Panigan-Tamugan watershed management plan in the works, says Apo Agua

September 4, 2019 | 8:10 pm

A MANAGEMENT plan for the Panigan-Tamugan watershed, which is being funded by Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc., is in the works and expected to be released by next year. “What we are doing right now is do a baseline study on what’s there in Panigan-Tamugan watershed… plantations, what type of residents are there, if there are pineapple or banana plantations, are they using harmful pesticides, so that we can better asses on what’s going to the river,” said Apo Agua General Manager Cirilo C. Almario III. He added that they are also in the process of selecting consultants for the study. Apo Agua, a joint venture between Aboitiz Equity Ventures and J.V. Angeles Construction Corp., is constructing a P12.6 billion bulk water project with Tamugan River as source. The Panigan-Tamugan Integrated Watershed Management Plan is being undertaken in partnership with the Davao City Watershed Management Council (WMC) and distributor Davao City Water District (DCWD). WMC directed Apo Agua to undertake the study. Apo Agua broke ground for the bulk water project in November last year and is scheduled to start laying the pipeline network by October. The company is contracted by DCWD to deliver 300 million liters of water per day from the facility, which is expected to be operational by 2021. — Maya M. Padillo

Nationwide round-up

September 4, 2019 | 8:09 pm

Sotto raises constitutional question on SOGIE bill

THE PROPOSED Anti-Discrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression (SOGIE), could be considered a “class legislation,” making it unconstitutional, according to Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III. He told reporters on Wednesday that most senators prefer an all-encompassing anti-discrimination act that will cover other sectors. It would be better, he said, “If we will come up with the measure like the version of Senator (Juan Edgardo M.) Angara, which is anti discrimination generally, ‘wag mag-discriminate sa matanda, bata (no discrimination against the elderly, children).” The anti-discrimination bill on the table, he added, is “so concentrated sa (on) LGBTQI+.” Senator Risa N. Hontiveros, chair of the committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, defended that the bill is “hardly unconstitutional.” She said, “In the first place, hindi siya (it is not) class legislation dahil para s’ya sa lahat ng Pilipino, dahil bawat isa sa atin ay may (because it is for all Filipinos, because each of us has a) SOGIE.” The committee will be drafting its report for plenary consideration. Mr. Sotto said he doubts that it will pass plenary given that many are against the bill “the way it’s written now.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Bersamin on dismissed same-sex marriage case: Petitioner should have come in ‘proper vehicle’

CHIEF JUSTICE Lucas P. Bersamin on Wednesday explained that the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a petition seeking legalization of same-sex marriage was basically because there was “no case.” In a meet with the media, Mr. Bersamin said when the court junks a petition “out of technicality,” they are simply saying that petitioners should come in the “proper vehicle.” He noted that noted that the high court, in its ruling, did not resolve anything on the substantive issues. “(S)o try to understand that the Supreme Court is not technicality-based, it’s only enforcing its own rules… remember that in the Constitution, we are required only to handle actual cases or controversies,” he said. The chief justice said the petition would have been given more “justiciability” if the petitioner, lawyer Jesus Nicardo M. Falcis III, actually applied for a marriage license in the country. “If he had done that and his application would have been denied, it would have given more justiciability to his case,” Mr. Bersamin said. The decision, written by Associate Justice Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen, cited that Mr. Falcis lacked legal standing, violated the principle of hierarchy of courts and failed to raise an actual controversy. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Nation at a Glance — (09/05/19)

September 4, 2019 | 8:08 pm

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

DoF: 1st half underspending at 2% of GDP

September 4, 2019 | 12:33 am

LATE ENACTMENT of this year’s national budget cost an equivalent of two percent of overall economic output in terms of underspending last semester, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Delay in the passage by Congress of the 2019 budget weakened expenditures and the domestic economy,” the department said.

“National government underspending was estimated at around P178 billion… about two percent of first-semester nominal GDP (gross domestic product).”

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 but vetoed P95.3 billion in appropriations that he said were not in sync with his administration’s priorities, slashing the total to P3.662 trillion.

The delay prompted the Development Budget Coordination Committee in March to cut its 2019 GDP growth assumption to 6-7% from 7-8% originally.

The government spent 0.83% less at P1.59 trillion last semester from P1.604 trillion a year ago, as a 1.94% drop in primary expenditures — or net of interest payments — to P1.41 trillion from P1.438 trillion offset an 8.8% rise in interest payments to P180.1 billion from P165.5 billion.

Expenditure effort — or actual spending in relation to the program for the period — dropping to 18% last semester from 19.42% in last year’s first half “due to the reenacted budget,” the DoF said.

It was the first drop for first-semester disbursements since 2011 and was “a significant reversal from the 20.5% rise” in 2018’s first half, the department noted.

