 The host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea program. Today we're going across the sea to the Philippines to a meeting in Metro Manila with my friend Malva Valdez. Malva is a partner in the law firm of Bello Valdez and Fernandez. And you know many of us have friends and family in the Philippines but we really don't know what's going on during these COVID-19 pandemic times. And I've asked Malva to help us out to tell us what the current events are like, what the practice of law is like in the Philippines at this time. So Malva, welcome. It's good to see you. It's morning in the Philippines. It's how are you? Hello Mark. Good morning from rainy Manila. It's seven o'clock here. It's a Tuesday morning. It's already September 15 and in your in your hood I know that it's afternoon September 14. Aloha. You're in the future. Yeah. I would start by saying that our lockdown started last March 17 of this year so it's oh it's been six months already two days from now. Since we've been in this kind of a new normal it came like in the wink of an eye everything changed. I know this from a personal point of view and also from a professional point of view because I don't know if I consider myself lucky because at that time when the sudden announcement for an ECQ enhanced community quarantine is how we call it here for a total lockdown. That's how the government called it. I was the only partner then at the office. So practically I was the one who closed my law firm on March 17. Yes. Yes. I was frantic. There were lawyers. There were non-legal staff. But at that point we were already because there were talks that we will be going. There were many cases coming already on the statistics although not as many as now. So what we decided as partners is we will go. We will report and amend the office on rotation but our people will have to be reporting still like everything's normal. Then suddenly we got an announcement from the administration that we will have an enhanced community quarantine which is actually total lockdown. Only there will be there were no public transportation. Only a few industries were open essentials like food at that point. Manufacturing concerns were open. So I had to make a close very important decision to try to gather all our people and also secure our records and our data. And then there you go. We went on two months. I think we went from March 17 up to end of April on a total lockdown. Everything suddenly changed. You've been practicing law for how long? I've been in practice for the last 34 years Mark. And where is your law firm? Is it right in my mind? My law firm is one of the oldest law firms in the country. It's 69 years old. So we are the fourth generation of partners of that firm. It used to be called the Bengzon law firm, law office. It used to have its office in the central district of Makati. But because when our turn came to man the office, the traffic was really very challenging in Metro Manila. You've been here Mark. So you know how traffic is almost unbearable. So most of us partners live north of Makati. My house for example is 12 kilometers only from Makati. But it could take me two hours to get to my office one way. That's when we decided about four years ago to move to Pasig which is halfway, which is also one of the central business districts in Metro Manila. By the way Metro Manila is one of the most populated metropolis in the Philippines. It has a population of about close to 13 million as of now. And there are 16 cities which compose Metro Manila. Pasig is one of them. So we're still in the heart of Metro Manila. I see. So this shutdown happened. You were the only partner in the office. I was the only partner. And you had to get everything organized. And you've done that. And you're within the Metro Manila area. Yes. Because all these cities are within that. And is this shutdown for all of Manila? Is it all of the Philippines? Or tell me what's the you know for example in Hawaii we are anybody that comes to Hawaii has to quarantine for 14 days. And right now we're in a 14-day lockdown of the whole city of Honolulu. Not other cities in the state. But so how is Metro Manila compared to everywhere else in the Philippines? During the first lockdown the entire Luzon island was put on total lockdown. And that came on that went on in fact for two months. Then little by little some areas opened up. But then the concentration of cases up to now is in Metro Manila. So for some time we were on a modified enhanced community quarantine so to speak. After two months the government tried to ease up because it has to balance between economy also and health. There was there was so much what's this talk. We have an interagency task force tasked by the administration to handle this pandemic in this country. So it's composed of secretaries from the Department of Health, from the from the Department of Traded Industry, from certain business sectors. So for some time we went on a modified enhanced community quarantine. Meaning there were added industries that opened up. But still law wasn't part of it at that point. Lawyer wasn't part of it. Law was not part of it or was part of it? Was not part of it yet. Yeah so for two months we were not we could not go to our office. Oh wow. Yeah for two months we were not able to go to our office. We suddenly had to shift to a work from home mode for everyone. We were we managed to keep our people intact. Some firms in fact some industries