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Traffic crisis bill advances in House

THE HOUSE of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading a measure designed to address worsening traffic in three key metropolitan areas in the next three years.
House Bill No. 6425, or the proposed “Traffic Crisis Act of 2017. Makiisa. Makisama. Magkaisa,” provides a framework to ease traffic in Metropolitan Manila, Metropolitan Cebu and Davao City.
The bill designates the secretary of the Department of Transportation as Traffic Chief for the duration of the law, “with full power and authority… to streamline the management of traffic and transportation and to control road use in the identified metropolitan areas.”
While the law is in force, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade will have “power of supervision and control” over the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the Metropolitan Cebu Traffic Coordinating Council and the Davao Traffic Administrator to be formed by the law, the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group, the Land Transportation Office, the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board, the Road Board and “all other executive agencies, bureaus and offices with functions related to land transportation regulation.”
He will also “supervise all LGUs (local government units) within the metropolitan areas with respect to enforcement of rules, policies and programs enacted pursuant to this Act and for harmonization and enforcement of all traffic rules and regulations… and establish and implement… a comprehensive and unified road use plan and a unified traffic management system to be followed by all component LGUs…”
Section 17 suspends the authority of LGUs in the covered metropolitan centers “during the effective period of this Act… to issue franchises to padyak tricycles and all other PUV (public utility vehicle) units…”
The Transport Chief can also revoke or modify PUV franchises and — “in accordance with Section 17, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution” governing “times of national emergency” — “may take over or direct the operation of any PUV franchise …”
The same proposed law authorizes President Rodrigo R. Duterte to “abolish or create offices; split, group or merge offices; transfer functions, equipment, properties, records and personnel in accordance with existing law…”
The Transport chief is also authorized, for the duration of the law, “to enter into negotiated contracts for priority projects for the construction, repair, restoration, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of critical infrastructure, projects and facilities and any directly related procurement of goods and services …”
It also forms a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee which will hold bi-monthly meetings and to which the Transport Chief will submit monthly reports on steps taken under the law as well as a list of priority projects.
The law also forms a special traffic crisis court in each covered metropolitan center “to hear and expeditiously resolve all actions that may emanate from the implementation of this Act…”
Sought for comment, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman George T. Barcelon said in a telephone interview: “This traffic thing is both discipline and, at the same time, we need to have the proper bus stop and pickup points.”
“The solution here is for the government to also have more of the infrastructure… but I think this is a measure that is needed.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan

MB member cites ebbing price pressures

INFLATION PRESSURES “have subsided” after overall price increases hit a nine-year peak the last two months, according to a member of the central bank’s policy-making Monetary Board, even as he cited the need to lift import restrictions for rice soonest as a key step to keep such pressures at bay.
“The pressure has subsided for now,” Monetary Board Member V. Bruce J. Tolentino told reporters yesterday.
“Harvests are in and even for meat and vegetables and fish, the pressure is down. We’re being helped by the oil, so in total, the big things — food prices and rice prices — the pressure is off right now.”
Inflation steadied at 6.7% in October from the previous month’s level, which was a nine-year peak, driven largely by food and oil costs.
However, central bank officials noted a sharp decline in month-on-month inflation, which they took as a sign that price pressures are ebbing.
Prices rose by 5.1% overall in January-October, well beyond the original 2-4% target set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for 2018. That prompted the central bank to carry out five consecutive rate hikes totaling 175 basis points (bp) to rein in inflation expectations, in hopes of bringing full-year inflation down to a 3.5% average in 2019.
Mr. Tolentino, who once served as deputy director general of the International Rice Research Institute, flagged that rice supply problems may recur in the coming years, which could spur inflation to shoot beyond target anew.
“On food, unless we do tariffication, unless we start investing in R&D (research and development) and irrigation, it will happen again,” he said.
Lifting of rice import restrictions coupled with investment in climate-resilient crops will help sustain the long-term reduction of rice prices, experts said in a forum on rice and inflation at the central bank headquarters in Manila on Wednesday.
Authorities hope to bring inflation below four percent in 2019, saying that lifting import quotas on rice and replacing them with regular tariffs would reduce the headline rate by 0.7 of a percentage point in 2019. The increased supply of the crop is expected to bring down rice retail prices by as much as P7 per kilogram (kg).
The measure, which has been approved by both chambers of Congress and now awaits signing by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, will allow private parties to import rice from abroad subject to a regular 35% tariff.
The government allocated an average of P15 billion annually for the National Food Authority’s subsidized rice acquisition from 1995-2015, representing half the total rice program budget for the decade. However, this has not translated to lower rice prices and stable supply.
Mr. Tolentino said local rice has been two to three times more expensive than those produced by Thailand and Vietnam. Production cost stand at P12.41/kg in the Philippines, versus P8.55/kg and P6.53/kg, respectively.
Looking ahead, he cited the need to develop flood-tolerant rice to help improve productivity.
Emil Q. Javier, chair of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization, said that the NFA should be “re-engineered” to focus on maintaining rice reserves and for emergency food distribution.
He added that the state should aim for higher incomes of rice farmers and allow them to diversify to other crops, rather than pursue rice self-sufficiency. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Tencent, KKR complete $175-M investment in PLDT’s Voyager

