THE SENATE Economic Affairs Committee is “catching up” in deliberations on proposed amendments to the decades-old Republic Act No. 7042, or the Foreign Investments Act (FIA) of 1991, the panel’s chairman said on Monday.
“As you know, the Senate is behind the calendar of the House. They’ve already passed it, we haven’t. The President is urging us to enter into a bicameral talks ASAP…,” Senator Imee R. Marcos, committee chairperson, said at Monday’s hearing.
The panel was tackling Senate Bill Nos. 418, 919 and 1024, which propose to amend the law primarily to allow foreigners to practice their professions in the Philippines and to make it easier for them to set up small businesses here.
Ms. Marcos said while President Rodrigo R. Duterte did not give a deadline, he had asked for approval of the proposed FIA amendments in his third and fourth State of the Nation speeches.
“Sa 17th Congress pa isinalang na ‘yan; tapos ‘yung Kongreso… two weeks ago pa, so talagang naghahabol tayo (That reform was introduced in the last Congress and was approved in the House of Representatives two weeks ago, so we are really pressed for time) I’m playing catch up…” Ms. Marcos told reporters after the hearing.
Asked if she sees approval by yearend, Ms. Marcos replied: “I hope so, it’s been done in the House, I don’t see why the Senate can’t do it.”
The House on Sept. 9 approved House Bill No. 300 on third and final reading. The House version excludes “practice of profession” from coverage of the Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL) that lists sectors reserved for Philippine nationals.
It also proposed to reduce the minimum employment requirement to 15 from 50 direct local hires for small- and medium-sized domestic enterprises that are established by foreign investors with paid-in capital of at least $100,000.
American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc. Senior Adviser John D. Forbes, who represented the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) in yesterday’s hearing, supported the said provision, saying: “The concept of this is to continue to allow foreign investors to go into these sort of residual areas, smaller areas, but they can’t obviously afford 50 employees.”
“We would encourage the Senate version to also adopt that.”
None of the three Senate bills provided for the reduced minimum employment requirement.
Mr. Forbes said the JFC also backs annual review of the FINL, instead of once every two years. The 11th FINL was updated in October 2018, three years and five months since the preceding FINL was issued in May 2015.
This reform nearly made it out of the 17th Congress after securing third reading approval in the House last January, but failed to hurdle the Senate before the June 3 adjournment.
It is among the measures the Cabinet economic development cluster wants approved by the end of the first regular session of the 18th Congress on June 5 next year. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
The Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2019 has concluded its search for the country’s most successful and inspiring entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines is a program of the SGV Foundation, Inc. with the participation of co-presenters Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippine Business for Social Progress, and the Philippine Stock Exchange. In the next few weeks, BusinessWorld will feature each of the finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2019.
Jose Magsaysay, Jr.
Chairman Emeritus
Cinco Corp.
JOSE MAGSAYSAY JR. had scant corporate knowledge and experience when he started Potato Corner with his partners.
But through sheer determination and hard work, he built Potato Corner to one of the leading brands in the fast food industry.
His first foray into the industry began after he dropped out of college to work in a hamburger chain to help his mother with the household finances. In 1992, his brother-in-law suggested that they start a business selling flavored french fries to make money on the side.
They soon opened the first Potato Corner kiosk in one of Metro Manila’s biggest malls. This fledgling startup’s first office was his mother’s house and their first filing cabinet was her old oven.
It took considerable time and effort for Mr. Magsaysay and his partners to get the company off the ground. He recounts, “Most of us had no experience working in a corporate environment so it took us a long time to learn how to run a company. We had to learn the function of the board, shareholders and CEO.”
By learning through experience and experimenting with a franchising business model, he and his partners were able to open 120 Potato Corner stores by 1997.
As Potato Corner grew, Mr. Magsaysay eventually had to decide between his full-time job at the hamburger chain and Potato Corner.
Being a risk-taker, he chose the latter and left his stable job as a district manager.
To this day, he stands by his decision as he advises entrepreneurs that, “If you want to succeed in something you want to do, you better cut all your lifelines. If you have an option to always go back to something, you’ll never do your best.”
After five years, Mr. Magsaysay decided to try his hand at new things and left Potato Corner to become the general manager of a donut chain. He also returned to school and earned his master’s degree in entrepreneurship from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). As he was about to graduate from the AIM, the Asian Financial Crisis hit and Potato Corner stores dropped from 120 to less than 40.
