Thursday, February 25, 2021

The World Tonight | ANC (25 February 2021)

Where to Find the Courage You Need

 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8‑9


When it comes to courage, you cannot chart it.  You cannot put it on a line graph.  You cannot measure its specific density. When it is displayed, a person is a hero, and when it is missing, a person is called a coward.


Eddie Rickenbacker was a man who knew something of courage.  In World War I, he was responsible for downing 26 planes.  Rickenbacker said, “Courage is doing what you are afraid to do.  There can be no courage unless you are scared.”


Someone defined courage saying, “Courage is fear that has prayed.”  Certainly, courage involves action. One of our heroes of medicine is Dr. Werner Forssmann.  In 1929, Forssmann, age 25, was a medical student.  He was tantalized by the fact that it was impossible to treat certain heart conditions, because in those days, doctors knew practically nothing about the inside of the human heart.  People constantly died, condemned to their deaths, because doctors knew so little about the heart.


Forssmann had an idea.  He thought his idea might be the answer, so he went to his professors and shared his proposal with them.  They were horrified, and expressly forbade his experiment.  He was convinced, however, that he was right, and he had the courage to become his own guinea pig.  He cut a vein and worked a tiny rubber tube up his arm to his shoulder, and then down to his heart.  Then, he walked into the X‑ray room and X‑rayed himself, to be sure the tube had arrived in his heart.


That bold act was the beginning of cardiac catheterization‑‑a technique that has enabled surgeons to X‑ray the heart, measure vessels in the heart and correct defects.  Forssmann demonstrated that courage involves action.


In the realm of the spiritual, just as certainly, courage is action.  Look at Abraham, who left Ur of the Chaldees with only the promise that God would lead him.  Courage is what Elijah had when he stormed into the presence of the king and said, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1).


Courage is what Daniel had when he went into his home, threw back the windows, and prayed three times a day, even though the king had passed a law forbidding prayer.  Courage is what Jonah had when he walked into Nineveh, a city of perhaps half a million people, and announced that God would destroy the city in 40 days.


Whether it is medicine, history, or Scripture, people who have accomplished something have been individuals who were courageous, who acted in the face of danger and accomplished what they did not even dare to think.


If ever an hour has come when courage was needed, that hour is upon us.  Men and women today must find courage to speak their convictions, to stand for that what is right, to abide by principles, rather than expediency.  I must say, however, that individuals who are courageous often pay a price for their courage.  It would be a fool who says that courage does not cost, but real courage does not consider the cost.  It considers only the rightness of the action that must be taken.


Where do you get courage?  Is there a prescription for it?    Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31).  Paul, like any man who stands courageously for a cause, was troubled, yet he could say, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed”  (2 Corinthians 4:8‑9).  Paul could, and so can you, as you thank God and take courage.


Scripture reading: Acts 26


https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/where-to-find-the-courage-you-need/

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Pagdiriwang ng EDSA Revolution 35th anniversary mas naging simple

(UPDATE) – Dati-rati ay maraming nakikilahok sa anibersaryo ng 1986 People Power Revolution.


Pero sa paglipas ng mga taon at ngayon, dahil na rin sa pandemya, payak ang pagdiriwang sa paggunita ng EDSA Revolution, na nagpalaya sa mga Pilipino sa ilang dekada ng diktadura ni dating Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos.


Wala rin ang mga kilalang personalidad sa likod ng makasaysayang pangyayari sa seremonyang idinaos nitong Huwebes sa EDSA People Power Monument sa Quezon City.


Pero naroon si Antonio Mendoza, na nanggaling pa sa Binangonan, Rizal.


"Para pong nilimot na nila ang ating tagumpay na tayo’y makalaya sa pagkakagapos noon pong panahon po ng mga Marcos," ani Mendoza.


Wala rin ang tradisyunal na salubong sa EDSA.


Nag-alay na lang ng bulaklak ang mga opisyal ng gobyerno sa People Power Monument, sabay ng pagkanta ng mga awiting sumikat noon.


Ayon kay EDSA People Power Commission Chairman Rene Escalante, isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit mas naging payak ang pagdiriwang ngayon taon ay ang pandemya.


"Alam natin na restricted pa ang social gatherings, at isaalang-alang natin na ang mga key players ng EDSA ay may edad na at ipinagbabawal nang lumabas," ani Escalante.


Para naman kay dating Pangulong Fidel Ramos, isang haligi ng EDSA, hamon ngayon sa lahat na panatilihin ang pagiging makabayan at ipagpatuloy ang diwa ng People Power Revolution.