started for lowing employees of course. It's the natural course of events but luckily for us we were able to keep our people both legal and non-legal and working from home was the mode for two months. So all of your all of your staff all of the partners everybody is working from home. Are still even now is that correct? As of now Mark we are allowed to operate on a 50% capacity at any given time. Alright of course we have to have in place strict safety protocols. But since how do I term it? Since it will be safer for everyone for our people. We find it safer for everyone to be working from home still. So our we have some kind of a blended kind of a working arrangement now. We rotate our people that they report only twice a week to the office even our non-legal staff for our lawyers we encourage them actually to work from home. And slowly we are adjusting to that kind of a situation. I go to the office twice a week if I can because I have to check also. I have to check the the the physical office if protocols and disinfection is being done some with my and also my other partners do that. Sometimes there are documents that need to be signed although since I live close by and an alternative way of doing it is we have messengers who have motorcycles. This is only in the Philippines Mark. So they bring the documents to my house which is about from 12 kilometers I'm now down to 2 to about 3 kilometers down from the office. So I'm the near and my house is the nearest among the partners to our office. So documents sometimes are brought to my house but then when there was a surge again of cases I thought it's kind of reckless to be allowing people to even if they don't enter the house to to becoming very often here. So I thought that it would be best if I go to the office on about once or twice a week just to sign their certain document because I practice commercial law and we're just starting to do e signatures but still a lot of agencies are still would still want the physical signatures for for for board resolutions for documents for secretary certificates. So although during the pandemic at the height of the pandemic we were allowed to submit documents to regulatory agencies using signatures. Right right now. OK. You've been in lockdown or in some form of lockdown or since March and and in in the United States and in Hawaii we talk about wearing masks and social distancing and that type of thing. How are things today. What are you folks doing in the Philippines especially in in Metro Manila. Are we is there concern. Should we be concerned for our friends and family there. What's the status right now. Well you know Mark to be candid the Philippines is a mix of the the the very rich and the very poor. You we have some kind of a big gap in so far as that is concerned. I think that's one reason why this the the it's very hard to control the the to flatten the curve so to speak. But it's so far as in so far as protocols are concerned. Curve the pandemic or to contain the pandemic. There are strict regulations in so far as wearing of masks is concerned and also face shields. All these days and our face shields should cover our full face. Really. Yeah. I used to I used to you know you know me as somebody who really loves to dress up you know. So even I even have fashionable masks which are no longer allowed here. They require surgical masks. There are masks which I even bought from the U.S. which are valves because I could I felt I could breathe with the surgical mask or even the N 95. But then the establishments will not allow you if you are not using surgical mask and you are not using full face shields. That's a requirement. In fact one time two weeks ago just to give you an anecdote. I went to my I went to my office my mask was the usual half face. I thought and then the the the security guard at the building didn't let me in until I changed my mask. We have to contain it because you know, we don't really know whether the person behind us or behind us or beside us is actually asymptomatic positive. You know, you know, I'm testing here here here in the United States and like in Hawaii political leaders have come under some heat. Our mayor, our governor and the president. What's it like in the Philippines? Is there I mean, how are the leaders doing? I mean, who are the leaders in the field? And what are they doing? How are they doing? The lead agency here is the Department of Health, of course. We call it the Department of Health here in for this pandemic. Their claim is that they're doing everything. I'll put it that way. The claim is they're doing everything to curb this pandemic. But I would describe it that they may be doing their best, but their best is not good enough. We end up private sex citizens, private companies, law firms that matter, doing our own protection. At the end of the day, we have now have we now have a mindset. I now have a mindset that I am a positive. So I should be protecting myself, not only for myself, but also for other people who I come in contact with. So it sounds like people are relying more on themselves and there is not from what I hear. I mean, it's very similar to what we have here. We we have dissatisfaction and a lot of grumbling. Of course, nobody could predict and nobody nobody knows what to do maybe. But there is a lot of concern that the government here in the United States and Hawaii and even in our city that sometimes we don't know what we're doing. There's a lot of