Refusing to give up on this venture, he returned to Potato Corner armed with a five-year multi-business plan where he rationalized operations and cut costs to preserve cash flow. His plan also included streamlining the company’s processes and operations by developing systems aimed to strengthen its supply chain. He worked with business consultants and third parties to create solutions for the company’s issues.
He also transformed the company’s culture into a more open and collaborative environment by boosting morale and fostering a sense of camaraderie among employees and management. He says that he strives to find a way to work with the people he hires and integrate them into the system of the company.
Potato Corner bounced back under Mr. Magsaysay’s leadership and became a staple fast-food kiosk in malls and schools. From the remaining 40 kiosks, they have opened over 1,000 stores in 11 foreign markets today.
Mr. Magsaysay credits the company’s success to its easy-to-get franchise model which makes business ownership accessible, creating a whole community of budding entrepreneurs. He claims that their franchisees get the best and highest net profit margin because they do not require royalty fees. At present, 80% of the company’s stores are franchises, including its foreign outlets.
Another example of a bold practice is their strategy of setting up stores overseas. Unlike their competitors, Potato Corner does not locate its stores abroad near Filipino communities because they believe that fries are a ubiquitous and well-loved snack. Through this approach, they have opened over 200 stores in Indonesia, Panama, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Kuwait and the United States.
Despite the company’s considerable success, Mr. Magsaysay and his team refuse to be complacent in today’s challenging business landscape. He explains, “As an entrepreneur, you’re always pivoting, on the edge, and playing a running game.”
One of the most significant challenges is being one company with one brand that sells one product. To address this challenge, Cinco Corp. is diversifying its brand lineup with different products through Halikinu, its subsidiary company, which sells products like shawarma, goto and barbecue that cater to different market segments.
Mr. Magsaysay has big plans for his micro-business as he envisions Cinco Corp. to be the leading kiosk operator in the world with 5,000 stores within the next five years.
What began as a venture to earn extra money has evolved into an enterprise which aims to create, develop and empower entrepreneurs. Not only does Mr. Magsaysay train his franchisees, he also mentors his employees and encourages them. “I want all of you to pass through and graduate from Potato Corner as my business partners.”
He is determined to continue this even after his retirement by investing in start-up businesses as a way of giving back and empowering aspiring entrepreneurs.
Mr. Magsaysay is a maverick and has broken and bended rules in the fast food industry and the best practices set by his competitors. His ability to think out-of-the-box has earned him several accolades such as the AIM Alumni Achievement Award, Asia CEO Awards Entrepreneur of the Year 2016, the Association of Filipino Franchisers Galing ng Pinoy! Award, PLDT-SME MVP Bossing Award and the Franchise Excellence Hall of Fame Award.
A true disruptor in his field, Mr. Magsaysay believes that completely dedicating time and effort to one’s craft can lead to success.
His advice to would-be entrepreneurs is to “Master one thing only and do not think about the money. As soon as you master your craft, people will want to be your partner.”
The official airline of the Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines 2019 is Philippine Airlines. Media sponsors are BusinessWorld and the ABS-CBN News Channel.
The winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2019 will be announced on Oct. 15 in an awards banquet at the Makati Shangri-La hotel. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines will represent the country in the World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020 in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June 2020. The Entrepreneur Of The Year program is produced globally by Ernst & Young (EY).
FOR ITS third year, the Tingin ASEAN Film Festival focuses on the “notion of place” as it presents 10 films from the Association of Southeast Nation member countries.
“[It’s about] how people and individuals make home places, how their places are disrupted or invaded, how they are displaced, and how they make new places out of inhospitable situations or fight for their places. All these are themes [that] resonate across Southeast Asia,” said Patrick Campos, festival director, in a statement.
The festival, which runs from Sept. 26 to 29 at the Red Carpet Cinema of Shangri-La Plaza Mall, formally opens with Graves Without a Name (2018) by Rithy Panh, a Cambodian documentary film which explores grief and loss under the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
“Panh had lost most of his family under the violent regime, and in this film, he searches a path to peace,” the statement said.
