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SEC drafts circulars for Corporation Code changes

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE COUNTRY’S corporate regulator is set to release memorandum circulars for certain provisions of the newly signed Revised Corporation Code, as the law itself will be self-executory.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said the Revised Corporation Code — which President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law on Feb. 20 — will not require implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
“Except for memorandum circulars on certain provisions, there will be no IRR for it. It will be self-executory,” Mr. Aquino told BusinessWorld via text.
“Example would be the manner corporations will inform SEC if they opt to stick to a fixed term. The general rule now is perpetual existence except when they inform SEC they prefer to have a term. This applies retroactively to all existing corporation.”
Among the salient provisions in the Revised Corporation Code is the grant of a perpetual corporate term for existing and future corporations unless otherwise provided in their articles of incorporation.
The 38-year old Batas Pambansa Blg. 68 previously limited corporations to a 50-year term. The SEC said the revised code will eliminate the possibility of legitimate and productive businesses from prematurely closing down just because they failed to renew their registration.
Companies with expired registration papers may also apply for the revival of their corporate existence due to the passage of the new law.
The SEC Office of Commission Secretary said they will also be releasing guidelines for the use of remote communication in stockholder and board meetings.
The Revised Corporation Code will allow videoconferencing and teleconferencing during stockholder meetings, also allowing them to participate and vote in absentia.
The rules and regulations regarding stockholders’ participation and voting will take into account the company’s scale, number of shareholders or members, structure, and other factors consistent with the protection and promotion of shareholders’ or members’ meetings.
The commission has yet to give a timeline on when these memorandum circulars will be released.
Other provisions in the Revised Corporation Code include the one-person corporation, where the SEC will allow for the formation of a company with a single stockholder without a minimum authorized capital stock required. The old code required at least five stockholders to form a company.
The new law also mandates the commission to develop and implement an electronic filing and monitoring system to improve the ease of doing business in the country.
This includes the process of corporate name reservation and registration, incorporation, submission of reports, notices, and other documents required under the code.
The SEC already has a fully automated and online company registration system for pre-processing of corporations and partnerships and amendments of the articles of incorporation, among others.
“Collectively, the amendments are aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship and the formation of new businesses, improving the ease of doing business in the country, promoting good corporate governance, increasing protection afforded to corporations and stockholders, and deterring corporate abuses and fraud,” Mr. Aquino said in a statement.
Mr. Aquino added in a text message that the commission plans to focus on regulations that improve the ease of doing business, protect minority investors, and promote good corporate governance moving forward.

