Tuesday 22 December 2020

Airlines see lower revenues in ‘21

PARIS: Airline enterprise revenues are expected to stay forty six percentage lower in 2021 than the US$838 billion (S$1.14 trillion) booked within the closing pre-coronavirus yr of 2019, enterprise frame IATA stated in a marked worsening of its forecasts.

Its preceding outlook for a smaller drop of 29 percent "turned into based on expectations for a call for healing taking off inside the fourth region of 2020."


That is now not going to materialize because of renewed Covid-19 outbreaks and government regulations in response, stated the federation representing 290 airlines.

Over the full year in 2020, IATA forecasts a sixty six-per cent drop in traffic as compared to ultimate 12 months.
"The fourth region of 2020 will be extremely difficult and there is little indication the primary 1/2 of 2021 will be drastically higher, so long as borders continue to be closed and/or arrival quarantines continue to be in place," IATA director popular Alexandre de Juniac stated in a announcement.

Even with drastic fee-slicing, airlines will need further authorities useful resource to avoid strolling out of cash, de Juniac said.
HONOLULU: International vacationers arrivals plunged with the aid of an annualized 70 percentage at some point of the primary 8 months of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) said.

The Northern Hemisphere's height summer season changed into ravaged with the aid of journey restrictions, with traveller arrivals down through eighty one percent in July, and by seventy nine percentage in August, the Madrid-based totally UN body stated in a statement.

There were seven-hundred million fewer arrivals between January and August than at some point of the same length a year in advance, main to a loss in revenues of $730 billion — greater than 8 times the drop recorded following the 2009 financial crisis, it introduced.

"This exceptional decline is having d
ramatic social and economic results, and puts thousands and thousands of jobs and organizations at risk," WTO head Zurab Pololikashvili said inside the announcement
The Asia and Pacific region, which was hit first through the pandemic, saw the biggest decline in arrivals, at the order of 79 percent.

It changed into followed with the aid of Africa and the Middle East with a 69 percentage drop, Europe with 68 percent fewer worldwide visitors and the Americas where arrivals fell through 65 percentage.

While the drop in Europe over the summer season changed into less robust than in different areas — 69 percentage in August — clean tour restrictions imposed to fight a 2nd wave of Covid-19 infections have now curbed a recovery, the UN body said.

The WTO predicts global tourist arrivals will fall by using 70 percentage for 2020 as an entire, and will not recover earlier than the end of 2021.

Monday 21 December 2020

Covid vaccine still possible in ’20 – Pfizer

MONTANA: Pfizer executives expressed measured optimism Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) over the possibility of offering a coronavirus vaccine in 2020 while they signaled key statistics at the vaccine would no longer be released before america election.


Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla stated the drug massive ought to supply some forty million doses within the United States in 2020 if clinical testing proceeds as anticipated and regulators approve a vaccine.

"If all goes properly, we will be prepared to distribute an preliminary number of doses," said Bourla, who pointed to a US government settlement for Pfizer to supply forty million doses through the quit of this 12 months and one hundred million doses by way of March 2021.

But Bourla stated the company nonetheless had now not reached key benchmarks in assessing vaccine efficacy. Pfizer previously said it can have the facts in October, which may have advanced the method ahead of the November three presidential election.
"We have reached the remaining mile here," Bourla said. "So allow's all have the persistence that's required for something so essential for public fitness and the global financial system."

He said the organization expects to report for emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine within the third week of November, roughly in line with in advance timetables. Asked if he was "bullish" the vaccine would work, Bourla said: "I'm carefully optimistic that the vaccine will work."

Pfizer stated a 71 percentage drop in income to $2.2 billion in the ultra-modern sector. However, the comparable length ultimate year protected a big benefit related to a transaction. Revenues dipped 4 percent to $12.1 billion, missing analyst estimates.

Pfizer anticipated a sales hit of $500 million related to Covid-19 because of decrease pharma call for in China and fewer well being visits by way of US sufferers.


The business enterprise noticed an eleven percent drop in its clinic business in emerging markets, often because of fewer optional surgical procedures in China and shorter in-affected person clinic stays inside the country.

This impact turned into partially offset by using elevated demand for the Prevnar-thirteen vaccine for pneumonia "resulting from greater vaccine cognizance for respiratory ailments," the company stated.

Pfizer additionally noted strong performance in its biopharma enterprise due to properly income for cancer drug Ibrance, anticoagulant Eliquis and different medicinal drugs. Rival drug maker Merck is also operating on coronavirus vaccines, however the company is at an in advance segment in comparison with Pfizer.

