Tala raises $210 Million Series D

September 11, 2019 | 1:50 pm

Loaning app Tala’s new investment opens more financial opportunities for Filipinos

Three billion adults do not have access to basic financial services, including the ability to borrow, save, or grow their money.

Tala, the leading digital lender in the Philippines, is on a mission to build a financial system that works for everyone, beginning with the world’s most accessible consumer credit product.

Tala announcedits $210M Series D investment to accelerate financial inclusion around the world. The latest funding round is comprised of $110M in equity, led by RPS Ventures, and $100M in debt financing.

The new round will fuel continued growth in the Philippines and support the launch of new products in the Tala ecosystem that promote financial health and create value for its loyal customer base in the Philippines, Mexico, Kenya, and India.

“As the second largest market in Southeast Asia, the Philippines presents a massive opportunity. With a population of over 100 million, we have 70 million unbanked Filipinos with a widely unmet need for credit in a growing economy. In the two short years since we launched in the Philippines, Tala has emerged as the top digital lender in the market,” said Angelo Madrid, Tala’s Country Manager in the Philippines.

In 2014, Tala became the first in the world to offer unsecured loans via smartphone, instantly underwriting customers and disbursing credit entirely through an Android app.

The company has since loaned more than $1 billion to 4 million customers on 3 continents, with a 90% repayment rate that proves the potential of these previously overlooked consumers. Tala’s growth is fueled by a deep commitment to its customers, whose loyalty has helped make Tala a top digital lending app across its current markets.

“We attribute our rapid success to our lean 200-person team in Manila that works with Tala’s global team to deliver best-in-class localized experiences, and our amazing customers, who are the most engaged and loyal that we have seen in any market. With this round of funding, we look forward to continuing on the path to universal financial inclusion,” Madrid adds.

In the near term, Tala will leverage its proprietary technologies and customer trust to deliver additional products that accelerate financial health for the underserved in the Philippines and around the world.

The new round was led by RPS Ventures with participation from GGV Capital and previous investors including IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, Data Collective VC, ThomVest Ventures and PayPal Ventures. Kabir Misra, Founding General Partner at RPS Ventures, has joined Tala’s board of directors.

Tala has more than 500 employees across offices in Manila, Mexico City, Nairobi, Santa Monica, and Bangalore.

Progress and concerns in wastewater management

September 11, 2019 | 9:00 am

After water is used for laundry, bathing, dishwashing, using the toilet, and many more, it becomes wastewater. In order for this wastewater to be discharged back to the environment and be reused, it must be treated first. This means that wastewater should undergo a process wherein the water passes through several stages including filtering out of contaminants and cleansing before being sent back to the environment.

Wastewater treatment or management is a vital means of conserving the world’s most important natural resource. With water pollution becoming more challenging to be mitigated, wastewater treatment is essential. In fact, the United Nations stated in 2017 that 80% of the world’s wastewater, and over 95% in some least developed countries, is released to the environment without treatment.

Concerning wastewater management in the Philippines, much has been started and yet much more needs to be done. Notably, it started in 1995, when the Public Private Partnership center urged the government to transfer the burden of handling water supply and sanitation infrastructure to the private sector. Also, according to Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Systems, Inc., there was less than 8% sewer coverage and minimal septage treatment at those times.

To address these concerns, concession agreements that created Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWCI) and Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (MWSI) were signed for a 25-year period in 1997, and have since been extended for an additional 15 years. The agreements entail ensuring 100% wastewater collection and treatment for Metro Manila.

Furthermore, the treatment of wastewaters is also upheld in the Clean Water Act of 2004. It directs the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to implement a wastewater charge system “in all management areas including the Laguna Lake Region and Regional Industrial Centers through the collection of wastewater charges/fees.” It also enforces a discharge permitting system which requires owners or operators of facilities that discharge regulated effluents to secure a wastewater discharge permit.

“Implementation of the polluter pays approach rather than issuing fines has been a key driver in incentivizing industries and residential compounds to install onsite/decentralised treatment systems,” stated the Wastewater Report 2018 by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), an institution of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

In terms of treatment facilities, OFID’s report noted that “more than 58 decentralized treatment plants were constructed (in addition to the existing centralized plants), seeking low operation costs and the most potential for energy production while ensuring effluent standards were met.”

It also stated that in Metro Manila, “15% of the population is connected to sewer networks and 85% have access to onsite sanitation (septic tanks), of which 44% of the fecal sludge and effluent is safely managed.”

Amid these measures and developments, however, there is still ongoing concern about the lack of wastewater management.

Christian Walder, an urban development specialist (water supply and sanitation) at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), wrote in an article published in ADB’s web site last year that megacities like Metro Manila still do not have adequate sanitation and wastewater treatment regardless of important appearances of progress. “It is estimated that more than 11 million of Metro Manila’s population is using on-site sanitation facilities and that there are more than two million septic tanks installed in the Philippines’ capital region,” he added.

The World Bank, meanwhile, stated that Metro Manila generates about two million cubic meters of wastewater every day. “Without adequate sewerage facilities, only around 17% of this volume gets treated before being discharged into water channels in and around the metropolis, which end up mostly in Manila Bay,” the institution added.

