46th. Meanwhile, the DFA said in separate statement Tuesday that a total of 190 stranded Filipinos in Hong Kong have come home in separate flights on June 27 and 29. Majority of whom were household service workers whose contracts were ended or terminated. It also included several pregnant women, medical cases, and one with an expired visa. As of July 4, more than 68,400 Filipinos have come home amid the pandemic that has afflicted 11.7 million and killed over 540,000 people worldwide. The DFA has also monitored 8,600 Filipino COVID-19 patients, with 2,900 active cases, 5,200 recoveries, and 577 deaths. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Probe on for killing of Manila prosecutor

JUSTICE SECRETARY Menardo I. Guevarra has directed state agents to investigate the killing of a prosecutor in Manila on Tuesday. “We are shocked by the audacity of this attack. It highlights once again the grave peril that our prosecutors face each day in the discharge of their duties,” he told reporters via Viber. “I have ordered the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) to immediately step in and investigate this horrible murder,” he added. The victim, Jovencio Senados, chief inquest officer of Manila, was gunned down in his car along Quirino Highway corner Anakbayan in Paco, Manila around 11 a.m. The police report said the suspects were on board a black special utility vehicle. The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers denounced the killing of Mr. Senados saying that whatever the motives and whoever the suspects are, the act “is absolutely unacceptable in a supposed civilized and democratic society.” The group added, “The claims to ‘peace and order’ and purported ‘rule of law’ once again fly in the prevailing culture of violence and climate of impunity engendered by official hate speech and penchant for vindictiveness.” — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Embracing digital transformation in the time of COVID-19

The virulence and lethality of the novel coronavirus is expected to have a profound impact on the world. With global production grinding to a halt and supply chains disrupted, the World Trade Organization (WTO) sees global trade to fall between 13% to 23%. While for its part, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that COVID-19 will result in a loss of 195 million jobs worldwide.

In the Philippines, COVID-19 has triggered massive lockdowns and work stoppages to mitigate the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, these extreme measures are expected to further dampen economic growth. In fact, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) estimates the damage to the economy will amount to P1 trillion to P2.5 trillion. Moreover, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) expects a loss of around 5 million jobs with 45,000 Overseas Filipino Workers expected to return to the country due to the global slowdown.

Although there is much gloom and doom in the air nowadays, the current pandemic is also fast tracking the adoption of digital transformation (Dx) strategies resulting in new and innovative practices. Globally, we are witnessing unprecedented changes of the IT industry to better support these emerging business models. Notable examples of these new practices are the ubiquity of digital payments, new work from home arrangements, and the widespread use of online learning applications.

As a strategy, Dx entails the need to rethink and transform an organization’s strategic perspective, business processes and culture. Usually viewed as the movement from organization-based IT systems to multiple cloud-based environments, Dx-inspired practices also include connected workers, integrated ICT platforms, advanced analytics, and remote operations. Furthermore, the adoption of Dx strategies underscores the need for a robust digital infrastructure that facilitates major changes in organizations through the following: a.) creating new business models; b.) streamlining of operations, thus decreasing cost; c.) improving access to products and services; and, d.) enhancing the customer experience.

Overall, success in a Dx-enabled business environment will be defined by an organization’s agility through its ability to respond to emerging trends and consumer demand as well as its capacity to achieve integration with suppliers, thus ensuring rapid time-to-value product development.

In the public sector, Dx can also be viewed as a strategy to further eliminate the country’s digital divide and support good governance. The government’s Philippine Digital Transformation Strategy (2017-2022) encapsulates the overall plan to attain the country’s Dx goals. However, given the adverse impact of COVID-19, there is a new sense of urgency that demands for its recalibration and immediate implementation.

Moreover, there is a need to go beyond the “business as usual” mentality and not settle for a strategy that is simply an amalgamation of existing e-government and other legacy plans. Rather, there is an urgent need to develop a new roadmap that identifies its key milestones and targets. It also needs to designate the critical areas in our society where Dx can foster growth and innovation.

