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Regulator OK’s CMIC rules on SBL, short selling

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the guidelines prepared by the Capital Markets Integrity Corp. (CMIC) on securities borrowing and lending (SBL) and short selling.

In a statement Thursday, the country’s corporate regulator said the commission en banc on Dec. 17 approved CMIC’s guidelines, but noted this is “subject to the adoption of certain amendments” by its Markets and Securities Regulation Department.

While the SEC had previously approved guidelines on short selling transactions by the Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) in June 2018, and the PSE retains jurisdiction over all short selling transactions, CMIC’s guidelines were made to address other concerns such as the effect of SBL and short selling on trading participants’ books and records, error transactions and any effect on the risk-based capital adequacy (RBCA) ratio of trading participants.

These guidelines, as approved by the SEC, will limit short selling transactions to “eligible securities” or those that are owned by companies in the PSE index (PSEi). Trading participants are tasked to ensure that all involved parties in a short sale transaction have the necessary borrowing arrangements prior to any deal.

The rules require that all lending securities are registered with the SEC and have a Securities Lending Authorization Agreement, and that borrowing parties have a Master Securities Lending Agreement before any transaction.

Trading participants are required to accomplish a stock credit memo for the entry of securities for the borrower, and stock debit memo for securities of the lender. For the return of shares, the participants must secure a stock debit memo for the entry of securities for the borrower, and stock credit memo for the securities of the lender.

The participants are also required to indicate if any deal is being done as a short sale transaction, as indicated through its account with the Philippine Depository & Trust Corp.

Naked short selling is prohibited under the CMIC rules, as customers doing a short sale transaction must execute a notarized undertaking to ensure parties have full understanding of relevant securities laws, rules and guidelines.

The rules also require participants to submit biannual summary reports of outstanding and liquidated SBL transactions and stock returns, together with a certification of submission of said reports to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

“With the implementing guidelines on short selling in place, we look forward to more robust activity in the stock market,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino was quoted in the statement as saying.

“The Commission, however, notes that it shall not balk at exercising its authority to suspend or prohibit short selling in an exchange when necessary for the protection of investors,” Mr. Aquino added. — Denise A. Valdez

POGOs to remain demand driver of Metro Manila offices

By Vincent Mariel P. Galang, Reporter

METRO MANILA’S office space is expected to grow by 5% this year, with Makati City accounting for most of the supply, a property consultant said, while pointing to demand as continuing to be driven by offshore gaming operators.

“(A) high supply at 1.14 million square meters (sq.m.) from 49 buildings is expected to be completed in 2020. It is also projected to grow by 5% compared to 1.08 million sq.m. in 2019. Makati City is expected to account for the highest supply next year at 353,000 sq.m. supply completions or 31% share of total 2020 supply,” Monique Cornelio-Pronove, chief executive officer of Pronove Tai International Property Consultants, said in an e-mail.

Of the total supply, about 900,000 sq.m. to 1 million sq.m. will be taken up next year, with vacancy rate expected to be around 5-6%.

Ms. Pronove said offshore gaming companies would continue to drive demand, but at a slower pace compared with 2019 due to limited available supply, particularly in the Bay Area where most operators locate.

“Despite limited office supply next year accepting POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators), the offshore gaming sector is still expected to drive office demand but on a slower phase compared to 2019,” she said.

“The main factor of POGOs growth in the office market will always be grounded in the ‘office supply.’ POGO sector is expected to slow down next year because of the limited available supply in the Bay Area,” she added.

She said other factors that could affect POGOs’ demand include the crackdown of the Chinese government on gambling activities; the Philippines’ taxation policies on these operators on franchise and income taxes; and the suspended issuance by local government units, specifically Makati City, of business licenses over rising prices of residential buildings, and increasing prostitution activities involving Chinese nationals.

China signaled a crackdown on cross-border gambling, claiming that most of its nationals working in POGOs were illegally recruited. Gambling is illegal in China, pushing Chinese gamblers to travel to another country or go to special economic zones.

Operators are attracted to locate in the Philippines, particularly its business districts as these offer easier access to transportation and other leisure activities. The country has been trying to regulate the growing industry through proper income tax collection, which is also a way to shut down those that are operating illegally.

