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Bourse readies new products for next year

THE PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE, Inc. (PSE) plans to introduce new products next year as well as new indices as part efforts to further increase investment options.

In a media gathering Wednesday night, PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon said he is optimistic about the year ahead as the exchange has “at least two new products for next year, which is the REITs (real estate investment trusts) and short-selling (guidelines).”

“We have two or three more additional new products we want to launch… So we’re very excited.”

Also in the 2020 pipeline, Mr. Monzon said, are new market data products and new indices, particularly a “consumer index and all-return index” designed to provide a more accurate measure of index performance.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) targets to finalize revised rules on REITs, which will allow the public to invest in specific property projects, some time next year. The SEC said early this month it has been working with the Finance department on the revised rules which considered comments collected from stakeholders last month.

Also to be released next year are rules for short-selling, whereby an investor borrows a stock — betting its price will drop at some time — sells the stock in the open market and then buys the stock back at the lower price to return it to the lender.

“What’s our outlook for next year? Never mind the 9,000-9,200 (main index forecasts). But for the exchange, I think management is very bullish,” Mr. Monzon added, referring to outlooks of brokerages on the market’s performance next year.

BPI Securities Corp. previously said it is expecting the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi) to hit 9,000 next year, backed by the faster growth of the economy, especially the banking, property and consumer sectors. A report by Bloomberg also showed HSBC is projecting the PSEi to land 9,290 by end-2020.

“I think it was (HSBC) that forecasted 9,000-9,200… That’s how bullish we are for 2020,” PSE Chairman Jose T. Pardo told reporters in the same event, saying the exchange remains optimistic despite living in “the age of uncertainty with volatility as the only thing constant.”

The PSEi ended at 7,653.94 on Thursday, shedding 1.03% from Wednesday though still 2.78% stronger than its 7,466.02 end-2018 finish. — Denise A. Valdez

Economic managers slash budget gap ceiling

ECONOMIC MANAGERS have set lower fiscal deficit ceiling this year, slashing it to P610 billion from P624.37 billion previously.

Despite the revised figure, they kept the programmed budget deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio at 3.2% this year until 2022, according to the updated medium-term fiscal program for fiscal year 2019-2022 as of Dec. 11.

In a mobile phone message, Budget Undersecretary Laura B. Pascua said the narrower budget gap assumption is due to lower projected nominal GDP of P18.779 trillion against the P19.219 trillion set in the July 18 meeting of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). “The DBCC took note of developments for the year and lower inflation but still believes a six percent growth is possible for the year,” Ms. Pascua explained.

The updated fiscal program was set during the DBCC’s 177th meeting earlier this month.

In that meeting, the DBCC set a narrower growth forecast range this year at 6-6.5% from 6-7% previously, while slashing the GDP growth projections for 2021 and 2022 to 6.5-7.5% from 7-8% originally.

At the same time, economic managers maintained a 6.5-7.5% target for 2020.

This year, revenues are expected to reach P3.147 trillion and disbursements at P3.757 trillion.

Despite the scaled-down projection for this year, latest data showed the budget deficit in 10 months to October at just P348.3 billion amid lower-than-programmed state spending in the wake of a delayed enactment of this year’s national budget.

For next year, the fiscal deficit projection was also reduced to P671.2 billion from P677.56 billion previously.

In the medium term, the budget gap for 2021 and 2022 are projected at P737 billion and P811.2 billion, respectively.

These are both lower than the P747.65 billion projected for 2021 and P823.49 billion for 2022 that were set during the July 18 meeting.

Revenues are expected to total some P3.49 trillion next year, P3.84 trillion in 2021 and P4.313 trillion in 2022.

Meanwhile, state disbursement were programmed at P4.16 trillion next year, P4.586 trillion the following year and P5.124 trillion in 2022. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Programmed WB annual lending up threefold

THE WORLD BANK Group is increasing its financing support for the Philippines by up to threefold starting next year.

In an event on Thursday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the country’s annual credit from the bank could average $1.5-2 billion starting next year, three times more than the $600-million annual average lending programmed in the last 10 years. “This will allow us to maximize the bank’s financing support as a donor institution, and its expertise and experience as a knowledge bank in various areas including strengthening governance, human capital development, disaster preparedness, and addressing fragility and conflict, among others. This financing support very clearly helps drive our general effort to build a resilient, and competitive society over the medium term,” Mr. Dominguez said in his speech.

