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Citi awarded Best International Bank by Finance Asia

Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed (middle) receives the award from Hong Kong Based international publication Finance Asia. He is flanked by (from left to right) Country Treasurer and head of Securities and Services Paul Favila, Philippines Treasury and Trade Solutions head Arlene Nethercott, Consumer Bank head Manoj Varma and Corporate Banking head Vikram Singh. Citi Philippines has had an exceptional year with double-digit revenue and profit growth. It remains the largest foreign bank in the Philippines by number of employees, customers, asset base and profitability.

11 drug suspects fall in separate Quezon City raids

POLICE caught 11 people including a 17-year-old boy and seized P500,000 worth of crystal meth in separate raids in Quezon City at the weekend.

Colonel Ronnie Montejo, acting director of the Quezon City Police District, said the minor was among six people arrested in a drug bust in the village of Pasong Tamo on Saturday night. Police confiscated 30 grams of crystal meth worth P204,000.

Meanwhile, three drug suspects in the village of Bagong Sauyo were caught with 25 grams of crystal meth worth about P170,000 after a cop posed as a drug buyer, Mr. Montejo said.

Two more suspected drug pushers were arrested in the village of Bagong Pag-Asa on Sunday after they were caught with 25 grams of crystal meth worth P170,000.

The minor was turned over to city social welfare officers, while the other suspects were charged with violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. — Emmanuel Tupas, Philippine Star

PNP agrees to reorganize Internal Affairs

THE PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) has agreed to reorganize its Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to strengthen its capabilities, IAS Inspector General Manager Alfegar Triambulo said.

Mr. Triambulo met with PNP Officer-in-Charge Lieutenant General Archie Francisco Gamboa at the police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Friday to thresh out differences, Mr. Triambulo, who wanted to separate his office, said by telephone.

Mr. Gamboa had agreed to propose the IAS reorganization, including bringing in more personnel, to the National Police Commission (Napolcom), said the IAS chief. As officer-in-charge, Mr. Gamboa also sits as an ex-officio member of the Napolcom.

Mr. Triambulo is asking Congress to amend the PNP Reform and Reorganization Act by making IAS an independent body. The office is in charge of investigating erring police officers.

He wants the IAS to be separate from the police force to give the investigating body more authority in prosecuting rogue policemen.

Mr. Triambulo said they wanted to hire more lawyers if Napolcom is agreeable to the proposal.

The IAS only has 29 lawyers, including Mr. Triambulo and this is not enough to handle all the administrative cases involving rouge police officers.

Former police chief General Oscar Albayalde in May approved the request of the IAS to recruit 50 lawyers. Mr. Triambulo said this was deferred pending assessment.

The IAS will have its own divisions under its proposal. The body helps in filing criminal cases against erring cops, Mr. Triambulo said.

“We will also conduct research to assist in the attitude and behavior of police officers,” he said. “We can’t do that now because we don’t have a division for that.” — Emmanuel Tupas, Philippine Star

Over 35,000 cops deployed for Undas

THE PHILIPPINE National Police goes on full alert Monday as part of security preparations for the Nov. 1 All Saints’ Day holiday, locally known as Undas, a peak season for domestic travel. The PNP said 35,618 cops have been deployed nationwide while the entire 191,000-strong police force is on call for emergencies. Another 99,716 force multipliers are also on duty, including medical, fire and rescue volunteers, and barangay officials. The full alert status will be in place until Nov. 3. — PhilStar/E.Tupas

Congress revives push for better land use

A MEASURE deemed priority by the current administration and business groups that will improve the use of land and resources has been filed anew in Congress.

Senate Bills 38, 358, 510 and 886 that mandate the National Land Use Commission (NLUC) to draft a unified framework that will govern the use of land resources have been filed by Senators Francis N. Pangilinan, Risa N. Hontiveros, Pia S. Cayetano and Ramon B. Revilla, Jr., respectively.

In his explanatory note, Mr. Pangilinan said the bill seeks to harmonize and integrate “conflicting laws, policies, principles and guidelines on land use and physical planning.”

Mr. Revilla noted that there are around 30 overlapping environmental and ecological protection laws and policies on the use of water and land management.

Counterpart measures which have been filed at the House of Representatives now await action at the committee level.

Sought for comment, House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez of Leyte’s 1st district said the chamber would “speed up” action on the measure.