Hindi pa tapos ang rebolusyon at marami pang dapat gawin hanggang sa tuluyang matamasa ng bawat Pinoy ang tunay na kalayaan, ani Ramos.


Sa mensahe naman ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, sinabi niyang nawa'y magsilbing paalala ang EDSA sa pagtatanggol at pagpo-protekta ng demokrasya at karapatan ng bawat Pilipino.


Sumentro naman ang mensahe ni Vice President Leni Robredo sa pagkakaisa sa gitna ng umiiral na pandemya.


Cultural event ng mga kabataan


Samantala, nagtipon-tipon naman ang mga grupo ng mga kabataan sa University of the Philippines-Diliman para sa isang cultural event kasabay ng pagdiriwang ng anibersaryo ng People Power Revolution.


Nag-alay ang mga kabataan ng mga kanta, tula at talumpati.


Ayon kay Precy Dagooc, spokesperson ng Youth for Nationalism and Democracy, pagsasabuhay nila ito sa student activism at malayang pag-iisip, na isa sa mga itinuro sa kabatan ng EDSA Revolution.


Aminado si Dagooc, hindi lahat ng kabataan sa bagong henerasyon ay nauunawaan ang diwa ng EDSA People Power kaya nagsisikap ang kanilang grupo na maipaliwanag ito.


"Challenge din po talaga kung paano natin ipapahatid ang katotohanan sa mga kabataan sa mga panahon ngayon na ang social media ay nandiyan na rin ang access sa information pero nand'yan na rin ang access sa misinformation," aniya.


Magsasagawa rin ang grupo ng online cultural event.


– May ulat nina Johnson Manabat at Arra Perez, ABS-CBN News


https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/25/21/pagdiriwang-ng-edsa-revolution-35th-anniversary-mas-naging-simple

HAPPENING NOW: Joint PNP-PDEA Press Briefing | February 25, 2021

Wearing of face shields in Palawan plebiscite voluntary: Comelec

By Ferdinand Patinio


The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is only encouraging voters in the March 13 plebiscite for the proposed division of Palawan province to wear face shields.


Juan Gonzales, election officer of Kalayaan, Palawan, said Thursday they do not want to disenfranchise people in the province particularly those in the far-flung areas of the province.


“They are so many, let us say they are in the farthest islands. We know that Palawan is divided by islands. There is no supply of face shield in their areas, which might be the reason for them not to participate or the people from the mountains, or our native brothers, who cannot afford to buy rice. This is also for their equal rights,” Gonzales said in a virtual press conference.


He said they encourage those who can afford to buy face shields to wear one for the safety of other voters.


He, however, said the wearing of face mask is mandatory for all voters.


“The wearing of face mask is mandatory whether they are poor or rich. Before entering the polling precinct or inside voting centers they have to wear their face masks on,” he added.


“Let me reiterate that the wearing of face shield is not a requirement but the voters are encouraged to wear one for your own health security,” Gonzales said.


Pursuant to Republic Act 11259, Palawan will be holding a plebiscite next month to determine whether or not it would be divided into three separate provinces -- Palawan Oriental, Palawan del Norte, and Palawan del Sur.


https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131855

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[Infographics] 16 Indonesian E-commerce Companies That Have Died Since the 2000s

The Indonesian e-commerce industry looks very prospective, but not all players in it have managed to reap the benefits.


The handicraft e-marketplace platform called Qlapa finally closed its operating services after being active for almost 4 years in the country's e-commerce industry. Qlapa is not the first to come out of this internet-based trading industry. In fact, there are many companies that have passed in the realm of Indonesian e-commerce. Using recorded data from the Wayback Machine, the iPrice team summarizes e-commerce companies since the 2000s that have existed but have collapsed.



MULTIPLY


In the 2008-2010 period, Multiply was able to become a very popular social media network in Indonesia. With the intense user activity, Multiply tries to apply the e-commerce business strategy on its website. Moreover, Naspers, which is Multiply's main investor, wants to develop the e-commerce industry in Indonesia.


A marketplace platform called Multiply Commerce was released in 2011. To show its commitment to e-commerce development, Multiply also moved its office from Florida, U.S.A. to Jakarta, Indonesia. Unfortunately, the change in business strategy to become a marketplace platform did not bring any significant benefits.


One of the reasons is because Multiply is unable to respond to the problems that arise among users in the transition from the social networking business model to e-commerce. Until then Naspers stopped all investment in Multiply and switched to Tokobagus. Multiply inevitably closed its operations on May 31, 2013.