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter
CHINESE tech company Tencent Holdings Ltd. and investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) on Wednesday completed its $175-million investment in Voyager Innovations, Inc., according to PLDT, Inc.
PLDT Chairman, CEO and President Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company targets to close the $40-million investment in Voyager by World Bank sister organization International Finance Corp. (IFC) and IFC Emerging Asia Fund within the next two weeks.
“Money in today was $175 million. IFC I think is Dec. 10 for the $40 million. That should complete $215 million. That’s it for Series A funding,” Mr. Pangilinan told reporters in Makati City on Wednesday.
He noted additional Series B funding would need to be raised after two years, but the $215 million should be enough to expand Voyager in the meantime.
“We look at the business plan. They’re going to rev it up. So the scale of the business will expand in the next two years… I think we have enough cash to fund the next two to three years, but then on the third to fourth year we’re going to raise a bit more, Series B,” Mr. Pangilinan said.
After the financial closing, PLDT’s stake in Voyager would be reduced to 48%, but will remain the biggest single shareholder in the technology company.
Mr. Pangilinan expects the new investments to help PLDT reduce its losses from Voyager, which grew to P1.8 billion in the nine-month period from P800 million in the same period last year.
“Hopefully the level of losses we will pick up would be much less. But again, it depends on the level of losses that they will realize next year and in 2020,” he said.
In its disclosure to the stock exchange, PLDT quoted Voyager President and CEO Orlando B. Vea as saying, “We believe with investors like KKR and Tencent leading the way, the Philippines’ profile as a destination for tech investment is on the rise.”
While Tencent and KKR will have seats on Voyager’s board, Mr. Pangilinan said IFC and IFC Emerging Asia Fund will be given observer status.
“They’ll have some observance on the board. They’re not entitled to a board seat, given the level of the size of investments of both Tencent and KKR. They are two principal investors… There are certain governance matters that we have to adhere to, because that’s the way they are. They are a supernational institution. We expect them to be active on the board,” he said.
Voyager is the digital innovations arm of PLDT, which manages mobile wallet PayMaya Philippines, Inc. and mobile remittance brand Smart Padala, online loaning platform Lendr, and free mobile browsing app Freenet.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Cargill to invest P12.5B in PHL

