SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) made it to Forbes magazine’s annual list of the World’s Best Regarded Companies in 2019, which ranks firms based on trustworthiness and company performance.
The Sy-led company said in a statement Tuesday that it took the 172nd spot in the global list, 63 steps higher than its 235th ranking in 2018.
Forbes engaged the services of data firm Statista in surveying about 15,000 respondents from over 50 countries.
From the world’s 2000 largest public companies, the list was trimmed to the top 250 best-regarded firms on the basis of trustworthiness, social conduct, strength of products and services, and how they fare as employers.
This is the second time SMIC was included in the list, placing it in the company of other firms in Asia, the United States, and Europe.
Topping the list is credit card company Visa, Inc. followed by luxury car manufacturer Ferrari NV. Also in the top 10 are online streaming service Netflix Inc., tech giant Microsoft Corp., and multimedia behemoth The Walt Disney Co. — Arra B. Francia
DETAIL from Félix Resurrección Hidalgo’s La Pintura
FÉLIX RESURRECCIÓN HIDALGO’s painting La Pintura (1890s) sold for P78,256,000 (inclusive of buyer’s premium and VAT) at last weekend’s “Important Philippine Art” sale as part of Salcedo Auctions’ “The Well-Appointed Life” auction on Sept. 21 at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Manila in Makati City.
After almost nine minutes of bidding, the painting was hammered at P67 million from an opening bid at P16 million.
Measuring 150 x 75 centimeters, the painting depicts a Caucasian woman facing a canvas while holding a palette and paintbrush. It was last seen in public at the 1893 Exposicion Historio-Natural y Etnografica of the Museo Arqueologico in Madrid where it was also photographed. The painting has been in the possession of the descendants of former mayor of Sarria, Spain, Don Xose Vasquez Castiñeira, who were also the custodians of the boceto of Juan Luna’s Spoliarium which was sold at auction last year.
According to a post on the same date at the Salcedo Auctions Facebook page, the sale of La Pintura beats the former Hidalgo world record of the oil painting titled, Pareja de Jóvenes Tagalos ante un Rio which was sold at a hammer price of P51,600,122 at an auction in Madrid in October 2018.
Other artworks that sold at the auction were: Justin Nuyda’s Untitled (Search) of his Mindscape Series at P2,569,600; National Artist for Visual Arts Vicente Manansala’s Market Scene (1974), P1,635,200; Roberto Chabet’s Untitled (Veranda) from the 1960s, P1,985,600; Mauro “Malang” Santos’s 1973 Untitled (Woman), P3,854,400; National Artist for Visual Arts José Joya’s 1960 Untitled (Abstract), P3,504,000; and National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera’s 2003 Untitled (Sabel), P9,928,000. All prices include buyer’s premium and VAT.
Some 165 paintings and sculptures; 152 pieces of furniture, books, and maps; fine jewelry and timepieces; a red, first-generation 1969 Chevrolet Camaro; a BWM motorbike from the same year; and a vintage Mobil gas pump in fire-engine red went under the hammer in this year’s edition of the auction house’s “Well-Appointed Life” series.— Michelle Anne P. Soliman
INSULAR LIFE Assurance Co. Ltd. (InLife) Executive Chairman Nina D. Aguas is the lone Filipino to make it to the Asia’s Power Businesswomen list of Forbes Magazine.
First released in 2012, the annual list aims to recognize 25 women “who are breaking down barriers and playing a significant role in shaping Asia’s business landscape.”
“By profiling these 25 outstanding women, Forbes Asia aims to highlight their achievement in the business world and present them as both powerful and empowering so that their success may inspire all our readers,” 2019 Asia’s Power Businesswomen list editor Rana Wehbe said in a statement.
Ms. Aguas assumed her post as executive chairman of Insular Life last year, prior to which she served as the firm’s chief executive officer. It was at this time that the company pursued a bancassurance partnership with UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. while encouraging financial literacy for women together with the World Bank, according to the company’s website.
The 109-year old company was also able to deliver its highest financial performance in 2016 under Ms. Aguas’ leadership. In 2018, premium income stood at P14 billion, 18% higher year-on-year.
“She also helped transform the company’s digital capabilities to provide better access to insurance and investment products,” Forbes said of the 66-year old executive.