For instance, micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) will benefit from this roadmap through the creation of digital markets that integrates suppliers and customers into a single marketplace.

While local governments can create their customized service portals to integrate citizen, business, and property registries as well as use data analytics to aid local decision making, these service portals also provide a venue to promote transparency and openness as well as encourage citizen participation in governance.

Another area of opportunity is education. The shift to an online learning regimen will now require the creation of digital content, the use of new learning management systems and the development of new skills. If done correctly, Dx in education can transcend the limitations of physical learning and create new opportunities for access to education in underserved areas of the country.

Of course, all of these will not be possible without improving our country’s current digital infrastructure. We need scalable, cost efficient and secure technologies that can guarantee the much-needed access and bandwidth requirements. However, for this to happen, the national government must invest in last-mile access and work with industry to expand digital infrastructure and increase access in areas that need it most. Key to this is identifying policy and bureaucratic roadblocks at both the national and local government levels that are slowing the expansion of digital infrastructure

As the pandemic is fast tracking the adoption of Dx strategies, the government should simultaneously fast track the country’s digital infrastructure strategies and development, as well.

Lastly, it is also important for policy makers to foresee the need to harmonize our existing laws and programs. Our laws on ease of doing business, innovation, and the national ID system are excellent baseline policies that can be used for the country’s Dx initiatives. However, it is also imperative to reexamine these policies to ensure that common goals are defined, and persistent problems are addressed.

 

Dr. Sherwin E. Ona is an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department, De La Salle University, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Stratbase ADR Institute.

Arctic oil infrastructure faces climate karma

By Julian Lee

BEACHES, clear blue seas, scorching temperatures and long days. Forget the Caribbean, your next summer beach holiday could be on the shores of Russia’s Arctic Ocean.

Temperatures at Nizhnyaya Pesha, some 840 miles (1,352 kilometers) northeast of Moscow and just 12 miles from the Arctic Ocean coast, reached 86 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) in early June — a disaster for anyone worried about the planet’s future. Further to the east and further inland, things got even hotter. Russia’s state weather authority confirmed that the temperature at the small town of Verkhoyansk — which sits about 70 miles north of the Arctic Circle and boasts the Pole of Cold District Museum of Local Lore as its only tourist attraction listed on Tripadvisor — hit 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees C) on June 20.

Most alarming, though, is not the temperature itself, but the fact that this wasn’t an isolated incident. Rather, it is part of a heatwave that has persisted since the end of last year. On average, temperatures in western Siberia have been 10 degrees Fahrenheit above normal since December, according to the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Uncontrolled fires are already sweeping across the forests of Russia, and have been for months. On Friday, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources reported that efforts were being made to extinguish 272 forest fires covering an area 12 times the size of the District of Columbia, including 10 on specially protected natural territories extending over an area bigger than Manhattan.

Rising Arctic temperatures strike at the heart of the Russian economy, which is largely built upon the extraction of oil and gas. Rising temperatures are melting the permafrost and impairing its ability to support structures built on it. The changes threaten the “structural stability and functional capacities” of oil industry infrastructure, according to the “Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate” report adopted in September by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

We’re already seeing the impact. As my colleague Clara Ferreira Marques wrote, a devastating Arctic fuel spill on May 29 appears to have been caused by melting permafrost. More than 20,000 tons of diesel fuel (or about 150,000 barrels) leaked from a storage tank owned by MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, polluting rivers and lakes that drain into the Arctic Ocean’s Kara Sea. The company blamed the “sudden subsidence of supports which served for more than 30 years without problems” for the damage that allowed the fuel to escape from the tank.

Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office ordered thorough checks to be carried out on particularly dangerous installations built on territories exposed to permafrost melting. For the oil and gas sector, that’s likely to cover pipelines and processing plants, as well as storage tanks. It’s going to be a massive undertaking. Some “45% of the oil and natural gas production fields in the Russian Arctic are located in the highest hazard zone,” according to the IPCC report.