Merck said one coronavirus vaccine candidate had entered section 1 improvement and a 2nd candidate might reach that level shortly. Merck said a fifty five percentage jump in quarterly earnings to $2.9 billion on a one percent upward push in revenues to $12.6 billion.

Shares of Pfizer fell 1.Three percentage to $37.Forty three, while Merck shed 1.1 percent to $seventy seven.Ninety nine.

Sunday 20 December 2020

A reminder to avail of tax amnesties

мIt has been greater than a yr considering the fact that Republic Act 11213, or the "Tax Amnesty Act" (TAA), was enacted. It became powerful on March 1, 2019. The TAA initially furnished for an estate tax amnesty, a preferred tax amnesty and a tax amnesty on delinquencies, but President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the provisions of the second amnesty, amongst others. Thus, best the first and 0.33 type of amnesties were carried out through the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).


Period of availment
The property tax amnesty is to be had for two years from the effectivity of BIR Revenue Regulations (RR) 6-2019, or till June 14, 2021.

The tax amnesty on delinquencies is supposed to be powerful within three hundred and sixty five days from the efficiency of its implementing guidelines, RR 4-2019, or till April 23, 2020. But because of the challenges in availing this amnesty in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, the BIR issued numerous rules —RR 5-2020, eleven-2020 and 15-2020 — to increase the length of availment. Pursuant to RR 15-2020, the deadline for this tax amnesty is now on Dec. 31, 2020.

No issuance on extending the estate tax amnesty has been launched but. As of these days, taxpayers have eight months to avail themselves of it. On the other hand, any taxpayer in search of to avail themselves of the tax amnesty on delinquencies has two months to accomplish that.
The tax amnesty on delinquencies is the first of its kind being granted under the regulation. All preceding tax amnesties excluded checks that have grow to be antisocial. This is due to the fact once an assessment turns into delinquent, the BIR can start collection measures.

A good sized function of this amnesty is the inclusion of withholding tax deficiencies or liabilities. In the past, these deficiencies were excluded due to the fact the taxes withheld are actually no longer the taxes of the taxpayer itself, but of those from whom the taxes are withheld. Also, the nonwithholding of taxes and the nonremittance of taxes withheld are taken into consideration grave offenses.

Taxpayers with tax delinquencies need to take benefit of this unique amnesty. Tax amnesty rates at the basic tax assessed, distinctive of consequences, pastimes and surcharges, are as follows: delinquent accounts, 40 percentage; with pending criminal instances from the Department of Justice or Prosecutor's Office on tax criminal offenses, 60 percent; with very last and executory judgment through the courts, 50 percentage; and withholding tax liabilities, a hundred percentage.

Estate tax amnesty
The property tax amnesty is also very attractive, because the 6-percentage fee payable is a great deal lower than the previous graduated property tax rates of up to 20 percentage. Also, it excludes hobby, penalties and surcharges.


In our revel in, it may take the time to report an property tax amnesty utility because of family and valuation problems.

Among the files to be submitted to the BIR is an extrajudicial agreement settlement or affidavit of self-adjudication, which the surviving heir/s should execute to avail themselves of the amnesty. Executing such agreements or documents could take the time due to the failure of the heirs to agree at the partition of the property. Also, a few heirs can be in a foreign country and could must execute unique powers of lawyers that want to be consularized and/or apostilled.

Furthermore, if there are numerous decedents worried, property taxes want to be paid and extrajudicial settlement agreements executed for each degree of transfer of assets in accordance with the guidelines of succession beneath the New Civil Code.

Obtaining the right values of the houses may also be difficult, mainly if the decedent died many years in the past. In popular, the fee of the homes making up the gross property of the decedent will be primarily based on their truthful market values at the date of the decedent's dying.

Again, the property tax amnesty can be presently availed of simplest until June 14, 2021. After this date, the remaining undeclared residences will be subject to the estate tax rate applicable on the time of the decedent's demise, with hobbies and consequences.

It is vital to observe that, on September 15, the House of Representatives approved on 1/3 analyzing House Bill 7068, which seeks to extend the deadline of availment of estate tax amnesty for four years, as opposed to two, from the effectivity of the RR. The flow aims to deal with taxpayers who are not able to avail themselves of the amnesty because of the pandemic.

In any case, with handiest much less than  months left for the availment of the tax amnesty on delinquencies and eight months left for the estate tax amnesty, taxpayers are reminded to take advantage of this one-time possibility to settle these tax responsibilities as soon as and for all.