National Artist for Architecture Francisco ‘Bobby’ Mañosa, 88


NATIONAL ARTIST for Architecture Francisco “Bobby” T. Mañosa, passed away due to a lingering illness at the age 88 on Feb. 20.
“Even your death was as special as your life. Your legacy lives on,” wrote his daughter, interior designer Bambi Mañosa-Tanjutco, on Instagram on Feb. 20. According to his daughter’s post on Feb. 6, Mr. Mañosa was “fighting pneumonia.”
Known as the “Father of Philippine Neo-vernacular Architecture,” Mr. Mañosa championed Filipino architecture by mastering the DNA of the bahay kubo (nipa hut) and bahay na bato (literally “stone house,” the standard Spanish colonial structure locally). He believed that Filipino architecture must be “true to itself, its land, and its people.”
His landmark projects include the Tahanang Pilipino (popularly known as the Coconut Palace) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) which was made almost entirely of coconut; the Amanpulo Resort with its deconstructed bahay kubos; the Our Lady of Peace Shrine — celebrating the 1986 People Power Revolution — at the corner of EDSA and Ortigas Ave., Quezon City, and the nearly open-air Chapel of the Risen Lord in Las Piñas City
“Intuitively, he pioneered the sustainable architecture — way before this environmental design movement broke ground in the Philippines,” noted a statement from the Cultural Center of the Philippines announcing his passing. “He conceptualized the ‘edible garden’ — a design where plants surround the external walls of the structures. This is quite evident in the San Miguel Building — one of his major works — with its rice terrace–like green balconies and ‘tukod’ (inwardly slanting windows).”
He was the recipient of several awards including Most Outstanding Professional Award in the Field of Interior Design from Philippine Regulation Commission in 2013; the Lifetime Achievement Award from United Architects of the Philippines in 2009; and Outstanding Artist for Golden Years of Service Award in the field of Architecture from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2009.
In October 2018, he received the National Artist Award “for his valuable contribution to the development, preservation and promotion of the Philippine architecture.”
Tributes poured out on social media with the news of Mr. Mañosa’s passing.
The Palace expressed its condolences in a statement released by Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo, highlighting his recieving the Order of National Artist (Orden ng Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) by President Rodrigo R. Duterte last year, and his achievements in the field of architecture. “Architect Mañosa will be missed but his influence and legacy will continue to live on. May perpetual light shine upon him as we pray for the repose of his soul,” it said.
“It was an honor to have known someone so innovative and nationalistic. We are sure his spirit will live on in the people that he helped and the work that he left behind,” said a Facebook post from the Museo Pambata, where Mr. Mañosa’s daughter, Ms. Mañosa-Tanjutco, is president.
Another aspect of the architect’s life can be seen in the tribute paid to him by The Executives Band on its Facebook page.
“The Executives Band, founded by the late Arch. Bobby Mañosa, which was founded by Mr. Mañosa, Senator Raul Manglapus, Chito Feliciano, Lenny Hontiveros, Bert del Rosario, Dading Morato, Freddie von Kauffmann, Rudy Topacio, and Phil Delfino — also which at the time was called The Executives Combo, has lost its last original member today. Architect Bobby Mañosa was our first pianist, and as such, his prestige and artistry elevated our ‘Combo’ to great heights.
“Our wish is that his family, and those whose lives he has touched and inspired, find solace in the thought that our dear Bobby is now jamming in heaven with all the greats, as he once did. He was such an inspiration to all.
“We pray that our music helps keep his legacy alive, as much as his architecture emboldens the Filipino essence to stand out and proud.”
The wake is at the Heritage Memorial Park on Feb 22 and 23 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Mañosa Group of Companies has said that in lieu of flowers, a donation to Tukod Foundation Inc. be made.
On Feb. 24, the Cultural Center of the Philippines will pay tribute to Mr. Mañosa with a necrological service at 9 a.m. which will be open to public. It will be followed by his internment at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
Mr. Mañosa, who celebrated his 88th birthday on Feb. 12, was survived by his wife Denise and children Bambi, Gelo, and Dino. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Philippine National Bank raises P8.22B from 5.5-year LTNCDs

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL Bank (PNB) raised P8.22 billion from the issuance of long-term notes to investors, with the additional funding meant to manage debts and offer more loans.
In a disclosure, PNB announced that its latest offering of long-term negotiable certificates of deposit (LTNCDs) yielded the biggest turnout in the bank’s history, coming from an initial fund-raising target of P3 billion.
The offering was met by overwhelming demand from both retail and corporate investors and went nearly three times oversubscribed.
The bank owned by Lucio C. Tan said the additional capital is meant to extend the maturity of the bank’s debt profile as well as raise long-term funds as it hands out more loans.
The LTNCDs come with a 5.75% coupon rate, and are due in 5.5 years. The papers will be listed on the Philippine Dealing Exchange next Wednesday.
“This is a strategic exercise for us as we continue to grow our loan portfolio,” PNB President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Arnulfo “Wick” A. Veloso was quoted as saying in a statement.
“Raising long term funding at attractive levels offers our investors an opportunity to support our goals, while allowing us to also provide cost-competitive loans to our clients who would like to grow alongside our strong Philippine economy.”
Global banks HSBC and ING Bank N.V. were tapped as joint lead managers for the transaction. Other selling agents were the First Metro Investment Corp. and the Multinational Investment Bancorporation.
Last month, PNB revealed plans to raise as much as P100 billion in fresh capital through a series of bond offerings this 2019. The bank’s board of directors approved the creation of a peso bond and commercial paper program for the lender.
This follows the $300 million which PNB raise through medium-term notes in April 2018.
PNB, the fifth-biggest lender in the country, yielded a P7.5 billion net income from January-September, which is 67% higher from the comparable period in 2017. Total loans stood at P550.7 billion at end-September, against a P692.8-billion deposit base.
Shares in PNB closed at P48 apiece on Thursday, up 90 centavos or 1.91% from Wednesday’s P47.10 finish. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