“We will work doubly hard to speed up the approval and the eventual passage into law of the President’s priority measures that he enumerated during his SoNA, including the proposed National Land Use Act. We are determined and focused to pass his priority bills, especially those aimed at improving the lives of our people,” Mr. Romualdez said in a mobile phone message on Sunday.

The bills generally provide that the NLUC will draft a National Physical Framework Plan (NPFP) that will guide land use planning and management at the national and sub-national level within a 30-year time frame. The plan will be reviewed and updated every 10 years.

The plan will indicate “broad spatial directions, and policy guidelines on settlement development, production land use, protection land use, social services and utilities, and transportation and communication.”

There will also be frameworks at the regional, provincial, as well as city and municipality level which will be aligned with NPFP.

Frameworks will have as general land use categories: protection, production, settlements and infrastructure development.

Planning for “protection” type of land use is aimed at food self-sufficiency, water and energy security, environment stability and ecological integrity; while planning for “production” land use is directed at determining the most sustainable, efficient way of managing land for production of crops, fisheries, livestock and poultry among others. Settlement development will cover improvement of existing settlements in urban and rural areas and ensuring that residents have access to basic services, while infrastructure development will focus on transportation, communication and water resources, among others.

Frameworks may also allow multiple land use for specific land resources for settlements, tourism, agriculture and forestry, but may not be permitted in areas classified under protection land use.

The proposal was among the measures pushed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in his fourth State of the Nation Address last July 22.

It was also on the list of legislative measures which 14 local and foreign business groups submitted to Congress earlier that month.

The measure was also among the 28 bills identified as priority by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council in the 17th Congress that ended early last June. It secured final-reading approval at the House as House Bill No. 5240 but failed to hurdle the Senate. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Regulator looks at lower price cap at WESM

THE ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (ERC) is looking at a lower secondary price cap at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) — which accounts for about a tenth of the Manila Electric Co’s monthly supply — in a move to better minimize price spikes.

The regulator is now looking at P4,502 per megawatt-hour (MWh) from P6,245/MWh in order to reflect current market conditions.

In a draft resolution, which the ERC posted for industry feedback, the secondary price cap (SPC) will be imposed once the threshold 72-hour rolling generator weighted average price is breached.

The regulator noted that the country continues to have tight power supply, which is worsened by plant outages, thus leaving consumers vulnerable to high WESM prices. The price cap limits price spikes in the market.

“WHEREAS, the thresholds of the current SPC mechanism were determined and set based on market data during the peak months of April-June 2010-2014, and as such, the premises upon which the subject threshold were set are no longer reflective of a relevant current conditions,” the ERC explained.

It said recent developments in the electricity market “impelled the ERC” to review existing threshold levels of the secondary price cap schemes and recalculate the same based on market data using the period 2016-2018.

Sought for comment, Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba, president of Laban Konsyumer Inc., said the group supports “the least cost to the consumers.”

“That put the generation plant to behave in the market at times of forced outages,” he said in an online message.

But he said the ERC should explain how it arrived at the new secondary price cap.

Mr. Dimagiba also said that the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) and the Department of Energy (DoE) should support the reduced price cap.

Under the draft resolution, the commission recalculated the cumulative price threshold level to P6,919/MWh equivalent to the generator weighted average price over a rolling three-day period or 72-hour trading interval in the WESM. The previous threshold was P8,186/MWh.

The ERC first imposed the secondary price cap through a resolution issued on May 5, 2014 as an urgent, interim mitigating measure in the WESM to counter spikes in electricity prices there.

On June 16, 2014 and Aug. 5, 2014, the regulator extended the effectivity of the preemptive measure for a specified period or until the establishment of a permanent one, whichever comes first.

On Dec. 15, 2014, it made the measure permanent, thus putting a limit to the impact of extreme price volatilities and excessive levels of prices in the WESM.

The ERC said it had been directed by the Joint Congressional Power Commission after a hearing earlier this year “to review and revisit” the SPC mechanism to determine the reasonableness of the existing price cap. The hearing was called after the recurring alert warnings on thinning reserve power from March to June 2019.

Market participants are given until Nov. 4 to submit their written comments on the draft resolution. — Victor V. Saulon

Economists cite state spending anchor of Q3 GDP

FASTER third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth expected to be reported on Nov. 7 will bear the clear imprint of government efforts to catch up with its expenditure plan, state and private sector economists said last week, even as the increase in spending was smaller than a year ago.

