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What to see this week

6 films to see on the week of October 11 — October 17, 2019

High Strung Free Dance

A YOUNG choreographer offers two promising artists — a dancer and a pianist — the break of a lifetime by hiring them for New York’s most-anticipated new Broadway show: Free Dance. But then romance gets in the way. Directed by Michael Damian, the film stars Thomas Doherty, Harry Jarvis, Juliet Doherty, and Jane Seymour. Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore says the film is “bland even by this genre’s low standards.”

MTRCB Rating: PG

Mary

A STRUGGLING captain impulsively buys an abandoned ship at an auction, believing it would be his family’s way to prosperity. But during its maiden voyage, strange events terrorize the family at sea. Directed by Michael Goi, the film stars Gary Oldman, Emily Mortimer, Stefanie Scott, Jennifer Esposito, and Owen Teague. The Wrap’s William Bibbiani writes: “The whole film plays like an extended non sequitur.”

MTRCB Rating: R-13

The Wedding Year

AN ASPIRING photographer and an aspiring chef explore their first year as a married couple as their relationship is put to the test. Directed by Robert Luketic, the film stars Sarah Hyland and Tyler James Williams. Claudia Puig of FilmWeek (KPCC — NPR Los Angeles) writes: “A slight romantic comedy… It does feel like we’ve seen this before, but the [the stars] do have nice romantic chemistry.”

MTRCB Rating: R-13

Gemini Man

A HITMAN faces off with a younger clone of himself. Directed by Ang Lee, the film stars Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Clive Owen. The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Dalton writes, “Behind its high-tech visual gimmicky, Gemini Man is a dumb, depthless, undemanding fanboy pleaser which plants Smith dangerously close to Liam Neeson and Nicolas Cage in the mid-life action-man league.” Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 33% rating.

MTRCB Rating: PG

Black Lipstick

IKAY, who suffers from vitiligo, is bullied for her uneven skin color. She then discovers magic lipstick which evens out her skin tone. She then decides to lead a double life as an influencer named Jessie. Directed by Julius Ruslin Alfonso, the film stars Kylie Alcantara, Manolo Pedrosa, and Kate Valdez.

MTRCB Rating: PG

Pandanggo sa Hukay

DIRECTED by Sheryl Rose M. Andes and starring Iza Calzado, the film follows a midwife who prepares for her application to work in Saudi Arabia. On the evening before her final interview, she is abducted and finds herself in unfamiliar territory.

MTRCB Rating: R-13

When workers commit violations in the absence of company policy

We started a new company with 15 workers close to two years ago. Due to our primary focus on selling products, we failed to come out with a formal Code of Conduct to discipline workers. We now have Now, we 23 workers and are dealing with two employees that have incurred excessive absences, tardiness, and also committed theft, with alcoholism emerging as a problem. What would be a good reference policy so we can use legal means to discipline them? — Not Helpless.

A little girl is out in the backyard brushing her pet dog’s teeth. Her father stops by and says: “What are you doing?” She says: “Well, I’m brushing Blackie’s teeth.” She pauses and tries to calm her father. “Don’t worry Dad. I’ll put your toothbrush back like I always do.”

We often ignore many things as we focus on more important things. That’s until we discover something unusual and ask for the reason behind it. Until that question arises, we’ll never know the answer.

The same thing could happen in employee discipline, which people managers hate to do. It becomes doubly difficult when an organization doesn’t have a policy, like a Code of Conduct that governs the behavior of the workers.

Fortunately, you’re not exactly helpless. In the absence of any formal management policy, you can always refer to Article 297 of the Labor Code and its implementing rules (Article 297 is the renumbered 292 under Department Advisory No. 01-15; the implementing rules of Book VI of the Labor Code are found in D.O. No. 147-15), according to labor law expert Domingo Anonuevo.

“It can also be asserted that the right to discipline is an inherent management prerogative; hence, there need not be any reference to the Labor Code and its implementing rules when an employer exercises this prerogative.