On June 10, 2014, it has filed for corporate rehabilitation to seek protection from its creditors. The company filed the petition for rehabilitation before the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC). At that time, the website's social networking portion had a network of 18 million users. Liquidity problems, however, affected earnings. Sales declined from its peak of P20 billion in 2013 to just about P1 billion in July 2020.


It had suffered from a drop in new orders amid a slump in the E-commerce and social networking sector. Multiply also reportedly laid off some 12,000 workers on February 28, 2014.


GOOD STORE

Tokobagus is a buying and selling site that initially used the concept of consumer to consumer (C2C) classifieds. This means that each user can immediately upload sales posts or search for goods. Starting operations in 2005, this online buying and selling site is one of the pioneers of the e-commerce industry in Indonesia.

In 2010 this site received investment from Naspers, which at the same time owns a trading site in the global market called OLX. 2013 marked Tokobagus' golden moment. Reporting from e27.co there are 1 billion visitors per day on the site. This achievement has earned Tokobagus one of the five largest classified ad sites in the world.

Because of this glorious achievement, Naspers finally acquired Tokobagus and changed its name to OLX Indonesia in March 2014. However, OLX's popularity in Indonesia is not unlike when it was named Tokobagus. This site is less competitive with local e-commerce platforms that have emerged recently, such as Bukalapak, Tokopedia, or Blibli.

RAKUTEN

Rakuten was officially present in Indonesia's e-commerce industry in 2011 by partnering with MNC Group as a local business partner, aka a joint venture. According to Daily Social records, Rakuten has 51% shares, while MNC Group has 49% shares. The total initial investment of the two parties is around IDR 60 billion.

Rakuten's activities in the local e-commerce industry only lasted 5 years. This Japanese company stopped its activities in Indonesia in March 2016. Reporting from Reuters, Rakuten's withdrawal from the local market in Indonesia was due to a shift in the business model that was not in accordance with the original concept. The e-commerce company wants to focus more on the C2C business model.

PLASA.COM

Plasa.com started to focus on e-commerce in 2010 after previously operating as a webmail service. Funding for this shopping portal was initiated by the government through the state-owned company Telkom. A year later, Plasa.com announced its partnership with eBay. With this collaboration, products sold on Plasa.com can appear on the eBay site so that they can be widely recognized by global consumers. But in 2014 eBay bought 49% of Plasa.com's shares and followed the name change to Blanja.com.

VALADOO

Valadoo is a travel-only e-commerce site that was founded in 2010. When this company emerged, the travel-only e-commerce industry was still lacking in players. Two years passed, Valadoo managed to get early stage funding from a similar company from Singapore called Wego.

Even though it has received seed funding, Valadoo has not been able to make a clear business direction. Therefore, this company finally decided to merge with Burufly, which also received funding from Wego. But finally in April 2015, Valadoo stated that it closed all its services due to differences in culture and business models.

Also Read: [DATA] 5 Trends in Indonesian Online Consumer Behavior in 2018

SCALLOPE

Scallope is an e-commerce portal that provides a variety of fashion products from well-known young Indonesian designers. Reported by Daily Social, this company was founded in 2012 and is financed by Suitmedia Group. At that time, Suitmedia Group also oversees Bukalapak and Hijup.

However, in its development, Scallope was unable to compete with other e-commerce companies that also focused on fashion. Moreover, Suitmedia Group sees Hijup's position as more potential than Scallope. Finally Suitmedia Group went downsizing by closing Scallope in 2016.

PARAPLOU

Paraplou is a fashion-specific e-commerce site that was founded in 2011. The company received a Series A investment of US $ 1.5 from Majuven, a venture capital firm from Singapore.

In October 2015 Paraplou announced that the company was closing. In Tech in Asia's notes, factors such as an unformed market, uncertain financial conditions, and difficulties in obtaining sustainable funds forced Paraplou to leave the e-commerce business.

CIPIKA

Cipika has been managed by Indosat Ooredo since 2014. This e-commerce site adopts a business to consumer (B2C) business model with superior products in the electronics and food categories.

However, Cipika did not last long because the development of the B2C model at that time was considered slow. Indosat Ooredo officially closed its Cipika service in June 2017.

LOLALOLA

Lolalola was launched in 2015 as an e-commerce site that targets underwear products specifically for women. Funding for Lolalola was obtained from Ardent Ventures from Thailand. Unfortunately, companies that were present for this specific market were forced to stop operating in January 2017.

KLEORA

Initially, Kleora was here to accommodate the shopping needs for special products for women. This company had received funding from Rebright Partners and angle investors. But because he was unable to attract market enthusiasm, Kleora finally transformed into an e-commerce specifically for buying and selling used goods called Prelo since October 2015.