ANIMAL nutrition provider Cargill is investing P12.5 billion ($235 million) to grow its business in the Philippines over the next two years, amid rising domestic demand for chicken and pork.
Philip G. Soliven, president of Cargill Philippines, Inc., said the funds will be used to expand its animal feed and nutrition business, as well as agricultural supply chain business.
“The focus is not necessarily on the specific areas of investment but on the fact that is a very significant number for investments in food and agriculture sector in the Philippines,” he said during a press conference in Taguig City on Wednesday.
“Investments in agriculture are sorely needed by the country. Cargill is one of the companies that said we’re going to respond to the need for more investments in the sector. We’re going to do it because it makes sense for the company,” he added.
Dave MacLennan, Cargill chairman and chief executive officer, said the company’s investment in the Philippines is part of its bigger plan to expand in Southeast Asia and China.
“Southeast Asia and China are top regions for investment and growth in the next five years. We want to get bigger in Asia, specifically Southeast Asia and China and that is really our intention… P12.5 billion is specifically for the Philippines. We have other capital budget for Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia,” Mr. MacLennan said during the same briefing.
Cargill is celebrating its 70th anniversary in the Philippines, having opened its first office in 1948. Cargill currently has 2,200 employees in 27 locations in the country.
The company is also marking the first anniversary of C-Joy, its joint venture with Philippine fast food giant Jollibee Foods Corporation. C-Joy is a facility that processes chicken for domestic consumption.
“Jollibee is among our major customers in the business and I think we will continue to support Jollibee requirements,” Mr. Soliven said.
Mr. Soliven also said Cargill will continue to invest in the copra oil business despite falling prices.
“Rest assured, we remain a significant copra oil exporter in the Philippines and we will continue to do so. We continue to have faith in the business,” he said.
At the same time, Cargill is contributing P7 million ($130,000) to the Inclusive Business Capacity Building Fund for Filipino farmers.
“Supporting the Inclusive Business Capacity Building Fund is another way we can help the world build food security. Smallholder farmers are an essential piece of feeding nearly 10 billion people by 2050 and they need all the help they can get to become more productive and profitable,” Mr. MacLennan said. — R.J.N.Ignacio

Megawide secures P10-billion contract for Mandani Bay Quay project

MEGAWIDE Construction Corp. secured a P10.1-billion contract to construct Mandani Bay Quay Phase 2 in Mandaue City, Cebu, allowing it to breach its target for new contracts this year.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the engineering and infrastructure conglomerate said it was awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the project by HTLand, Inc., a joint venture between Hongkong Land and Taft Property Venture Development Corp.
The project covers a floor area of 328,000 sq.m., where three 40-storey residential towers, one 30-storey office building, and commercial spaces are set to stand.
Megawide will start building the first tower this year, including the amenities area, commercial spaces, and parking level. This is scheduled to be completed by 2021.
The second and third towers will be completed within the first half of 2022 and first quarter of 2023, respectively. The office tower is scheduled for completion by the fourth quarter of 2022.
“With this large-scale, mixed-use development, we are solidifying Megawide’s engineering footprint in Cebu. It is truly a first-world project and we are committed to delivering the highest standards of engineering and construction,” Megawide Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Edgar B. Saavedra said in a statement.
This allows the company to further expand its footprint in Cebu, where it also operates the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in a consortium with Indian firm GMR Infrastructure Ltd.
“We are further strengthening our operational efficiency in the region. It will be a good complement to our airport operations and our other ongoing EPC projects in the area,” Mr. Saavedra said. In March, Megawide was tapped by the Gaisano group to develop Taft East Gate Phase 1 in Cebu City under a P2.5-billion contract.
The HTLand deal is the largest Megawide has signed under its construction segment this year, allowing the company to hit its P24-billion target in new contracts in 2018.
Megawide bagged P16.8 billion worth of new contracts in the first nine months of 2018, 55% higher than the new contracts it had for full year 2017.
“Our prospects in the EPC business remain very bullish as we continue to expand our order book levels and ensure revenue visibility for the next two to three years,” Mr. Saavedra said.
Revenues from Megawide’s construction segment went down by 17% in the nine months ending September, which the company attributed to the cyclical nature of the business. With this, Megawide’s attributable profit fell by four percent to P1.32 billion in the first nine months of 2018.
Shares in Megawide jumped 6.31% or P1.06 to close at P17.86 each at the stock exchange on Wednesday. — Arra B. Francia

Smart makes first video call on 5G connection in Philippines

PLDT, Inc. and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. made its first fifth generation (5G) to 5G video call on Wednesday, two weeks after it fired up its first 5G cell sites in Makati City and Clark, Pampanga.
The company’s chief technology and information advisor Joachim Horn made the call from the PLDT headquarters in Makati City to Clark Development Corp. president and chief executive officer Noel F. Manankil in the Clark Freeport Zone.
Technology partners Huawei in Makati and Ericsson in Clark provided the 5G radio and core equipment that enabled the devices to connect to the upgraded network.
The telco firm said it will fire up more cell sites across Makati in the next months.
PLDT Chairman, President and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said while it may take some time for the commercial rollout of the 5G technology, he expects Enterprise and Home customers to benefit as early as 2019.
Ernesto R. Alberto, PLDT’s chief revenue officer, said Samsung is already working on a 5G-ready cellular phone, targeting its release by late 2019 at the earliest, and commercial adoption by 2020.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Denise A. Valdez