In Aqerat (2017) by Malaysian director Edmund Yeo, we see a woman juggling odd jobs at the Thai-Malaysian border to survive, even if that means being a human trafficker. The film won Mr. Yeo the Best Director award at Tokyo International Film Festival. “The film presents a sweeping tale of displacement and morality in contemporary Malaysia,” the release said.
From the Philippines comes Baboy Halas (2016) by Bagane Fiola. The film shows the struggles of a Matigsalug indigenous family in resisting the pressure to adopt mainstream customs. The film won the NETPAC Jury Prize at the QCinema Film Festival and Best Cinematography from the Young Critics Circle.
By The River (2013) by Thai filmmaker Nontawat Numbenchapol is documentary about the Karen indigenous people in a village and their struggle against a mineral processing company.
Vietnamese film Love Man, Love Woman (2007) by Nguyen Trinh Thi is about a spirit medium in Hanoi and explores how effeminate and gay men in Vietnam have established connections and found a venue for expression under the tenets of the country’s popular Mother Goddess Religion.
Sokola Rimba (2013), a documentary by Indonesia’s Riri Riza, captures the struggles of the Orang Rimba people in protecting their way of life.
Another documentary, In Exile (2016), this time from Myanmar director Tin Win Naing, follows a refugee as he follows migrants who escaped from the Myanmar civil war towards the Thai border where they essentially work on plantations as slaves.
Sayang Disayang (2013) by Sanif Olek is said to be Singapore’s first locally made Malay-language film since its independence from Malaysia in 1965. The drama is about an Indonesian live-in nurse who works for a lonely and bitter Singaporean elder. To appease him, the nurse tries to replicate a sambal goreng dish the elder’s late wife used to cook for him.
From Laos comes The River Flows (2016) by Makoto Kumazawa. The Lao-Japanese co-production is about a woman who accidentally travels back in time to 1960s Laos and meets a Japanese man in Laos for a dam construction survey. The film was produced to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Lao-Japanese friendship.
Anggur in Pockland (2017) from Brunei is an arthouse film by Abdul Zainidi about strange magical grapes that visit those without purpose in life and transport them to the magical, worry-free realm of “Pockland.”
Brillante Ma. Mendoza’s Thy Womb (2012) will have a special screening. The film is about a woman who, failing to get pregnant a third time, embarks on a search for a second wife who can bear a child for her husband.
“Tingin is the country’s only film festival dedicated to Southeast Asian cinema. This year, indigenous peoples, who inhabit but the fringes of popular imagination, will take center stage. We hope that by immersing moviegoers in the stories of indigenous peoples, the festival contributes to surfacing the increasingly precarious plight of indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples are being discriminated against, and their ancestral domains are under siege from vested interests. We hope Tingin enriches the perspectives of moviegoers about indigenous cultures and wins their support for indigenous peoples,” said Maya Quirino, Tingin festival director.
Aside from the film screenings, the festival will also be holding lectures on the art of watching movies and on indigenous people and their representation in the Philippine cinema.
Tingin ASEAN Film Festival will run from Sept. 26 to 29 at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall Red Carpet Cinema. Admission is free. For the complete screening schedule follow Tingin ASEAN Film Festival on Facebook. — Zsarlene B. Chua
MEDIEVAL DRAMA Game of Thrones and British comedy Fleabag took top honors at the Emmy awards on Sunday on a night of upsets that often rewarded newcomers over old favorites.
Pose star Billy Porter, who is openly gay, was named best dramatic actor, while British newcomer Jodie Comer took the Emmy for her lead actress role as a psychotic assassin in quirky drama Killing Eve.
In an upset, Fleabag actress and creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge also took the trophy for best comedy actress, beating frontrunners Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep and Rachel Brosnahan for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Waller-Bridge also won the Emmy for comedy writing on the Amazon Studios show.
Bill Hader won his second Emmy for playing a hitman who turns to acting in comedy Barry, while Peter Dinklage took home the only acting trophy for Game of Thrones for his supporting role as Tyrion Lannister.
Already the most-awarded series in Emmy history with 38 wins, HBO’s Game of Thrones went into Sunday’s awards show as the clear front runner, despite a fan uproar over the conclusion of the series.
In the closely contested limited series category, the Television Academy spread its honors among wrenching social justice drama When They See Us, Soviet nuclear accident tale Chernobyl, and Fosse/Verdon, starring Michelle Williams as Broadway singer and dancer Gwen Verdon.