To address such inadequacy, in 2012, the World Bank approved a $275M project that aims to improve wastewater collection and treatment practices in several catchment areas of Metro Manila. Named the Metro Manila Wastewater Management Project (MWMP), the project supports the investments of MWCI and MWSI to improve collection and treatment of wastewater from households and other establishments in the metropolis.

BusinessWorld reported last December 2018 that at the end of November last year, the MWMP was 73% complete and it absorbed 65.42% of the loan facility offered by the World Bank.

In addition, Mr. Walder of ADB emphasized that innovative solutions for wastewater treatment cities and communities can leapfrog wastewater management challenges. He cited a treatment plant in Biñan City, Laguna as an example.

“The facility is located in a densely populated area and has applied a nature-based technology — comprised of plants, microorganisms, biofilms, and engineered media — to break down the wastewater in a biological process that requires less energy and produces less sludge compared to a conventional centralized treatment plant,” he explained. — Adrian Paul B. Conoza

FDI net inflow nearly halved in June

September 11, 2019 | 12:33 am

By Luz Wendy T. Noble

NET INFLOW of foreign direct investments (FDI) — involving long-term capital that generate jobs and transfer technologies — was nearly halved in June and fell by more than a third last semester, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Tuesday, with analysts blaming an escalating Sino-US trade war and uncertainty over proposed changes to tax incentives.

BSP data showed net FDI inflow dropping by 48.5% to $430 million in June from $836 million, even as the latest amount was 77.69% more than June’s $242 million.

“This decline relates to external environment issues such as the US-China trade conflict and other trade-related concerns since last year,” UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in an e-mail.

On the domestic front, Mr. Asuncion believes that the lower FDI net inflow “stems from planned fiscal reforms that have somehow clouded the foreign investment space, whether fresh ones or expansions for existing ones.”

Also sought for comment, Michael L. Ricafort, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s (RCBC) economics research division head, said in a separate e-mail: “Uncertainties related to the proposed rationalization of fiscal incentives kept some foreign investors on a wait-and-see attitude.”

The United States on Sept. 1 announced 15% tariffs on even more Chinese imports — including footwear, smart watches and flat-panel televisions — while China began imposing new duties on US crude oil. Beijing later lodged a complaint against Washington at the World Trade Organization over US import duties.

The International Monetary Fund released on Tuesday its World Uncertainty Index showing that concerns about global trade could shave about 0.75 percentage point off global economic growth this year.

At home, foreign business chambers in Philippine economic zones have been asking the government not to proceed with plans to overhaul the current tax incentives package by removing perks deemed redundant and making the rest more time-bound and tied to economic benefits from investments.

Mr. Ricafort added that “the declining trend in both local inflation and interest rates… kept some foreign investors on the sidelines while waiting for a bottom in interest rates (in able to further save on borrowing costs) and start to borrow more aggressively again to finance more FDIs into the country.”

June saw equity other than reinvested earnings plunge 86.5% to $25 million from $184 million a year ago, as gross placements dropped 64.7% to $73 million from $208 million and withdrawals more than doubled to $49 million from $24 million.

The BSP said that equity capital placements in June came mostly from Singapore, the United States, Japan, the Netherlands and China, and went mainly to real estate; manufacturing; financial and insurance; transportation and storage; as well as electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply industries.

Foreign firms’ investments in debt instruments of their Philippine affiliates similarly dropped 44% to $317 million from $570 million.

Only reinvested earnings grew — by 8.3% to $89 million in June from $82 million a year ago.

FIRST HALF TALLY
June brought year-to-date net inflows to $3.576 billion, 38.8% less than the $5.842 billion in last year’s first half.

The same comparable six-month periods saw equity other than reinvested earnings plunge by 77.2% to $361 million from $1.585 billion, while withdrawals grew more than threefold to $499 million from $163 million.

Equity capital placements last semester came chiefly from Japan, the United States, Singapore, China and South Korea, and benefited mainly financial and insurance, real estate, manufacturing, transportation and storage, as well as administrative and support services.

Intercompany borrowings dropped 28.8% to $2.708 billion from $3.805 billion, while reinvested earnings grew 12.1% to $507 million from $453 million.

Despite the fall in net FDI inflows, both economists believe that net inflows will bounce back.

“As the smoke clears from both external and domestic concerns, FDI net inflows are expected to pick up particularly as fiscal reforms are in place,” UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion said.

For RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort, such inflows could turn around in the coming months “after long-term local interest rates recently declined to new lows in two to three years and have already declined by nearly 400 basis points from their decade-highs posted in October 2018.”

“Thus, demand for loans by businesses/investors, including for financing FDIs, could pick up due to much lower borrowing costs that encourage greater financing for new investments and expansion projects by both foreign and local investors, including the financing for more FDIs,” he explained.

Given appropriate policies, FDIs help fuel overall economic development by generating gainful employment, facilitating technology and knowledge transfer, enhancing international trade integration and creating more competitive business environment.

FDI net inflows dipped 4.4% to $9.802 billion last year from a record-high $10.256 billion in 2017. The BSP had said it expects such inflows to hit $10.2 billion this year.