There’s more to Italian sparkling wine than Prosecco

By Elin McCoy, Bloomberg
THE PROSECCO boom is real: Sales are projected to reach 412 million bottles annually by 2020, up from 150 million a decade ago.
But, ho-hum, that’s old news.
Time to move on to what’s next: under-the-radar, world-class bubblies from Northern Italy’s Franciacorta and Trentino regions. Unlike populist Prosecco, these are made with the same grapes and labor-intensive method used in Champagne, which gives them similar style and elegance but at a much lower price on average than their French counterparts. Their quality keeps getting better, too, thanks to avant-garde wine makers pushing organic viticulture techniques.
These wines have been overlooked because the regions are small and little of what they produced was making it out of the country. That’s changing, however. Worldwide demand for sparkling wine is on the rise, and Italian producers see an opportunity to capitalize on Prosecco’s popularity in the US and UK as both large and small producers of other wines focus on quality, importers are seeking them out. Online retailers have added more labels in the US, and wine shops have started stocking a few of the brands.
Franciacorta is the name of both the region and the wine. Compared to Champagne, which produces about 300 million bottles annually, the 117 wineries in Franciacorta make fewer than 20 million bottles a year and export a mere 11% of that. Trentodoc, the trademark for Trentino’s sparkling wines, is even smaller: Just 51 producers will pump out 8 million to 9 million bottles a year, exporting 20%. And neither region boasts wineries with the centuries-old tall-tale history of a monk “drinking stars” like the legendary Dom Perignon in Champagne.
But vineyards have been in both places for centuries, even though Franciacorta’s serious sparkling wine lineage only dates to the 1960s. Franciacorta, about an hour from the fashion hub of Milan, is in the foothills of the Alps near Lago d’Iseo, where the artist Christo created a floating pier spectacle two years ago. The high-altitude Trentodoc lies in the shadows of the craggy Dolomite mountains, northeast of Lake Garda. The modern history of sparkling wines in this region goes back to 1902, when the now-famous Ferrari winery (no relation to the maker of sports cars) planted chardonnay grapes.
Chardonnay and pinot noir, plus a bit of pinot blanc, are the most important grapes, but some Franciacorta wine makers, worried about global warming, are beginning to embrace the native white grape erbamat, which has a longer growing period than chardonnay and maintains high acidity even when the grapes get very ripe.
Both regions make a variety of styles, but Franciacorta also has its own all-white grape blend labeled satèn (“silk” in Italian). It’s creamier, with a softer effervescence and is meant as an aperitivo.
The bubbles get into the wine via the metodo classico, the same way they do it in Champagne. The base wine is bottled with yeast and a small amount of sugar to create a second fermentation, trapping CO2 in the bottle, and the wine is aged for 15 months to 60 months. In Franciacorta, most wine makers are starting to use very little or no of sugar before release. Labeled “zero dosaggio” or “nature,” these wines have extra energy and purity.
What all this means is that these wines doesn’t taste like Champagne. They are fresh and lively, but also riper, with less edgy acidity and more creamy peach and pear flavors. Here are nine of my favorites.
Trentodoc

(L-R): 2011 Ferrari Perlé Brut and 2013 Rotari Brut Rosé

• 2011 Ferrari Perlé Brut. This creamy-textured all-chardonnay sparkler comes from the largest estate in the region, owned by the Lunelli family. It has aromas of lush almond and freshly baked bread with flavors of apple and white peach. $36
• 2013 Rotari Brut Rosé. A blend of pinot noir and chardonnay that tastes of strawberries and ripe cherries. It has lip-smacking brightness and is terrific for the price. $18
Franciacorta