While many of the country’s newest oil and gas fields are situated far to the north, in areas of continuous permafrost, many of the older ones, which form the bedrock of the industry, are in the discontinuous permafrost zone. That area is also crossed by the major pipelines that carry hydrocarbons to customers and export terminals.

The heatwave experienced so far this year in Siberia reflects temperature changes that weren’t generally forecast to occur until the end of the century. The rapid changes that are happening to the climate of the world’s northern regions means that even the infrastructure built on areas of continuous permafrost may soon be at risk, too. And that mitigation measures deemed appropriate now may soon be viewed as inadequate.

And what’s true in the Arctic north of Russia may also hold in the Arctic north of the Americas. Most of Alaska is underlain by permafrost — continuous across the North Slope (the borough that covers the northern third of the state and is home to its oil production), discontinuous over most of the rest of the state. The risks that bedevil oil and gas infrastructure are no less severe here.

The US Bureau of Land Management plans to open an Indiana-sized region of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to new oil and gas development. Doing so is meant to be a boon to US oil independence and Alaska’s state budget, capable of delivering 500,000 barrels of oil a day, according to BLM estimates.

It could also be a curse. The bureau warns in its environmental impact statement that the new development could be responsible for greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 1% of the US total in 2018. Increased industrial activity in the area, on top of the already altered landscape thanks to global warming, creates a host of risks to wildlife from polar bears to eagles and could lead to deadly walrus stampedes. Environmental groups vow to fight the move, which is expected to be finalized by the end of July.

Whether oil companies will rush to pour their dollars into frontier exploration in a region that will expose them to unflinching scrutiny and, very likely, unwanted social media campaigns, is questionable — particularly at a time when those investment dollars have become scarce and companies are increasingly focused on the quick returns from investing in the shale deposits of Texas, New Mexico, and other, more climatically benign, states.

If the northern latitudes continue warming as they are, the implications will be grave for all of us.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Broadcast media and government regulation

Broadcasting, whether by radio or television stations, requires authorization from the government before they can operate. The pre-regulation history of radio and television stations illustrates the need for government intervention, as opposed to other industries such as print media and the Internet. The rationale for the imposition of government regulation is that the airwaves, the medium utilized by broadcast, are not susceptible to appropriation, nor can they be the object of any claim of ownership. A broadcast corporation cannot appropriate a certain frequency without regard for government regulation or for the rights of others. This can only be accomplished if the industry itself is subjected to regulation whereby broadcasters receive entitlement to exclusive use of their respective or particular frequencies. The basis for regulation is rooted in empiricism — “that broadcast frequencies are a scarce resource whose use could be regulated and rationalized only by the Government.” (Divinagracia v. Consolidated Broadcasting System, Inc., G.R. No. 162272, April 7, 2009; Eastern Broadcasting Corporation v. Dy, G.R. No. L-59329. July 19, 1985)

Radio and television broadcasting companies, which are given franchises, do not own the airwaves and frequencies through which they transmit broadcast signals and images. They are merely given the temporary privilege of using them. Since a franchise is a mere privilege, the exercise of the privilege may reasonably be burdened with the performance by the grantee of some form of public service. (Telecommunications and Broadcast Attorneys of the Philippines, Inc. v. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 132922, April 21, 1998)

However, the Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech and expression. It is well settled that expressions by means of newspapers, radio, television, and motion pictures come within the broad protection of the free speech and expression clause.