Anonuevo, who is also a law professor at De La Salle College of Law, says: “Department Order No. 147-15 is very explicit that when an employer initiates disciplinarily action against an employee, the former must serve upon the latter a “written notice xxx specif(ying) causes or grounds for termination as provided for under Article 297 of the Labor Code, as amended, and company policies, if any.”

“Failing to so allege a ground mentioned in Article 297, in the absence of a company policy, may make the employer liable for payment of nominal damages for not following the prescribed disciplinary procedure.”

That covers substantive due process. Likewise, you have to consider following the procedural aspects as well as required by the law. This includes the issuance of Notice to Explain that specifies the number of days that a worker is given to submit a formal explanation. For termination of employment, it has been acceptable that five days is reasonable enough for an employee to clear his name, among other requirements.

Study your approach very carefully. It is better to consult a labor lawyer on this. Don’t delay the preparation of your company’s Code of Conduct. One caveat though. It’s not advisable to hire a consultant who may have the indecency to pluck out a template from somewhere. It’s better if you can compare notes with a friendly competitor and suppliers. If not, hire a consultant who can objectively design a policy suited for your industry. Then make him sign a warranty that his proposal is an original policy and not copied from some place.

In the meantime, there are many extra-legal means that you may want to consider like allowing the employee to resign so that he can receive terminal pay and be issued a clearance and certificate of employment.

You don’t have to be an instrument for perpetually destroying the careers and lives of employees for their mistakes. Consider what you’re going to say to the employee beforehand. Whatever happens, hold the session in private. An office or conference room which is away from your work station or the employee’s is always suitable for a disciplinary meeting.

Bring with you another department manager as a witness to the meeting.

If an employee gets emotional, wait until he calms down before you proceed. This doesn’t mean however that you have to endure a 15-minute diatribe. And if he decides to resign, require the person to write his resignation on the spot with the date retroactive to 30 days to make it regular.

You can allow him to use the company’s computer under your supervision to avoid any incident that would compromise the integrity of your data. Do it on the spot. Waiting for another day may turn out to be not to your own liking.

ELBONOMICS: Work to manifest your integrity. Live to impress yourself.

 

Send anonymous questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting

Buskowitz targets residential clients for solar rooftop systems

BUSKOWITZ Finance, Inc., the solar energy developer that also provides financing solutions for its customers, is expanding its reach by taking in residential clients for its solar rooftop systems as the company looks at the government’s “green energy option” program to result in greater adoption of renewable resources.

“Our target is to become ‘the retailer’ — to go straight to consumers and offer them exactly that option — only green energy for their supply and so we cover the [energy] generation and the retailing,” James Carlos Buskowitz, chairman and chief executive officer of Buskowitz, said in an interview on Friday.

The Energy department’s green energy option program (GEOP) mandates distribution utilities to provide power sourced from renewable energy for those who are opting for non-fossil fuel resources.

“The green energy option is giving all the consumers the right to elect or to choose where their energy resources come from,” Mr. Buskowitz said.

The company started out as provider of solar rooftop solutions to industrial and commercial customers, but has recently included residential clients in offering its services, he told a media round-table discussion on Friday hosted by real estate platform Lamudi.

“I think it could potentially scale up to 70%,” he said, when asked about how he expects the RE retailing business to account for the company’s total business. He expects this projection to be achieved within the next five years.

Mr. Buskowitz said the target for the year is just to launch the division for residential customers, and start the foundation for 2020. The company has so far installed 14 MW, largely commercial and industrial installations.

“Next year, our target is around 1-2 megawatts (MW) of residential installations. So it’s quite aggressive but we think it’s possible,” he said.

“We expect to do additional 15-16 MW [in 2020], so ending the year at around 30 MW,” he said.

Mr. Buskowitz said the projects have largely been backed by company funds, although listing at the stock market has now become an option.