The global lender’s new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for the Philippines for 2019-2023 has an average lending program of $1.5 billion annually.

Also on Thursday, the Department of Finance (DoF) and the World Bank signed the $400-million loan pact for implementing the Promoting Competitiveness and Enhancing Resilience to Natural Disasters Sub-Program 1. The facility is the first of the three tranches of the three-year loan program worth $1.2 billion that the bank committed to support, called the Promoting Competitiveness and Enhancing Resilience to Natural Disasters Programmatic Development Policy Loan Series.

The bank approved the $400-million loan earlier this week. Mr. Dominguez said the new loan will improve the country’s financial readiness for disaster response, help in formulation of public asset management policies and help insurers deal better with calamities.

He said it will also aid the government in ensuring food security, streamlining government and expanding economic inclusion.

World Bank acting Country Director Achim Fock said the second tranche of the loan program can be expected by the end of next year while the third part is targeted for signing in 2021.

“The World Bank has been working on disaster risk management and disaster risk financing for a long time,” Mr. Fock said during the press conference of the same event.

“Actually, we have a significant and long history of working with the Philippines in these areas and we have a larger program with the government on responding to and enhancing resilience to disasters… It works on asset management, it works on the private sector [and] the insurance market.” — B. M. Laforga

D.M. Wenceslao proposes new reclamation projects

D.M. Wenceslao and Associates, Inc. (DMW) is eyeing new reclamation projects in Parañaque City and Cavite.

The listed property and construction company said in a statement Thursday it has submitted two proposals to the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) for the reclamation projects.

In Parañaque City, DMW plans to reclaim a 400-hectare land in front of its flagship project Aseana City and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s (PAGCOR) Entertainment City to expand its previous agreements with the government. The new proposal involves giving the government a total of 200 hectares in the reclamation sites for free.

In the Cavite proposal, DMW is seeking to reclaim 335 hectares of offshore island at the old US naval facility in Sangley. It said this plan is in anticipation of the international airport eyed by the local government to be built there. It noted this is also being reviewed by the Office of the President, Department of Transportation and Department of Finance.

“We look forward to continuing our work with the government to strengthen the country’s development activities,” DMW Chairman Delfin J. Wenceslao, Jr. said in the statement.

Specific to the Parañaque City proposal, Mr. Wenceslao said the reclamation project is “in line with (the company’s) thrust to contribute to nation-building,” referring to the developments that currently stand on DMW’s reclamation projects in the city.

DMW has so far reclaimed more than 2.4 million square meters of land since 1965. It is the master developer and primary owner of the 107.5-hectare Aseana City located along Manila Bay’s coastal waters.

“We look forward to demonstrate once again our expertise in land reclamation. Over the last 50 years, we have reclaimed more than 2,400,000 square meters of land across the Philippines. We are pleased to draw on that experience to successfully deliver and safely execute these projects,” he added.

DMW, which raised P8.15 billion when it went public last year, said the two new reclamation proposals will not tap proceeds from its initial public offering.

Shares in DMW dipped 10 centavos or by 1.01% to P9.80 each on Thursday. — Denise A. Valdez

Filinvest-Mitsubishi JV gets PCC go signal

THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) green-lit a joint venture (JV) between Mitsubishi Corporation and Filinvest Alabang, Inc. (FAI) to develop upscale mixed-used projects in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

The competition watchdog in a decision issued on Dec. 10 said that the joint venture, which will be incorporated under the name Spectrum Alabang Properties, Inc., is not likely to result in substantial lessening of competition in the Grade-A office space and retail markets in the area.

The PCC determined that there is a sufficient number of market players in and outside the Alabang area to compete with Spectrum. It noted that the joint venture will not decrease market competition for the creation and development, as well as the management of commercial real estate development projects.

Mitsubishi will be acquiring 40% of the issued and outstanding shares of stock in Filinvest Alabang to develop and manage 16,928 square meters of land in the 244-hectare mixed-use estate Filinvest City.