Preliminary data show that the national government spent about 16.99% more at P1.04 trillion in July-September from P886.19 billion a year earlier, although the increase was smaller than the year-ago 29.61%.

At the same time, third quarter growth of state spending was a marked improvement from the 2.33% contraction in the second quarter and January-March’s nearly flat 0.78% increment.

With the 17% hike in state spending, Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, the department’s chief economist, said he expects third-quarter GDP growth to have clocked in faster than the 5.6% and 5.5% of the first and second quarters, respectively, and even be “higher” than the downward revised six percent in 2018’s third quarter.

“Q3 GDP will be high because government expenditures rose 17% year-on-year in third quarter. In September alone, growth in spending was 40%,” Mr. Beltran said in a text message last week.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last Friday gave a 5.8-6% estimate for third-quarter GDP growth and “closer to the midpoint of the 6-7% target for the fourth quarter… because of the acceleration in government spending that will already be catching hold by that time” as well as “spending during the Christmas season.”

National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon also said third-quarter economic expansion likely rode a “rebound” in state spending, which accounts for “about 20% of GDP.”

Sought for comment, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said government spending contributed about 13-14% to GDP in the third quarter, which likely saw expansion of about six percent.

“The latest sharp increase in government expenditures, excluding interest payments for the month of September 2019, by almost +40% year-on-year could already reflect government’s catch-up spending, especially on major infrastructure projects finally taking effect, breaking away from the lingering slowdown in government spending/underspending still seen in August,” Mr. Ricafort said in an e-mailed response to questions last week.

The Bureau of the Treasury last week reported that state spending jumped 39.01% to P415.1 billion in September alone from P298.6 billion a year ago. That was the best performance in nearly a year and a half, or since the 42.7% hike in April 2018.

INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING
Infrastructure spending, according to preliminary data, grew around 7.65% to P234.8 billion in the third quarter from the P218.1 billion recorded in July-September last year.

Citing preliminary data, Budget Undersecretary Laura B. Pascua said on Thursday that last month’s spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays stood at P100.3 billion, picking up from August’s P59.3 billion and the P65.2 billion spent in September last year.

“For September, infrastructure and other capital outlays was P100.3 billion, up 69% from a year ago,” Ms. Pascua said.

This brought year-to-date infrastructure spending to P546.3 billion, still down 4.2% year-on-year and eight percent short of the state’s P594-billion goal for the period as reported by the Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III last week.

For Mr. Ricafort, a “sustained” catch-up spending on government’s infrastructure projects for the year will keep the six-percent full-year GDP growth target “achievable”.

Jonathan L. Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank, said: “I think the key factor is that government starts spending and… continues the infrastructure program, but the question is how fast.”

“You’d rather have it slow as long as it’s continuous,” he said over a mobile phone interview last week.

Easing inflation to boost household spending

Despite the “slippage” in infrastructure spending, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia expects easing inflation will stimulate consumer spending — which makes up about 70% of GDP — and further boost the economy.

Mr. Pernia noted that inflation rate felt by families in the bottom 30% income segment eased to 0.9% in September, marking the slowest pace in more than three-and-a-half years, and that this in turn should “further kick consumption spending.”

“There’s going to be a catch-up specially in terms of consumption spending because of much lower inflation… Inflation for the poor has really gone down. That’s going to give a further kick to consumption spending and we know consumption is about 70-75% of GDP, that’s going to make a difference,” he said in a press conference in Taguig City on Friday. — Beatrice M. Laforga

PHL hunger levels remain ‘serious’ despite improvements

PHL hunger levels remain ‘serious’ despite improvements

FOTON PHL distributor to relaunch Chery brand

Words and photos by Manny N. de los Reyes

FOTON PHILIPPINES distributor and manufacturer United Asia Auto Group, Inc. (UAAGI) formally inked last Oct. 15 the deal to bring in its second Chinese automotive brand in the Philippines, Chery.

Having taken the FOTON brand, which specializes in commercial vehicles, light- and heavy-duty trucks, and heavy equipment, to the no. 9 rank in sales in the Philippine car industry — surpassing established brands — UAAGI is poised to repeat the process with a brand that offers more mainstream models. Chery makes compact sedans, crossovers and SUVs, which are currently the largest and fastest growing segments in the Philippines.