Newcomer Jharrel Jerome was named best actor for When They See Us, the Netflix dramatization of the men known as the “Central Park Five” who were wrongly accused and imprisoned for rape in 1980s New York.
Jerome dedicated his honor to “the men we know as the exonerated five,” and the five men, seated in the audiences, stood and pumped their fists. — Reuters
DITO Telecommunity Corp. is in talks with common tower providers, with a deal expected to be signed within the week.
By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter
NEW telecommunications player Dito Telecommunity Corp. will soon be joining industry giants Globe Telecom, Inc. and Smart Communications, Inc. in engaging with common tower companies, saying it is scheduled to sign this week its first agreement with a provider.
Dito Chief Administrative Officer Adel A. Tamano told BusinessWorld yesterday the company is in talks with common tower providers and will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in days’ time.
“We will sign within the week,” he said in a mobile message, but refused to disclose with which company.
Dito Interim Chief Technology Officer Rodolfo D. Santiago said in August the company had short-listed around seven to eight providers after it called for proposals from common tower companies in March.
Cosette V. Canilao, chief operating officer of tower provider Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc., recently told reporters it is in advanced talks with Dito for a common tower agreement.
“For Dito, we’ve already signed the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and we’re working towards signing the MoU. We’re also talking about their requirements,” she told reporters on the sidelines of a company event on Sept. 12.
Aboitiz InfraCapital is partnering with Frontier Tower Associates Philippines (FTAP) in its business venture of providing telecommunications towers to network operators. The tandem had previously signed an MoU with Globe and Smart.
Aside from Aboitiz InfraCapital and FTAP, the joint venture of edotco Group Sdn Bhd and ISOC Infrastructure, Inc. also said earlier it is talking with Dito to sign an agreement for common towers. They have also signed an MoU with Globe and Smart.
Dito is targeting to have its commercial launch by the second quarter of next year. Mr. Santiago previously said it is a big help for the company to be able to tap existing infrastructure assets to support its network rollout within schedule, as building everything from scratch may take longer.
Dito, formerly called Mislatel, is owned by Dennis A. Uy’s Udenna Corp. and Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and China Telecommunications Corp.
VETERAN DIRECTOR, writer, and production designer Carmelo “Mel” Chionglo passed away on Sept. 21 at the age of 73. His death was confirmed by the artistic director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Chris B. Millado on Saturday via his personal Facebook page. “[I’m] very sad to announce the passing of a colleague and renowned film director Mel Chionglo. The happiest of journeys gentle Mel,” Mr. Millado said in his post.
Mr. Chionglo served for many years as the competition director and the head of the monitoring committee of the CCP’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.
He was born on July 16, 1946 in Lucena, Quezon and showed an interest in movies at a young age, a fact he mentioned in a 2016 article by the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC), saying that he would watch Filipino movies in his hometown. “My classmates and I were fans of Gloria Romero, Lolita Rodriguez, Susan Roces, and Amalia Fuentes in LVN. We had a collection of pictures of these actors and actresses that we would buy in Manila at the sidewalk of Life Theater in Quiapo,” Mr. Chionglo recounted.
The PMPC story was part of its souvenir program when the group conferred Mr. Chionglo with a Lifetime Achievement Award in that year’s PMPC Star Awards. Writer and PMPC member Mell T. Navarro posted the article on his Facebook page the day Mr. Chionglo passed away.
After finishing high school in Lucena, Mr. Chionglo went to Ateneo de Manila University with a major in Humanities. It was there where he met director Mike de Leon. “It was in college that I further developed my love for serious films because of the Ateneo Film Club and the entry of European films including the films of Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, and Luchino Visconti,” Mr. Chionglo said. Since the Ateneo wasn’t offering a course on film at the time, he went to the US where he studied acting and directing at the New York Academy of Theatrical Arts and took courses at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, both in New York.
He first worked in film on Mike de Leon’s debut feature film in 1976, Itim (Rites of May) as the production designer. After it was shot, he returned to his job in New York where he was an assistant office manager at the Prudential Insurance Company.