A subsidiary of conglomerate Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC), FAI was incorporated to develop Filinvest City, a joint venture project with the Philippine government. FDC owns 80% of the Alabang-based subsidiary, with 20% ownership going to Filinvest Land, Inc.

The Mitsubishi Corporation Group has interests in automotive and mobility, natural gas, industrial materials, petroleum and chemicals, mineral resources, industrial infrastructure, food industry, consumer industry, power solution, manufacturing, and urban development.

PCC, the country’s anti-trust body, reviews mergers and acquisitions under the Philippine Competition Act of 2015.

The commission has approved 188 of 201 transactions for review, and blocked one merger. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Sindak 1941 wins big at 2019 ALIW Awards

PHILIPPINE Stagers Foundation’s musical Sindak 1941 bagged five awards at the 32nd ALIW Awards held on Dec. 17 at the Manila Hotel.

Written and directed by lawyer Vince Tañada with music by Pipo Cifra, Sindak 1941 tells the story of Filipinos living under the Japanese regime during the Second World War.

The musical won Best Original Musical Production, Best Ensemble Performance, Best Musical Director for Pipo Cifra, Best Child Actor for Dean Rafols, and Best Actor in a Musical for Vince Tañada.

The ALIW Awards Foundation, Inc. was founded by Alice H. Reyes in 1976 with the aim of developing Philippine live entertainment through a system of awards.

The OPM music festival Playlist Playlist 2019, which was put together by National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, Moy Ortiz, and Noel Ferrer, bagged three awards: Best Special Events, Best Performance in a Convert (Male) for Gian Magdangal, and Best Performance in a Concert (Female) for Gerphil Flores.

Meanwhile, theater actress and singer Lea Salonga was honored as a Hall Of Fame award for Entertainer of the Year and bagged Best Actress in a Musical for her work in Sweeney Todd.

Ms. Salonga was also the People’s Choice Award winner.

“I just want to thank all the fans that voted for this. To all of the fans that voted and kept on voting, this one (the award) truly belongs to you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Ms. Salonga said in her acceptance speech.

The ALIW Awards decided to give the public a chance to vote this year for the People’s Choice Awardee. The voting was facilitated by mobile monetization company Zed Philippines Inc. through text votes submitted between Nov. 20 and Dec. 15.

The ceremony concluded with singer Regine Velasquez-Alcasid receiving the award as the 2019 Entertainer of the Year.

“Buti nalang umupo ako doon sa table nina Lea [Salonga]. Nanalo tuloy ako (It’s a good thing I sat at Lea Salonga’s table. I actually won),” Ms. Velasquez-Alcasid joked upon approaching the stage.

“Gusto ko lang sabihin na sa lahat ng mga nagbibigay ng parangal, katangi-tangi ang ALIW Awards dahil sila lamang ang nagbibigay ng awards sa lahat ng klase ng performers (I would just like to say that from all those that give recognition, ALIW Awards is distinct since they are the ones that give awards to all kinds of performers). I would like to honor you guys for always recognizing our talent,” she added.

Previous winners of the Entertainer of the Year Award include singers Pilita Corales, Martin Nievera, and Celeste Legaspi.

The list of winners follows:

• Entertainer of the Year — Regine Velasquez-Alcasid

• People’s Choice Award — Lea Salonga

• Special Award — Greenfield Development Corp. President and Chairman Jeffrey Campos; NutraVitals International Corp. President and CEO Danilo Bendong; Frontrow All In; Music Museum President Precy Florentino; Quezon City Councilor Patrick Michael “PM” Vargas; San Miguel Corp. Chairman Ramong Ang; PAGCOR Chairman Andrea Domingo; HC Diversifiera (Halili Cruz Dance Company); Frontrow founders RS Francisco and Sam Verzosa; theater actress and singer Shiela Valderrama-Martinez; and Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso

• Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to singers Eva Eugenio, Marco Sison, and Richard Merk, and Douglas Nierras, the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of Douglas Nierras Powerdance

• The Alice H. RTeyes Lifetime Achievement Award — Shirley Halili-Cruz, Founder and Artistic Director of the Halili-Cruz School of Dance

• Hall of Fame Awardees — Best Male Host, RJ Ledesma;

Best DJ, Jennifer Lee; Best Performer, Banaue Miclat-Janssen; and Entertainer of the Year, Lea Salonga