Jurisprudence provides for the two regulations of the freedom of speech — content-neutral regulation, i.e., one which is merely concerned with the incidents of speech, or one that merely controls the time, place, or manner, and under well-defined standards; and a content-based restraint or censorship, i.e., the restriction is based on the subject matter of the utterance or speech. A content-based regulation is based on the subject matter of the utterance or speech. It is the communicative impact of the speech or the reader’s possible reaction to the ideas expressed that is being regulated. Typically, strict scrutiny is applied to content-based regulations of speech and requires that laws “be narrowly tailored to promote a compelling Government interest.” A content-neutral regulation, on the other hand, is merely concerned with the incidents of the speech; or merely controls the time, place, or manner of the speech under well-defined standard, independent of the content of the speech. For content-neutral regulation, an intermediate test is employed, which requires that the regulation be narrowly drawn to pursue a substantial or significant government interest, provided that the regulation of the time, place, or manner of speech is not discrimination based on the communicative content of the speech.

The act of the government requiring the franchise and CPC can be argued, when applied to a television station, as content-neutral since the twin-requirement would apply to any other television station that wishes to operate within the country. It merely controls the manner of broadcasting under well-defined standards, such as financial and technical capacity of the franchise/license applicant. Thus, applying the intermediate test, the government is justified to regulate it due to the interest of the government in allocating the limited frequencies to qualified applicants.

Broadcast frequencies, such as those used by television networks, are limited resources, and as such, relevant conditions may validly be imposed on the grantees or licensees. Considering also the pervasiveness of radio and television in the lives of Filipinos, regulation by the government of broadcasting is necessary. However, it must not be forgotten that broadcast media is also a constitutionally protected right, and thus, government regulation should not be used to disguise any other agenda aside from significant interest — the protection of the public.

Chrissette C. Agustin, is an associate of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW).

 

ccagustin@accralaw.com

0288308000

SBP still busy despite lockdown, say officials

DESPITE THE CORONAVIRUS disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic being a going concern in the country and continues to disrupt various affairs, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is still performing its duties, the group’s officials said.

Served as guests at Tuesday’s online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum, SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios and Director for Operations Butch Antonio said the past months with quarantine restrictions have made doing their job challenging but it has not stopped the local basketball federation from attending to various matters.

“We can say it has been a busy lockdown for the SBP,” Mr. Antonio said.

Among the concerns the SBP is attending to is making sure that stakeholders affected by the pandemic are taken care of.

Mr. Barrios shared that even before stakeholders asked for help, the federation already met and brainstormed on possible assistance it can give.

The SBP agreed to give P150,000 each for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, which federation officials there distributed to members, like referees and table officials. A maximum amount of P3,000 was given to members so as more people could benefit.

Mr. Barrios was happy to report that the response to the effort was positive.

The SBP officials also shared that training continues for their various stakeholders albeit done online as big gatherings are still prohibited under existing measures put up by the government to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Webinars involving game officials and coaches had been conducted and are set to happen, the SBP said.

The SBP also held a videoconference in May with other sports federations where they shared inputs on how sports can return.

Recently, the federation was busy rallying behind the Philippine esports team, “E-Gilas,” that competed in the inaugural FIBA Esports Open and swept all of its games against Indonesia to win the Southeast Asian conference.

Messrs. Barrios and Antonio said the basketball body is high on the potential of esports basketball for the country and that they will try to further incorporate the sport in their program.

3X3 OQT AND OTHER COMPETITIONS
Meanwhile, Mr. Antonio said they are continuously planning for competitions that the country will be participating in, including the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in May next year, despite the uncertainty concerning COVID-19.

“We are planning for that (3×3 OQT). We have a steering committee for it. We will convene once there is already a firm and detailed plan for the resumption of practices from the government,” the SBP operations director said.

The same goes for Gilas Pilipinas, which is competing in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

The SBP is currently monitoring the situation in relation to the tournament and is ready to adjust as needed.

The Philippines sports a 1-0 record in the qualifiers and is scheduled to play Korea and Thailand in Group A action in November.

Also at the PSA Forum, the SBP officials shared that the country’s preparations for the FIBA World Cup 2023, which the Philippines is hosting along with Japan and Indonesia, are unhampered by the current conditions with the pandemic.

“We are constantly in communication with FIBA and our counterparts in Japan and Indonesia. We have regular videoconferences with them, discussing various matters like financial models, marketing and the directions to take,” said Mr. Barrios.