Ms. Pronove said the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry is expected to recover this year with the implementation of Administrative Order no. 18, or the moratorium on the approval of new economic zones in Metro Manila. The regulation is aimed at encouraging development in other areas.

She said the sector has been growing at an average of 460,000 sq.m. in the past five years.

“The IT-BPM firms is expected to account for around 41%-43% share on demand or estimated 400,000 sq.m. to 450,000 sq.m. However, this is still slower than its previous average in the last five years,” she said.

Now it wants an Oscar

NETFLIX INC. has been making its own movies for years, but 2019 may be remembered as the year it truly became a film studio.

The company began the year by joining the Motion Picture Association of America, the Hollywood trade group that represents movie studios. It went on to release nearly 60 English-language feature films over the course of 2019, including Oscar contenders The Irishman and Marriage Story.

With a slate that includes its first animated feature Klaus, a Michael Bay action thriller and comedies like Eddie Murphy’s Dolemite Is My Name, Netflix has doubled or even tripled the output of Hollywood’s biggest studios. And for the first time, the company’s top executives are saying that movies will determine whether Netflix hits its financial targets in 2019.

“This fall was a nice culmination,” Scott Stuber, Netflix’s film chief, said in an interview. “I’m very proud of this slate. I can look you in the eye and say we’ve made as good movies this fall as anybody.”

Stuber, 51, joined Netflix in 2017 after more than two decades working in the film business — first as an executive and then a producer. Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos asked Stuber to build a movie studio from scratch, one that would rival any in Hollywood.

At the time, Netflix had only released a couple dozen original movies, most of them forgettable — like the sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Adam Sandler’s comedy western The Ridiculous 6. The company had to fill its slate with projects that had been cast aside by other studios.

Netflix’s one movie that delighted critics, Beasts of No Nation, earned no nominations at the 2016 Academy Awards — an outcome that many experts interpreted as a rebuke of the streaming company. It had resisted demands to release its movies in theaters before they appear on its service, angering cinephiles and movie-theater owners.

“It was a company built on television — that was first and foremost,” said Stuber, a 6-foot-4 executive who brought a fat Rolodex to Netflix from producing movies such as Ted, The Break-Up, and Central Intelligence. Many of his past collaborators, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and director Peter Berg, have since signed on to make movies for Netflix.

FILM FLOOD
In the 2-1/2 years since Stuber took the job, Netflix has morphed into the largest movie studio in Hollywood, at least in terms of volume. The company plans to release 50 to 60 films a year, and that doesn’t include projects born out of other divisions, such as El Camino, a spinoff movie from the TV show Breaking Bad.

The company has scored both critical and commercial hits. Bird Box and Murder Mystery were viewed by more than 70 million people apiece in their first month on the service, according to the company, while Triple Frontier and The Highwaymen both eclipsed 40 million viewers. Six of the 10 most-watched new titles on the service in the US in 2019 were original films.

Still, it’s hard to measure Netflix’s success. The company is selective in what viewer information it releases and there’s no reliable third-party data source. So it’s all but impossible to verify how any one Netflix project fared. The company points to its continued subscriber growth as evidence of success, but critics note that Netflix still borrows money to fund its productions.

Two facts seem clear, though. First, Netflix found a sweet spot making the kinds of movies other studios have abandoned: adult dramas, romantic comedies, and action movies without superheroes. Rom-coms like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Always Be My Maybe don’t have the global appeal of The Avengers, but they are infinitely rewatchable at home.

The sequel to All the Boys is on the slate in 2020, along with movies from George Clooney, Spike Lee, and Ryan Murphy, creator of American Horror Story.

Second, the industry no longer views Netflix as an outsider. Filmmakers Alfonso Cuaron, Martin Scorsese, and Noah Baumbach — all staunch defenders of classic cinema — have turned to Netflix to get their movies made.

And the voters for the Academy Awards have come around, nominating Netflix for 15 Oscars last year, including its first for best picture, best director, best actress, and best screenplay. The company didn’t win the best-picture statuette, but took home its first prizes for something other than a documentary.