His stint at Prudential did not last long as his love affair with film continued — he was called back to the Philippines by Mr. De Leon to do the production design for Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising in 1977 and by Ishmael Bernal in the same year for Walang Katapusang Tag-araw which was an entry to the 1977 Metro Manila Film Festival. He also did the production design for Joey Gosiengfiao’s cult film Temptation Island (1980).
“I worked as a production designer for four years. My last producer, Mother Lily Monteverde of Regal Films, was the one who gave me the chance to direct my own film,” Mr. Chionglo said.
The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) gave him the Best Production Design award for Itim, and again for Eddie Romero’s Aguila (1980). He won a Gawad Urian trophy for Ishmael Bernal’s 1978 film, Ikaw ay Akin.
In 1980, Mr. Chionglo directed his first feature film, Playgirl, whose cast included Charito Solis, Gina Alajar, and Philip Salvador. Two years later, he directed Anak, which starred Dina Bonnevia, Christopher de Leon, and Celia Rodriguez. In 1983, he directed Summer Holiday.
His 1992 film Lucia won Best Film at the London International Environmental Film Festival and his 1994 film Sibak won jury prize at the Turin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
His other films include Midnight Dancers (1994), Burlesk King (1999), and Twilight Dancers (2006).
His most recent directing credits according to IMDb are Iadya Mo Kami (2016) and Lauriana (2013). He is credited as directing 42 films and TV series, and serving as production designer on 11 films and series.
He also co-founded the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines Inc. (DGPI)
“The Directors’ Guild of the Philippines, Inc. mourns the passing of director Mel Chionglo. He lived a productive life and greatly contributed to Philippine cinema in memorable ways,” DGPI said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
“He was also an industry leader and mentor, respected for the deep wisdom he would quietly share amongst veteran colleagues and upcoming filmmakers. A founding member of the DGPI, he served as its president in 2008. He also acted as Competition Director and Head of the Monitoring Committee of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, and was once a member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). The DGPI extends its deepest condolences to the family of Mel Chionglo,” the post continued. — ZBC
THE ICCP Group is seeing continued growth in its property development business, particularly in townships and industrial estates.
ICCP Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Guillermo D. Luchangco said Pueblo de Oro Development Corp. (PDO) and industrial park developer Science Park of the Philippines, Inc. (SPPI) have been recording steady sales.
“We don’t have as many projects as Filinvest or Ayala but our sales growth is good and our profit margins are healthy,” Mr. Luchangco told BusinessWorld in an interview at the company’s office in Makati City on Sept. 4.
PDO, which develops residential communities and township projects, is best known for its flagship project Pueblo de Oro in Cagayan de Oro. The company acquired the 360-hectare property in the early 1990s, back when such huge township projects were practically unheard of, especially in the provinces.
“In the case of Pueblo de Oro, we had 360 hectares in Cagayan de Oro which we developed into a township. We were able to attract SM to put up its first mall there. We also put up a Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course, which is ranked as one of the top five golf courses in the Philippines by Golfing Philippines (magazine),” Mr. Luchangco said.
The township also hosts a business park with a PEZA-accredited IT economic zone; and educational institutions Xavier University and Corpus Christi School.
The business activity in the area spurred demand for residential projects that cater to different market segments. And demand shows no signs of slowing down, prompting PDO to acquire additional property — bringing Pueblo de Oro’s total project area to 400 hectares. To date, the township is now home to 9,840 residential units.
Mr. Luchangco said the success of Pueblo de Oro Cagayan de Oro pushed the company to develop similar townships in Cebu, Batangas and Pampanga, albeit at a smaller scale.
“In those areas, we are in the regional centers of the Philippines like Cebu, Sto. Tomas and San Fernando… We intend to expand into other regional centers,” he said.
RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPER
Even before “green” projects were a trend, PDO was already implementing eco-friendly initiatives in its projects.
“We’re a mid-sized developer but because of that we are able to pay more attention to our projects, environmental management, give that development more features, to give it some distinction,” Mr. Luchangco said.
The company maintained a 40-hectare urban rainforest in Cagayan de Oro, helped plant 65,000 mangrove seedlings in Mactan, and has regular tree-planting activities as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.
In the Cagayan de Oro township, Mr. Luchangco said they built a 6,600-cubic meter detention pond “so we would not flood the people living below in case of heavy rains.”