BSP data on FDI cover actual capital inflows, in contrast to project commitments to state investment promotion agencies that are tracked by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Moreover, BSP’s FDI data include investments in which foreign ownership is at least 10%, while PSA does not make use of this threshold and includes borrowings from foreign sources that are non-affiliates of the domestic company. Furthermore, PSA data do not account for equity withdrawals.

The PSA released preliminary data on Sept. 6 showing that FDI commitments approved by the country’s seven main investment promotion agencies grew 60.2% year-on-year to P49.58 billion last quarter from P30.95 billion a year ago, making such pledges more than double to P95.56 billion last semester from P45.154 billion in 2018’s first half.

Fitch sees 2nd half GDP growth picking up ‘modestly’

September 11, 2019 | 12:32 am

AFTER a not-so-stellar 5.5% first-half economic expansion amid budget delays and headwinds from abroad, Fitch Ratings expects Philippine growth to catch up with a modest improvement this semester.

In its APAC Sovereign Credit Overview report for the third quarter, the global debt watcher — which has a “BBB” sovereign rating for the country, a notch above minimum investment grade, with a stable outlook — said it expects gross domestic product (GDP) “growth to improve modestly” in the second half and was “maintaining its full-year 2019 growth forecast of 6.1%…”

“At a growth rate of 6.1% for 2019, we think the Philippines would still remain among the fastest-growing economies in Asia-Pacific,” Sagarika Chandra, associate director for Asia Pacific Sovereigns at Fitch, said via e-mail.

Philippine GDP growth slowed to 6.2% last year from 6.7% in 2017.

“Continued strong growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability could trigger a positive rating action,” Ms. Chandra said.

Weak global growth amid an escalating Sino-US trade war could weigh on overall Philippine economic expansion, which could clock in at 6.3% in 2020 and 2021.

Fitch noted that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) move to raise benchmark interest rates by a total of 175 basis points in 2018, paired with slowing growth, have lowered overheating risks. The BSP has partially dialed back last year’s tightening amid currently easing inflation by reducing key rates by a total of 50 bps so far, and has signalled another 25 bp cut towards yearend. “Inflation has generally been on a declining trend in 2019 so far and for the first eight months average inflation is within the central bank’s target range. We think this, along with weaker growth in the first half of 2019, offers some room for monetary easing,” Ms. Chandra said.

On the other hand, the report forecasts the country’s current account to remain in deficit at about 2.4% of GDP in 2019, no thanks to weak export performance, as exports contracted by about 0.5% in the first half of the year versus the 1.1% growth in the same period last year. Imports fell in the first half of the year as well, “although this was due mainly to the delay in passing the 2019 budget which affected spending on infrastructure,” Fitch noted in its report.

“We expect imports to rise somewhat in the second half with the passing of the budget. The agency expects subdued export performance and generally strong import growth in 2020 and 2021 to keep the current account in a deficit of between 2.5-2.6% of GDP.”

Fitch also called for further improvement in revenue generation. “Better governance standards could bode well for the business environment and support higher investment levels over time. We think progress made on tax reforms so far and our expectation of further reforms, would lead to a gradual increase in central government revenues,” Ms. Chandra said. “We are expecting central government revenues to increase to about 16.9% of GDP by 2021 from 16.4% of GDP in 2018. As such we expect the budget deficit to stabilize at around three percent of GDP in 2020 and 2021, as higher spending on infrastructure is offset by the improvement in revenues.”

Ms. Chandra said tax reforms will “support a gradual improvement in central government revenues and keep budget deficits within manageable levels,” cautioning that “significant widening of budget deficits, steady increase in inflation alongside wider current account deficits signal an increase in macro instability.” — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Philippine trade year-on-year performance (July 2019)

September 11, 2019 | 12:31 am

THE COUNTRY’s trade-in-goods deficit narrowed in July as merchandise exports grew at their fastest pace in nine months while imports declined, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday. Read the full story.

Trade-in-goods deficit narrows in July — PSA

September 11, 2019 | 12:31 am

Preliminary PSA data showed July’s trade deficit at $3.393 billion, compared to a $4.016-billion gap in the same month last year.

The value of goods sold abroad grew by 3.5% to $6.174 billion in July, faster than 3.3% in June and 2.3% in July 2018.

On the other hand, import payments fell 4.2% year-on-year to $9.567 billion in July, improving from a 10.4% decline observed in June albeit a reversal from the 39.8% growth in July 2018.

July marked the fourth straight month of growth in export goods and was the fastest in nine months or since the 6.7% growth in October 2018.

Meanwhile, the country’s total external trade in goods — the sum of export and import goods — was $15.742 billion in July, 1.3% less than the $15.949 billion total in same month last year.

To date, merchandise exports are up 0.1% to $40.391 billion against the two-percent growth target of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) for full-year 2019.

On the other hand, the merchandise import bill declined 1.5% to $62.685 billion on a cumulative basis against the DBCC’s seven-percent projection for the year.

That brought the year-to-date trade balance to a $22.294-billion deficit, smaller than the $23.251-billion gap in 2018’s comparable seven months.