‘YOU DID IT’
“When I saw Ted Sarandos after the Oscars, I said, ‘You did it, you got over the hump,’” said John Sloss, who produced Green Book, last year’s winner for best picture. In other words, the Academy is ready — when the film is right — to give Netflix its top prize.

That could be as soon as 2020. Netflix has two of the five movies with the best odds, according to Gold Derby, a site devoted to predicting entertainment awards. They include the current front-runner, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. The nominations will be announced Jan. 13.

The New York film critics named that movie the year’s best, and Netflix earned the most Golden Globe nominations of any studio in both film and television.

But this year has been a particularly strong one for movies, and there is no one leader. Los Angeles film critics named Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite the year’s best, while Sam Mendes’s 1917 has earned ecstatic reviews. Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood could finally earn the filmmaker his first Oscar for best director.

The only group that hasn’t embraced Netflix yet is theater owners. Though Netflix has relaxed its policy on theaters — allowing movies to appear on the big screen for as long as a month before they migrate to the streaming service — that hasn’t appeased the world’s largest cinema chains. They still refuse to show the service’s movies.

But many movie studios, including Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures, want to get their movies online sooner, too. And many companies, including Walt Disney Co., are making movies that won’t appear in theaters at all.

“It’s not a Netflix-versus-theater thing,” Stuber said. “The entire film business has to figure out the right distribution model that helps everyone.” — Bloomberg

Labor dep’t freezes processing of papers for new OFWs to Kuwait

LABOR Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III has frozen the processing of papers for new Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to Kuwait, after reports of a Filipino domestic worker murdered by her Kuwaiti employers.

On Thursday, Mr. Bello said that a memorandum will be released declaring the partial deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait. This is based on the recommendation of Labor Attache Nasser Mustafa which is still awaiting review by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

Jeanelyn Villavende, the domestic worker, was allegedly killed by her employers, according to reports. Mr. Bello said in a statement Thursday that the ban “should serve as a clear message to Kuwaiti authorities. The partial ban may ripen into a total deployment ban if justice for Jeanelyn Villavende is not done.”

“We will also ask Villavende’s recruitment agency to explain their inaction. As early as September, she had complained about maltreatment and underpayment of salary. She also repeatedly requested the agency for repatriation, but they did not do anything,” he added.

Preliminary reports indicate that Ms. Villavende was beaten but an autopsy has yet to be performed.

The Palace condemned the death of Ms. Villavende which it said is a violation of an agreement to protect household service workers.

“The President is outraged by that. It is a violation of the agreement between these two countries and the incident is under investigation,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a briefing Thursday.

In 2018, President Rodrigo R. Duterte called for the total ban on the deployment of OFWs to Kuwait after the murder of domestic worker Joanna Demafelis. The ban lasted for four months. — Gillian M. Cortez

ABS-CBN nears 10-year low as Duterte attacks continue

ABS-CBN Corp.’s shares are headed to a 10-year low after Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte continued his attacks on the television network he has accused of bias, urging its owners to sell before its franchise expires in March.

Shares of the media company dropped as much as 6.3% on the first trading day in Manila this year, poised for its lowest close since March 2009. The stock ended 2019 with a 21% loss compared with the local benchmark index’s 4.7% gain for the year.

In a televised speech on Dec. 30, Mr. Duterte suggested the media firm’s franchise renewal is uncertain. He had earlier threatened to block the network’s bid to extend the franchise for 25 years. ABS-CBN has not issued a statement about Duterte’s remarks, a spokesman said.

“Your contract is expiring. I’m not sure what will happen if you renew,” Mr. Duterte said. “If I were you, I would just sell.”

The president has accused ABS-CBN as well as privately owned Philippine Daily Inquirer of unfair reporting, allegations that the media companies have denied.

Mr. Duterte also resumed his criticism of water utilities for alleged corruption in his Dec. 30 speech, threatening to sue and jail the owners of Manila Water Co. and Maynilad Water Services, Inc. He reiterated a plan for a military takeover of the water utilities’ operations.