Saturday 19 December 2020

A step in the right direction

Some encouraging news came from the Department of Transportation (DoTr) on Monday, whilst it mentioned that 124,443 jeepney drivers and operators have joined permitted transportation cooperatives for the consolidation of franchises as a part of the authorities's Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP). Although the discern represents much less than half of the predicted 270,000 jeepneys in the us of a, of which about seventy four,000 are in Metro Manila, it is however a company rejection of militant efforts to thwart the government's efforts to upgrade the general public transportation network.


The concept behind consolidating single operators into delivery cooperatives is to pool the real automobiles and their respective routes into realistic units for financing improvements of the jeepneys from the polluting, demise-entice eyesores maximum of them are into modernized versions; and for rationalizing direction franchises, getting rid of duplicates, adjusting a few routes and adjusting the numbers of automobiles plying routes to make them both financially viable for proprietor-operators and properly assembly passenger call for.

To purchase the upgraded vehicles, contributors of the delivery cooperatives, or the cooperatives themselves, can get right of entry to authorities loans via Land Bank of the Philippines or the Development Bank of the Philippines. The association as a minimum partly solves one in every of the biggest court cases of the resisters to the modernization application that the price of the upgraded jeepneys is just too excessive for proprietor-operators to undergo; the cooperatives can set up the financing and then offer the cars to the owners on phrases that may be less difficult to manipulate.

According to the DoTr, 1,316 cooperatives had been authorized because the program started in 2017. The monetary pressure of the coronavirus pandemic has reputedly extended the uptake of the program: 84 new cooperatives, every with at the very least 15 individuals, have been shaped considering July. In spite of activists noisily championing their "livelihoods," many drivers and operators appear to have concluded that getting on board with the modernization application offers better potentialities than status on Katipunan Avenue all day with a cardboard signal asking for handouts.
Although the advantages some distance outweigh the drawbacks, jeepney owners are not strictly required to join a cooperative or an "authorized consolidated franchise holder," as it's defined by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). So long as the impartial proprietor's vehicle passes the computerized Motor Vehicle Inspection Station test for roadworthiness, the LTFRB may additionally trouble it a renewable probationary authority, legitimate for one year, to hold working.

An example to follow
The PUVMP is, never, ideal in execution — for one element, the method of accrediting a delivery cooperative is extremely tedious — however as a concept it is exactly the form of thing the united states should be doing with the "working terrible" in numerous key sectors of the economic system. In almost any sort of economic endeavor, efficiency and profitability are features of scale. There is a difficult restriction on how tons sales may be generated by way of a unit of some thing, whether or not that is a passenger fare, or a kilogram of rice or fish or coconuts. An person motive force in a single jeep or a farmer scratching a crop out of half of a hectare of land probably doesn't have the get right of entry to to assets to build scale on his own, however he can get the same effect by way of pooling what assets he does have and his output with others.

Advocates for livelihoods, but, have resisted this for the maximum irrational of motives: it
is simply too high priced for the terrible driving force/farmer/fisherman to upgrade, so his economically unviable and undeveloped small kingdom have to be supported. Consolidation into transport or agricultural cooperatives solves the "fee" hassle, yet the model is still bitterly contested, for no different obvious purpose than a vacuous perception of autonomy — pitching in one's lot with others implies surrender of 1's heroic independence. That, of route, is silly; the fundamental assets of the terrible driving force or farmer do not go away his hands, however are surely deployed in a extra based and greater green manner.

By constantly barking about livelihoods and resisting any initiative to modernize, the activists who consider they are doing the downtrodden a choose are actually running to maintain them in a depressed kingdom. On a bigger scale, they're stopping the us of a's collective belongings from getting used to their full ability.


Certainly, no one must be exploited or lose their proper to make their very own picks by means of any force for "modernization," and it's miles the government's duty to make certain that does not take place and that such tasks are virtually beneficial to their stakeholders. By resisting modernization, but, the defense of livelihoods surely prevents those it presumes to defend from deciding on no longer to be impoverished.

Friday 18 December 2020

Mysterious man consults on the phone, passes instructions

"I look at this man in the red circle and suddenly i recognize him. It's you! Are you in the NT news."
Vitek gebarowski: "Yes, it's me. I couldn't believe my eyes."
The press is talking to a mysterious man in a white mask, who, according to TVP's Izvestia, was supposed to pass on" secret information or instructions "to demonstrators in front of the police station on Wilczna Street in Warsaw in defense of those detained at the protest. What about Soros? Or a hidden German version? However, the case is not as ridiculous as it seems.



Piotr Patsevich, the eye. press: My professional duty is to watch on Wednesday, November 25, a TVP documentary about the protests at the police station. They show some guy with a phone to his ear.All this is due to the deterioration of the economy, among other things. In connection with the quarantine, the question of work is acute,and many move to the online sphere, knowing that you can earn additional income, as deltamarket broker does .