This will not be the first time Chery will be brought to the Philippines. The first attempt in 2007 marked the first time for a Chinese automaker to enter the local market.

Unfortunately, that turned out to be an unsuccessful endeavor. The intervening years, however — and 2019 in particular — saw a resurgence of Chinese automakers entering the local market. More than half-a-dozen China auto brands (or China-made models from non-Chinese brands) have entered the Philippine market in the last 12 months.

“The time is ripe for us to bring in a second automotive brand, and we are convinced that Chery now has the right blend of design, features, technology, and pricing in its product line to make a strong impact on the Philippine market,” said UAAGI President Rommel Sytin, during the official contract signing with Chery officials at the 5-star Grand Square Hotel, just a few minutes away from Chery’s headquarters in Wuhu City, about a four-hour drive west of Shanghai.

The contract signing was witnessed by members of the Philippine media as well as executives of several major Philippine banks.

As a renowned automobile manufacturer and distributor in the Philippines, UAAGI has rich experience in marketing and after-sales service, as well as deep insight into consumer concerns. With strong sales and after-sales service networks, it enjoys a good reputation in the Philippines. By working with UAAGI, Chery will not only further expand its overseas sales network, but also accomplish localized operations based on UAAGI’s experience in manufacturing, marketing and after-sales service, to provide better products and services to Philippine consumers.

“History and experience are the best teachers, and we have learned a lot from FOTON’s success in the Philippine market as well as where previous efforts to market Chery have failed — and we have taken all that to heart,” shared Mr. Sytin.

The lineup of Chery models that will mark the initial reentry to the Philippine market will be composed of four crossovers/SUVs from Chery’s expansive Tiggo lineup, which we briefly got to drive (more details on the upcoming cars in a future article). All models are powered by modern 1.5-liter inline-4 fuel-injected DOHC 16-valve petrol engines (with turbocharging in some models) and mated to manual or automatic transmissions. All models are made in Chery’s world-class state-of-the-art fully robotized plants in China.

The Chery brand sold over 750,000 units last year, a growth of 11% compared to the previous year. Chery has been China’s biggest exporter of passenger cars in the last 16 years. Chery has sold over 7.2 million vehicles in over 80 countries. It has 10 plants and over 1,300 sales and service networks worldwide. It is also a leading manufacturer of hybrid and full electric vehicles, not just in China, but in the world.

“We are excited to bring in Chery. The new cars possess all the brand values Filipinos now look for and we are convinced that the local will warmly receive these latest models,” Mr. Sytin added.

Chery is targeting its official Philippine launch in November, with initial deliveries set to follow soon after. Official retail prices, as well as the dealer network, will be announced at the launch.

Sugar caucus seeks probe into import liberalization

BACOLOD CITY — Legislators from sugar-growing provinces will conduct an inquiry next month into the government’s proposals to liberalize sugar imports, a Congressman from Negros said.

“After the recess, we the Congress will call for an inquiry,” Negros Occidental First District Rep. Gerardo P. Valmayor, said during a news conference Saturday in Bacolod City. He is a member of the Visayas Development Committee, which handles all concerns and programs affecting the municipalities, cities, and provinces of the Visayas regions.

“All of those in the sugar industry, which includes SRA (Sugar Regulatory Administration), DA (Department of Agriculture)… the Department of Finance (DoF), we really also have to hear from them bakit kailangan natin ng (why we need) liberalization,” he said, adding that it was important to avoid disruptions in the sugar industry similar to those seen in the rice industry after imports of the staple grain were liberalized.

About 67% of the country’s sugar production is accounted for by Negros Occidental.

The SRA estimates that as of Oct. 13, the average mill site price of sugar is P1,515.53 per 50–kilo bag. Since the beginning of the 2019–2020 crop year, it has been consistently above the P1,500-level. Cost of producing sugar in the country is at about P1,300 per 50-kilo bag.

The DoF formally proposed the liberalization of sugar imports on Sept. 27 in order to help the food processing industry be more competitive, citing the high domestic price of sugar which is double the world market price.

The inquiry will also discuss the under utilization of the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) fund, which should be funded at P2 billion annually, though the government has reduced its support due to the SRA’s under spending.