Manila Water of Ayala Corp. and Maynilad owners Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and DMCI Holdings, Inc. are among the worst-performing Philippine stocks in 2019, plunging since early December when Mr. Duterte started his censure.

“For those of you asking where are the big fish in my fight against corruption, I’ll deliver them: Ayala and Pangilinan,” he said. “If they do something wrong, I’ll really jail them,” Mr. Duterte said, referring to the family of Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, which owns Manila Water and Manuel V. Pangilinan, who chairs Metro Pacific.

The two tycoons did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Manila Water plunged 14% in early Thursday. Metro Pacific was down 4.3%, while DMCI tumbled 3.9%. — Bloomberg

6 Underground is Netflix PH most popular show in 2019

IN THE THREE YEARS SINCE streaming giant Netflix entered the Philippines — alongside 90 other territories — in 2016, Filipinos have largely embraced streaming as a new way to consume content.

As the decade comes to a close, Netflix revealed the most popular releases of 2019 in the Philippines, a list which showed a propensity towards both local and Hollywood content.

On top of the Most Popular Releases of 2019 is Netflix’s own action-thriller, 6 Underground directed by Michael Bay and starring Ryan Reynolds. Despite being released on Dec. 13, it quickly became the most viewed title on the service.

It is important to note though than Netflix ranked the titles “by the number of accounts choosing to watch at least two minutes of a series, movie of special during its first 28 days on Netflix,” according to a release.

Following 6 Underground is Kyle Newachek’s crime-mystery film, Murder Mystery starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler.

At number three is Mikhael Red’s Eerie, a Filipino horror film starring Bea Alonzo.

Another Filipino entry is Miss Granny, directed by Joyce E. Bernal and starring Sarah Geronimo and Nova Villa. The film is the local adaptation of a 2014 Korean film of the same name.

On a separate list which includes only the most popular movie titles on the platform, 6 Underground, Murder Mystery, and Eerie held their places while Ang Babaeng Allergic sa Wifi (The Girl Allergic to Wifi) by Jun Lana occupied the ninth place. The film stars Sue Ramirez.

For series, Filipinos watched the newly released The Witcher, an action-fantasy series adapted from a book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher’s showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, and its lead actor, Henry Cavill, were in the Philippines in December for the show’s press tour.

Following The Witcher is the Korean drama Hotel del Luna, a dark fantasy-comedy series starring Lee Ji-eun and Yeo Jin-goo. Two other K-dramas made it to the list: historical horror Kingdom and romantic comedy Love Alarm.

Popular Netflix Originals also made it to the list: Umbrella Academy and Stranger Things.

“This lineup shows the quality, diversity, and variety of entertainment choices that Filipinos enjoyed on Netflix in 2019, from Filipino to Hollywood and Korean movies and shows, and across multiple genres including sci-fi fantasies, live action, romantic comedies, and more,” said the Netflix press release.

PHL CONTENT FOR FILIPINO VIEWERS
What this year’s list confirmed is the appetite of Filipinos for Philippine content, something local producers have long known.

“We chuckle among ourselves and say that Netflix is learning just now what we knew all along — that Filipinos, in their heart of hearts, are romantics and family people, and that will never change,” Olivia M. Lamasan, head of ABS-CBN Films, told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview in December.

“Local content will always be a surefire and stable subscription magnet for Filipinos. No one can tell the Filipino experience more powerfully than Filipinos themselves,” she added.

Streaming services also extend the shelf lives of Filipino content as Vincent “Ting” Nebrida, President of TBA Studios, told BusinessWorld in a separate interview, saying that being on streaming platforms allow their titles to be viewed by more people across generations.

“Because in the end, we make films not only for the Filipinos of today but also future generations,” he said.

He added that they earn “substantial revenues” from streaming, though the biggest moneymaker still is a successful theatrical release.

Among the TBA Studios films currently on Netflix are Jerrold Tarog’s historical epics Heneral Luna and Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral.

But it must be noted that not all streaming contracts pay the same as a film producer who asked not to be identified said that some acquisition contracts entail a fixed amount.