ERC seeks comments on rural property tax treatment

PHILIPPINE Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to treat rural property tax as a pass-through cost that can be collected from customers.

THE ENERGY Regulatory Commission (ERC) has given stakeholders until Feb. 28 to comment on a petition filed by electric cooperatives to treat rural property tax (RPT) as a pass-through cost that can be collected from customers.
In its petition, the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (Philreca) asked the ERC to issue the necessary rules allowing the pass-through nature of the tax as it called the proposal “valid and timely considering that local government units (LGUs) had assessed and collected RPT” from electric cooperatives (ECs).
“The RPT should therefore be allowed to be a pass-through charge to the ECs member-customers subject to post verification and confirmation by the Commission similar to the Local Business and Franchise Tax,” Philreca said.
The association said the need for ERC rule-making became more urgent after the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Manila Electric Co. versus Lucena City’s assessor and treasurer, where it affirmed that transformers, electric posts, transmission lines, insulators and electric meters are not exempted from RPT under the LGUs.
“The RPT is the lifeblood of the LGUs authorized by the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160) and thus the collection and payment thereof can no longer be avoided by ECs,” Philreca said.
“The ECs have no option but to pay the RPT otherwise the LGU can exercise its right to levy the real properties of the ECs to enforce collection thereof and thereby hamper the ECs from performing its mandate of providing electric service to its member-customers,” it added.
The association also said their existing tariff does not provide for surplus funds through a return on rate base and depreciation like those of private distribution utilities.
It said while private utilities can exercise certain degree of flexibility by charging the RPT against their surplus funds, the ECs are constrained to fund the same from their meager internally generated funds.
It added that in most cases, the funding come from loans obtained from the National Electrification Administration and financial institutions. Philreca also pleaded for other relief “deemed just and equitable.”
The ERC has set the hearing and public consultation on the petition between March and April in venues in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. — Victor V. Saulon

Instituto Cervantes celebrates Women’s Day with Spanish and Filipino films

THIS MARCH, Instituto Cervantes, in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain, Intramuros Administration, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines, will present “Espacio Femenino: Spanish and Filipino Female Filmmakers,” a film cycle featuring movies by female directors, with the aim of highlighting the contribution of women to the film industry.
The movies will be held every Saturday at 4 p.m. at Instituto Cervantes Intramuros, located at Plaza San Luis Complex, Intramuros, Manila.
The film cycle will open on March 9 with the Spanish film Los amores cobardes (2018) by Carmen Blanco. Eva, a strong and independent woman, returns to her hometown to spend the summer holidays with her mother and Gema, her only true friend. And there she meets her ex-boyfriend, who broke off with her without even saying goodbye.
Galician film A palabra xusta (2016) will be shown on March 16. A 92-year-old teacher returns to a house that has seemingly stood still in time and starts a conversation with her memories and the memory of the love of her life.
On March 23, several short films will be featured, such as Café para llevar (2014), Una vez (2015), Camino de agua para un pez (2016), Einstein-Rosen (2016), Lucrecia (2016), Conservas (2017), and a Filipino short film — Gikan sa Ngitngit nga Kinaidlaman (2017).
The film cycle closes with Con el viento (2017) by Meritxell Colell, which is about a dancer who has to help her mother sell the house after her father died. However, they are like two strangers who will have to know more about each other and learn to live together.
Admission to the film showings is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For details visit http://manila.cervantes.es, the Instituto Cervantes Facebook page, or call 526-1482.