ENTERTAINMENT
• Best Female Host — Mitzi Borromeo

• Best Male Host — Jeremy Domingo

• Best Stand-Up Comedian — Ate Gay

• Best Special Events Director — Aleli Bustamante (Gabay Guro, PLDT)

• Best Special Events — 2019 Pinoy Playlist and Gabay Guro 2019

MUSIC AND DANCE
• Best New Artist Male — Ato Arman and Kiel Alo

• Best New Artist Female — Nina Campos

• Best New Artist Group — Perkins Twins

• Best DJ for Electronic Dance Music — Patty Tiu

• Best Instrumentalist — Jong Cuenco

• Best Choral Group — Ateneo Chamber Singers

• Best Festival Catalyst/Organizer — Nilo Augustin (Carabao Festival/Pulilan Bulacan) and Mayor Arthur Robes (Tanglawan festival/San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan)

• Best Festival Practices and Performances — Carabao festival and Tanglawan Festival

• Best Cultural Theater Group — Tanghalang Sandaang Pulo (Pangasinan)

• Best Cultural Dance Group — Tanghalang Bagong Sibul Theater and Dance Company (Malabon)

• Best Classical Dance — Abigail Olivero (Snow White/Ballet Manila)

• Best Classical Singer Female — Nenen Espina

• Best Classical Singer Male — Joseleo Logdat

• Best Blue/Jazz Artist — Skarlet

• Best Pop Artist — Janah Zaplan

• Best Crossover Performer Female — Jade Riccio and Ynez Veneracion

• Best Crossover Performer Male — Reuben Laurente

• Best Dance Production — Snow White (Ballet Manila)

THEATER
• Best Production for Children — The Quest for the Adarna (Repertory Philippines)

• Best Child Performer — Dean Rafols (Sindak 1941/Philippines Stagers Production)

• Best Choreographer — Douglas Nierras (Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical)

• Best Musical Rerun — Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical

• Best Actress in a Featured Role Musical — Bituin Escalante (Waitress/Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group)

• Best Actress in a Featured Role — Arriana Golondrina (Loob/Philippine Stagers Foundation)

• Best Actor in a Featured Role Musical — Nyoy Volante (Sweeney Todd/Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group)

• Best Actor in a Featured Role — Johnrey Rivas (Gemetzel/Philippine Stagers Foundation)

• Best Musical Revival — Himala: Isang Musikal (The Sandbox Collective)

• Best Ensemble Performance — Sindak 1941 (Philippine Stagers Foundation)

• Best Director for a Musical — Pipo Cifra (Sindak 1941, Philippine Stagers Company)

• Best Composer for Original Musical Theater — Pipo Cifra (Sindak 1941/Philippine Stagers Foundation)

• Best Director for a Play — Loy Arcenas (The Dresser/Repertory Philippines)

• Best Actor in a Play — Audie Gemora (The Dresser/Repertory Philippines)

• Best Actress in a Play — Gigi Escalante (Ang Bahay Ni Bernarda Alba/Dulaang UP)

• Best Play — Loob (Philippine Stagers Foundation)

• Best Stage Director for a Musical — Laurice Guillen (Magnificat, Lyric Opera of the Philippines)

• Best Actor in a Musical — Vince Tañada (Sindak 1941, Philippine Stagers Foundation)

• Best Actress in a Musical — Lea Salonga (Sweeney Todd/Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group)

• Best Original Musical — Sindak 1941 (Philippine Stagers Foundation)

LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
• Best Musical Director for a Concert — Butch Miraflor (Tribute to Rico J)

• Best Performer in Lobby lounge, Music Lounge, Bars (Solo) — Lloyd Mara (Astoria)

• Best Performer in Lobby lounge, Music Lounge, Bars (Group) — Brothers Unlimited, Noli Aurillo, and Skarlet (Propaganda)

• Best Foreign-Based Filipino Performer — Joey Albert

• Best Performance in a Concert (Male) — Gian Magdangal (2019 Pinoy Playlist)

• Best Performance in a Concert (Female) — Gerphil Flores (2019 Pinoy Playlist)

• Best Collaboration in a Concert — Sharon Cunenta and Regine Velas quez-Alcasid (Iconic/Araneta Coliseum) and Martin Nievera and Lani Misalucha (Timeless Classics/Plenary Hall, PICC)