He went on to say that among the early things they have agreed on is the event logo, which is now up for FIBA approval and they plan to unveil sometime in September.

“Times are tough but the SBP is working to keep basketball relevant. Our programs will continue with the safety of everyone, of course, in prime consideration,” said Mr. Antonio as he reiterated the federation’s commitment to the sport and its development. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Espejo, De Guzman lament how COVID-19 halted men’s volleyball push

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

HAVING SEEN how men’s volleyball steadily picked up momentum in interest in the last few years, national players Marck Espejo and John Vic de Guzman said it is just unfortunate that such push of the sports was halted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

But the two volleyball stars remain optimistic that men’s volleyball would soar anew, supported by the platforms already in place with leagues like the Spikers’ Turf.

Sidelined like most athletes because of the restrictions put up to fight against COVID-19, particularly that prohibiting the conduct of team sports, Messrs. Espejo and De Guzman said the current situation for them has been tough but they are trying to cope up the best way they can.

One of the things they miss is logging time on the volleyball court to train.

While they keep themselves busy by maintaining their shape by working out at home, time spent on the court is still different, they said.

“Of course there are still home workouts that we can do so as to condition our body but training inside the volleyball court is different, especially familiarizing the muscles during volleyball practices,” Mr. De Guzman shared during their recent guesting on Tiebreaker Vods’ 2OT podcast.

It is the same sentiment for Mr. Espejo, who also added missing bonding with his teammates during the forced break.

“I really miss being with my teammates and coaches, not only on the volleyball court but also outside of it. We are doing home workouts as our coaches have given us conditioning programs to follow but being on the court really has a different feel to it,” the decorated University Athletic Association of the Philippines player from Ateneo said.

The two players shared the court as members of the Philippine team that won silver in last year’s Southeast Asian Games, a showing they said they are very proud of, especially as it added further motor for Philippine men’s volleyball thrust to be appreciated more.

However, they were quick to rue how COVID-19 sidetracked that momentum.

“The atmosphere there (SEA Games) was great. It was like basketball which was the first time it happened in men’s volleyball. It was really a proud moment for the sport and the country,” said Mr. Espejo, whose team met Thailand in the finals of men’s volleyball in the SEA Games.

“It is just frustrating that after the SEA Games, COVID-19 came and we went into lockdown. Hopefully when we get back the support from fans will still be there,” he added.

In relation to sustaining support for men’s volleyball, the players shared that leagues like the Spikers’ Turf play a big role in it and that they expressed hope that such platforms be maintained and added on.

“Men’s volleyball was really given a chance in Spikers’ Turf and we’re very thankful for that. Through the league male players have something to look forward to after playing collegiate volleyball and with the help of Spikers’ Turf we can see the level of play has really improved,” said Mr. De Guzman, a star player during his National Collegiate Athletic Association days with the College of Saint Benilde.

“Also through Spikers’ Turf, opportunities for Filipino players to play abroad opened up which also shows that there is a future for one in men’s volleyball not only in basketball, which is the number one sport in the country,” Mr. Espejo, who had stints in leagues in Japan and Thailand, for his part, said.

As of this writing, it still remains to be seen when volleyball activities will be allowed to resume with COVID-19 still a going concern here, but nonetheless Messrs. Espejo and De Guzman said they are ready to plunge into action when given the go-ahead.

ATP announces revised ranking system after five months of break

TORONTO — A revised system for calculating world rankings when the tennis season resumes in August following a five-month stoppage due to the COVID-19 pandemic was unveiled by the governing body of men’s tennis (ATP) on Monday.

The rankings, a determining factor in a players’ ability to enter events and receive seedings, traditionally operate on a “Best 18” results basis over 52 weeks but will now cover a 22-month period from March 2019 through December 2020.

International tennis ground to a halt in mid-March, with Wimbledon being cancelled and the French Open being moved to September, and rankings were frozen.