• NV Il Mosnel Franciacorta Brut. Mosnel (new labels don’t show the Il) is located in the heart of Franciacorta. Crisp, bright, salty, and rich, this combo of chardonnay, pinot blanc, and just a bit of pinot noir over-delivers for the price. $25
• NV Ronco Calino Satèn Brut. A small producer (only 5,000 cases a year), Ronco Calino was founded 23 years ago. This 100% chardonnay is an Italian version of blanc de blancs. Citrusy, mineral, and fresh, it has a creamy texture and is ideal with spicy appetizers. $29
• 2014 Arcari + Danesi Dosaggio Zero. Giovanni Arcari and Nico Danesi are regional rebels, constantly experimenting to make a fizz that’s highly original and distinct from Champagne. This bottling, 90% chardonnay and 10% pinot blanc, is silky textured and complex, with floral and golden apple aromas and fruit and mineral flavors. $35
• NV Ca del Bosco Cuvee Prestige Brut. One of the region’s largest producers, Ca del Bosco also makes top cuvées such as the exotic Annamaria Clementi, which are hard to find. More easily obtainable is this sleek, basic bottling. It’s a mostly chardonnay blend with some pinot noir and pinot blanc that has minty aromas and savory, spicy taste. $35
• NV Ferghettina Rosé Brut. Fizz from this solid, relatively new producer includes this frothy, delicate pink, 100% pinot noir in a gorgeous clear bottle. It has bright cherry and floral aromas and flavors, with plenty of structure. $50
• 2012 Monte Rossa Cabochon Brut. An intense blend of 70% chardonnay and 30% pinot noir, it’s smoky and serious with aromas of citrus and toasted hazelnuts. It’s sharp and mouth-cleansing — in a good way. $70
• 2006 Bellavista Franciacorta Extra Brut Vittorio Moretti. Entry-level wines from this fine producer set a high standard. This flagship is from the vineyard’s best chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, and it’s superb. Harmonious and golden, it’s filled with flavors of citrus, caramel, and yellow fruits. $120

In a city full of seafood, is Red Lobster worth it? (It is.)


WE KNOW we have seafood in abundance here, Manila, but let’s give US-based Red Lobster a chance.
Earlier this year, American seafood chain Red Lobster announced it was opening in Manila, through a partnership with the Bistro Group, which has under its umbrella the franchises for TGI Friday’s and Buffalo Wild Wings, among other brands.
At a tasting, Jarrett Whitlow, Senior Director for International Operations said, “We’ve just admired the Bistro Group for so long. It was really important for us to ensure that we partnered ourselves with who we felt was the best operator in the market.”
Red Lobster was founded in Florida in the 1960s. It is now owned by Golden Gate Capital (which incidentally, also owns California Pizza Kitchen). Its first international expansion was in Japan, and is now found in various locations in North and South America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The 115-seater in S Maison in the SM Mall of Asia complex is its 750th location.
While it’s the fashion these days to eat local, and this seafood-rich country may be tapped for other ingredients and resources, but Red Lobster’s main product, lobster and crab legs, will rely on the company’s international supply chain to bring the goodies here. “For us, it’s really important to bring the wild-caught North American species to international markets,” said Mr. Whitlow.
TASTING
The tasting meal last week started out with the Cheddar Bay Biscuits, flaky and tasty, and offered with continuous refills.
While this reporter can live without the Seaside Nachos (with Japanese mayonnaise and katsuboshi flakes) and the pizzas, and the honey and blue cheese salad, and the clam chowder, I can say that the wait for the lobster and the Alaskan Snow Crab legs, both in the Ultimate Feast, was well worth it. Coming out of the shell, fresh, sweetish, and tender, it almost feels like I ate it fresh out of a fisherman’s boat.
“Our North American lobsters are brought to the restaurants still alive, so it’s the freshest thing on the menu,” said Mr. Whitlow.
According to a release, the company “is committed to the advocacy of obtaining seafood in a ‘traceable, sustainable, and responsible’ method. All seafood are 100% traceable to a known and trusted source and from suppliers who follow the most responsible industry practices. Red Lobster is dedicated to protect and preserve the oceans and marine life for future generations.”
Again, is Red Lobster in a seafood-rich city well worth it? We would think so, and Mr. Whitlow pointed out one of their mottos, which was, “Keep the Maine thing the main thing.” “That’s the idea for us, is to be able to really be different by being who we are, and sticking to our DNA.” — Joseph L. Garcia