• Best Concert Stage Director — Louie Ignacio (Julie Sings The Divas/Sunny Side Up Productions & Solaire)

• Best Major Concert for Group Category — Ely Buendia + Itchyworms (The Greatest Hits/Newport Performing Arts Theater, RWM) and Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (Gold: Classical Music Treasures/CCP)

• Best Major Concert Male Category — Gerald Santos (The Homecoming Concert, The Theatre at Solaire, Solaire)

• Best Major Concert Female Category — Julie Ann San Jose (Julie Sings The Divas/The Theater at Solaire) and Imelda Papin (Imelda Papin Queen @ 45, Philippine Arena) — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

CPG completes over 2,800 condo units this year

CENTURY PROPERTIES Group, Inc. (CPG) is bullish on its housing and commercial leasing business as it completed 2,853 condominium units in 2019.

In a statement Thursday, the Antonio-led property developer said it expects the newly completed projects to contribute significantly to its revenues in 2020.

Detailing on the condominium units it finished, CPG said it completed the ninth and last tower at the Azure Urban Resort Residences in Parañaque City last month. The project has 5,350 units with a sales value of P26.2 billion.

It also completed this year the 500-unit Roxas West Tower at The Residences at Commonwealth in Quezon City. The Quirino West and East Towers, which have a combined 1,015 units, are on track to be finished by end-2019.

Also, Acqua Iguazu YOO inspired by Starck tower, which has 492 units, was also completed this year, while Novotel Suites Manila will open next year. This marks the completion of the Acqua Private Residences project, which has 3,168 units with a sales value of P18.4 billion, in Mandaluyong City.

CPG likewise added 821 house and lot units through its PHirst Park Homes brand, a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp., as of end-November.

For its commercial leasing business, CPG launched this year its Asian Century Center in Bonifacio Global City that has a gross floor area of 56,284 square meters. With this, the company targets to increase its gross floor area from commercial spaces to 300,000 square meters, which would help it generate P2 billion in revenues by 2020.

“Our record high completions and launches in line with our business expansion this year are testament to the company’s commitment to boost CPG’s growth trajectory over time and increase shareholder value,” CPG President and Chief Executive Officer Marco R. Antonio said in the statement.

The company committed to spend P30 billion for capital expenditures over the next three years to support its expansion plans and ongoing projects.

Shares in CPG at the stock exchange ended flat on Thursday at P0.56 apiece. — D.A.Valdez

70 common towers to rise in Cavite

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter

ISOC edotco Towers, Inc., a joint venture of local company ISOC Infrastructure, Inc. and Malaysia’s edotco Group Sdn Bhd, is planning to build 70 common towers in Cavite province.

“The 70 towers, we will try to have it done by Q2 (second quarter) next year,” edotco Group Sdn Bhd-Philippines Business Development Director William L. Walters said during a briefing after the groundbreaking for the company’s first common tower in the province on Thursday.

Mr. Walters said one tower will be built in each identified location in the province. The towers will be a “combination of some ground-based towers and some rooftop (types) as well,” he added.

“That’s part of the Vision 2020 of the DICT. We will have more towers that will be felt by our people before the end of 2020,” Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary Eliseo M. Rio said.

Asked why they chose Cavite province, Mr. Walters said: “We started in Cavite because our customer looked for certain areas. They gave us certain number of sites… In this case, it is determined by the requirements given by Globe (Telecom, Inc.).”

He said the ISOC edotco Towers is also in talks with the other major telco firms to build common towers in various locations.

“I think everybody is committed to doing something in terms of the shape and what’s that going to look like exactly,” he said.

Suresh Sidhu, edotco chief executive officer, said the JV has committed to spend $100 million for the construction of common towers in the country “in the next three to five years.”

“We envisage to do about, hopefully, 400 towers [in the Philippines] next year and at least 1,500 in the next two to three years,” Mr. Walters said.

The DICT has been pushing for telcos to share infrastructure since 2017, saying every tower in the country serves more than 7,000 subscribers, as opposed to the ideal of having 1,000 subscribers per tower, and the usual 2,000 subscribers per tower in countries with faster internet.