disputes. Let me let me let me let me ask you, Ken. If I wanted to come to the Philippines now, could I come? I mean, if no, no, the only the only inbound passengers allowed to come into the Philippines now until now. This has not been lifted yet. The the rule has not been lifted yet are returning Filipinos or foreigners who have long term visa, meaning they have when you say long term visa, they have permanent residency visa, not working visas or those who are married to Filipinos or Filipinos. Thank you. I have clients who have who are who are presidents of their companies here, but who have been caught in a situation wherein they couldn't come back yet. So you you you're talking about your clients now. I mean, how how are you communicating with your clients? I mean, you can't go to the office. Are you doing a lot of zoom and virtual type type meetings with clients? But it sounds like you're still busy. Yes. This is something that I consider it. I'm I am blessed. We are blessed. My firm is blessed because even during a height of ECQ, I was very busy. I can speak for myself because I was handling accounts which are in the manufacturing business, and it was business as usual for them. Their factories were our outside Metro Manila. So we were still doing work. And then there was one client who's fast enough to pivot its business and during the height of the pandemic, because we were short of PPEs, especially surgical masks at that time. Last March, there was a shortage of masks here. But we were there was one client of mine was able to work out with the DTI and the Department of Trade Industry and the Department of Health that the government will assist the here assist this company to a quickly import equipment and pivot to manufacture of face of surgical masks. So at the height of the pandemic in a span of about three weeks, I was able to package a contract in so far as the manufacturer of surgical mask is concerned. So it kept me busy and it kept me mentally alert. It kept me mentally sane during those trying times because we were I was we were also adjusting then, even my husband Ricky was also adjusting then. In fact, he couldn't work at home. So he goes to the office every day. And he's also a lawyer who I know. So he's he's busy too. So not as busy as I am because he's into tax. And for the longest time, most of our agencies are actually on total lockdown. There was no movement. So we couldn't get approvals. In fact, most agents government agencies now are still on skeletal force. And we communicate with them via online. Also, through emails, we do e-filings and then followed by some agencies now accept hard copies. So we send them the following day. But for example, Securities and Exchange Commission in fact still is still working via via emails, queries and filings are done via emails. And also hard copies are sent by an accredited courier. Okay, so so most of your most of the business is is all done virtual and you're not meeting with people, although I know, you know, my own experience in the Philippines and Manila, you know, interaction, personal interaction is is a cultural strength of Filipinos and just doing business in the Philippines. You know, is there is there something in your culture or history of the Philippines that is helping you folks during this period of time? I mean, I hear you talking about how, you know, difficult times and you're busy, which is helpful. Is there is there something else in culture, Philippine culture, history that's helpful? What is? Yeah, I think it's our what we call the Bayanian system, the spirit of cooperation among people. The goodness of people came out. That's why during the height of this and until now, you would see people even if they're not rich, helping our frontliners, meaning our what we call you call them essential workers, meaning your hospital workers, health workers. We call them here our frontliners, so doctors all in the medical field. So we in our own little way help them get their own protective equipment gears, food, because they sometimes they couldn't go out anymore because they have to attend to COVID patients. So and even among us people, you know, sad to say sometimes the poor people can't rely anymore on stimulus. You call it stimulus in your jurisdiction. So the rich are the more the well to do or even the middle income group are trying very much their best to help the poor like in my in my area in my hood in my village in my subdivision, like we contribute every week to give to our garbage collectors. So this is helping the Philippines a lot. This is one thing that's going good for all of us because it's so easy. In fact, Mark, I even send PPEs to some of my classmates who are essential workers in the mainland. Because I heard, yeah, because I heard we have a lot here, because most designers in fact pivoted to doing protective PPEs. And I understand that some of my from some of my friends in the mainland who are working in hospitals that they don't have this personal protective equipment, basically the the the suits. So I have sent a few to some of my doctor friends in California. Well, so that's maybe a Filipino family. And is that right? I mean, we're all together. And that's that's something positive. What else? I mean, I mean, every time when I walk around my neighborhood, even during these very weird times, I feel somewhat thankful that I can walk in a beautiful place. And even though things are crazy, I really like that. Is there