Asked about what will prompt the company to list, he said: “I guess the relationship with existing investors. It really depends on when investors … how long they would want to stay, and if they want to exit, and if they want to do further rounds of investments. If that’s the case we may remain private longer.”

“But I do think going public at one point is a certainty because the way we’re growing is quite aggressive and we want to give people also the opportunity to participate in the type of business we’re structuring, and that’s being a complete sustainable solutions company,” he said.

Mr. Buskowitz said the company had looked into adding energy storage systems in its projects although the “economics” makes doing so difficult for now.

The Buskowitz group has about 84 projects in 25 provinces around the Philippines, which include: three branches of John B. Lacson University in IloIlo, Bacolod, and Arevalo; six branches of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.; Expo Home Depot in Zamboanga and the Universidad de Zamboanga; Sunmoon Fruits, Inc. in Binondo, Manila; Santi’s Delicatessen; and De La Salle College of Saint Benilde. — Victor V. Saulon

PHL needs to invest in knowledge capital

“Parang lahat ng inyong budget puro research? Baliw na baliw kayo sa research. Aanhin niyo ba yung research” (It seems like all of your budget goes to research. You are so crazy about research. What will you do with those research?)”

This was the comment of Senator Cynthia Villar during the recent Senate budget hearing for the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agencies. She was referring to the P150 million proposed budget of the National Corn Program for 2020.

While this budget figure in absolute terms may be significant relative to others line items such as that for seeds and machinery for farmers. But this underscores a glaring stance — our policy and law makers do not place much importance in investing in research in particular, and to the country’s knowledge capital, in general.

The knowledge capital of a nation, broadly defined as the approaches and capacity in creating innovations and improvements in the processes of production and distribution, has been the linchpin of the long-term economic development of a country, as proven in the landmark book of Hanushek and Woessmann, The Knowledge Capital of Nations: Education and the Economics of Growth, published in 2015.

The authors argued, through rigorous economic and empirical analysis, that the long-run economic growth of a nation is overwhelmingly a function of the cognitive skills of the population, or the knowledge capital of a nation. “The historical consequences of increased knowledge capital prove to be huge — multiples of GDP,” the authors averred.

But sorrily, the Philippines lags in knowledge capital globally and among ASEAN peers. This is evidenced by the 2018 Global Innovation Index (GII) study co-sponsored by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization which ranked the Philippines 73rd out of 126 economies, which was steady from a year ago.

While strengths of our country were cited such as knowledge absorption, firms offering formal training and research talent in business enterprise, trade, competition and market scale and market capitalization; key weaknesses were likewise highlighted such as in human capital and research index as determined by expenditure on education, pupil-teacher ratio, global research and development companies’ expenditure, and ease of doing business — positioning the Philippines as ‘below average’ in regional innovation ranking.

Additionally in the area of scientific publications, a leading indicator of a country’s knowledge capital, the Philippines likewise lags among its Asian neighbours. In a paper authored by Dr. Tereso Tullao, Adjunct Professor in Economics of the De La Salle University, he analysed and compared the production of scientific journals from private universities in the country in the areas of medicine, agricultural and biological sciences, social sciences, biochemistry, engineering environmental sciences, and computer science, as listed in Scorpus, the largest global database of published journals.

The study revealed again the poor ranking of our country. In 2018 alone, The Philippine private universities published 4,234 scientific research outputs, compared to 10,348 and 37,677 published from Vietnam and Indonesia, respectively. Though Dr Tullao’s study revealed an improvement from previous years, the Philippines still fall behind other neighbouring countries.

As the 4th Industries Revolution sets in, it’s urgent that our policy makers focus on building our knowledge capital. For one, overhauling our education system to develop critical thinking among students is a necessary ingredient to make this happen. Budgets in research and development among government agencies including state universities and colleges should be sufficient. The private sector, on the other hand, should sponsor and fund research activities in universities to spur the production of research outputs.