The government is hoping 50,000 shareable towers will be built within the next seven to 10 years to keep up with the tower density in neighboring countries. A common tower policy is also in the works to guide new players.

Rise of Skywalker reviews among most critical in Star Wars galaxy

LOS ANGELES — Walt Disney Co.’s highly anticipated Star Wars movie The Rise of Skywalker divided film critics on Wednesday, earning more detractors than any film in the nine-episode saga since 1999 movie The Phantom Menace.

Rise of Skywalker, which debuts in theaters around the globe on Thursday, is the final installment in a story begun in 1977, when George Lucas introduced a young hero named Luke Skywalker alongside an enchanting collection of droids and otherworldly characters.

On the Rotten Tomatoes website, 57% of 157 reviews for Rise of Skywalker were positive as of Tuesday morning. That ranked as the second-lowest score among the nine films, ahead of only the 53% for The Phantom Menace.

Reviewers who praised Rise of Skywalker called it a satisfying conclusion to a beloved story, while critics said the movie directed by J.J. Abrams seemed to play it safe to please longtime fans.

Jack Coyle of the Associated Press called the movie a “scattershot, impatiently paced, fan-servicing finale that repurposes so much of what came before.”

Justin Chang of The Los Angeles Times described it as “an epic failure of nerve.”

“This Rise feels more like a retreat, a return to a zone of emotional and thematic safety,” Chang wrote.

Abrams said at the movie’s London premiere on Wednesday that he expected the movie would be divisive given the strong and diverse views held by Star Wars fans.

“You have to just do what you believe at every step,” he said in an interview. “And I could not be more proud of what this cast was done, and this extraordinary crew.”

“We just wanted to tell a story that feels like it was the end of these nine chapters and we just told that story,” Abrams added.

The reviewers who praised Rise of Skywalker said it offered a fitting and thrilling conclusion.

“Epic it indeed is, full of magnificent set pieces — sprawling space battles and incandescent lightsaber duels — gripping performances and a number of truly stunning surprises,” said Soren Andersen of The Seattle Times.

Brian Lowry of CNN.com said the movie “proves highly satisfying as an end not just to this trilogy, but a saga 42 years in the making.

“Abrams has made a Star Wars movie aimed at the people who love it best,” he said.

Fan reactions often differ from film critics’, and box office analysts expect audiences to buy around $200 million worth of tickets to Rise of Skywalker in the United States and Canada over the weekend. That would earn a place among the biggest movie openings of all time.

Disney has forecast a lower debut of around $160 million from Thursday through Sunday. — Reuters

14 new Accor hotels to open in PHL in 5 years

THE company behind hotel brands Raffles, Fairmont and Sofitel is expecting to launch 14 new hotels in the Philippines in the next five years.

Accor SA, which currently operates eight hotels in the country, said it signed a record-setting nine new hotels for the Philippines in 2019.

“Philippines is a market with great potential, and our recent signings underlines Accor’s long-term commitment to the vibrant nation,” Patrick Basset, Accor chief operating officer for Upper Southeast and Northeast Asia and Maldives, was quoted in a statement as saying.

The company said it will be introducing six new hotel brands in the Philippines, including Pullman Living, MGallery, Swissotel, Novotel Living. and Ibis Styles. The brands currently present here are Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, Mövenpick, Novotel and Mercure.

“Last year, the travel and tourism industry was the fastest-growing sector in the Philippines. We are delighted to showcase even more of the Philippines with a wider choice of accommodation that makes as much sense for our hotel owners as much as it does for our guests,” Mr. Basset added.

Accor currently has in its portfolio 38 brands and about 4,900 hotels in 110 countries globally. In the coming years, the company is focusing on Asia Pacific, where it said it had opened 128 hotels in the last year and claims to open a new hotel every three days.

“With nine hotels signed to date in the Philippines, we have doubled the existing portfolio in just over nine months, and expect to add two more hotels with a combined 500 rooms by the end of 2019,” Andrew Langdon, Accor senior vice-president of development in Asia, said in the statement.

“We have further diversified our brand offering with the introduction of six Accor hotels and extended stay brands into the country,” he added.