BEAUTYTREATS

Beautytreats is a beauty product online selling site that has been operating since 2013. According to Daily Social records, the company was able to deliver 3000 beauty products within 6 months of its operation. Beautytreats also managed to attract 8000 members from various regions in Indonesia. But this company didn't live long. In March 2015 Beautytreats officially stopped operating.

LAMIDO

Lamido was founded in 2013 by the incubator company Rocket Internet which also raised Lazada. This customer-to-customer (C2C) type of e-commerce site focuses on middle to lower class sellers who distribute merchandise through social media networks such as Facebook or Instagram.

The types of products that are common in Lamido include the electronics and fashion categories. But in reality, the marketplace platform presented by Lamido was less popular than local e-commerce companies such as Bukalapak and Tokopedia, which were both C2C concepts at that time. Moreover, Rocket Internet saw that Lamido and Lazada's positions overlapped in the local market. Because of this, Rocket Internet chose to merge Lamido with Lazada in March 2015.

BERNIAGA.COM

Berniaga.com is a classified ad site that focuses on doing customer to customer (C2C) business. According to Kompas.com's records, this site was first operated in 2009 with funding support from 701 Search Pte Ltd, which is a joint venture company between Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Schibsted Classified Media (SCM). Berniaga.com in January 2014 was actually acquired by OLX Indonesia because of the same business concept. Reported by CNN Indonesia, at that time the parent company OLX wanted its brand to become the sole ruler in the Indonesian market.

SEDAPI

Sedapur is a marketplace platform that focuses on culinary products. This company was founded in 2011 and is supported by the incubator Nokia Enterpreneurship with a capital of IDR 200 million. However, Sedapur could not operate for long. In August 2013 the company closed its operations due to a business strategy that was not working properly.

Soegianto Widjaja, who at that time served as CEO of Sedapur, admitted that his company's strategy was only focused on merchants and did not prioritize buyers. In addition, the failure to get new funding also made it difficult for Sedapur to survive in the e-commerce industry.

MATAHARIMALL.COM

MatahariMall.com officially operates in 2015 as a subsidiary of the Lippo Group. An investment of around US $ 500 million becomes the initial capital for its operations. This e-commerce site adopts online to online and offline to offline (O2O) business models that allow buyers to transact in various branches of the Matahari Department Store physical store. This business concept is inspired by Walmart which also used O2O first.

However, in November 2018, MatahariMall.com merged into the main online business unit of the Matahari Department Store, namely Matahari.com. Reporting from Bisnis.com, this consolidation step aims to make Matahari.com the sole online shopping channel for the Matahari company.

QLAPA

Qlapa is an online platform for selling handicraft products that has been operating since 2015. The company received a Series A investment from a company called Aavishkaar from India.

However, in early March 2019, Qlapa announced a complete shutdown of operations. In per caption s Qlapa, this company stopped operating for business reasons that were considered unprofitable and sustainable.

List of top e-commerce companies in Indonesia in numerical statistics


Indication of Company Downfall

As is well known, there are 16 e-commerce companies that have collapsed since the early 2000s. There are two kinds of indications for the downfall of a company; first, namely the complete cessation of operations, second, namely by changing the name due to the acquisition.

There are five e-commerce companies that died due to being acquired by other parties and then changed their names, namely Tokobagus, Kleora, Berniaga.com, Plasa.com, and MatahariMall.com. Meanwhile, 11 other companies collapsed because they completely stopped operating.

Highest Number of Establishments of Companies in the Same Year

2011 and 2015 were the birth periods of most e-commerce companies. Each year it contributes to the birth of 3 companies. In 2011 there were Sedapur, Rakuten, and Paraplou. In 2015 there were Lolalola, Qlapa, and MatahariMall.

The numbers that are striking in each of these years are suspected due to various factors. Reporting from Digital News Asia, Indonesia's economic growth in the 2010-2011 period reached 6.2 percent. This significant growth is predicted to be the basis for a number of investors to develop e-commerce companies in 2011.

Meanwhile for 2015, the increasing number of internet users in Indonesia, as reported by Kontan, helped accelerate the growth of the e-commerce industry, which is based on the wireless universe. Therefore, many companies started operations that year.

Average Age of E-commerce Companies Before Collapsing

Indonesian e-commerce companies that have collapsed in Indonesia so far have an average life span of 4 years. Even so, there are companies that can last very long above average. Multiply is able to exist for up to 10 years. Likewise with Tokobagus which was able to maintain its operations for up to 9 years before being bought by OLX, a global company with the ambition to monopolize the C2C type e-commerce business.