We should do these now, or suffer the consequence of being a laggard in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

 

Reynaldo C. Lugtu, Jr is CEO of Hungry Workhorse Consulting, a digital and culture transformation consulting firm. He is the Chairman of the Information and Communications Technology Committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines. He teaches strategic management in the MBA Program of De La Salle University. The author may be emailed at rey.lugtu@hungryworkhorse.com

How PSEi member stocks performed — October 10, 2019

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, October 10, 2019.

 

DoE plans tanker storage if strategic reserve not ready

By Victor V. Saulon
Sub-Editor

THE Department of Energy (DoE) said its strategy for possible petroleum supply disruptions is to stockpile refined product, government-to-government supply deals, and a possible resort to vessel storage as a short-term measure.

The DoE made the disclosures after the Senate Thursday asked the department to come up with a written plan of action detailing its contingency measures in case of supply disruptions from the country’s main sources of imported petroleum in the Persian Gulf.

“Meron na kami. Matagal na nating ginagawa ‘yan (We have had a plan for some time),” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the department’s Senate budget hearing.

Mr. Cusi said his department had held initial talks with Russia, Qatar and Brunei, as well as traditional supplier Saudi Arabia, for a possible fuel supply agreement. He said he cannot ensure that the price of fuel from these sources will be lower than those currently offered by Philippine oil companies.

Asked for details, Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos said the agency is looking at onshore storage and offshore storage options for imported finished product.

“Kung sakali lang hindi umabot sa deadline ‘yung onshore na strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), p’wede ‘yan sa floating vessel. Depende, ang laki kasi ng sizes niyan may 60 million liters, meron ding 30 million lang (If we don’t have a strategic petroleum reserve up and running, we can turn to vessel storage, some of which are 60 million liters, while others are 30 million),” he said.

Mr. Marcos said the DoE has yet to determine whether Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), the agency’s commercial arm, will be tasked to handle the imports. He said the oil for the strategic reserves could be used to “resolve” oil price spikes.

Mr. Marcos said if the onshore facility is not completed in two years, the department could turn to tanker vessels for storage.

When the SPR is operational, the country’s minimum inventory requirement (MIR) will double, Mr. Marcos said. The DoE has said that the MIR is equivalent to 30 days’ supply for oil refiners, 15 days for bulk marketers, and seven days for liquefied petroleum gas firms.

He said during initial meetings on maintaining reserves, private oil companies raised the issue of cost related to putting up privately-owned infrastructure for oil reserves. Should they do the stockpiling, the required capital expenditure will be passed on to consumers, he added.

“Kaya government will intervene (That’s why government will intervene),” Mr. Marcos said. The DoE asked for P2.3 billion for 2020, up 7.2% from a year earlier.

Mr. Cusi said his department has been negotiating with foreign governments for a bilateral agreement for an allocation from oil producers in case of a supply problem in the future.

“We are developing the agreement,” he said.

On Sept. 14, a coordinated drone attack on state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais resulted in the suspension of crude oil production totaling of 5.7 million barrels per day, or nearly 60% of the country’s average production, the DoE has said. Saudi Arabia produced 9.8 million barrels per day in Aug. 2019, it added.

Customs collections rise 13% in September

COLLECTIONS by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) rose 13% year-on-year in September on growing import volumes as well as an enhanced ability to tax due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law and the Rice Tariffication Law.

The BoC said in a statement Thursday that September collections totaled P59.209 billion, compared with P52.42 billion a year earlier, based on preliminary data compiled by the bureau’s Statistical Analysis Division (SAD).

“According to SAD, growth in revenue collection last month was due to increase in the volume of imports, higher collections as a result of the (TRAIN) Law, Rice Tariffication Law and the National Food Authority (NFA) tax expenditure collection,” the BoC said.

Earlier, the BoC reported that its running total for the year was P477.522 billion in the nine months to September, up 9.24% from a year earlier.