Ms. Aguas previously held top management positions in Asia, Australia, and North America for international banks such as ANZ and Citigroup.
Among other entrepreneurs who made it to the list is Vietjet Aviation Founder and Chief Executive Officer Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who Forbes noted is the only woman in the traditionally male-dominated aviation business to establish her own major commercial airline.
Ms. Thao is considered Vietnam’s first self-made woman billionaire and Southeast Asia’s wealthiest self-made woman with a net worth of $2.5 billion.
The 35-year old co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) of mobile app Grab Tan Hooi Ling was also included in the list. Ms. Tan’s role as COO is to grow the company’s market share in eight countries and 336 cities.
Job search site Wantedly’s founder and chief executive officer Akiko Naka was also recognized for having developed an “unorthodox way to match employees and job hunters.” The company is now valued at 29 billion yen, with a user base of about two million people.
The Coffee Academics Founder Jennifer Wai-Fun Liu was also included for the quick expansion of her specialty coffee chain in Asia. The company is present in four cities in Asia and will expand to three more, including Manila. It is set for further expansion in China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.
PHOENIX Petroleum Philippines, Inc. said on Tuesday that its board of directors has approved the additional investment of $12.6 million in its wholly owned subsidiary PNX Petroleum Singapore Pte. Ltd. to support the latter’s trading business.
“The company’s trading operations has been expanding and added equity supports the commitment of [Phoenix Petroleum] to PNX SG,” Phoenix Petroleum’s Vice-President for External Affairs Raymond T. Zorrilla said in a text message to reporters.
He said the investment is an additional equity to support the working capital requirements to be able to purchase inventory for trading.
The capital boost comes after Phoenix Petroleum in July sought the consent of its note-holders to give the company the flexibility “to pursue and capture growth opportunities that will further strengthen its position as the country’s leading independent oil company.”
PNX Petroleum Singapore is the group’s trading and supply office. It serves as springboard for the regional expansion of the group. — Victor V. Saulon
A SHIPPING subsidiary of Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. is tapping a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-based shipowner Kumiai Senpaku Co., Ltd. to ramp up its passenger vessels.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange yesterday, Dennis A. Uy-led Chelsea said its subsidiary Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Inc. inked a bareboat charter party with Kumiai Senpaku’s Southern Pacific Holding Corp. on Monday.
A bareboat charter is a kind of shipping agreement where a vessel owner rents out its ships to a charterer, but the charterer takes charge of other things such as the crew for the vessel. Kumiai Senpaku will be building a vessel that it will own but Trans-Asia will operate.
The new agreement is intended to help Trans-Asia address the growing number of passengers it serves from Visayas and Mindanao. Trans-Asia offers interisland trips linking Cebu City to Cagayan de Oro, Osamis, IIoilo and Tagbilaran City.
The new ship will have a gross register tonnage of 8,800 tons and can accommodate 1,085 passengers, 24 buses and 11 trucks. It will be built at Fukuoka Shipyard in Japan and is expected to arrive in the country in June 2021. — Denise A. Valdez
SINGAPORE-BASED insurtech firm Axinan has entered the Philippine market as it is set to launch a smartphone insurance product with The Mercantile Insurance Co., Inc. (Mercantile).
The two firms are set to launch the digital mobile insurance product Mobile 360 via Axinan’s igloo app, where consumers will be able to buy policies and make claims digitally. The product covers screen, camera, battery, accidental and liquid damage protection for phones.
This is the first partnership between a non-life insurer and an insurtech firm in the Philippines, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
Axinan Country Head Eric Bataga said they target to launch the product before the year ends.
Aside from Mobile 360, Axinan Founder and CEO Wei Zhu said the company is also looking to expand its exposure to the local market through different partnerships in the future.
“The launch of the igloo app is only the beginning of our entry for the all different electronics insurance products in the Philippines. Going forward, we definitely see us expand partnerships not only through our own app but also to help distribute through variety of partnerships, so that could include both online and offline partnerships,” Mr. Zhu told reporters in a roundtable discussion on Tuesday.
Mercantile President Melecio C. Mallillin said the partnership with Axinan will reduce the turnaround time for both benefit payment and delivery of service.