According to a statement by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Philippines registered the third-fastest growth in exports among select Asian economies in July, next to Thailand and Vietnam. “Philippine exports remained resilient during the second quarter of 2019 despite the continuing external challenges such as trade tensions between the US and China, the bleak outlook in Europe, and the uncertainty of the future of Brexit,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia was quoted in the NEDA statement as saying.

In separate e-mails, ING Bank N.V. Manila senior economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa and Security Bank Corp. chief economist Robert Dan J. Roces noted the growth in electronic exports, which accounted for 55.6% of the country’s export sales in July.

Exports of electronic products grew 2.9% annually to $3.433 billion in July from $3.335 billion in July last year. Electronics accounted for 55.6% of total export goods and 66.2% of manufactured goods.

Year-to-date, electronics sales grew 1.1% to $22.379 billion from $22.133 billion in 2018’s first seven months.

“Interestingly, it was these exports to the US that helped us clear a [fourth-straight] month of gain, with products probably imported from China [and] re-exported to the US as manufacturers [are] getting creative on how to skirt tariffs,” ING Bank’s Mr. Mapa said.

For Security Bank’s Mr. Roces, the country is said to be “picking up some slack” in terms of demand for semiconductors, which grew 2.4% to $2.488 billion in July. Semiconductors make up 72.5% of electronic products and 40.3% of total exports.

Among major types of goods, manufactured goods exports increased 4.2% to $5.185 billion from $4.975 billion in the same month last year. This was followed by exports of agro-based products, which saw an 11.7% growth to $413.401 million in July from last year’s $370.222 million.

Exports of forest and mineral products likewise increased by 50.6% and 12.2%, respectively, to $31.113 million and $421.721 million.

On the import side, payments for raw materials and intermediate goods dropped 11.7% to $3.447 billion from last year’s $3.902 billion. Likewise, imports of mineral fuels, lubricant and related materials fell 14.5% to $1.114 billion from $1.303 billion

Bucking the trend were imports of capital goods and consumer goods, which grew by 3.4% (to $3.273 billion) and 7.6% ($1.659 billion).

“[The decline in imports of raw materials and intermediate goods] moves directly in line with the budget impasse as construction materials such as iron, steel and non-ferrous metals contracted,” said ING’s Mr. Mapa.

The economist also cited the 10% drop in raw materials used for electronics, “which could mean that the fledgling export growth trend could peter out.”

On the other hand, Security Bank’s Mr. Roces noted the slower contraction in imports in July compared to that of June, which is “consistent with the turnaround in government spending…”

Data from the Treasury bureau showed a P75.3-billion fiscal deficit in July, 12.8% smaller than the P86.4 billion in July last year. However, July’s fiscal deficit compared with the P41.8-billion deficit in June as well as the fiscal surpluses of $86.872 billion and $2.564 billion in April and May, respectively.

Analysts have blamed the recent decline in imports and government spending to the delay in the passage of the 2019 national budget. To recall, the government operated on a reenacted 2018 budget from January to April 15, when President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed this year’s national budget into law four months late, but vetoed P95.3 billion in funds that were not in sync with his administration’s priorities.

“For the rest of the year, we expect trade deficit to widen as import demand starts to pick up,” Security Bank’s Mr. Roces said moving forward.

For ING Bank’s Mr. Mapa: “We could see a rebound in capital goods imports as the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) cuts policy rates and boosts investment activity.”

The BSP has cut benchmark interest rates by a total of 50 basis points (bp) so far this year, partially dialing back the 175-bp cumulative hikes triggered last year by successive multi-year high inflation that peaked at a nine-year high.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA Singapore Branch economist Nur Raisah Rasid said in a note that a “gradual” recovery in capital expenditures (capex) is underway this quarter given the July turnout, but noted “seasonal weather issues” as a downside risk to the country’s infrastructure and capex recovery.

“Thus, we continue to watch capital goods imports to determine the direction of the capex trend,” Ms. Rasid said.

NEDA’s Mr. Pernia said that the effects caused by the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China are “beginning to show” through decreased global manufacturing sentiment, but remained hopeful on the country’s manufacturing sector. Of note, manufactured goods make up 84% of total exports.

“We are optimistic as we see a reduction of global oil prices, the recent cuts in electricity rates, and the lower import costs due to the appreciation of the peso,” said Mr. Pernia, adding that this resiliency may “find relevance” in attracting foreign investments as investors are seeking alternatives to China, where goods are subject to increasing US tariffs. — Lourdes O. Pilar

Senate leaders unconvinced extra powers needed vs traffic

September 11, 2019 | 12:30 am

By Charmaine A. Tadalan
Reporter

SENATE leaders remain unconvinced that the Executive branch needs emergency powers to solve worsening traffic in Metro Manila and other key urban centers, citing in a public hearing on Tuesday the Department of Transportation’s (DoTr) lack of a master plan.

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade asked Congress to grant the Executive emergency powers in order to hasten procurement, acquisition of right-of-way and implementation of priority projects. “Kung nagkaroon sana ng emergency powers noon, dapat ngayon nirerepaso na natin ‘yung nagawa (Had we been granted emergency powers before, we should now be reviewing what had been accomplished),” Mr. Tugade told the Senate Public Services committee.