The government usually spends more in the first half, since storms and rains that occur in the second semester hinder infrastructure work.

Latest available data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed infrastructure and other capital outlays dropping by 11.7% to P311.4 billion last semester from P352.7 billion in 2018’s first half, and missing a P392.9-billion target for the period by 20.8%.

GDP grew by 5.5% last semester largely as a result of smaller state spending, and GDP growth will now have to average 6.5% this second half in order to hit the lower end of the official full-year target.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia had cautioned lawmakers of the House of Representatives in their first hearing on the proposed P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget last Aug. 23 that economic growth could fall below five percent next year — against a 6.5-7.5% official target — should national budget enactment be delayed again.

State spending catch-up was under way as of July, according to data the DBM released on Aug. 15, as state offices moved to make up for subdued expenditures for much of last semester. The department said then that while notice of cash allocation (NCA) — the authority the department gives to state offices to use cash allocated to them — dropped by 17% to P1.688 trillion as of July from P2.033 trillion in last year’s first seven months, and NCA used dipped 1.57% to P1.569 trillion from P1.594 trillion, NCA utilization actually improved to 93% from 78% in the same comparative periods.

“A catch-up program has been adopted by implementing agencies,” the DoF itself noted on Tuesday, adding that “[t]his will boost growth performance in the second semester.”

The drop in year-to-date state spending eased as of July, the Treasury bureau reported late last month. The government spent 0.11% less at P1.93 trillion as of July from P1.932 trillion in last year’s first seven months, with primary spending — or net of interest payments — contracting by 1.32% to P1.699 trillion from P1.721 trillion. — BML

Factories seen to face challenges

September 4, 2019 | 12:32 am

BUSINESS CONDITIONS for manufacturers in the Philippines can be expected to continue “modest” improvement in the face of an escalating Sino-US trade war that weighs on global growth prospects, a Cabinet official and private sector economists said on Tuesday.

The IHS Markit ASEAN Manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers index) for August that was released yesterday showed the Philippines — with its 51.9 headline reading — displacing Vietnam (51.4) to regain second place for the first time since February, falling right behind topnotcher Myanmar (52.0). ASEAN’s reading was 48.9 in August, compared to 49.5 in July, “signalling further deterioration.”

The PMI is made up of five indices: new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchases. PMI readings above 50 signal improvement in operating conditions from the preceding month, while those below that point denote deterioration.

The PMI is not comparable to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI), which is based on year-on-year changes in volume and value of production. The latest MISSI showed factory output — as measured by volume of production — dropping 9.6% last semester compared to 13.5% growth in 2018’s first half. The MISSI has been contracting since December last year.

Sought for comment, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said that resilient demand at home will support manufacturing. “The external economy is a small part of our total economy. ‘Yung domestic demand naman ang malakas (domestic demand is strong), so manufacturing is still expected to post modest growth,” Mr. Lopez said by phone. “Pag tumagal ‘yung (If the) global slowdown (persists), it might also affect later on ’yung performance din ng ating bansa (the performance of our economy).”

ING Bank NV Manila Branch senior economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in an e-mail that while “manufacturing geared towards exports may be vulnerable to the trade war… the PHL export sector has eked out a nice run of successive months of expansion as exports to the US picked up.”

Michael L. Ricafort, economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said slowing global economic and trade growth due to the escalating Sino-US trade war and uncertainties surrounding the United Kingdom’s impending exit from the European Union, as well as lingering effects of last year’s fast inflation and high inflation rates “partly slowed Philippine manufacturing, as… reflected in the slowdown of Philippine exports.”

At the same time, “[l]ocal manufacturing activities and growth could pick up in the coming months of 2019, as inflation has already eased significantly and long-term interest rates have already eased to new lows in 2-3 years, thereby [these factors] could encourage more borrowings with much lower financing costs and investments/capital formation for new manufacturing facilities and expansion projects,” Mr. Ricafort said in an e-mail.

Moreover, increasing state spending, “especially on infrastructure for the rest of the year — including catch-up spending [from a year-on-year drop last semester amid a three-and-a-half month delay in national budget enactment] — would also support faster growth in allied industries such as construction, materials and other manufacturing industries.

It will also help, however, that the government promptly enacts the proposed amendment to the country’s fiscal incentive package — which will remove tax perks deemed redundant and make such incentives timebound and performance based — in order to remove uncertainty on this matter that has been keeping prospective investors out.