MARINA renews Japan training program for sea instructors

THE governments of the Philippines and Japan have agreed to renew their partnership for the education and training of Filipino professionals in the maritime sector.
In a statement on Thursday, the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) said it signed on Tuesday a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the Seamen’s Employment Center of Japan (SECOJ) for the 2019 Maritime Instructors’ Training Scheme.
Under the MoC, the Philippines may send educators as delegates to Japan to training in organizing practical training programs and constructing evaluation criteria for group training.
“Through this agreement, Japan will continue to host a number of qualified Filipino maritime instructors to improve their teaching skills and technical information related to their specialty through a two-month advanced training course program this year,” it said.
The Philippines and Japan have been annually signing the agreement since 2010, with total of 59 Filipino instructors completing the training program.
MARINA said the participants will be sourced from nominees of recognized maritime higher education institutions. The shortlist of “preliminary delegates” will then be screened further by MLIT and SECOJ.
To participate, instructors must have at least one year of experience teaching a navigational or engineering course and must be a qualified operational-level seafarer for international voyages. They must also be “willing” to teach maritime education for a minimum of five years after the two-month training program.
MARINA noted Japan is providing the same training opportunities to maritime professionals from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. — Denise A. Valdez

Bonds ‘more attractive’ as PHL inflation slows

THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas raised rates last year to combat inflation, making bonds unattractive to investors. — BW FILE PHOTO

MANULIFE ASSET Management and Trust Corp. (MAMTC) said the bond market in the Philippines is a “little bit more attractive” as inflation is widely expected to decelerate in the coming months.
On Wednesday, Manulife Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd. Asia Head for Client Portfolio Management Thierry Taglione said the domestic fixed-income market is a “little bit more attractive” in 2019 compared to last year or when the pace of price increases surged to a nine-year high.
“Last year, the challenge in the Philippines was the high inflation — over 6%. When inflation is high, the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) had to hike interest rates. When rates go higher, it’s a bad news for bond investors,” Mr. Taglione told reporters on the sidelines of MAMTC’s press briefing in Makati City.
Inflation settled at 5.2% last year — the fastest since 2008’s 8.2% and exceeding the central bank’s 2-4% target band — amid higher oil prices and issues in rice supply.
For this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas expects inflation to return to below 4% as early as March, or back within its target range.
“Now, inflation is coming off in the Philippines. It’s going down to 4.4%, since the BSP is now in a situation where they don’t need to hike — they will be accommodative,” Mr. Taglione said, adding that it will be good news for investors if rates go lower.
During its Feb. 7 meeting, the BSP’s Monetary Board kept its key rates steady while lowering its headline inflation forecast for this year to 3.07% from the previous outlook of 3.18%.
Mr. Taglione said MAMTC’s unit investment trust fund (UITF) has exposure to the Philippine bond market, albeit small.
“In our Asia Dynamic Bond Fund, we have exposure to Philippine bonds. It’s not a major holding — it’s a small exposure.”
Launched in December 2018, MAMTC’s Manulife Asia Dynamic Bond Feeder Fund provides investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of fixed-income securities primarily in Asia for a minimum investment of $100 or P5,000.
“The beauty of the fund is that we can access dozen markets across the region. If we don’t see compelling case for a specific market, we find opportunities elsewhere,” Mr. Taglione said.
On Wednesday, MAMTC also launched its Dragon Growth Equity Feeder Fund, another UITF that gives exposure to a diversified portfolio of equity-related instruments of public companies listed in Hong Kong and China.
“The Dragon Growth Equity Feeder Fund enables investors to take advantage of China’s transformative growth story and access its impressive domestically-driven economy,” MAMTC President and Chief Executive Officer Aira Gaspar was quoted as saying in a statement. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Jing An Special Risks gets license for local operations