“Sometimes, streaming services buy the rights for a title for a fixed amount — this means that we won’t earn royalties every time a user watches our film,” the producer said. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Tesla must face lawsuit claiming racism at California factory

A FEDERAL JUDGE rejected Tesla Inc’s effort to dismiss claims by two former workers that the California electric car factory where they worked was a hotbed of racial hostility, clearing the way for a possible trial.

In a decision on Monday, US District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco found open questions over whether Owen Diaz and his son Demetric Di-az faced “severe and pervasive racial harassment” in 2015 and 2016 at Tesla’s factory in suburban Fremont, which employs more than 10,000 people.

The plaintiffs, who are black, said they were subjected to repeated racial epithets dozens of times, as well as racist cartoons, and that supervisors engaged in or did little to stop the racism.

Orrick said Diaz could pursue claims that Tesla allowed and did not take reasonable steps to stop racial harassment.

He said punitive damages might be available if Tesla must have known about the harassment and “ratified” it, even if only lower level workers were directly involved.

“The n-word is perhaps the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in English, a word expressive of racial hatred and bigotry,” Orrick wrote. “This case will proceed to trial.”

A trial is scheduled for May 11, 2020.

Tesla and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Palo Alto, California-based company has faced multiple racial harassment lawsuits, but is not the only automaker to face such claims in recent years.

In 2017, Ford Motor Co. agreed to pay up to $10.1 million to settle a federal probe into alleged harassment at two Chicago plants.

Tesla has in court papers said it “did not hesitate” to address racial abuse at the Fremont factory, and there was no proof of “oppression, malice, or fraud.”

Orrick also said Diaz could pursue claims against a staffing agency that assigned him to the factory, and a liaison between Tesla and that agency.

Lawrence Organ, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said his clients are seeking damages “in the millions” of dollars.

“Tesla is not sending a message that this kind of conduct in the workplace is not permitted,” he said in an interview.

Owen Diaz said he worked at Tesla for 11 months as an elevator operator, while Demetric Diaz spent two months as a production associate.

Allegations included a claim that Diaz’s supervisor admitted to drawing a cartoon of “a black face person with a bone in his hair” and captioned “booo,” supposedly short for “jigaboo.”

“You people can’t take a joke,” Diaz said the supervisor told him.

The case is Diaz et al v Tesla Inc. et al, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-06748. — Reuters

Lawmaker seeks fast action on ABS-CBN franchise

A LEGISLATOR plans to file a resolution directing the House Committee on Legislative Franchises to “report without delay” for plenary action a consolidation of nine bills seeking the renewal of ABS-CBN Corp.’s franchise.

Rep. Edcel C. Lagman of the first district of Albay said in a press release on Thursday that he would file a resolution on Jan. 6, when the lower chamber resumes work, to push the committee to act on the media company’s franchise.

He said President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s “blatant curtailment of press freedom” for repeatedly threatening to block the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise, which expires in March 2020, is “ominously reminiscent of the unceremonious closure nationwide of 392 media outlets” at the outset of martial law in September 1972, including the company’s predecessor, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.

The lawmaker said instead of imposing “an extrajudicial killing of the freedom of the press,” the President should go to the proper judicial or administrative forum on his “personal grievances” against ABS-CBN.

“Any deliberate and arbitrary denial of the extension of ABS-CBN’s franchise will render jobless 10,955 regular and non-regular employees as well as talent and project-based workers, and freeze P84.6-billion assets and investments,” Mr. Lagman said.

The Albay representative also called out his fellow House members, particularly the Committee on Legislative Franchises, “to act independently in exercising exclusive congressional jurisdiction on the grant of franchises, and must not be cowed by the President’s wanton rantings.”

As soon as session resumes on Jan. 20, many members of the chamber are expected to co-author Mr. Lagman’s resolution.

Meanwhile, Palawan Rep. Franz E. Alvarez, who chairs the committee, gave his assurance that the panel would be “fair and objective” in reviewing ABS-CBN’s application for franchise renewal. But he said the congressional grant is a “privilege and not a right” under the law.