Foundation for Economic Freedom President Calixto V. Chikiamco, in a Viber message, cited the need to resolve this uncertainty on the fate of tax incentives, as well as pending stricter rules on labor contracting. — B. M. Laforga with DAV

Mobile data growth forcing telecom operators to innovate

September 4, 2019 | 12:31 am

By Denise A. Valdez
Reporter

LYSANDER R. BAGUE, a supervisor at a children’s hospital in Quezon City, has mastered the art of chatting using Facebook Messenger. He instantly reaches the people in his life by sending messages to friends and making audio and video calls to his family using the app, which is powered by his mobile data subscription.

“I barely do regular voice calls or send text messages because I can do everything on Facebook,” he said in an interview.

“Most of the time, Messenger is my source of communication.”

Over-the-top messaging services — platforms that require only an Internet connection for communication — have been praised for the convenience they bring to customers.

But Facebook’s Messenger, Apple’s FaceTime, Rakuten’s Viber and Tencent’s WeChat have led to steep revenue declines in the legacy services of telecommunication companies, forcing them to adapt and make even more revenue by upgrading infrastructure, trimming costs and selling profitable fixed and mobile broadband services.

Last year, PLDT, Inc.’s mobile revenue from short message service or SMS dropped by 50% to P13.1 billion, according to the company’s financial statement. Revenue from mobile voice also fell by nine percent to P28.05 billion.

Mobile text revenue at rival Globe Telecom, Inc. likewise fell by eight percent to P21.28 billion, while sales from mobile voice declined by 6% to P30.35 billion during the same period.

DATA SHIFT
Now, the name of the game is mobile data, with both telephone companies experiencing healthy revenue growth from data services.

PLDT’s mobile data revenue jumped by 46% last year to P38.35 billion, tempering the drop in mobile voice and SMS sales.

For Globe, revenue from data services last year rose 28% to P55.3 billion, boosting consolidated mobile revenue to P106.93 billion, a 9% gain.

“People are shifting to data-based services, both for messaging as well as voice,” Globe Chief Revenue Officer Alberto M. de Larrazabal said in an interview.

“So the way to really look at it is one is rising, one is falling.”

The growth in data revenue from PLDT’s fixed and wireless business has “outpaced in excess of the decline” in legacy voice and SMS, PLDT Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund unit MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

The growth in mobile data revenue is forcing both companies to innovate further and harness its potential.

PLDT is allotting a record capital spending of P78.4 billion this year, while Globe is investing P63 billion, both aiming to support their network expansions.

“It’s a very capex-intensive thing simply because the data growth is very significant,” Globe President and CEO Ernest L. Cu said at a recent forum.

“Globe today can almost sell every gigabyte that we can produce, given the demand for video and social media.”

FULL POTENTIAL
PLDT is set to deploy its long-term evolution (LTE) network to more than 90% of the country by year-end, Mr. Pangilinan said.

“We should continue to improve our network, especially the coverage.”

The major telephone companies, however, have yet to maximize the potential of mobile data communications, according to Pierre Tito Galla, co-founder of internet advocacy group Democracy.Net.Ph.

“Despite the generally poor quality of service and relatively high cost of mobile data communications, subscribers are continuing to explore the various use cases that Internet access provides,” he said.

Mr. Galla also hinted at the possibility of “mobile data only” companies springing up, even if voice and SMS are unlikely to disappear completely. “Similar to AM radio, legacy mobile communications will continue to have their place in the bigger ecosystem,” he said.

SMS and voice mail remain relevant because everybody has them, and no proprietary service will ever match their universality.

Both PLDT and Globe have no plans of retiring legacy services soon.

“If you look at it, voice and SMS would have been assumed dead many years ago,” Globe Chief Finance Officer Rizza D. Maniego-Eala said.

“But the fact that it continues to generate a little bit contribution in revenue for us is a plus.”

There’s still a class of users that won’t give up calling, and Globe would like to keep tapping it, said Gil B. Genio, Globe’s chief technology and information officer.

“Voice interaction is a very human thing,” he said in an interview. “If you look at the retired people, they would rather talk.”

Mobile data segment outperforms legacy services

September 4, 2019 | 12:31 am

Local unit of Taiwan electronics firm revives IPO plan

September 4, 2019 | 12:30 am

By Arra B. Francia
Senior Reporter

CAL-COMP Technology (Philippines), Inc. has revived its plan to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in a bid to raise up to P10.68 billion in fresh capital within the year.

In a registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, the company said it will offer up to 371.42 million common shares with an over-allotment option of up to 55.71 million shares. The offer price may reach up to P25 each.

Projected funds under the revised application are bigger than the P6.77 billion the company initially sought to raise in 2018.

The local unit of Taiwan-based tech conglomerate New Kinpo Group (NKG) postponed its IPO scheduled for September 2018 due to volatile market conditions. At the time, the Philippine Stock Exchange index had entered bear territory, trading around the 7,200 level, 20% lower than its peak of 9,078 in January last year.