“That probably is one area that we in the insurance field have to really hone our skills — how to make the turnaround time for benefit payments fast. I guess that’s the primary reason why we are aligning ourselves with Axinan because we see the potential. On the service side, [it’s] very fast, the turnaround time for the benefit payment was also very, very fast,” Mr. Mallillin said.
This could also help reduce delays in the processing of client requirements, he said.
Axinan’s Mr. Zhu said Mobile 360 covers about 3,000 smartphone models, while authorized repair centers are spread across the country.
However, Mr. Mallillin said the usual wear and tear of smartphones is not covered by the product.
According to a 2018 study by SquareTrade cited in the statement, 66% of smartphone users damaged their phones last year. About 29% of the total was damage to screens, 27% have scratched screens, while 22% have non-working batteries.
Axinan is a Singapore-based insurtech firm specializing in big data, actuarial risk management and machine-learning processes for businesses and clients.
The firm currently has operations in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and in the Philippines, as well as development offices in China and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Mercantile offers a number of non-life products including fire, marine cargo, motor, personal accident, liability, miscellaneous casualty, aviation and engineering and surety insurance protections.
Mobile 360 will be under miscellaneous casualty, the company said.
“With our partnership with Mercantile who understands the local non-life insurance segment deeply, we believe that there will be more of such solutions from igloo by Axinan,” Mr. Zhu was quoted as saying in the statement. — B.M. Laforga
Theater Review Dolorosa Written by Peter Mayshle Directed by Jenny Jamora A production of Tanghalang Ateneo The Doreen Blackbox, Arts Wing,
Arete, Ateneo de Manila, Q.C Aug. 17-24, 29-31, 2019
IT IS 1883, the town is Paete, the cloak of Franciscan friar rule shrouds the town’s christened folks. Father Galiano commissions Mariano, an indio, to sculpt an image of the Virgin Mary — the Dolorosa iteration — for a competition in Amsterdam.
The Dolorosa in Mayshle’s play is a locally revered icon, known as Mater Dolorosa or Ina ng Awa in towns Christianized by imperial Spain. One of the more resilient traditions colonization has embedded in local culture is the veneration of a long list of poon — wooden or ivory figures of an ensemble of characters surrounding the life and death of Jesus Christ. On top of the list is the Mater Dolorosa (yes, in local speak, it’s always with the Mater, not just Dolorosa), considered the superstar of local Christendom’s dramatis personae.
Thus Mater Dolorosa is rife with context and cultural meaning. In Mayshle’s play, this deeply resilient tradition of venerating the icon is dramatized to illustrate how the twin projects of hispanization and Christianization shaped patriarchy and society’s view of women. Mater Dolorosa in Mayshle’s Dolorosa is trope to amplify the centuries-old subjugation of women in society. And her absence, dismemberment, retrieval, and voyage to wholeness represent the journey that women have taken in society.
In Act I, the Mater Dolorosa is a disembodied figure, just empty space and light, and our imagination is coaxed to see wood being chiselled to acquire form and persona. While Mariano, the indio sculptor, succeeds in finishing the image, and eventually winning in a competition in Amsterdam, Elena has already become part of a village resistance movement against Spanish colonial rule. Mariano learns of these underground activities and throws a fit of rage.
In the next scene, Elena stands before light and space, and implores the disembodied Dolorosa to allow her to undo and untangle so she can remake, recast, revise the prevailing circumstances that shape her life. The act ends when we learn that the Dolorosa is lost, purportedly stolen. Anguished, Mariano begs Elena to stay, and stay she does.
In Act II, 50 years later, the Japanese have taken over most parts of the archipelago, including the lowland town of Paete. Elena is now remembered through Pilar, a granddaughter who had just gone through menarche, ushering her to a consciousness of how the same body can pulsate with both desire and dissent. From the same body arises an anguish over its ability to see her soul rise above it, and how consciousness can travel distances of time and space to fragments of the Mater Dolorosa lost many decades ago.
This playwright’s device — the uncanny ability of a character for astral projection — is more of a pragmatic move that would provide a channel whereby past and future can be talked about, defying the cardinal rule skilled dramatists abide by — “Show! Don’t tell.”