The men’s Tour will resume on Aug. 14 with the Citi Open, ATP 500 event in Washington, DC.

Among the key elements of the revised system, a player’s ranking will now be comprised of his “Best 18” results over the 22-month period. A player cannot count the same tournament twice in his breakdown.

The ATP also said tour-level tournament points added in 2020 that count in a player’s ranking breakdown will remain on a player’s ranking for 52 weeks, or until the event in question is played again in 2021, whichever comes first.

“The temporary changes to the rankings system have been made in consultation with the four Grand Slam tournaments and the ITF (International Tennis Federation),” the ATP said in a news release.

“Should the 2021 season be impacted by COVID-19, further adjustments to rankings will be considered.” — Reuters

Pocari Sweat continues to give support to local sports community

OTSUKA-SOLAR Philippines Incorporated, the company behind sports drink Pocari Sweat in the country, continues to rally behind local sports stakeholders by providing them with its products to maintain proper health.

Partnered with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine National Anti-Doping Organization (PHI-NADO) in last year’s staging of the Southeast Asia Games here, Pocari Sweat has extended its support during this difficult of time of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

It has steadily been supplying athlete-frontliners and PSC skeletal workforce with boxes of Pocari Sweat ion drinks to keep them hydrated and healthy while on duty at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila which serve as quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients.

Pocari Sweat is a health drink that contains a balance of ions (electrolytes) that resembles the natural fluid balance in the human body and easily replenishes the water and ions that your body needs. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Ferrari to bring forward F1 upgrades to 2nd Austrian race

FERRARI is planning to speed up the introduction of upgrades to its under-performing Formula One car after a difficult season-opening race in Austria last Sunday.

The Italian team had aimed to bring new parts to the July 19 Hungarian Grand Prix but said on Monday it hoped to have some for next weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix at the same Austrian circuit.

“The SF1000 (car) didn’t measure up, even compared to expectations ahead of the event,” Ferrari said on its website (www.ferrari.com). “Because of this, development has already been going on at full pace for some time.

“This is in the hope of bringing forward to next weekend the introduction of the aerodynamic package scheduled for the Hungarian Grand Prix — or, at least, some of its components.”

Ferrari said having two back-to-back races at the same circuit allowed the upgrades to be checked more accurately.

Despite Charles Leclerc finishing second in Austria, the Monegasque was also lucky in a race with only 11 finishers and three safety car periods.

Teammate and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel managed only 10th after qualifying 11th with Ferrari, runner-up last year, more than a second off the pace of champion Mercedes.

“We know there’s lots of work to do. This is certainly not the grid position that a team like Ferrari should have and we have to respond immediately. It’s clear that we have to improve on all fronts,” said Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri.

“The only solution is to react and I’m pleased by the immediate reaction and the work that (principal) Mattia (Binotto) and all his team are putting in at every level.

“This is not just to bring to the track today what was scheduled to be ready tomorrow, but also to speed up the program of development for the coming races.” — Reuters

Betts’ take

Mookie Betts could have signed a $300-million extension last year. Credible reports had the Red Sox offering him the decade-long deal in the offseason, the latest in a string of attempts to keep him in the fold for the long term. For the best position player in Major League Baseball not named Mike Trout, however, the numbers were nowhere close to what he felt he deserved. And so he countered with $420 million over 12 years, figures that then compelled his employers to reject as untenable. Instead, they inked him to a single-season deal worth $27 million last February, and, as expected, promptly looked around for trade partners.

A month later, Betts found himself heading to the Dodgers along with former Cy Young Award recipient David Price and cash considerations, flipped for young talent to kick off a rebuild by the Red Sox. And not long after, the league, and the rest of the world, wound up being upended by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Considering the opportunities he thought awaited him and the realities now confronting him, not a few quarters have had reason to wonder if he’s filled with regret. No, he said. “Once I make a decision, I make a decision,” he argued in a press conference yesterday. “I’m not going back to question myself. I don’t worry about that. The market will be what the market is. We’ll just kind of cross that bridge when we get there.”