“The advice of Speaker Alan [Peter S. Cayetano] to us was to make sure that we would be always fair and impartial in reviewing the application of ABS-CBN, or the application of any other public utility, for that matter. At the same time, it is Congress’ duty to accept complaints and hear issue(s) brought up in any contain or objection,” Mr. Alvarez said.

“This is why we have to hear all sides, and find out if ABS-CBN violated the provisions of its franchise,” he added.

He also said the Supreme Court had stated that the grant of a franchise is “merely a privilege emanating from the sovereign power of the State and owing its existence to a grant, is subject to regulation by the State itself by virtue of police power through administrative agencies.”

“Does the President and many others who have made statements against ABS-CBN’s election coverage and election ad placement system, have a legitimate grievance against ABS-CBN? Did ABS-CBN violate the provisions of its franchise? Can ABS-CBN credibly defend its privilege of being granted a renewal of its franchise? These are just some of the questions that our committee will seek to answer when we conduct hearings on the matter once Congress resumes session three weeks from now,” Mr. Alvarez said. — Genshen L. Espedido

Original content was Netflix’s top international draw in 2019

NETFLIX INC., touting the success of its original programming, said the most popular releases on its streaming service this year were things it produced: the comedy movie Murder Mystery and the third season of its 1980s sci-fi show Stranger Things.

The company disclosed lists of its top 10 programs in 33 countries on Dec. 30, offering the most expansive report to date of what is being watched on the world’s most popular online TV network.

Netflix’s 6 Underground, the Michael Bay-directed action movie, and its monster-hunting fantasy The Witcher also drew large US audiences.

Netflix, which once filled its service with shows and movies from other studios, is now relying more than ever on its own programming to keep viewers loyal. Partners such as Walt Disney Co. are taking back their properties in order to feed their own streaming services. Disney’s platform launched last month, and ones from Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal and AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia are due next year.

Netflix still relied on some Disney material to fill out its lineup this year. In fact, Incredibles 2, the animated movie from Disney’s Pixar unit, was Netflix’s third-most-popular new film in 2019.

The data is both revealing and limited. No outside party verified the lists, which Netflix based on viewership in the first 28 days after a show was released. The numbers count people who watched at least two minutes of a program, and Netflix relied on projections to calculate the popularity of shows and movies that were just released in December.

Because Netflix has provided so little data over the years, the lists offer some rare insight into what works on the service.

Netflix’s original movies and shows dominated across every category in both the US and abroad. Murder Mystery, which stars Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, was the No. 1 program in nine countries, including Australia and Colombia.

The third season of heist show Casa de Papel, meanwhile, topped the charts in six countries, including Spain and Israel. — Bloomberg

Yields on term deposits slip on holiday flows

TERM DEPOSIT yields slipped on the first week of the year on the back of some holiday fever and the stronger performance of the peso in 2019.

Bids for the central bank’s term deposit facility (TDF) amounted to P153.434 billion on Thursday, going beyond the P90 billion on offer, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

This week’s tenders also beat the P108.927 billion in bids the BSP received on Dec. 26 for the P130 billion on the auction block.

“The adjustment in the total offer volume takes into account the increased demand for currency following the New Year holiday,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

Banks’ tenders for the six-day deposits amounted to P48.605 billion, going beyond the P30 billion auctioned off by the central bank and also higher than the P40 billion worth of bids seen last week.

Yields for the one-week papers clocked in from 4.2% to 4.25%, a slimmer band compared to last week’s 4.2-4.35%. This resulted in an average rate of 4.2345%, slipping by 4.31 basis points (bps) from last week’s 4.2776%.

Meanwhile, tenders for the two-week deposits hit P49.172 billion, surpassing the P30 billion offered by the central bank and also higher than the P29.089 worth of bids seen on Dec. 26 against the P40 billion up for grabs.

Lenders asked for rates from 4.28% to 4.325%, a slightly narrow band compared to the 4.3% to 4.4% range last week. The average rate for the 13-day term deposits was at 4.3045%, down by 2.92 bps from the 4.3337% logged last week.

On the other hand, tenders for the 27-day papers hit P55.657 billion, higher than the P30 billion offered by the central bank and also beating the P39.838 billion in bids seen last week for a P40-billion offer.