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
A HONG KONG-BASED insurer has secured a license to operate in the Philippines, as it looks to provide cover against cyber threats and terror acts for local businesses.
Jing An Special Risks (JASR) said the Insurance Commission has given it a license to operate in the country to offer risk insurance to corporates.
“Our products intend to cover businesses against the following threats: war and terror, cyber, kidnap and ransom, marine piracy, and crisis response,” Gene Yu, JASR chairman and co-founder, was quoted as saying in a statement published yesterday.
JASR is the first to provide special risk insurance brokerage in Asia and has set up operations in Manila, together with its partner Blackpanda, which specializes in crisis management and security consulting.
The global insurer will provide firms with a comprehensive security assessment to measure exposures for physical, cyber and organizational risks, which will then be the focus of insurance policies.
In particular, JASR said it offers “cyber products” that should mitigate risks drawn from emerging cyber-attacks, at a time of increased threats in the digital space.
Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa has long called for insurers to develop cyber insurance products, at a time of rising cyber-extortions and attacks in the online realm. He made the remarks in the aftermath of the “WannaCry” ransomware attacks, when hackers targeted big businesses to paralyze their computer systems in exchange for huge sums of money.
Most insurers doing business in the country are focused on life and pre-need products. What the market needs are products that would offer protection from losses due to technology-related risks, database breaches or theft of computer hardware, Mr. Funa said back in 2017.
The Insurance chief had also pointed out the need for insurance coverage from terrorism attacks, amid pockets of unrest from armed rebels. Among the more recent incidents include the bombing of a church in Jolo, Sulu last month, as well as the five-month firefight between soldiers and Maute rebels in Marawi City in 2017.

Holcim completes expansion of La Union plant

HOLCIM PHILIPPINES, Inc. completed the expansion of its La Union plant last month, allowing the facility to almost double its capacity.
The listed cement manufacturer said it has finished the installation of new grinding equipment and storage facilities in Bacnotan, La Union two months ahead of schedule. This brings La Union’s total capacity to 1.8 million metric tons (MT) from 1 million MT previously.
“With our expansion and efficiency initiatives, we can better provide a reliable supply of high-quality cement to help our partners advance the region’s development,” Holcim President and Chief Executive Officer John Stull said in a statement.
The company said this expansion will support its customers given that construction activity is now picking up due to the government’s massive infrastructure program.
Citing government data, Holcim Philippines said two of the three regions in North Luzon outpaced the national economic growth rate in 2017, led by the Cordillera Administrative Region whose construction industry surged by 23.6%.
The expansion of the La Union plant forms part of the company’s $54-million investment to boost the plant’s capacity alongside its other facility in Davao. Together, the two projects were seen to bring the Holcim Philippines’ total capacity to 12 million MT.
Holcim Philippines will continue its expansion program in its Bulacan and Misamis Oriental plants, spending about $300 million to improve their operations. This will further hike its annual capacity to 13 million MT by next year.
The company saw its net income attributable to the parent drop by 24% to P1.74 billion in the first nine months of 2018, amid a six percent uptick in gross revenues to P27.27 billion.
Shares in Holcim Philippines were unchanged at P9.50 each at the stock exchange on Thursday. — Arra B. Francia