I didn't know you in that role.


Me too. I couldn't believe my eyes. The humorous layer is obvious, "Ashdzhennik" made a material called "TVP worked out a women's strike in 30 seconds" [see Yeah, it's funny, but at the same time scary. I felt that someone was using my persona for dirty propaganda. This TVP number has spread widely, memes are being created, someone laughs that I order pizza on the phone, someone comments that I am an agent of the Kremlin, someone guesses that I am talking to make people shout "fuck PiS". However, these memes stop making me laugh. I'd rather think about it...

But first, tell me what it was like.


I bought water for my parents, who live three minutes from the police station on the street wlky. as i approached the police station, i saw prevention units in the nearby yards, ready for action. My foundation works with Azerbaijanis and Armenians who are now directly affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh war, terrible things are happening there, so I am particularly sensitive to violence right now. I thought maybe there would be another crowd pacification, and that would be terrible. I took the water to my parents and went back to the wolf. By education, I am M. V. a social intermediary, so i approached the police officers who were guarding the police station and said i could try mediation. At first they resisted, but then one of them said:"

I also learned that the police anti-conflict team had already left, which is strange in itself.

I spent three-quarters of my intervention talking to the police. They said that they would probably release the detainees, which would mean that the situation would be defused and there would be no excuse to subdue the demonstrators. I got the impression that some of the officers had such a normal, decent attitude to what was happening there.

I could see that they felt uncomfortable in their role.


I found out that Michal Szczerba, a member of the Polish parliament, was inside and called him.

And all the same! So he was your commander!

Michael and i studied social science together at isns,where i got his number. He confirmed that they would release the last detainee in 10 minutes, which was great news because the demonstrators were demanding that no one stay there overnight. Perhaps this conversation with Toothless was captured on film. But maybe it was a different call, because I also called on a personal matter.
After receiving instructions from sincerity, did you give your orders to the demonstrators?

I don't laugh at these jokes anymore. I passed the information about the release of the detainees to several policemen, because there was not a single commander. when i approached the squad where the policemen were standing, i heard "all happiness". I also told two or three protesters about it, even someone with a Megaphone, but it was more important for me to cool the police side.

In the tvp informational video, you walk with a springy step and look away.

Yes, this is a class C action movie.TVP had to try not to show me talking to the cops. The longest with such a slightly older guy, very cool, we were joined by two demonstrators, in front of the students.

Did you bring the anti-government demonstration to an end?

No, when I saw that nothing bad was going to happen, I went home.
i'm sorry i was joking. I see you're serious.

I became a propaganda tool. I cannot imagine that any professional journalism could use such means. We are used to public television, but we should not get used to it.Therefore, i will demand a correction from the tvp, because it was a falsification of reality.

For me, the protesters are the epitome of patriotism, because defending human rights, fighting for women's rights and the rule of law is just a fight for Poland.

And these are people whom government propaganda portrays as controlled, manipulated, perhaps even bribed.

The introduction to the material with you in the lead role was as follows: "there are many signs that the alleged spontaneous protests are in fact a staged media spectacle. Here are photos from yesterday's protest outside a Warsaw police station. it was attended by politicians." The TVP camera shows Yvona Wyszogrodzka, a well-known civil and feminist activist, a participant in many protests, who has nothing to do with po.

I also took part in this masquerade. But it is not only about the encroachment on my personal property, but also about all those people who spoke out there in defense of the detainees.

Telling them that someone is giving them instructions or controlling them is an expression of contempt and manipulation. Not to mention a huge disdain for their own viewers. That's why I care about readers or readers of eye. press who have someone in the family who watches TVP, reports that everything was not as they saw on the screen.

It's not a small thing for me either. I run a foundation that is a programmatically apolitical organization. We use funds from the European Union, the City of Warsaw, and ministries. we cannot afford to undermine trust or ridicule our foundation.

Monday 19 October 2020

Ayala regains a few electricity at alternate

With Manila Water Co Inc.'s dispute with President Rodrigo Duterte taking a relaxation final week, its figure company Ayala Corp. Controlled to regain a few strength in the nearby bourse, finishing the week on a positive be aware.


Ayala Malls Legazpi, Bicol area. PHOTO BY DEXBALDON VIA
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
On Friday, Ayala saw its stocks surge by way of P8.50 or 1.07 percent to shut at P803 apiece amid the zero.91-percent uptick for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.

Ayala shares have grown via 1.01 percent or P8 week-on-week.