The two BoC stations that reported the highest collections were the Port of Batangas and the Manila International Container Port, collecting P15.514 billion and P14.634 billion, respectively. However, the two missed their targets for the month, the BoC said.

Of the 17 collection districts, the BoC reported that nine exceeded their targets for the month, led by the Ports of Limay, Cagayan de Oro and Subic with total collections of P5.065 billion, P3.197 billion and P3.107 billion, respectively.

Also on target were the Ports of San Fernando, La Union (P333.25 million), Iloilo (P257.38 million), Tacloban (P145 million), Surigao (P4 million), Zamboanga (P26.81 million) and Aparri (P13.53 million).

Ports that missed their targets were the Manila (P5.667 billion), Ninoy Aquino International Airport (P3.745 billion), Cebu (P2.598 billion), Davao (P1.997 billion), Legaspi (P13.56 million) and Clark (P187.83 million).

In a separate statement, Customs said that it will begin the full implementation of its World Customs Organization (WCO) Cargo Targeting System (CTS) in the third week of October which will increase its ability to profile and target high-risk cargoes.

It said that CTS will be used to develop advanced profiling of shipments still overseas through data provided by shipping lines and airlines.

Foreign vessels and aircraft or their agents will have to transmit in advance information on their cargos electronically, after which the data will be subject to profiling and assessment, including for terrorism and criminal risk.

“As provided by the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), BoC will be requiring shipping lines to comply with mandated timelines for the submission of manifests through the CTS,” the BoC said.

BoC completed its pilot testing of the system on Oct. 2. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Exports of wearables faltering despite trade war as investment shifts to Myanmar

THE Philippines’ failure to take advantage of opportunities from the US-China trade war is reflected in the decline of exports in wearable products, the Confederation of Wearable Exporters of the Philippines (ConWEP) said.

ConWEP Executive Director Marites Jocson-Agoncillo told reporters at an investment forum on Tuesday that the expected growth did not come and that she was taking the decline as a warning.

“I’m not enjoying the trade war. That’s a very big sign — how come we don’t have growth? There’s a trade war — but (orders) are not coming in for apparel,” Ms. Jocson-Agoncillo said in English and Filipino.

ConWEP initially forecast 15-20% export revenue growth in 2019, but assumed that the Philippines captures some of the market from China.

Instead, ConWEP saw a 15% decline in textiles in the first seven months of 2019. Apparel exports fell 4%, while footwear rose 27%, and travel goods up 5%.

She said investments are shifting to Myanmar due to the country’s lower labor costs. In her presentation, she estimated Myanmar’s monthly wage at about $85-95, compared with the Philippines’ $190-274.

Ms. Agoncillo added that the reduced fiscal incentives proposed in the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA) bill add “fuel to the fire.”

She estimates that CITIRA could cause job displacement in the apparel sector of 40% in the first 12-18 months.

“The cost of doing business is already very, very tough on us. And then there’s this added threat,” she said. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Sept. gov’t spending up 34.6%; year to date behind target

GOVERNMENT spending grew by more than a third in September, with year-to-date totals still behind target, the Bureau of the Treasury said, citing preliminary data.

Deputy Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza said total expenditure rose 34.6% last month, driven by subsidies to state-owned firms and increased spending by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Education (DepEd).

“For September, the preliminary data based on our cash flow indicates (growth of) around 34.6%. year-on-year for September. It’s mostly driven by subsidies to GOCCs (government owned and controlled corporations) and then higher spending by DPWH and DepEd,” Ms. Almaza told reporters during a media roundtable on Wednesday evening.

However, she noted that spending in the nine months to September was 6.7% short of targets.

“It’s still below program. Around 6.7%. The difference between actual and program, from January to September (is 6.67%),” she said.

The BTr reported late last month that total expenditures in August grew 8.78% to P282.2 billion. Primary expenditures, netting out interest payments, picked up by 13.61% to P262.6 billion.