Significantly, Betts isn’t confident there will even be a 2020 campaign. That he’s highlighting the uncertainty of the situation early in “Summer Camp” speaks volumes of how he believes the short term will unwind. Make no mistake. He’s angling, and continuing to ready himself, for MLB’s truncated schedule. Officials have pegged July 24 as Opening Day and September 27 as the end of the 60-game regular season. “I’m definitely preparing the same way; I’m fully expecting to play.” Still, he said, “that doesn’t mean there aren’t doubts that kinda go on when the facts aren’t in front of you.”

Betts has cause to do a double take, to be sure. The Athletics, Astros, Cardinals, and Nationals have already experienced workout delays due to testing issues. And, in the absence of a bubble environment akin to the National Basketball Association’s, more hurdles are to be expected. All the same, it’s All Systems Go for the MLB; in the face of mounting financial losses, the need to generate any semblance of revenues is paramount. It knows the problems will keep coming, and hopes it will learn enough along the way to cope. As he noted, the season is “in someone’s control, and whoever’s control it’s in has to find a way to make it work.”

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Beijing brings virus resurgence under control with targeted plan

BEIJING reported zero new coronavirus cases for the first time in 26 days, a sign the resurgence that ignited fears of a second wave in China looks to have been brought under control for now.

The city of more than 20 million people appears to have quelled a flare-up that infected 335 people, with infections down from 36 a day at their peak in mid-June. Authorities took a different approach to the virus when it reappeared in China’s political and economic hub after nearly two months of no locally transmitted cases than they did in Wuhan, the central city where the pathogen first emerged.

Instead of resorting to a sudden across-the-board lockdown that risked reversing the gains made since China started reopening, Beijing deployed more targeted measures. While some — like confining whole neighborhoods to their homes — may be more difficult to replicate in western democracies, they could hold lessons for other countries as they grapple with the inevitable return of the virus given an effective vaccine is months, potentially even years, away.

The Beijing resurgence, which took root in a wholesale food market in the city’s southwestern district, injected fresh uncertainty into the global struggle against the virus, hitting as citizens were getting used to a semblance of normal life. It served as a warning to places that look to have nailed the pandemic: the virus is elusive and isn’t easily beaten.

The outbreak, which seeded small virus skirmishes in other parts of China, was contained in less than four weeks. This is how they did it:

MILLIONS TESTED
Hesitant to fully seal off Beijing like officials did in less economically important regions, the city relied on targeted testing at unprecedented speed.

Reminiscent of the mass operation conducted in Wuhan in May, when most of the population was tested for the virus in about two weeks, Beijing has tested more than 11 million people so far, according to Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overall, China has the capacity to test 3.8 million samples nationwide every day, officials said June 24, likely one of the fastest speeds worldwide.

Such scale is achieved using a method known as batch testing, where multiple samples are assessed simultaneously with detailed follow-up if any trace of the virus is found. Even without this method, Beijing can test over 300,000 people a day, six times more than the city’s capacity in March, according to Beijing Health Commission official Zhang Hua.

During the Beijing outbreak, entire groups were tested whenever an infection was found in their midst, including all the vendors at several major wet markets. All workers at a PepsiCo, Inc. food factory where a case was diagnosed had to undergo testing, and every delivery courier in the city — over 100,000 — was also sampled in weeks.

TARGETED LOCKDOWNS
Rather than confining everyone in Beijing to their homes once the new outbreak emerged, authorities just locked down apartment blocks and housing compounds close to the epicenter. In these high-risk areas, only one member per household was allowed to leave to purchase necessities.

It’s an approach that other countries are also looking at, with authorities in the Australian city of Melbourne implementing localized lockdowns to quell a resurgence in cases there. Specific streets or neighborhoods would be told to stay home and practice social distancing, but the rest of the city would remain open. South Korea, too, has taken a targeted approach, shutting down businesses or schools where there have been outbreaks, but never imposing city-wide lockdowns.