“‘Yung SIDA maganda (SIDA is good). It’s very good to improve the industry, bloc farming, farm-to-market, research. Maraming (Many programs are) well implemented but marami ring hindi (there are also many not) well implemented. If we (improve fund usage), that will capacitate our farmers to compete,” Mr. Valmayor told reporters after the briefing.

The sugar industry has warned that import liberalization will harm an industry employing about 5 million people directly or indirectly, many of them agrarian reform beneficiaries or farmers owning five hectares or less.

The inquiry will also serve as a way for the representatives to hear SRA Administrator Hermenegildo R. Serafica side regarding the proposed sugar liberalization.

In a senate budget hearing in October, Mr. Serafica was asked by senators about his position on import liberalization. He said that he will be seeking guidance of the Agriculture Secretary, William D. Dar.

“Ang paghihintay sa sagot, baka patay na ang kabayo ‘pag dumating na ang damo… baka mayroon kaming hakbang na gawin para mapilitan sumagot (it might be too late by the time he comes up with a position… We might have a way to force him to answer)” Negros Occidental Federation of Farmers Association (NOFFA) Chairman Enrique Tayo said during the briefing.

“Ang alam natin sa Batangas, ‘pag ikaw ay isang ama, ikaw ang nagpapatupad ng tama. Ngayon, parang tayong walang ama (Our understanding in Batangas is that if you are the father, you need to lead and do what is right. It’s like the industry has no father at the moment),” Luzon Federation of Sugarcane Growers and Associations (LUZONFED) Chairman Cornelio V. Toreja said.

In a statement, Mr. Serafica said that the sugar board will only look into sugar imports when it sees the need to augment supply.

“SRA shall be focusing more to improve production and productivity to lessen, if not avoid importation…. I, together with DA Secretary William Dar and the rest of the sugar board will always listen to the stakeholders,” he said. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Mazda CX-8 — Combining the best of CX-5 and CX-9

By Ulysses Ang

THE STORY of the CX-8 is a rather unremarkable one. Mazda once had an MPV, the Mazda8, which was actually marketed with the tagline, “the idea of a sportscar — inherited by a minivan.” It was, in every sense of the word, a mom-mobile that that very tagline was delivered by a middle-aged woman in Japan. But as the company shifted its attention to all things KODO and Skyactiv, they found themselves with an opportunity: should they make something pleasing to soccer moms or should they make a three-row SUV? Focused group studies and likely, simpler engineering costs dictated the latter, and thus, the CX-8 was born.

Initially, the CX-8 feels like a compromise in values, especially when you see it in the flesh. There’s a hint of déjà vu because it clearly mixes styling elements found on both the smaller CX-5 and the larger CX-9. Sure, it’s handsome and elegant, but also largely unoriginal. Nonetheless, put it next to other mid-sized SUVs it’s going up against and it still stands out as the best-looking one out there.

The story continues to the cabin. The CX-8 basically follows the CX-5’s, down to the air vents that seemingly jut out of the dashboard and even the strong horizontal theme. Yet it throws in some CX-9 pieces too like the butterfly-opening center console and even the position of the cup holders. It also gets its bigger brother’s black-and-brown motif; only here, the upper dash is pure black, while the lower dash is dark brown.

Cabin quality is typical Mazda with well-damped switchgear and impressively high premium pieces including the use of real wood trim and Nappa leather on the highest-end variant. Atypical of Mazdas though is that the CX-8 is spacious across all three rows. Ensuring this, Mazda opted to go straight for the CX-9’s platform, down to the 2,930mm wheelbase. The goal here was to fit a person of any size in front while still being able to comfortably fit adults in both the second and third rows. After sampling it, it’s job done for the engineers. But more than just space, the CX-8 refuses to compromise comfort. Remember the ultra-ergonomic design that promotes the spine’s natural S-shape? It’s here — on all three rows.

The features found in the CX-8 closely mirror those found in the more luxurious CX-9: power adjustable front seats, triple-zone climate control with rear vents, standard Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and a 12-speaker Bose sound system. Unlike the larger Mazda though, this one is offered with two seating configurations: a 7-seater with a traditional second-row bench (2+3+2), and a more luxurious 6-seater version with second-row Captain’s Seats (2+2+2). In both cases, the wide rear doors open 80 degrees resulting in easy entry/exit and installation/removal of child seats. It’s also highly flexible with a second row that slides. It’s understood that the Philippine model will be offered with both seating options.