SEC requires companies to declare beneficial owners

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a memorandum circular directing companies to declare their beneficial owner to ensure that they will not be used for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes.
In SEC Memorandum Circular No. 17 posted on its website yesterday, the SEC said it is revising the General Information Sheet (GIS) to include beneficial ownership information. This covers all SEC-registered domestic stock and non-stock corporations.
The SEC defines beneficial owner as any natural person who “ultimately owns or controls the corporation,” or “has ultimate effective control over the corporation.”
It further explained that ultimate effective control refers to “any situation in which ownership or control is exercised through actual or a chain of ownership or by means other than direct control.”
Ultimate effective ownership may be achieved through several ways, such as direct or indirect ownership of at least 25% of any category of voting shares. The person may also have the “ability to elect a majority of the board of directors, or any similar body, of a legal person or arrangement.”
With the memorandum circular, the beneficial owner must provide the SEC with his/her complete name, specific residential address, nationality, tax identification number, as well as percentage of ownership, if applicable.
In cases where the company is owned through multiple layers, they should identify any intermediate layers of their ownership structure. This should be illustrated in an ownership chart showing the intermediate layers with their corresponding ownership amounts.
The SEC said it will validate the beneficial ownership information through an onsite inspection of the company’s books and records, or through other means available.
The requirement is also in line with the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which seeks to “ensure timely access to adequate, accurate, and current information on the beneficial ownership and control of SEC-registered corporations and prevent their misuse for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes.”
The new GIS forms will be implemented starting Jan. 1, 2019.

Cashalo rolls out basket financing facility Cashacart

MOBILE LENDING platform Cashalo introduced a consumer purchase loan product allowing customers to borrow funds for their specific shopping needs, in line with its financial inclusion push.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, the digital lending firm introduced Cashacart, a basket financing solution which enables clients to borrow between P2,000 and P19,999 to purchase items from Cashalo’s 250 retail partners.
The loan, which can be approved in as fast as 10 minutes, is payable up to nine months and carries an interest rate for as low as 3.99% per month. The service is paperless and does not require collateral.
“Unlike traditional consumer financing solutions that are restrictive, Cashacart gives consumers the freedom and flexibility to purchase multiple products that they need…” Cashalo said.
To mitigate bad loans, Cashalo Head of Sales Gerard M. Betita said the firm starts at the store level where its agents are trained to screen the customers.
“Our sales officers are trained and equipped to explain all the loans, the parameters and the details,” Mr. Betita told BusinessWorld in an interview. “Mitigating risk is part of the risk management system, and we start it at the store level thorough our sales officers.”
Hamilton C. Angluben, Cashalo general manager, added that the lending firm is leveraging on advanced data science to assess risks and mitigate fraud.
“After the store level, that’s when we leverage on technology. We’re doing [artificial intelligence], machine learning, facial recognition and all these anti-fraud algorithms, so it’s coupled with advanced data science,” he said.
Moving forward, Mr. Angluben said it is “more prudent” to expand the basket financing service by saturating high-density areas first before going into rural areas.
“If you look at the retail industry…they’re having deeper penetration in the rural areas. In the same way, if they’re going to be there, we are also going to be there in the future,” he said.
Currently, Mr. Betita said Cashacart can only go “as rural as” areas near Metro Manila such as Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas.
Cashalo is a joint venture between Gokongwei-controlled JG Summit Holdings and Hong Kong-based financial technology firm Oriente.
It lends money between P1,500 and P10,000 through its mobile platform. Application is done online, requiring clients to submit documents and IDs digitally.
In a previous interview, Mr. Angluben said the financing company aims to have a million clients by the first half of 2019 as it eyes to serve unbanked and underserved Filipinos through technology. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Manila Water inks agreements for two water districts in Iloilo