things like that in the Philippines for you personally? Or how are you personally? How are your feet? What are you feeling? It's the things that lift you up despite what's going on? I call it sometimes, you know, I think of it in a very positive way for this that this is a better normal. Our environment, Mark, especially Metro Manila, you know how the level of pollution here before. But when I first after two months, I visit, I was brave enough to visit again, my office was the first one to visit the office. I'm from the window of my from the glass window of my of my room. Everything was so green. And I could see the smallest building from as far as my eyes could see. So this is one thing that this lockdown has done, you know, it has cleared the air. And walking around here, all the plants in my garden are in are very lush, so to speak, which I never saw before. And we could walk around also like you in the streets here where I live. Everything is so fresh, especially in the mornings. Although I must say that, according to a friend last night, people are also trying to are also trying to act as normal as possible for economic reasons. So a friend of mine, a lawyer friend of mine was in our Viber group was saying that it's like there's no pandemic anymore. Traffic was bad again. Because people are going back trying to go back to I see. Because as you said, the Philippines is more of a person to person interaction kind of a culture. It's the thing that that I struggle with for some time. Also, you know me, I'm very sociable, right? Yeah, let's let's I'm gonna I'm gonna take a little day detour and talk about a relationship. That's between Philippines and the United States. Now, I mean, I have so many good friends in the Philippines, but I feel like it is cooled a little bit not not not between my friends, but just the countries. Is that the feeling in the Philippines too? Or what are the Phillip what do Filipinos feel about the current relationship with the United States? In so far as relationship is concerned. I think you're right. It's a bit cold because of the leadership of both. Although if you ask me, your leader and my leader actually act in the same way. Sorry. Yeah, but you know, there's some kind of a but then late, I would say that in my own analysis of the situation, there is this is how the US and the Philippines have been for the longest time also in my observation. There's some kind of a love hate relationship. Well, I, I like a relationship better. I like the love relationship. Of course, of course. Yeah. Um, well, okay, we have about a minute left. What what are your thoughts? What are where are we going? Where will you be in the Philippines? How do things look for the future? And we've got just about a minute left. Give me your thoughts. My takeaway from this pandemic is that from a personal point of view, I've learned to value life more, that life is fragile. Every day is a gift. That's an old cliche, but now it's very it's a reality. So, it's been correct. You have to be I always grateful every time I wake up in the morning, I say my grace and give thanks to him, to my creator. And from a professional point of view, I never thought that work from home really works. Okay, it really works. And so this pandemic also has, has taught people or has has changed the working climate for all kinds of business lawyering included that we meet, we don't need to be physically present in the, in the, in an office, we can have a home office and continue working, especially if you are of if you're an MNA lawyer or a securities lawyer, the only thing that's still a work in progress and so far as the Philippines is concerned, or Israel litigation, because e hearing is still just starting, although our Supreme Court has already mandated all courts to conduct e hearings, but we have an issue in so far as connectivity is concerned, we have an issue in so far as hardware and software is concerned for some courts, although some courts have also started their e hearings already, even the Supreme Court conducted already an e hearing. But for commercial lawyers and other and for business lawyers, for that matter, work from home works. Well, you know, and the other thing is that we, this has given us an opportunity to talk to each other, when we might not have talked for a while. And so I'm very thankful that we got together this afternoon in Hawaii and this morning in Manila. And so, Melva, thank you. I was very nice to see you, very nice to talk with you. Hopefully, we'll meet in person sometime, but I am glad we've had this opportunity to see each other today. So Aloha. Aloha and thank you very much. I felt honored to be one of your guests in this unprecedented times. Because I see you sometimes only on Facebook, although I haven't been on Facebook also for some time lately. So thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to share what, what we are experiencing here in this part of the world. We are in fact, you're Hawaii is one of our closest neighbors in the United States. And one of my favorite states also because it's practically very Filipino in some ways. There's so many Filipinos, a huge Filipino community there. Migrants for that matter, mostly from the north, if I may say so. So thank you very much, Mark. It was a pleasure talking to you today. I didn't mind waking up. No problem with me. What is Filipino word like is Aloha? What would I say? I used to see you. Aloha. Nice to see you. Thank you.