As you may have guessed by now, dynamically, the CX-8 is a mix between the CX-5 and the CX-9 as well. While the Malaysian-made CX-8 is available in both diesel and gasoline flavors, this drive was spent purely with the gasoline-powered 2.5 Skyactiv-G. Unlike the CX-9, the CX-8 doesn’t have a turbocharger and with that, it makes 192hp and 258Nm of torque. They’re healthy numbers typically, but it’s something of a worry given this SUV’s a portly 1,781 kilograms. True enough, it doesn’t feel as fast or light as the CX-5, but it nonetheless obliges with every press of the accelerator. Power delivery is smooth and is never lacking, no doubt influenced by the revised final gearing. Staying mostly on the highway, the fuel economy rested at 9.1 km/L, but this figure is surely to be lower in stop-and-go traffic.

Mazda engineers kept on emphasizing comfort and refinement over the usual talk of fun-to-drive and corner carving. True enough, the CX-8 will never be mistaken for a sports car. Yet, it delivers much more than what the average SUV needs to. In most situations, it masks its heft well with minimal body roll. The steering is closer to the CX-5’s in that there’s a feeling of agility near the center without being darty or nervous. However, its ride is pliant or even more so than the CX-9’s especially over big bumps and potholes. The most impressive aspect though is its extremely hushed cabin. Measures have been made to quell outside noise and as a result, holding a conversation between those in the front and last rows are actually possible.

From a car company that defies convention, the CX-8 may come across initially as something unimaginative. It may seem like a quick cash grab move in the same way Mercedes-Benz and BMW would come up with never-ending vehicle derivatives based on the same platform. Yet the Mazda CX-8 isn’t that. It’s a worthy and a very important addition to the Mazda range. By combining the traits of the CX-5 and the CX-9, the CX-8 ends up as an impeccably presented three-row SUV with solid performance and more than enough room to fill the role of a family hauler.

PSE wants listed companies to submit sustainability reports

By Denise A. Valdez
Reporter

THE Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) wants listed companies to submit sustainability reports as part of disclosure requirements.

“We have to have a simplified implementation of the circular of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on sustainability reporting. It’s still optional. So we want to encourage more companies to make it part of the disclosure requirements,” PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon told BusinessWorld on Friday.

The SEC issued earlier this year Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 4 which outlines sustainability reporting guidelines for publicly listed companies. It provided a reporting template for the new regulatory filing, which shall be attached to SEC Form 17-A or the annual reports of companies submitted every year.

The regulator requires companies to disclose their climate-related risks and opportunities in the sustainability report. “Whenever applicable, these disclosures should be quantifiable and measurable, effectively providing a snapshot of an organization’s non-financial performance for the reporting period,” the MC said.

The first sustainability report shall be attached to the 2019 annual report that companies will submit in 2020. The MC provides that for the first three years of the policy’s implementation, companies will be allowed to just attach the template and “provide explanations for items where they still have no available data on.”

“We’re working with SEC on how to incentivize the companies to do an earlier reporting, kahit na hindi pa mandatory [even though it’s not yet mandatory],” Mr. Monzon said.

He said what the PSE wants is to make sustainability reporting part of the disclosure requirements. “They have that (SEC) circular on the guidelines for sustainability reporting… Hopefully (we can incentivize sustainability reporting) soon,” he added.

Under the MC, the SEC “will not penalize companies for failure to provide required material information as long as they provide sufficient and acceptable explanations.”

However, a listed firm that fails to include the sustainability report to its annual report submitted to the SEC will face fines of up to P60,000 plus P1,000 per day of delay of filing.

Mr. Monzon said the PSE is currently reviewing the disclosure guidelines of other exchanges to see what the SEC can apply locally in relation to sustainability reporting.

In a speech at the SEC-PSE Corporate Governance Forum in Pasay City last week, Mr. Monzon said the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative and the World Federation of Exchanges already drafted a blueprint for stock markets “so that bourses worldwide can embed sustainability practices in their policies and processes to manage the impact of exchange operations to the environment and society.”

“We are guided by the blueprint to see how we can best implement the recommended courses of action in the PSE… [W]e are reviewing disclosure guidelines of other exchanges to see how we can best adopt their practices,” Mr. Monzon said.

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