The committee was tackling Senate Resolution No. 81, filed by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, which sought an inquiry on the government’s transportation master plan, and Senate Bill No. 213, or the proposed “Special Emergency Powers Act,” authored by Senator Francis N. Tolentino.

Mr. Recto, however, learned during the hearing that the government did not have a comprehensive plan. “I was hoping that there would be a presentation from DoTr kung ano talaga itong planong ito (on such a plan). Did we adopt this plan? Is it feasible, viable? Magkano ba? (How much would it cost us?)” he said. “Kung pinagkasunduan natin na ito ang gagawin natin, makikita natin kung kailangan ng additional power, emergency powers (Had we agreed on what needs to be done, we would have seen if we need additional power, emergency powers).”

Mr. Recto recalled that, in 2014, the National Economic and Development Authority and the Japan International Cooperation Agency drew up a “Dream Plan” to eventually ease traffic, but it was not adopted in full.

“Ang istraktura ba natin, ang (Are structures) institutions in place ay capable ba to implement this plan? Ang MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority), DoTr, DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) dahil lahat kayo ay nakatuon sa problema ng (because all of you are involved in) infra(structure), transport operations at traffic management,” he added, recalling that DoTR did not present any plan to the 17^th Congress that ended in June.

Transport expert Rene S. Santiago, who was among those who formulated the “Dream Plan,” volunteered to submit a master plan for the panel’s consideration. He noted that the government has been implementing select segments of the plan as well as other projects, and that these will have to be considered in any master plan.

“The construction of subway, the Mega Manila subway, the North-South commuter railway are part of that plan. The BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) is not,” he said. “Adjustments are acceptable, but if they change the whole behavior of the network, they change the integrity of the plan.”

Senator Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares, committee chairman, for her part, said the committee is still not convinced the government needs emergency powers.

“Kung naipresenta lamang nila na emergency powers lang ang makakapagbigay ng solusyon, mabilis pa sa alas quatro, lahat ng Senador papayag, kaso walang nakumbinsi sa mga kasama namin (If DoTr officials explain that it will take no less than emergency powers to solve traffic, all senators will agree to grant them, but none of us are convinced,” she told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday.

“Sa ngayon ang (For now, my) stand ko, marami silang nagawa dapat na kahit walang (is that DoTr should have achieved much even without) emergency powers.”

Technical working group meetings starting next week will finalize the committee report on the traffic crisis bill “within a month,” she added.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Aug. 21 hit an unnamed “lady” public official for preventing government from addressing traffic.

“Members of the Senate should consider the grant of emergency powers given that particular situation wherein even patients are dying because the ambulance carrying them could not reach the hospital on time,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday.

“Well, I think the position of the President remains: from the very start he wanted emergency powers to solve the traffic problem/mess but when some senators issued statements against it and insinuated that there might be some abuse of power, he said, “O sige, ‘di kayo na lang,(it’s up to you) at let EDSA rot’,” he added.

“In other words, the President wants to solve that and he really needs emergency powers. Now Secretary [Tugade] is pursuing it. But I understand some of the senators are for it, so let’s see how it goes.”

The proposed “National Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act” is among the proposals which 14 local and foreign business groups pitched to Malacañang and Congress in July.

In the 17^th Congress, the measure bagged final reading at the House of Representatives, but remained unacted on in the Senate up to the June 3 adjournment. — with Arjay L. Balinbin

On life and love with Company

September 11, 2019 | 12:06 am

BEING in your 30s means finding a partner, settling down, and having children. Or so they say. The expectations for people this age what Company: A Musical Comedy — the first of three Stephen Sondheim musicals to be staged in Metro Manila this year — revolves around.

Company, which will run from Sept. 13 to 22, is produced by Upstart Productions.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, the Tony award-winning musical follows 35-year-old Bobby, a bachelor who is unable to commit to a steady relationship or marriage. The story explores his relationships with his friends — five married couples and three girlfriends — through a series of short vignettes.

Actor and singer — appropriately with The CompanY — OJ Mariano takes on the role of Bobby. He shares the stage with his fellow The CompanY member Sweet Plantado-Tiongson who plays Sarah, one of Bobby’s many married friends.

Joining them in the cast are: Michael Williams, Cathy Azanza-Dy, Ariel Reonal, Nicky Triviño, Chino Veguillas, Bianca Lopez, Cathy Azanza-Dy, James Uy, Caisa Borromeo, Jill Peña, Maronne Cruz, and Upstart Productions’ artistic director Joel Trinidad.

The musical was first staged in the country by Repertory Philippines in 1997, with Cocoy Laurel as Bobby.

Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo is reprising her role she played in that first production — Joanne, a cynical woman who is on her third marriage with the understanding Larry. Joanne’s is the powerful song “Ladies Who Lunch,” first sung by comedienne Elaine Stritch.

“I was very happy when Topper asked me if I was willing to come back and do Joanne again because I felt when I did it in the ’90s, I was a little too young for it. I feel I can connect with the character more,” Ms. Lauchengco-Yulo said, during the press launch on Sept. 5 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Taguig City.