ICCP Group Chairman and CEO Guillermo D. Luchangco — COMPANY HANDOUT
“As responsible citizens, we spent the money to build the waterway and the detention pond. During Sendong (in 2011), it held and we ended up helping the city by supplying water to some areas because the water supply got cut off and we still had water. After Sendong, there was a big rush of people buying property because they saw our properties did not see flooding,” he said.
Mr. Luchangco noted that Pueblo de Oro Pampanga has not experienced flooding even during typhoons, as they raised the elevation of the land when they were developing the project.
“We built the area two to three meters higher (than surrounding areas), because our studies showed it is prone to flooding… It vindicates our projects that they don’t flood,” he said.
Even for the golf course in Cagayan de Oro, PDO has made sure its environmental impact was minimized. Mr. Luchangco said the company built five ponds not just as golf course hazards but to serve as interconnected reservoirs to retain water.
“We have a layer of about eight inches of sand below the surface to drain the water out. The sand acts like a filter, the water is used for the golf course, so we don’t use as much water as you would expect. We also put in an electronic control system for the sprinkling of water. It basically calculates how much water the course really needs and only that area gets sprinkled,” he said.
INDUSTRIAL PARKS
The ICCP Group’s property business also includes the development and management of industrial estates through SPPI.
“Industrial estates was the first thing we did in property. We started in 1989 after we saw a number of foreign companies who wanted to come in but the scene was chaotic for them,” Mr. Luchangco said.
“I decided to start the business of industrial estates. We made sure there’s power, water… We also managed the estate.”
The company has developed six industrial parks, starting with the 178-hectare Light Industry & Science Park I (LISP-I) in Cabuyao, Laguna. LISP I was said to be the first privately-owned industrial estate to operate as a Special Export Processing Zone under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
SPPI’s other industrial estates include LISP II in Calamba, Laguna; LISP III in Sto. Tomas, Batangas; Hermosa Ecozone Industrial Park in Hermosa, Bataan; and Cebu Light Industrial Park in Mactan, Cebu.
“After we sell our industrial estate, we offer to continue managing it for a fee. But profitability is not the main objective, we make a lot more in building and selling estates than by running them. The reason for that is we want to make sure the quality of the estate does not deteriorate… In all our estates that we have turned over, they have chosen us to manage it,” Mr. Luchangco said.
The latest project is LISP IV in Malvar, Batangas.
“The newest is LISP IV in Malvar. That’s being developed now. We have sold some areas and developing other areas,” Mr. Luchangco said, adding that PDO is developing a residential community next to the industrial estate as part of a “live-work” community concept.
Mr. Luchangco said he wants PDO and SPPI to be known not just for high-quality projects, but also as environmentally conscious companies.
“What we want… is to be the gold standard in residential communities, because we want to do good products,” he said. “We want to be known for our quality and environmental concern.”
THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues its crackdown against illegal lenders with the issuance of a cease and desist order (CDO) against 11 online lending applications.
The country’s corporate regulator said Monday that it has issued a CDO against Cash Whale, Cash 100, Cashafin, CashFlyer, CashMaya, Cashope, Cashwarm, Cashwow, Creditpeso, ET Easy Loan and Peso2Go.
The commission said its Corporate Governance and Finance Department found that the aforementioned apps failed to secure the required certificates of authority that would allow them to operate as lending or financing companies.
“The continued operation of such unlicensed online lending activities is thus a continuing violation of Republic Act No. 9474 otherwise known as the Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007 which makes it punishable for any person to engage in the lending business without a permit from the SEC,” the SEC said in the CDO.
The SEC called on the agents, representatives and promoters, owners of their hosting sites, and all persons connected to the online lending apps to immediately halt operations.
They were also directed to stop offering and advertising their lending business through the internet, as well as to delete or remove all promotional presentations related to their operations.
The issuance of the CDO is in line with the Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007, which partly states that “no lending company shall conduct business unless granted an authority to operate by the SEC.”
Those found to engage in the business of lending without obtaining a license from the SEC could face a fine worth P10,000 to P50,000, or imprisonment of six months to 10 years, or both.
The CDO against the 11 lending apps follows the SEC’s issuance of an earlier order against 19 online lending apps, including Pera, QuickPera, Lendmo Philippines, Binixo, CashBus, Cashcat, Cashuttle, Crazy Loan, Flash Cash, Happy2Peso, Hatulong, MeLoan, MoneyTree Quick Loan, Pera Express, Pera4u, Peramart, PesoLending, QuickPeso and Umbrella.
The SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) found that these lending apps were enforcing unreasonable and abusive collection practices, which involved subjecting their borrowers to public humiliation and ridicule, high interest rates, unreasonable terms and conditions, and violation of their right to privacy, among others.
The EIPD said that these unauthorized lenders managed to gain access to a borrower’s contact numbers, Facebook accounts, and e-mail address through their mobile phones.
“The rude, high pressure methods of collection, misrepresentations, and unreasonable terms and conditions imposed by said online lending operators and their agents and representatives exemplify such practices that as a matter of policy, the State seeks to prevent,” the SEC said.
The SEC has likewise revoked the certificates of registration of 2,081 lending companies to date, for failing to secure the required certificate of authority to operate as a lending or financing company. — Arra B. Francia
BDO UNIBANK, Inc. has raised P6.5 billion in fresh funds via an offer of long-term negotiable certificates of deposit (LTNCD), higher than its initial P5-billion program.
The bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday that it closed the offer period for the LTNCDs, which began last Sept. 10, on Sept. 20, as planned.
The LTNCDs have a term of five-and-a-half years while the final interest rate was quoted at 4% per annum, slightly higher than the 3.75% indicative rate the bank set before the offering.
The debt instruments are set to be issued on Sept. 27.
BDO said the issue was upsized from the original P5-billion program “following solid demand from mostly retail investors.”
“The LTNCD issuance is part of the bank’s efforts to diversify the maturity of its funding sources and support business expansion plans,” BDO said.
The transaction’s sole arranger was ING Bank N.V.’s Manila branch, which also acted as a selling agent along with BDO and BDO Private Bank.
Like regular time deposits offered by banks, LTNCDs offer higher interest rates. However, LTNCDs cannot be pre-terminated but can be sold on the secondary market, making them “negotiable.”
In April, the Sy-led lender also issued 5.5-year LTNCDs worth P7.32 billion with an interest rate of 5.375%. Strong demand from investors allowed the bank to expand the issue size from the original P5 billion.
In the same month last year, the bank likewise raised P8.2 billion via 5.5-year LTNCDs with a rate of 4.375% per annum.
BDO’s net income in second quarter jumped by 43.4% P10.393 billion, bringing its first semester bottom line to P20.140 billion, an 53.6% increase year on year.
It was the largest bank in the country in terms of total assets, deposits and trust funds as of June 30.
Shares in BDO closed at P141.50 apiece on Monday, gaining P1.10 or 0.78% from Friday’s finish. — LWTN
FROM OCT. 3 to 13, the 18th edition of PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival will feature the best of contemporary Spanish cinema at Greenbelt 3 in Makati. Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain, Turespaña, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the 2019 Spanish Film Festival will screen more than 20 films under the motto “18 Years advocating quality films on the Big Screen.”
Since its conception in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Film Festival has been an annual attraction at Greenbelt. Following that tradition, the first leg of the Festival will be held at Greenbelt 3 Cinemas from Oct. 3 to 13, and it will conclude at the Cine Adarna-UP Film Institute at UP Diliman, Quezon City from Oct. 23 to 24. The second leg will feature a selection of the programmed films, including the winner of the Audience Choice Award.
With genres ranging from comedy, drama, historical, thriller, documentary, fantasy, and even animation for adults, there is a movie for every viewer. The Festival will open with an animation film for adults, Buñuel en el laberinto de las tortugas (Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles), which was preselected by the Spanish Film Academy for the next Oscars. Other movies in this year’s lineup are Els dies que vindran (Carlos Marques-Marcet, 2019), Isabel Coixet’s latest film, Elisa y Marcela (2019), the biopic Yuli (Icíar Bollaín, 2018), and the multi-awarded Isaki Lacuesta’s film Entre dos aguas (2018), which bagged the Golden Shell Best Film at the 2018 San Sebastian Film Festival.
Dramas will be well represented in this year’s edition, with works like No sé decir adiós (Lino Escalera, 2017), Quién te cantará (Carlos Vermut, 2018), and Litus, the intimate movie for which director Dani de la Orden recently received the Best Film Award at the 2019 Malaga Film Festival. Dani de la Orden doubles in PELíCULA with the comedy, El mejor verano de mi vida (2018).