About 94% of the companies that collapsed were actually able to survive in their first year of existence. Only one company, Kleora, failed to maintain its core operations after a year of existence.

The most number of company losses in the same year

Five companies were forced to end their activities in the Indonesian e-commerce industry in 2015. These companies are Valadoo, Paraplou, BeautyTreats, Lamido, and Kleora. The general cause of the company's downfall is thought to be due to the type of product that was too specific so that it was unable to find suitable consumers.

Most Companies Close in One Financial Period

Many companies often use financial calendars to track business achievements. This financial calendar generally consists of four periods each with a term of 3 months.

Quarter 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as Q1) refers to the first three months (January-March) of the 12 months of the year, Q2 is the second 3 months (April-June), Q3 is the third 3 months (July-September), and Q4 is 3 last month (October-December).

Presumably, Q1 is the most crucial period for e-commerce companies. In the early quarter of this year, the company must formulate a mature strategy for business continuity for the next year.

And of the 16 listed companies, there are seven companies that decided to stop operating in that period because they did not see bright possibilities with their own business models. The companies in question are Berniaga.com, Lolalola, Tokobagus, BeautyTreats, Lamido, Rakuten, and Qlapa.

Long overdue: Dividing Maguindanao into 2 provinces to spur development, Tolentino says

Administration Senator Francis Tolentino has insisted that time is already ripe to partition Maguindanao and pave the way for better delivery of basic services such as public health care, education, and transportation to the most remote villages.


In his sponsorship speech for a consolidated measure—Senate Bill Nos. 1274, 1714, and 1824 respectively—which all seek to partition Maguindanao into two separate provinces under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Tolentino said dividing the province will help boost social and economic development, as well as promote political stability.


The consolidated measures aim to divide Maguindanao into Northern Maguindanao and Southern Maguindanao.


Tolentino, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, stressed that although the province is blessed with rich and abundant natural resources—including the Liguasan Marsh—it faces political and economic barriers.


Under the proposed partition plan, 11 municipalities will compose the province of Northern Maguindanao, while the remaining 25 towns will be part of Southern Maguindanao.


Municipalities to be included under Northern Maguindanao would be Barira, Buldon, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, North Upi, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, and Datu Odin Sinsuat, which will serve as its capital.


Meanwhile, Southern Maguindanao will be composed of the towns of Ampatuan, Datu Abdullah Sangki, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Datu Montawal, Datu Paglas, Datu Piang, Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Unsay, Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun, Guindulungan, Mamasapano, Mangudadatu, Pagalungan, Paglat, Pandag, Rajah Buayan, Sharif Aguak, Sharif Saydona Mustafa, Sultan sa Barongis, Talayan, Talitay, South Upi, while the seat of power will be at Buluan.


The legislative measure for the partition of Maguindanao, according to Tolentino, is the embodiment of the Maguindanaoans’ vision and aspirations to create new provincial governments which will promote their welfare and enhance their socio-economic condition.


He added that diving Maguindanao will not only help boost the income and economic growth in the region but also allow the local leaders to focus more on the needs of their constituents. (CMC)


https://politics.com.ph/long-overdue-dividing-maguindanao-into-2-provinces-to-spur-development-tolentino-says/

Comelec drops mandatory use of face shield in Palawan poll

Participants in the upcoming plebiscite in Palawan next month will no longer be required to wear face shields in voting precincts.


The Commission on Election (Comelec) made decision to prevent possible disfranchisement in the plebiscite scheduled on March 13, 2021. 


“This is just a new order so that marginalized sectors and vulnerable sectors, who might be deprived to vote [because of the face shield requirement]. We know some of them live in islands or mountain, where they have no access [to face shields],” Kalayaan Election Officer Juan Gonzales said in an online news briefing on Thursday.  


He, however, urged Palawan voters, who will be able to buy face shields to wear the protective gear during the exercise to help further minimize the spread of Covid infection.


The election official also stressed that the wearing of facemasks will be mandatory for all voters before they could enter polling precincts or voting centers.


 Comelec will also be strictly implementing social distancing measures in voting precincts by limiting the number of voters in the said venue to just five at any given time. 


The conduct of the plebiscite will determine the possible ratification of Republic Act (RA) No. 11259, or An Act Dividing the Province of Palawan Into Three (3) Provinces, Namely: Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental, and Palawan del Sur. 


Over 490,000 voters are expected to participate in the event, where Comelec is expected to test its new protocols for the conduct of the 2022 National and Local election protocols amid the pandemic.


https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/02/25/comelec-drops-mandatory-use-of-face-shield-in-palawan-poll/