“Joanna is much older, and she’s been through several marriages. So, I understand what she’s going through more now,” she added.

“It’s basically about marriage, commitment, and friendships. It’s also about how relationships evolve over time. Everyone kind of goes through it,” director Topper Fabregas said of the story.

“When Stephen Sondheim writes his musicals, everything he writes has purpose — the way a song is written, the lyric[s] he says, and a fun part of the process is learning the music and trying to understand it and hoping that the cast understands it as well. So that the choices they make are from the evidence in the music,” musical director Rony Fortich said.

Company: A Musical Comedy runs from Sept. 13 to 22 at the Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, BGC Arts Center, Taguig City. Tickets are available through TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999). — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

MGB recommends lifting suspension of 2 mines

September 11, 2019 | 12:06 am

By Vincent Mariel P. Galang, Reporter

THE suspension of mining operations of two companies may soon be lifted, according to an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“’Yung sa [For] Zambales [Diversified Metals Corp. (ZDMC)] and Strong Built [Mining Development Corp. (SBMDC)], in particular, it’s already endorsed for lifting. ’Yung iba [For the others] we still have to evaluate whether they have complied with the corrective measures,” Analiza R. Teh, Environment undersecretary for climate change and mining concerns, told reporters on the sidelines of the Mining Philippines 2019 International Conference and Exhibition in Pasay City on Tuesday.

Ms. Teh said the regional offices of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) recommended the lifting of the suspension for the two mines.

ZDMC, whose mine is located in Sta. Cruz, is one of the mining units of Consunji-led DMCI Holdings, Inc. SBMDC is a Cebu-based mining company, whose site is located in MacArthur, Leyte.

As part of the mining audit last year, ZDMC and SBMDC were among the nine companies whose operations were suspended, while three other mining firms were ordered closed.

Ms. Teh said that as of August 2019, Claver Mineral Development Corp., Oriental Synergy Mining Corp., and Libjo Mining Corp., have filed appeals with the Office of the President. The mineral production sharing agreements of Claver and Oriental were canceled, while Libjo was suspended.

Berong Nickel Corp., Carrascal Nickel Corp. and Emir Mineral Resources Corp. have already had their suspension orders lifted.

However, Ore Asia Mining and Development Corp., Krominco, Inc., Mt. Sinai Exploration and Development Corp., Wellex Mining Corp., and AAMPHIL Natural Resources Exploration and Development Corp., are still complying with the DENR order.

Meanwhile, Ms. Teh noted that Indonesia’s possible ban on nickel ore exports will be an opportunity for the Philippines.

“Isang [That is an] opportunity iyon if Indonesia will ban their exports. That would be an opportunity for the Philippines to be the prime source,” she said.

On Sept. 2, Indonesia announced that it will bring forward its nickel ore export ban to Jan. 1, 2020 from 2022.

Data from the MGB showed that nickel ore production grew 3% to 11.306 million dry metric tons (DMT) in the first half of 2019. Major producers were Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. and Taganito Mining Corp., which produced 2.608 million DMT and 2.346 million DMT, respectively.

Ms. Teh said the real issue is how to ensure mining companies comply with environmental and safety standards.

“We need to develop public confidence in them. Talagang kaya ba natin ang [Can we really do] responsible mining? We are more focused on that. We would like to strengthen our monitoring and enforcement capabilities, so that we can really make sure that the mining companies will be able to comply with the provisions regarding the environmental requirements,” she said.

Viet Thanh Nguyen and understanding of two worlds

September 11, 2019 | 12:05 am

IT WAS between two or three in the afternoon in a hotel room in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Vietnamese American writer and professor Viet Thanh Nguyen was preparing for a book reading session at a local bookstore later that day. Everything was calm until a series of notification alerts filled the air.

“As I was writing e-mails, there were all these [gadget] beeps. I looked at my Twitter and Facebook feeds, and people were saying that I won the Pulitzer Prize,” Mr. Nguyen said, adding that he immediately called his publicist to confirm the announcement.

That day Mr. Nguyen had been awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his debut novel, The Sympathizer (2015).

Word must have spread quickly in Cambridge — Mr. Nguyen went to the local bookstore later that afternoon where he found more people than he expected lined up to listen to him and have their books signed.

Three years later, Mr. Nguyen found himself at the Raffles Makati as one of the guest authors invited to for writing and literature discussions and book signings at the 6^th Philippine Readers Writers Festival (PRWF) on Aug. 2-4.

At the hotel’s conference room reserved for media interviews on Aug. 3, the award-winning writer arrived holding a clear folder with his printed schedule. He referred to the list and told this writer that it is his 14^th interview since he arrived in Manila two days earlier.

It took a year for the reality of winning the Pulitzer Prize to sink in. Mr. Nguyen admitted that being a Pulitzer Prize winner is “very stressful.”

“I will carry this title for the rest of my life, so I better do something with it,” he said, referring to talking about pressing issues such as migration and refugee crisis. “For them (the readers of The Sympathizer), it was not just for me [but also] for all Vietnamese people and Asian-Americans. So I thought that was a tremendous obligation, to use the Pulitzer Prize for good.”