There are several gripping crime and suspense movies like the multi-awarded political thriller, El Reino (Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2018), the thriller 70 binladens (Koldo Serra, 2018), and the pseudo-documentary Apuntes para una película de atracos (Notes for a Heist Film), directed by León Siminiani in 2018.
PELÍCULA will also show Latin American cinema, with one feature film from Colombia, El piedra (Rafael Martínez Moreno, 2018), and three Argentine-Spanish co-productions: El Ángel (Luis Ortega, 2018), Mi obra maestra (Gastón Duprat, 2018), and Juan José Campanella’s latest work, the black comedy El cuento de las comadrejas (The Weasels’ Tale).
A TRIBUTE TO FILIPINO CINEMA
The Filipino word “pelikula,” derived from the Spanish word “película,” echoes the cultural ties shared by the Philippines and Spain. In line with this, since its first editions the Festival has aimed to offer joint Filipino-Spanish programs and since this is the Centennial Year of the Filipino Cinema by a Presidential Proclamation, PELíCULA will pay tribute to the rich history of Philippine film industry. On Oct. 12, 2 p.m., film historian Nick Deocampo will deliver a talk on the origins of cinema in the Philippines. The same day, at 4:30 p.m., PELÍCULA, in collaboration with TBA Studios, will screen Habambuhay (2019), presented by its director Clodualdo del Mundo. Habambuhay is a documentary that commemorates the people behind and in front of the camera who shaped the Philippine movie industry. It features archival footage, clips and photos, as well as exclusive interviews with screen legends like Anita Linda, Eddie Mesa, Rosemarie Gil, and Eddie Garcia, in the actor’s last in-depth interview before his passing.
Last but not least, film buffs should not miss the yearly “Audience Choice” Award. The audience will be given stubs where they can rate the movies they have seen. For every five movies, members of the audience qualify to join the raffle where they get a chance to win free dinners in five of the best Spanish restaurants in town. The winning movie will be re-shown on Oct. 13, 7 p.m., at Greenbelt 3, and on Oct. 24 at Cine Adarna (UP Diliman).
For the schedule, film details and further information on the Festival, visit https://manila.cervantes.es or the Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.
FOREVER 21 Inc. is in discussions to give a stake in the company to its two largest landlords as part of a restructuring that would allow co-founder Do Won Chang to retain a share, according to people familiar with the matter.
The ailing fast-fashion retailer is in talks with Simon Property Group Inc. and Brookfield Property Partners LP about the proposal, which would be part of a bankruptcy filing, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. The negotiations are ongoing, and could end without a deal, they said.
Los Angeles-based Forever 21 is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as this month, ideally with a restructuring plan in place, the people said. Company advisers have been working on obtaining a bankruptcy loan package that would give the retailer about $75 million to continue operations during the case, Bloomberg previously reported.
A spokeswoman for Brookfield declined to comment on its involvement in a potential deal, and Simon and Forever 21 didn’t respond to requests for comment.
AEROPOSTALE DEAL
The trendy retailer’s fate has become increasingly important to mall owners, who’ve seen former stalwarts including Payless Inc. and Gymboree Corp. shutter more than 8,500 stores this year, according to firm Coresight Research Inc. That’s left Forever 21 as one of the largest remaining occupants, with more than 800 stores globally.
At the same time, the retailer is dependent on its landlords, which could play a crucial role as it looks to slim down operations and revive its best locations. The restructuring plan under discussion could include rent forgiveness or other considerations from the landlords in exchange for a stake in Forever 21, the people said.
Simon and General Growth Properties Inc., now part of Brookfield, teamed up to buy most of bankrupt teen clothing chain Aeropostale three years ago. They’ve since sat on the sidelines as retailers liquidated, but Simon has publicly said it’s open to doing similar-type deals going forward.
On a July 31 conference call with investors to discuss second-quarter earnings, Simon Property Group Chief Executive Officer David Simon said his company was well-positioned to invest in distressed tenants.
“We certainly have the ability to help beyond what you might do on the leases and become an investor in a distressed situation,” Simon said. “So we have kind of the ability, together or individually or some combination thereof, to look at becoming more than just a real estate player, but a buyer of these brands.” — Bloomberg