The one-month papers fetched rates ranging 4.295% to 4.35%, a narrower range compared to the 4.285% to 4.475% margin seen on Dec. 26. This caused its average rate to settle at 4.3302%, slipping by 2.04 bps from the previous auction’s 4.3542%.

Economists said the lower TDF yields came on the back of the stronger peso and the recently concluded holidays, among others.

“It’s a short trading week and a lot of people are still on holiday mode. Little market activity is expected and this may be one of the reasons why yields have been low,” UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in an e-mail.

The holidays may have partly caused premium easing for short-term funds “since accounting year-end and any accompanying window-dressing activities are already done with,” according to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort.

Aside from this, Mr. Ricafort said the peso’s performance last year may have also pushed yields down.

“Relatively stronger peso exchange rate versus the dollar, among the strongest in nearly two years, also led to lower local interest rates, including BSP TDF auction yields, as stronger peso tempers any expected uptick in the headline inflation rate,” he said in an e-mail.

The peso closed at P50.685 on Thursday, weaker by five centavos from the P50.635 close on Friday last week — which was the last trading day of 2019. The peso gained P1.945 year on year from its close of P52.58 on Dec. 28, 2018.

Economists have said the peso may weaken anew in 2020 on the back of a possibly wider trade deficit and as investors wait on the sidelines for clarity about some business-related rules in the country. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Strike not extended at Lufthansa’s Germanwings

BERLIN — The trade union representing cabin crew at Lufthansa’s budget airline Germanwings decided on Wednesday not to continue their strike for the time being after three days of stoppages led to dozens of flights being canceled.

The Ufo labor union, which called strikes from Monday to Wednesday at Germanwings, will discuss on Sunday how to proceed in the dispute with the company after deciding not to extend the strike, a spokesman said.

The cabin crew strike had led to only 20 of 220 scheduled Germanwings flights taking off in the three days, although Lufthansa subsidiaries like Austrian Airlines has given seats to stranded passengers, limiting the impact on customers.

The deadlocked collective bargaining dispute for the 22,000 cabin employees concerns pay and working conditions among other issues.

Ufo held a strike for two days in November, resulting in the cancellation of one in five flights, affecting around 180,000 passengers and costing the airline up to 20 million euros ($22.42 million). — Reuters

PhilWeb’s Valdes moves to another Ongpin firm

DENNIS O. VALDES is leaving his posts as president and director at PhilWeb Corp. to take the helm at Ongpin-led Alphaland Corp.

The listed gaming company told the stock exchange yesterday Mr. Valdes has filed his resignation effective Jan. 31 and will be replaced by current Senior Vice-President for Gaming Brian K. Ng.

“We are very pleased with the election of Brian to the post of president. His capable handling of our gaming operations over the past years gives us great confidence that he will bring fresh ideas and renewed energy to the task of propelling PhilWeb to new heights, especially as we continue our dual push in e-casino and e-bingo,” Mr. Valdes was quoted as saying in a statement.

Mr. Ng joined PhilWeb in January 2011 and has since held his current role. Before joining the gaming firm, he was managing director and country manager at Affinity Express Philippines, Inc.; vice-president and country manager at RR Donnelley Global Outsourcing; director for operations at OfficeTiger Philippines Corp.; and director of special projects at SPi Global.

He also teaches as an instructor at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Ateneo universities, where he likewise earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Master of Business Administration.

PhilWeb is currently owned by Gregorio Ma. Araneta III after Roberto V. Ongpin sold all his shareholdings in the firm in 2017. It said it had 89 electronic gaming outlets as of end-2019, composed of 66 e-Games and 23 e-bingo outlets. In the nine months to September it reported trimming its losses by 62% to P26.79 million after a 33% rise in revenues to P394.91 million.

Alphaland, Mr. Ongpin’s other firm where Mr. Valdes will be moving into, is the company behind exclusive leisure spots and hotels such as Balesin Island Club, Alphaland Baguio Mountain Lodges and The Alpha Suites.

Shares in PhilWeb at the stock exchange slipped 3.45% to P2.52 each on Thursday. — Denise A. Valdez

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