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It has been six months since our Philippine government implemented the Covid-19 pandemic measures on lockdown and various versions of community quarantine within and outside Metro Manila. In those six months, like any other excited couple who had already prepare for almost a year for their wedding, my fiancée and I were devastated when we had to reschedule our church wedding that was supposedly in June 2020.

One afternoon, I was sitting across a table from my two daughters. My two-year-old was eating her snack: a chocolate wafer. After putting it in her mouth, she got hold of her green plastic cup and reached for something in it. When she opened her hand, there was a small piece of ice. She then slowly brought her palm toward her mouth. I saw excitement in her eyes as her palm came closer. But as she was about to eat the ice, her palm slightly tilted, causing the ice to slip and fall to the floor.

Last weekend, I learned how to make self-watering pots out of recycled soda bottles. I was worried that my kangkong (water spinach) cuttings would wither if I put them in pots. Since kangkong is a semiaquatic plant, its soil must be always moist. As I tend to forget my plants when I have deadlines, I had to research on how to keep their water supply constant.

Earlier this month, my second daughter approached me. She was crying as she recounted how her younger sister bit her arm. Less than a minute later, the younger one came running to me, as well. Since she is not yet able to talk well, I can only guess she was also complaining about her older sister and probably explaining why she bit her older sister. This was happening while I was trying to listen to the meeting I was attending from home.

I can still recall the day the government announced that the National Capital Region and the entire Luzon would be put under enhanced community quarantine starting on March 17, 2020. It was the biggest curveball thrown at us. The uncertainties marking those first few days of the lockdown were just too much to process. But in a way, I was excited for the opportunity to work from home. I surely would not miss being stuck in the horrendous Manila traffic four hours a day. Besides, I thought then, the quarantine could probably be over in a few weeks.

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continues to spread across the globe, most of the regular aspects of our lives, including sports and physical activities, have been greatly affected. The various measures implemented to contain the spread of this disease, including physical distancing and community quarantines, have significantly altered the sports landscape. At the onset of the pandemic, notable sporting events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, have been postponed while local and international professional leagues have suspended their seasons to safeguard the health of athletes, coaches, officials and other stakeholders.

If you receive an email resembling a familiar email format and address and saying the Covid-19 pandemic assistance fund would be released today, and it asks you to log on through a link to know more about the fund’s computation, what would you do?

“Tale as old as time” — this now-famous beginning lyric from “Beauty and the Beast” can also applied to the authority of the commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to review, allocate and distribute the income and deductions of related-party transactions, both cross-border and domestic. This include intra-firm transactions between related parties to determine the appropriate revenue and taxable income. Few people would know that this authority is now 81 years old; it was introduced on June 15, 1939 under Section 44 (now Section 50) of Commonwealth Act 466 or the “National Internal Revenue Code.” Let us recount the notable events and facts on this authority’s implementation and evolution.