The past is about redeeming a Mater Dolorosa and a lost self, and the future as an imagined space of empowered women. Pilar’s gift for astral projection is like the pendulum that browbeats ideas of disempowerment and empowerment, pushing further the thesis that the image of Mater Dolorosa provides a model of forbearance and subservience.
Act III, it’s now 2003, and we encounter Pilar’s offsprings. We learn that her abusive husband died, and soon she left for foreign shores to find herself and create opportunities for her literary gifts to shine.
It is Good Friday, the town is preparing for the annual procession, and the daughters take the chance to spend time together as they each bring a body part of the Mater Dolorosa that they have kept throughout the year. This is the time they make whole the image and make her stand in a carrosa bedecked with flowers.
As the poon is being assembled in the carrosa, Pilar the mother arrives, and announces she is here to stay, to wait for the inevitable as she deals with a terminal disease. Like the Mater Dolorosa being assembled to wholeness, Pilar now speaks of how she has journeyed full circle, fulfilling the biblical prophecy of returning to a house from whence one came out. She is whole now, like the Mater Dolorosa emerging into full form for the townspeople of Paete to see.
Dolorosa is ambitious as a textual and theater project. Director Jenny Jamora valiantly pushed the borders of a dense material that favors discursive moments more than dramatic action. At some points, it was as if Jamora wanted to laser-probe the hidden psyches of women and an amalgam of lights gave center stage a redemptive, magical quality. Zoe Ocampo, the young Pilar, was vulnerable in Act II, and infused daughter Juliana in Act III with curiosity and a palpable hunger for life.
As a footnote, Dolorosa’s presentation of revolutionary activity of lowland towns does not align with the master narratives coming from solid and widely vetted scholarship in Philippine history. The year 1883 is a tad too early for a village-wide movement to emerge, with its own recruitment tactics to boot. Rizal’s Noli me Tangere came out 1887, and historians agree that it set aflame the struggle for independence.
It was quite unsettling to hear colonial subjects Elena and Mariano speaking to each other in a language that had not yet earned its place in the matrix of local, colonized culture. Lived experiences rendered onstage are not just about characters and milieu and localities. The vernacular language provides more than authenticity and local color: it also speaks of how consciousness navigates, imbibes and even constructs the life world. Why Tanghalang Ateneo opted to open its season with a play written in English is a question that needs to be asked.
FEDERAL RESERVE policy makers said the US central bank has boosted the economy with its interest rates cuts. — REUTERS
EFFINGHAM, ILL./SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Reserve has delivered a boost to the economy this year not only with interest-rate cuts but also because it shifted away from its earlier view that it would need to raise rates in 2019, two Fed policy makers said on Monday.
But despite ongoing headwinds, including weaker global growth, ongoing trade tensions and geopolitical risks like a possibly messy British exit from the European Union, only one policy maker —Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard — suggested that further policy easing is in the cards.
Bullard, who has focused on the fact that some short-term Treasury debt yields have risen above long-term bond yields in what is sometimes seen as a sign of coming recession, noted that for now the bond “yield curve” looks more normal.
But that is “likely because markets are anticipating future policy moves” by the Fed, Bullard told the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce.
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, who spoke at a separate event a few hours later in Salem, Oregon, acknowledged that the Fed’s policy easing has only “partially” offset the various drags on the economy. But she gave no hint about whether she will support more rate cuts to deliver a fuller offset.
“When the headwinds blow, they have real effects — that’s an aggregate demand suppression,” she said, explaining that she supported the Fed’s cuts so far this year. “We have lower aggregate demand momentum than we would have in the absence of these headwinds, and monetary policy can and should offset that.”
When interest rates fall, households can refinance their mortgages, she said, and use the savings to buy things they otherwise might not purchase.
Such consumer spending can “partially offset” slowdowns in other parts of the economy where businesses “hunker down” trade and other uncertainty, she said.
The Fed lowered its target rate to a range of between 1.75% and 2.00% at its last meeting, its second quarter-point rate cut this year. Top officials say they will now make decisions on a “meeting by meeting” basis, with no clear commitment to further reductions.
Daly does not have a vote on policy this year. Bullard does, and last week used it to dissent because he felt a bigger, half-point rate cut was warranted.
Investments in contracts tied to the Fed’s target policy rate show investors expect one more quarter-point reduction by the end of the year.