The apple of her eye

The Favourite
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
YORGOS LANTHIMOS’ latest film The Favourite may be his oddest yet if you stop and consider his work so far, from breakthrough feature Dogtooth (about a family teaching a skewed view of the world to its walled-in children) to the recent The Killing of a Sacred Deer (about a curse hovering over a physician’s family), where metaphorical fantasy and (better yet) the much odder machinations of human nature give his films a memorably loopy spin.
To fantasy and human perversity now add history: Lanthimos agreed to do a script by first-time author Deborah Davis (this is basically her baby) and veteran TV scriptwriter Tony Macnamara — one of the rare times the director is working with material that wasn’t his, and without frequent collaborator Efthymis Filippou. Also perhaps the first time Lanthimos is working in nonfiction mode (unless you count his contribution to Venice 70: Future Reloaded) and with characters he didn’t create out of the whole cloth of his imagination.
The result is reassuringly accessible, and Lanthimos has been promptly rewarded: The Favourite earned some $70 million in the tills — the biggest business done by any film in his career — and been nominated for a slew of goldplated sex toys (okay — “Oscars”) and (more credibly) the Grand Jury prize at Venice.
And it is fun: Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) asks cousin Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) — close advisor and childhood friend of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) — for a job at the royal court. Sarah, out of a grudging sense of pity, gives Abigail the lowly position of scullery maid; Abigail takes advantage of the opportunity and with a swiftly concocted herbal poultice applied to a bad case of royal gout wriggles her way into the queen’s notice and up the court’s social ladder. The ensuing conflict — between tyrannical Sarah and up-and-coming Abigail over the hapless (if hardly innocent) Anne is like a vicious unexpectedly funny dogfight: when Sarah in the middle of a pigeon shoot suddenly aims a flintlock pistol at Abigail and fires you know anything can happen, and probably will.
That said, you have to ask: does Lanthimos improve with all the guardrails surrounding him? I’m not sure. Dogtooth was my first encounter and it could be the shock of the new but his felt like a unique voice, by turns mysterious and horrifying and funny, sometimes all three at the same time. With later films — The Lobster, Killing of a Sacred Deer — he was resorting to more elaborate effects, to apparently lesser results. Magical transformation into animals? A progressively debilitating curse? I was ultimately disturbed but it took considerably more and more effort on his part to get me to that state each successive time, and the sight (and stench) of his flop sweat was unbecoming.
With Davis’ and Macnamara’s script, Lanthimos regains some kind of balance: nothing supernatural about the shenanigans in this film, though the director does feel fit to cram some 20 or so anachronisms in the margins of the frame (costumes featuring African-inspired black and white patterns; servants that work while wearing recycled denim; Sarah pulling a courtier onto the dance floor to vogue to classical music). It’s bizarre but not half as bizarre as the drama in the foreground: apparently there was a Sarah Churchill and she did vie for Queen Anne’s favor with cousin Abigail Hill (later Masham); apparently Anne did have 17 children, none of which survived to grow into adulthood. The 17 rabbits Anne keeps in their memory is a writer’s invention (in the 17th century the animals were more likely killed or eaten than cared for) but also an implicitly powerful metaphor: silly decadent pets that you can’t help but laugh at till you realize they’re a mother’s way of remembering her children.
By film’s end (skip this paragraph if you plan to see the picture!) I’m guessing Lanthimos felt the need to cut loose and does: Abigail ends up ascendant, and decides to celebrate her hardwon power by mashing a bunny to the floor with her heel; Anne, knowing what she’s done, demands that Abigail kneel and — with royal hand firmly clutching the young woman’s head for support — massage her gouty legs. A humiliating reassertion of the power structure with neither women fully satisfied and a superimposed image of rabbits hopping about — Lanthimos’ way I suppose of reminding us that for all of Anne’s cruelty she’s emotionally invested in these animals, and can we blame her for responding when Abigail abuses the creatures? All nicely unsettling, but for a moment Lanthimos loses his sense of humor and is being merely sadistic. The film, so admirably poised between the grotesque and the grossly comic, falls flat on its powdered face.
Still! May not be my favorite Lanthimos — it’s the filmmaker taking conventional (if well wrought) material and giving it a cockeyed arthouse sheen — but one of the oddest and by far funniest of recent biopics. One of the best of last year? Easily.