Schools in Beijing were also closed again to limit commuting, while some entertainment venues were shuttered, too.

LESSONS FROM WUHAN
China appears to have drawn from the lessons of Wuhan’s devastating outbreak in January, when the virus was not well-understood by experts and the system unprepared for how contagious it is. Then, people swarming hospitals for help spread the virus to other patients and infected the environment.

This time in Beijing, residents were banned from entering hospitals unless they had tested negative for the virus, and makeshift test sites were set up in neighborhoods where cases were found to assist those showing symptoms.

Rather than seal off the city’s borders like in Wuhan — a move that caused widespread panic among residents, causing them to rush the city’s highways — China imposed quarantine requirements at destinations instead. People going from Beijing to some other provinces have to be isolated for two weeks in government-run facilities upon arrival, naturally discouraging travel. Carriers canceled flights, even though the airport remained open.

STILL CAUTIOUS
Despite what seems to be a relatively quick containment, the flare-up has shifted the contours of China’s fight against the virus. Prior to the Beijing outbreak, the nation appeared to be largely triumphant in its fight against a disease that continues to devastate the developing world, and China’s biggest rival, the US.

The cluster in the capital is believed to have started at the market, but its exact genesis and how it spread remains unknown.

After the virus was detected on a chopping board used for imported salmon at the market, a nationwide boycott of the seafood took place that affected exporting countries like Norway and Australia.

Experts say it’s more likely that the salmon was contaminated by an infected person, or by being in a dark, humid and low-temperature environment where the virus was present. China’s customs department tested over 47,000 samples of imported meat, seafood, vegetables and food and all were negative. Still, the country has suspended imports from some foreign meat plants, including a Tyson Foods, Inc. plant in the US where hundreds of employees tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), a move that potentially undermines its trade deal with Washington.

Amid that uncertainty — and as cases continue to pop up in areas around Beijing — China’s strategy is to remain circumspect. Even as infections taper, officials say that they won’t ease the restrictions until Beijing has seen two weeks without any new cases. — Bloomberg

HK security law is not ‘doom and gloom’ — Lam

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s national security law imposed by Beijing last week was not “doom and gloom” for the city, its leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday, adding it was untrue to say she was not privy to any of its details before they were announced.

The sweeping legislation punishes what China describes broadly as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with up to life in prison.

It came into force at the same time it was made public just before midnight last Tuesday, with police arresting about 10 people for related offences the next day.

Speaking at her regular weekly news conference, Ms. Lam said she knew some details of the legislation before it was made public, but she had not seen the complete draft. She said the law would restore Hong Kong’s status as one of the safest cities in the world after sometimes violent pro-democracy protests last year.

“Compared with the national security laws of other countries, it is a rather mild law. Its scope is not as broad as that in other countries and even China,” Ms. Lam said, without naming the countries.

The legislation has been criticized by nations such as Britain and the United States, and rights groups, for undermining freedoms guaranteed under the “one country, two systems” agreed as part of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule in 1997, and for giving mainland security agencies an enforcement presence in Hong Kong for the first time.

Its final power of interpretation lies with authorities in mainland China, where human rights groups have reported arbitrary detentions and disappearances. China has been clamping down on dissent and tightening censorship.

Both Hong Kong and Chinese government officials have said the law was vital to plug gaping holes in national security defenses, exposed by the city’s failure to pass such laws by itself as required under its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

Ms. Lam said cases involving the new mainland agency in Hong Kong will be “rare” and that national security was a “red line” that should not be crossed.

If reporters in Hong Kong could guarantee they would not breach the new law, she could guarantee they would be allowed to report freely in the city, Ms. Lam said.

Late on Monday, Hong Kong released additional details of the law, saying security forces had overriding authority to enter and search properties for evidence and stop people from leaving the city. — Reuters

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