While the Fed has cut short-term interest rates a half a percentage point since July, its overall shift in tone and the removal of previously expected rate hikes is one reason the economy has not slowed more than it has already, Daly said.
In fact, Bullard said, they have caused longer-term bond rates to fall by more than twice that amount.
Still, he added, the Fed “may choose to provide additional accommodation going forward” as global trade and other risks threaten to cause the United States to slow more than expected this year, and undercut the Fed’s ability to achieve its 2% inflation target.
“Recent developments in global trade negotiations suggest that it will be difficult to reach a stable global trade regime” anytime soon, Bullard said. “This is likely chilling global investment and feeding into slower global growth.” — Reuters
THE Museum Foundation of the Philippines lecture “Pablo Antonio: Life and Works” which was to be held on Sept. 28 has been postponed. The new schedule will be announced when it is reset.
Lights at the CCP
THE iconic Cultural Center of the Philippines building becomes a colorful canvas featuring lanterns created by the Kapampangan craftsmen for the Sinag: Festival of Radiance light show. The lights will “dance” to the song “Pagdiwang sa Ginintuang Pagsilang,” specially commissioned by the CCP, with lyrics by National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera and music and orchestration by National Artist Ryan Cayabyab. An art installation by multimedia artist Abdulmari “Toym” Imao Jr. at the CCP Front Lawn complements the light and sound show. Sinag will be launched on Sept. 26, with shows at 7 and 8:30 p.m. while the show lasts for about 10 minutes, stay to see the three programs that the Center prepares for passersby, tourists and visitors of the CCP Complex. The annual lighting of the CCP facade, which started several years back, has become a beloved tradition which the community looks forward to each year. This year, the light and sound show, which runs until Jan. 5, 2020, is part of the CCP’s 50th anniversary celebration.
MCAD Workshops
AS part of the current exhibit “What Lies Within: Centre of the Centre,” MCAD will be holding a number of workshops which are open to the public. These are: Verde Island Adventure with Recycled Art on Sept. 27, 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m., a one-hour activity for children ages seven to 11; Creating Coral Worlds through Crochet, Oct. 12, 10 a.m., a two-hour workshop for youth and adults; Worldmaking through Speculative Writing with Dean Alfar, Nov. 16, 1-5 p.m. All the workshops will be held at the MCAD Ground Floor. Reservations to be made by e-mailing mcad@benilde.edu.ph. The Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design is at the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, School of Design and Arts Campus, Dominga St. Malate, Manila.
ABS-CBN Corp. is teaming up with a United States production firm to create its first Hollywood content that will be aired in television network WGN America.
The Lopez-led company said it is partnering with Electric Entertainment, founded by Filipino-American producer Dean Devlin, to produce a crime series set in Cebu entitled “Off Tropic.”
Electric Entertainment is known for its films such as “Bad Samaritan,” “Independence Day: Resurgence” and “Flyboys,” and television shows like “The Librarians” and “Leverage.” Mr. Devlin is its chief executive officer.
“This is a first of many strategic partnerships and collaborations with partners from all over the world and we are very thrilled that we are partnering with a formidable team, Electric Entertainment, to line produce the US series for them,” ABS-CBN Head of International Production and Co-Production Ruel S. Bayani said in a statement.
The partnership signals the first time ABS-CBN is venturing into Hollywood television production. Prior to this, the international co-production division of the company had forged partnerships and collaborations with producers from Southeast Asia, US and Europe.
“We chose to partner with ABS-CBN because they have been so instrumental in the development of talent here both in front and behind the camera. I think they have the most experience and they have just been amazing partners,” Mr. Devlin was quoted as saying in the statement.
The production of the show is scheduled to start in November. ABS-CBN said majority of the show’s cast will be from the Philippines, such as the lead who will be a Filipina actress paired with American actor Christian Kane.
Mr. Devlin—who is known for writing and producing films like “Godzilla” and “Stargate” and directing “Geostorm” and “Bad Samaritan”—will be writing the first two episodes of the show and directing its finale.
“This is going to change the way people perceive the entertainment business in the Philippines,” Mr. Devlin said.
ABS-CBN recorded an attributable net income of P1.55 billion in the first half of the year, higher by 83% from last year due to strong revenues from advertising sales. — Denise A. Valdez