The Sympathizer tells the story of the Vietnam War narrated by a French-Vietnamese communist double agent and army captain who arrives in America after the fall of Saigon. While building a fresh start as a refugee in Los Angeles, he secretly reports back to his communist superiors in Vietnam.

Mr. Nguyen noted that giving a voice to a minority and an understanding of the Vietnamese point of view of the war and its effect on its people is was what led him to write the book.

“I think that being a refugee in the United States has defined my life. It’s the reason I came to the United States, and it’s an experience and identity that unifies me with other refugees,” he said.

The writer was just four when his family fled to the United States from southern Vietnam after Saigon fell in 1975 and the Americans fled the war-wracked country.

In an article published in the New York Times on April 2015 titled “Our Vietnam War Never Ended,” he wrote: “I was taken from my parents and put into a household of American strangers who were supposed to care for me while my parents got on their feet. I remember a small apartment, or maybe a mobile home, and a young couple who did not know what to do with me.”

Mr. Nguyen said, “Refugees now are a category of people that are oftentimes quite stigmatized. So it’s important for someone like me, who has been a refugee and still thinks of himself as a refugee, to write about these experiences and to form around them.”

THE MINORITY’S POINT OF VIEW
Immigrants and refugees, despite their similarity as populations that move from one country to another, are terms that should not be used interchangeably,” he told BusinessWorld.

“Immigrants choose to go. They choose when and where to go, while refugees don’t choose to go. They’re forced to go for a number of reasons. And they oftentimes don’t have much of a choice where they end up,” Mr. Nguyen said.

According to statistics from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there were 70.8 million people who “were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations” by the end of 2018. That was an increase of 2.3 million from the previous year.

Historically, refugees have fled because of war. “Refugee experiences have been fundamental to the 20^th century and now in the 21^st. Wars produce refugees,” Mr. Nguyen said.

Another dilemma they face is that they are expected to be grateful. “In the United States, Americans welcome immigrants and refugees and expect them to be grateful to be allowed into the country… and not to talk about the history that produced them.”

In 2017, Mr. Nguyen published his second piece of fiction titled The Refugees, a collection of short stories set in Vietnam and America. It is a way of giving a voice to the Vietnamese and Asian-American experience.

“Literature is a very individualistic pursuit. Books are oftentimes about individuals. So that can lead to writers thinking that the work of literature is purely about and by individuals. And that’s only half true. Because literature is also produced out of social context,” he said.

For The Refugees, Mr. Nguyen chose to tell diverse stories based on experiences of people of different gender, ages, and ethnicity.

“It’s a very human reaction to not think about that kind of issue. That is partly what arts and literature is supposed to do: tell the human stories,” Mr. Nguyen said.

“I believe that writers, whether they’re minorities or not, have the obligation to transform the world, not just through their literature, but also through their actions, and helping other writers,” he said.

The Sympathizer and The Refugees are available at National Bookstore for P769. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

BDO, Keppel Land bullish on PHL property market as The Podium opens

September 11, 2019 | 12:05 am

By Zsarlene B. Chua, Reporter

BDO Unibank, Inc. and Singapore’s Keppel Land Ltd., on Tuesday formally opened the office and retail mixed-use development The Podium in Ortigas business district, Mandaluyong City.

The Podium spans 140,000 square meters (sq.m.) in leasable area — 50,000 sq.m. of retail space and about 90,000 sq.m. of office space. The Podium mall first opened in 2002, while the second phase of the mall began operations in 2017. The 48-storey Podium West Tower was completed in May this year.

The mall serves as a podium for both the East Tower and the BDO Corporate Center Ortigas that opened in 2015.

Keppel Land, the property arm of Keppel Corp., holds a 40% stake in the development, while BDO and an associate company own the remaining stake. BDO is the banking unit of the SM Group.

The Podium’s grand opening was attended by Singaporean President Halimah Yacob who is currently on a five-day state visit.

“I would say that this is probably the biggest [investment in the Philippines] that we have but hopefully we can do more,” Tan Swee Yiow, chief executive officer of Keppel Land, told reporters on the sidelines of The Podium’s opening on Tuesday.

When asked why it took 17 years for the development to be completed, Mr. Tan said it was due to market conditions.

“We were talking about having this project 20 years ago, we were probably ahead of the market and we may not be able to find a good demand. So I think we timed the entry in such a way that the economy developed [to a] stage that is able to take such demands,” Mr. Tan explained.

The Podium was developed to make it look like a mixed-use development in Singapore because the developers wanted to “create a piece of Singapore here in the Philippines,” Teresita Sy-Coson, chairperson of BDO, said in her opening speech.

“This development is significant because it is here where we hope to connect the Singapore and Philippine companies, whether it’s through retail collaborations in the mall or looking for local-owned or representative office spaces… We would like to make things easier for Singaporean companies,” she said, before adding that more Singaporean companies are expressing interest in entering the country.

The Podium has a 2,000-sq.m. garden wall that has over 6,500 plants — described as the biggest vertical green wall in the country. It was awarded the LEED Gold Mark (Core & Shell) pre-certification by the US Green Building Council and received the Green Mark Gold Award by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore.