This brought the eight months spending total to P2.212 trillion, up 0.94%, which reversed the 0.11% contraction in the seven months to July.

The Finance department’s chief economist Gil S. Beltran said spending should grow by at least 30% from September to December to hit the P3.662 trillion expenditure program set this year.

“September to December, dapat (needs to be at) 30%,” Mr. Beltran told reporters.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has said infrastructure spending is picking up, and has benefited from favorable weather, which minimizes construction delays. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Consumers shifted to chicken in mid-Sept. amid ASF outbreak, growers say

CHICKEN PRICES are rising at the farmgate level as consumers seek alternatives to pork following the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the domestic pig herd, chicken growers said.

United Broilers and Raisers Association (UBRA) President Elias Jose M. Inciong said demand began to rise in mid-September, which he attributed to a shift in consumer preference away from pork.

“The week of Sept. 15 to 20, doon nag-umpisa yan (that is when it started)…. there is pressure from the demand side (because) there was a definite shift,” he told BusinessWorld by phone.

He said September prices are usually soft “dahil madaling mag-alaga (it is easy to raise chicken at this time of year) and at the same time import volumes are high,” he said.

Price monitoring by UBRA indicates that on Sept. 27, the average price of regular-sized chicken was P97.33 per kilo, up from P96 a week earlier. The price of prime-sized chicken rose to P104.21 from P93.69 previously.

Mr. Inciong said chicken supply is adequate despite strong demand.

“Kinakaya pa ng industry (the industry can still handle it)…. but we will see. Apparently, the ASF scare is dying down. Baka naman mag-normalize na ang situation (The situation could normalize),” he said.

Asked when he expects the situation to normalize, Mr. Inciong said, ”We really don’t know. It depends on the consumers if they calm down and start consuming pork again, (chicken) prices should normalize.” — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Palay farmgate price falls to P15.96/kilo

THE AVERAGE farmgate price of palay, or unmilled rice, fell 1.4% in the third week of September to P15.96 per kilogram (kg), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

The PSA said in its weekly price update that the average wholesale price of well-milled rice declined 0.6% week-on-week to P38.21 per kg. At retail, it fell 0.3% to P42.11.

The wholesale price of regular-milled rice fell 0.6% to P34.09 week-on-week. The retail price fell 0.3% to P37.66.

The palay price has been declining in the past few months due to larger volumes of imported rice following the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law.

The Department of Agriculture said it is looking into the possible imposition of safeguard measures to address the matter. A decision is due to be announced today, Friday, going by the 30-day period set under the Safeguards Measures Act. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Senate panel questions DoE electrification ‘lump-sum’ funding

THE Senate Committee on Finance on Thursday raised concerns over a lump-sum P1.1-billion subsidy for the electrification of sitios and barangays under the 2020 budget of the Department of Energy (DoE).

The panel cited the Department’s lack of master plan for achieving the administration’s 100% electrification goal by 2022.

“Right now, it’s ‘pork barrel,’ ‘lump sum,’ whoever gets to lobby with you, ‘yun ang mabibigyan (that is the party that will receive the funds),” Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri said during the department’s budget hearing Thursday.

The subsidy for sitio electrification is expected to cover 775 sitios or a total of 460,000 households.

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chaired the hearing, asked the DoE for its comprehensive electrification strategy while questioning a P500 million proposed allocation for electrification.

“From my point of view, the lump sum fund has already been given out arbitrarily, yet, we don’t have a strategy to guide (spending),” Mr. Gatchalian said.

“That’s why I was asking you to submit the Department’s total electrification program plan.”

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said the department has required cooperatives to submit their master plans for energizing their areas covered in their franchise.

“What we are doing now is we are collating the master plans made by the respective cooperatives,” Mr. Cusi said.

The 2020 National Expenditure Program allocated P2.302 billion for the DoE in 2020, of which 1.148 billion will fund maintenance and other operating expense, P521 million for capital outlay and 580 million for personnel services. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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