Saudi Arabia jobs top OFW listings

OVERSEAS job opportunities increased in 2018, with Middle East taking the spot as the top region of careers for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW).
Overseas jobs board WorkAbroad.ph launched its 2019 Jobs and Salary report on Tuesday and reported that overseas employers posted more job listings for the most part of 2018.
WorkAbroad.ph Marketing Lead Paola Savilo said in a briefing on Tuesday, “Overseas hirers posted a total of 137,243 job listings from January to October 2018. This is up 21% compared to 2017,which had 113,545.”
By region, Ms. Savilo added, “76.28% are in Middle East; 11.90% in the Asia-Pacific; 7.59% are in North America; and 4.22% are in Europe, Africa and elsewhere.”
Saudi Arabia was the top country for OFW deployment with 46% of the total job listings or 62,831 jobs. Other Middle Eastern countries were also among the top potential destinations for OFW with 17,583 listings in Qatar; 9,533 in the United Arab Emirates; 5,321 in Kuwait; 4,447 in Oman; and 3,329 in Bahrain.
Other countries with the most job ads in WorkAbroad.ph were the US (9,634), New Zealand (2,076), Malaysia (1,735),and Australia (1,524).
The Jobs and Salary Report said that the most in-demand specializations in the Middle East are Health care, Engineering, and General Work (drivers electricians, and cleaners). Jobs in the health care sector have the largest monthly salary with starting pay at P47,000 to P70,000.
Top jobs in the Asia Pacific are in Engineering, General Work and Manufacturing/Production. WorkAbroad.ph reported that IT, Education and Marketing/Business Development professions offer the highest monthly salary at P50,000 to P65,000.
Meanwhile, the United States topped demand for sea-based careers. Seamen and ship engineering jobs were listed at P68,000 to P81,000 a month. For land-based jobs, the top careers are Engineering, General Work, and Food/Beverage/Restaurant Service. — Gillian M. Cortez

Allianz PNB Life Insurance sees low double-digit growth in 2019

ALLIANZ PNB Life Insurance, Inc. is expecting to book low double-digit growth in 2019 in line with the market as macroeconomic environment improves this year amid election spending.
In an anniversary dinner in Manila on Wednesday, Allianz PNB Life Chief Executive Officer Olaf Kliesow said the joint venture between German insurer Allianz SE and Lucio C. Tan-owned Philippine National Bank (PNB) is expecting another “low double-digit” growth this year.
“We’ll be looking again at a year where we see a low double-digit growth, and we would expect to at least be as good as the market,” Mr. Kliesow told reporters on Thursday.
“We see another strong year for the Philippine insurance coming up. Two years ago, we had 11% growth. Last year, probably something around 15% — we don’t know the figures yet.”
In 2017, total premiums written by the insurance industry reached P259.646 billion, up 12% from the P231.883 billion booked in 2016, mainly driven by life insurance firms.
For this year, Mr. Kliesow is expecting to see “sustainable” growth in the country as the macroeconomic environment remains to be “sound.”
“That’s why I believe the macroeconomic outlook would be better, inflation is coming down, and that’s what we expect throughout 2019.”
Headline inflation settled at 5.2% last year, the fastest since 2008’s 8.2% and exceeding the central bank’s 2-4% target band, amid higher oil prices and issues on rice supply.
For this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas expects inflation to return below 4% as early as March, well within its target range.
“It’s an election year, where economic forecast is also slightly higher than in other years,” added Mr. Kliesow, who is also president of the Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc.
Another driver for Allianz PNB’s growth for this year is the large need for protection in the country, as the insurance penetration rate in the Philippines is still at 1.7% of the population as of end-September 2018.
“It’s the highest penetration the Philippines has ever seen as of the third quarter… But there is still a large need for protection and insurance in the Philippines and that’s the driver of the growth,” Mr. Kliesow said.
Meanwhile, Allianz PNB said it has started offering some “minor” microinsurance products through its digital partnerships to help narrow the protection gap.
“There is a lot of room because the uninsured and the unbanked community in the Philippines is large and microinsurance is something that we are also offering,” Mr. Kliesow said.
In a previous interview last year, Allianz PNB Chief Finance Officer Efren C. Caringal said the insurer plans to venture into the microinsurance business to help narrow the number of Filipinos who still do not have an insurance.
The German insurer completed the 51% acquisition of PNB Life Insurance, Inc., the life insurance arm of PNB, in June 2016.
According to latest Insurance Commission data, Allianz PNB was the twelfth-largest life insurer in terms of premium income with P5.3 billion as of end-2017. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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