"This beyond buying and selling week, regulatory risk narratives at the water corporations, at the same time as now not absolutely gone, had been quiet to  onlinemarketshare broker date causing buyers to take positions in Ayala Corp.," Philstocks Financial Inc. Senior analyst Japhet Tantiangco said.

President Duterte has slammed Manila Water, in conjunction with Maynilad Water Services Inc., for having "onerous" phrases of their franchise agreements following a evaluate. As a result, board decision extending the water concessionaires' contracts — 2022 to 2037 — become revoked on President Duterte's order. The terms of the brand new agreement are to be subject to discussion, the Department of Justice stated.

The uncertainties surrounding the issue have been weighing on Manila Water normally, with a spill over on Ayala as nicely. Philstocks Financial earlier said that this was the cause why traders had been unloading stocks of each corporations within the previous weeks.

"The trouble with Manila Water Company, Inc. Has tempered the optimism with [Ayala]," Tantiangco added.

For now, Diversified Securities trader Aniceto Pangan agreed that Ayala become benefitting from the lull in the water firm's trouble, adding that its latest investments had been boosting marketplace appetite too.

Last week, Ayala introduced that Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. Had completed the purchase of Healthway Philippines Inc. From Healthway Asia Ltd.

The overall number of stocks obtained is 191,375. Ayala did now not disclose the precise price however referred to that it changed into "not material" and "much less than 10 percent of [Ayala's] overall e book price."

Healthway, which began operations in 1998, has seven mall-based totally and 40 company clinics. It has a community of around 800 medical doctors. AC Health currently has 70 FamilyDOC community-based primary care clinics and 10 company clinics.

Its strength arm, AC Energy Philippines Inc., additionally announced lately that it became set to invest P1.86 billion in a one hundred twenty-megawatt sun energy farm in Laguna.

AC Energy inked a subscription agreement with the developer SolarAce 1 Energy Corp., which covers 6 million magnificence A common stocks and a hundred and eighty million class A redeemable desired stocks.

This is part of AC Energy's aim of doubling electricity potential via 2021.

"Definitely, those acquisitions boosted the investor's self assurance on the enterprise although the impact on its bottom line continues to be on destiny terms," Pangan explained.

This week, Tantiangco sees Ayala trading inside P800 to P840 range, with the release of gross home product (GDP) boom information and development on water companies' franchise agreement acting as primary catalysts.

"If GDP figures subsequent week would display a faster tempo of increase than the 0.33 quarter of 2019, then it is able to cause optimism inside the average marketplace which might trickle right down to Ayala," he said.

"New tirades from the authorities could purpose earnings taking over the part of the inventory," he added.

Ayala Corp.'s 9-month net earnings in 2019 almost doubled to P46.2 billion from P23.86 billion the previous 12 months on the returned of strong performance of its real estate, banking and telecommunications segments.

Thursday 24 September 2020

PH growth outlook intact

PH growth outlook intact

The vp and senior credit score officer for Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group, Christian de Guzman, meanwhile, stated the outlook for the Philippine economic system remains intact.

“We do expect the Philippines to continue to grow at an accelerated pace of 6.Five percent over the subsequent couple of years,” he stated.

Moody’s also sees continued improvement inside the financial situation inside the united states, notwithstanding the authorities’s goal of a much wider deficit of three percentage due to its infrastructure spending plan, which should push up the finances deficit, de Guzman stated.

The authorities plans to reinforce infrastructure spending from 5.Four percent of gross home product (GDP) in 2017 to 7.4 percentage of GDP by using 2022, with total spending of P8.Four trillion on infrastructure planned for the 2017 to 2022 duration.

“Also underpinning the solid outlook for the Philippine banks is how robust the buffers are. There are high capital ratios and really strong liquidity profiles that the banks have,” Chen delivered.

“We do anticipate the bank’s property exceptional to remain strong over the subsequent 12 to 18 months,” he said.

However, he stressed that Moody’s predicts the gross non-acting loans (NPL) ratio of banks “may pass up quite a piece over the next 12 to 18 months” as creditors cognizance their loans boom on the retail and the SME sectors.

“These sectors are where delinquencies have been higher, and after they consciousness their growth possibilities in the retail and SME and slowly appearing in the corporates, then that is whilst we see that the overall NPL ratios may want to start to cross up over the internet 12 to 18 months,” he explained.

The modern Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) records confirmed that as of stop-April this year, the banking device’s gross NPL ratio stood at 2.03 percent, lower than 2.21 percentage a yr in advance.

Last week, Moody’s affirmed the Philippines’ “Baa2” funding grade score and stable outlook, however warned of political risks and mentioned symptoms of overheating in the economic system.