Aside from the Podium, Mr. Tan expressed interest in doing more mixed-use developments in the country.

“We are very strong in mixed-use developments and I find [that because] of the traffic conditions here, this is probably the one thing we can try to scale more. Of course we can also do a bit of residential and so on, but I think mixed-use is something we can experiment with a bit more,” he said.

He added that they plan on focusing on Metro Manila first before branching out elsewhere in the Philippines.

“[There’s no specific location] yet because to get a large-scale [plot of land] like this is not easy…we will continue to look for such opportunities,” he said.

In celebration of the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and the Philippines, Enterprise Singapore (a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry supporting small and medium enterprises) is staging Singaporium, a lifestyle and food pop-up fair at the mall’s atrium until Sept. 15.

Veterans join original cast members in the restaging of Himala: Isang Musikal

September 11, 2019 | 12:04 am

“NA-PARALYZE AKO (I was paralyzed).”

That was actress Sheila Francisco recalling her experience as an audience member watching Himala: Isang Musikal in 2018. “The truth of Himala was so real to me, that I could not stop sobbing,” she said.

“I think what Himala does is hit you in the face with what is real and what is happening. We are so desperate for answers. Then somebody just convinces us that this might be the way… ’Yun na kaagad ang pinanghahawakan natin. Nawala na yung questioning and looking for other possibilities (That’s what we hold on to right away. We miss out on questioning and looking for other possibilities),” she added.

This year, Ms. Francisco joins the cast as Nanay Saling, Elsa’s mother, in The Sandbox Collective’s collaboration with sister company 9 Works Theatrical’s restaging of Himala: Isang Musikal this month.

Based on the screenplay by Ricky Lee for the film directed by Ishmael Bernal which was released in 1982, Himala follows the story of a young woman named Elsa, who seems to develop miraculous healing powers after claiming to have seen the Virgin Mary, becoming in the process the savior of the people of the impoverished Barrio Cupang.

Directed by Ed Lacson, Jr. (who also designed the set), with music and lyrics by Vincent A. de Jesus, Himala: Isang Musikal won eight Philstage Gawad Buhay awards last March, including Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Musical, Outstanding Stage Direction for a Musical (Ed Lacson, Jr.), and Female Lead Performance in a Musical (Aicelle Santos).

AN OLDIE BUT GOODIE
Director Ed Lacson, Jr. admitted that he was one of the last people to be convinced to do a rerun. He prefers to call this restaging “a rediscovery.”

Mr. Lacson noted that the idea of blind faith is what makes the story continue to resonate with audiences.

“I think that’s still happening now — believing that one entity will solve all of our problems, when in fact, there is no easy solution to the problems we are facing,” he said at a press conference at the Privato Hotel in Quezon City on Aug. 27.

Screenplay writer Ricky Lee never expected the material to still be relevant today. “When I was writing it [for the film], I was not thinking about that. But it is reassuring and reaffirming to see that it has survived different governments and various generations,” Mr. Lee told BusinessWorld after the press conference.

“And at the same time, how sad, that the same problems are still here, and so we keep responding to the same problems up to now,” he added.

According to Mr. Lee, the story is based on an apparition of the Virgin Mary in Lubang, Occidental Mindoro in 1967, reported by a young lady named Belinda Villas. “She is still alive and she believes it up to now,” Mr. Lee told BusinessWorld.

OLD AND NEW CAST MEMBERS
Fresh from her West End debut as Gigi in Miss Saigon, Aicelle Santos reprises her role as Elsa. Philstage Gawad Buhay nominees, Kakki Teodoro and Neomi Gonzales both return to their roles of Nimia (a prostitute who is Elsa’s childhood friend) and Chayong (Elsa’s friend), respectively. David Ezra reprises his role as the troubled filmmaker, Orly, who documents the tale. Gawad Buhay and Aliw Award nominee Floyd Tena also reprises his role as the priest. Soprano and Ryan Cayabyab Singers (RCS) member Celine Fabie joins the cast and takes on the role of Elsa, alternating with Ms. Santos.

Returning to Barrio Cupang is actress and singer May Bayot-De Castro (who played Elsa in the 2003 original non-musical stage adaptation by Tanghalang Pilipino) in the role of Nanay Saling, Elsa’s adoptive mother, alternating with Sheila Francisco. Vic Robinson joins the cast in the role of Pilo, a suitor, alternating with Sandino Martin.

Joining the ensemble are Jon Abella (Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!), Pamela Imperial (Dani Girl), Red Nuestro (Ang Huling El Bimbo, All Out of Love), and Sean Inocencio (Miong).

Mr. Lee said that it is “exhilarating” for him as a writer to have witnessed the story undergo various adaptations. “Habang pinapanood ko (While I watch it) through its various permutations onstage, the characters stay the same. And at the same time, they are different every time,” Mr. Lee said about the approaches to the portrayal of his characters.

Himala: Isang Musikal runs on Sept. 20 to Oct. 20 at the Power MAC Center Spotlight in Circuit Makati. Tickets are available through TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999) and at The Sandbox Collective (0956-200-4909, 0917-554-5560, and 586-7105). — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

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