The Department of Tourism said visitor arrivals to the Philippines tallied 6.8 million from January to October, 15% higher from last year. The biggest markets came from Korea (23.66%), China (22.05%), USA (12.83%), Japan (8.38%) and Taiwan (4.15%). — Denise A. Valdez

Who’s watching this Watchmen?

Watchmen
By Damon Lindelof
HBO

(Warning: plot twists discussed in detail)

GETTING THE big question out of the way: Damon Lindelof’s new HBO miniseries, Watchmen, is fun. Fast-paced, engaging, funny, and at times even witty, it ingeniously picks up the various threads of Alan Moore’s intricate weave and extends them, introducing patterns and themes of its own to create a new narrative.

Helps to have a terrific cast: Regina King, athletic and affecting as Angela Abar (a.k.a. Sister Night); Jeremy Irons having the time of his life as frustrated megalomaniac Adrian Veidt (a.k.a. Ozymandias); Tim Blake Nelson as the agonized agonizing Wade Tilman (a.k.a. Looking Glass); Hong Chau as cooly ambiguous Lady Trieu; James Wolk as smoothtalking senator Joe Keene; Jean Smart as wry and cynical Laurie Blake (a.k.a. the former Silk Spectre, later the Comedienne, much later FBI Agent Blake).

Helps (I suppose) that Lindelof is a veteran of timetwisting, intricately plotted TV (Lost anyone?) — one of the series’ most distinct pleasures is in seeing how he extrapolates plotlines and historical details from the original comic, some suggested in the narrative, others explicitly discussed in the Peteypedia, a website curated by one of the series’ minor characters (an FBI agent and masked vigilante fan named Petey). Some of the more interesting tidbits in this, Lindelof’s answer to Moore’s elaborate appendices: many of Ozymandias’ initiatives — self-improvement programs, technological innovations — have fallen by the wayside, partly because people have shied away from Dr. Manhattan tech, an unintended consequence of Veidt’s secret campaign to suggest that the superhero’s presence (and technology) can cause cancer. Veidt may be the smartest man in the world but he’s only a man, can only do so much in guiding the development of that world — a limitation that will be addressed by the narrative at some point.

Even more interesting: Lindelof’s pivot to cover a perceived neglect on Moore’s part, of the issue of racism. Sister Night’s grandfather is Will Reeves a.k.a. Hooded Justice — the first ever masked vigilante. Maybe the most compelling argument in favor of Lindelof’s conceit (that Justice is black) would be the noose round his neck, which has puzzled me for years — what does justice have to do with a hangman’s noose? Not so much in the 20th century with use of the death sentence waning and alternative methods — electrocution, lethal injection — available. Lynchings however, particularly of African Americans — yes, the connection makes sense.

That said, it is not entirely true that Moore fails to depict racism — giant Manhattan towering over the Vietcong is a vivid image of Western power dominating its Asian adversary, and, later, an African-American housewife bristles at the suggestion that everyone black knows each other. The comic is tightlipped about the fact that all the masked vigilantes are — and the one genuine superhero used to be — white, but in panel after panel of Dave Gibbon’s art you see a sea of occidental (mostly male) faces, and can’t help muttering to yourself: this is no accident. Moore again and again equates masked vigilantes with American fascism (and at one point to a self-confessed kinkiness); the only decent man among them is Dan Drieberg (a.k.a. Night Owl), arguably the chubbiest, least confident of the lot — and even he betrays himself when he learns of a friend’s murder (“You know how much firepower I have floating out there? I oughtta take out this entire rat-hole neighborhood!”). Moore includes no people of color among the Watchmen’s ranks, and he may have a good reason for that.

There may be a reason for a lot of the elements Moore introduces in his comics, and Lindelof fiddles with them at his peril. There are plenty of new characters in the series but none as repulsive as The Comedian, a would-be rapist and sometime mass murderer who turns out to have a hidden human side; none as compelling as Rorschach, who survives a wretched childhood with a uniquely twisted point of view. In Lindelof’s series, bad guys remain bad guys (though they may be charming and appear on your side at first), good guys stay firmly on the side of good (Tim Blake Nelson’s Looking Glass is a defanged reflection of Rorschach); perhaps the most ambivalent character is Lady Trieu, but only because she keeps her cards so close to her chest for so long; when she lays them down she turns out to be bluffing.