MANILA WATER Company, Inc. (MWC) has been awarded joint venture agreements by Lambunao Water District (LWD) and Calinog Water District (CWD) for two separate water supply systems in the province of Iloilo.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the Ayala-controlled water concessionaire said it received the Notice of Award from the LWD for a joint venture for the design, construction, rehabilitation, maintenance, operation, financing, expansion, and management of the municipality of Lambunao’s water supply system.
MWC and LWD are set to enter into a joint venture agreement for the project, to be handled by Aqua Centro MWPV Corp., a wholly-owned unit of Manila Water Philippine Ventures, Inc. (MWPV). In turn, MWPV is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MWC.
In a separate disclosure, MWC said it has also entered into a similar agreement with CWD. Here, the listed firm will form a joint venture with CWD for the design, construction, rehabilitation, maintenance, operation, financing, expansion, and management of a water supply system in the municipality of Calinog.
Aqua Centro will also be the one to undertake the project.
MWC holds the water concession for the eastern side of greater Manila. Last month, it also announced the construction of a P742-million water supply system in San Fabian town in Pangasinan. MWPV will handle the project, which is expected to be operational by 2019.
The company has also been recently awarded a water supply project from the Tanauan Water District, where MWPV will design, improve, upgrade, rehabilitate, and expand the town’s water supply and sanitation facilities.
MWC booked an attributable profit of P4.93 billion in the first nine months of 2018, flat from the P4.89 billion it realized in the same period a year ago. Gross revenues meanwhile rose by seven percent to P14.43 billion.
Shares in MWC climbed 2.15% or 55 centavos to close at P26.10 each at the stock exchange on Wednesday. — Arra B. Francia

Fitbit launches latest fitness tracker

FITBIT, Inc. has launched its latest fitness tracker Fitbit Charge 3 — part of its advanced product line — in the Philippines.
The fitness tracker is equipped with a new premium design, improved health and fitness sensors, and smartphone features.
An upgrade to the wearable technology firm’s Charge line, the Fitbit Charge 3 is made from aluminum versus its predecessor’s stainless steel material. Its higher resolution display is a grayscale OLED touchscreen. The tracker also has a battery life of up to seven days, which a charge time of about two hours. It saves seven days of detailed motion data, daily totals for the last 30 days, and heart rate data at one-second and five-second intervals.
The Fitbit Charge 3 is also water resistant for up to 50 meters.
Other features include a PurePulse heart rate tracker, female health tracker, sleep tracker, and more than fifteen modes of goal-based exercises.
The device syncs automatically and wirelessly via Bluetooth to computers and iOS, Android, and Windows devices. It also has expanded smartphone features such as mobile app notifications and quick replies on Android.
The Fitbit Charge 3 comes in two core designs: black with aluminum case and blue gray with a rose gold aluminum case. The special edition case designs come in a lavender woven with rose gold aluminum and a white frost sport band with graphite aluminum. Its price starts at P9,990.
In 2007, developments in sensor and wireless technology led Fitbit founders James Park and Eric Friedman to set their mission “to empower and inspire you to live a healthier, more active life.” At present, Fitbit products are sold in over 39,000 retail stores in 86 countries.
“The idea is to help people to give them information so that they can take action to change their behavior. For example, today, I want to start on a journey to lose weight or sleep well. How can I do that? There’s no other way unless I wear something or to give me the information,” WT Soh, Fitbit senior sales training manager for Southeast Asia, told BusinessWorld at the launch on Nov. 15 in Shangri-la at the Fort.
“The idea is to make the change in behavior. Hopefully helping them to stay healthy,” Mr. Soh said.
According to data presented at the launch by Louis Lye, Fitbit regional director for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Fitbit platform has recorded an engagement value of 5.4 million users who “are very active synchronizing data, and looking at a dashboard, not just how many steps they walk, how many calories the birth use way, but also the quality of their speed.”
Mr. Lye added that 56% of users share their achievements on the Fitbit’s community app.
As of October, Mr. Lye said, Fitbit has already collected 9 trillion minutes of heart-rate data, 157 trillion steps, 7.5 billion nights of sleep and 417 billion minutes of exercise from its 25.4 million active users.
“We are talking about insights which Fitbit continues to leverage on and use to provide useful insights targeted back to the users,” Mr. Lye said. — M.A.P. Soliman

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