Which is a particular shame in the case of Angela — the fact that a black woman plays what in Moore’s mind is a fascist figure without questioning or being questioned as to her real role in the larger scheme of things wastes her potential, especially as law enforcement has had a historically knotted relationship with the African American community.

Then there’s Jon Osterman a.k.a. Dr. Manhattan. Lindelof deftly captures Manhattan’s omniscient sense of time — no easy feat — but doesn’t quite capture the scale of his point of view. Where in the comics you get some sense of the immense alienation, the distance he feels from everyone else (“this world’s smartest man means no more to me than does its smartest termite”), in the series he’s truly passive — mainly an untapped resource waiting to be exploited, a big blue piñata of a MacGuffin that everyone wants. Moore, on the other hand, questions the very need for superpowers — explicitly in an appended essay (“we have made a man to end worlds”), implicitly in the withering way Osterman loses his humanity, one trait after another, till he has little left other than a sterile appreciation for the planet Mars (of the Valles Marineris: “stretches more than 3,000 miles so one end knows day while the other endures night”). There’s grandeur to his language but also a strange passivity — Osterman observes that all his life he’s been told what to do; superpowers only served to expand his helplessness into a metaphysical state of mind.

Which is perhaps the biggest difference between this adaptation and Moore’s source work: that his protean imagination only serves as background for recognizably human beings, beings who, despite their serious flaws, remain worthy of our sympathy, and that he’s incurably skeptical of power structures of all kinds — including the kind (HBO) able to produce sequels to a work he has given up for lost (to DC Comics) a long long time ago. Lindelof captures some of that creativity, but the series as a whole should really be considered a sketch — a miniature really — of the teeming febrile original.

Hot money reverses to net outflow in November

MORE FOREIGN CAPITAL left the country than what entered in November, as investors continued to worry about tensions plaguing major economies.

Foreign portfolio investments — also called “hot money” due to the ease by which these funds enter and leave the economy — logged a net outflow of $345.26 million in November, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Meanwhile, the month’s total was a reversal from the net inflow of $104.53 million seen the preceding month.

This brought the January to November period’s total to a net outflow of $1.57 billion, a turnaround from the $925.95-million net inflow logged a year ago.

Gross outflows in November stood at $1.541 billion, higher than the $1.208 billion booked a year ago.

Meanwhile, gross inflows were lower at $1.195 billion from last year’s $2.04 billion.

The BSP said the largest chunk (86.4%) of hot money flows went into securities listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange, which were mainly channeled into holding firms, banks, property companies, retail companies, as well as food, beverage, tobacco firms, and transport service companies.

“The United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Luxembourg were the top five investor countries for the month, with combined share to total at 78.6%,” the BSP said in a statement.

According to the central bank, November saw relevant developments such as the “stalled negotiations between the stalled negotiations between the US and China which could delay the first phase of the implementation of their trade deal and the start of the public impeachment hearings on US President Donald Trump.”

Likewise, the BSP noted that last month saw the passage of a human rights bill in the US Congress as well as the “rebalancing of the Morgan Stanley Capital International Philippines Index to reflect its new weightings.”

Economists blamed the hot money outflows mainly on continued tensions between the world’s two biggest economies caught in a 17-month long trade siege.

“Portfolio flows in November 2018 were positive, in stark contrast to the net outflow in November 2019 with both developments linked to the US-China trade war,” ING Bank-NV Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said, adding that the progress of the impeachment proceedings against US President Donald J. Trump and the political unrest in Hong Kong also added to the risk-off tone.

The phase one deal which was recently in the spotlight may have caused some uncertainties to die but this does not mean that the trade war has come to an end, according to UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion.

“Obviously, a lot of the emerging markets have been impacted and may have to adjust carefully to navigate through the new normal of the global economy,” he explained.

This trade deal paired with leads from the local central bank will bring in some relief for hot money flows, according to Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces.

“We expect some reversal in these outflows as the BSP provides forward guidance on monetary policy and some certainty from a phase one trade agreement,” he said in an e-mail.

“Improved communication from the BSP through forward guidance has also gone a long way in attracting portfolio flows and we can expect full-year 2019 to see a net inflow to help keep the BoP in surplus,” ING’s Mr. Mapa added. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

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