Cal-Comp Tech expects to conduct the offering from Nov. 4 to 11. Its shares will then be listed on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on Nov. 18 under the ticker CCPH.

The company looks to raise a net P8.805 billion from the offer, excluding the over-allotment option. Of this amount, P3.5 billion will be used to expand its facilities in Lipa, Batangas until 2024. About P2.7 billion will go to acquisition of production machineries in line with its plant expansion, while the rest will be for debt repayment, research and development, and working capital.

It hired BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and Maybank Kim Eng Securities Pte. Ltd. to be the transaction’s joint global coordinators and joint book runners, with the latter also acting as international lead underwriter.

Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners, Inc. and BDO Capital were also tapped as joint domestic lead underwriters.

Cal-Comp Tech started operations in the Philippines in 2012, offering global electronic manufacturing services and original design manufacturing services to its customers. It parent NKG was founded in Taiwan back in 1973, and also has operations in other Asian countries such as China, Malaysia and Thailand.

Sought for comment, Timson Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Jervin S. De Celis said the company may have been encouraged by Kepwealth Property Phils, Inc.’s (KPPI) IPO performance.

Shares in KPPI have steadily risen since its market debut, ending Tuesday at P11.22 each, about double its P5.74 IPO offer price.

“Our index is also not in a bearish phase and many second and third liners have been surging from the past few days which is a sign that investors are on risk mode despite the negative news that we get abroad, such as the trade war, inverted yield curve, etc.,” Mr. De Celis said in a mobile phone message.

Cal-Comp Tech could be the fourth company to go public this year, following KPPI and the scheduled IPOs of coconut product manufacturer Axelum Resources Corp. (P7.695) and home improvement supplies retailer AllHome Corp. (P20.7 billion) in October.

On the other hand, Del Monte Pacific Limited (DMPL) remains on wait-and-see mode for its prospective P17.55-billion IPO, initially scheduled in 2018.

“We are still monitoring market conditions,” DMPL Chief Corporate Officer Ignacio Carmelo O. Sison said in an e-mail when asked for an update on Del Monte Philippines, Inc.’s maiden share offer.

DTI slaps higher duties on imported cement

September 4, 2019 | 12:07 am

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has ordered the imposition of definitive general safeguard duty on imported cement for three years to prevent the “threat of serious injury” on local cement products.

“We are deciding on the imposition of definitive safeguard duty of P250 per MT (metric ton) or P10 per 40-kg (kilogram) bag for the first year of the implementation to encourage and challenge the local cement industries to be globally competitive,” the DTI said in a statement.

This amount is lower than the Tariff Commission’s recommendation to apply a safeguard duty of P297 per MT or P12 per 40-kg bag on imported cement, which it determined as a “like product” to domestic cement, or the Type 1 and Type 1P products.

The Tariff Commission also recommended the definitive safeguard measure be applied for three years, starting from the date the provisional measures took effect.

For its part, the DTI said the amount of safeguard duty will be reduced for the second and third years of the implementation.

“Thus, it is recommended that the amount of the safeguard duty be reduced to P9.00 per 40-kg bag for the second year and to P8.00 per 40-kg bag for the third year,” the department said.

“A yearly review shall be conducted to determine the appropriateness of the safeguard duty,” it added.

The DTI said it had taken into account public interest in the decision on whether to impose safeguard measures and has considered other factors that will assist the local industry and will benefit the consumers and end users.

“Likewise, the safeguard level aims to minimize the impact to prices for buyers and users while addressing the industry injury issue, while still encouraging local manufacturers to continuously pursue efficiencies to be more globally competitive,” it said.

Earlier this year, the DTI imposed a provisional safeguard duty of P210 per MT or P8.40 a bag, which will take effect until Sept. 10.

Under Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act of 2000, a provisional duty can be imposed by the DTI under “critical circumstances where a delay would cause damage which would be difficult to repair, and pursuant to a preliminary determination that increased imports are a substantial cause of, or threaten to substantially cause, serious injury to the domestic industry.”

While it is also mandated to protect consumers, the DTI said there is a need to balance this taking into account other sectors such as investors and industry which provide employment to Filipinos.

“If local manufacturers can adequately supply domestic requirements, they need to be provided a level playing field to enable them to compete with imports. This will allow expansion of the country’s manufacturing base and generate more jobs for Filipinos,” it said.

“Further, users of cement retain their option to choose between the local and imported cement since imports will still be allowed. The imposition of a safeguard measure is not expected to cause a shortage of cement in the domestic market considering that the cement manufacturers have sufficient capacity to meet domestic demand,” it added. — VVS

Liquidity, lending growth pick up in July

September 4, 2019 | 12:06 am

MONEY SUPPLY growth quickened slightly in July even as demand for credit weakened, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Tuesday.

Domestic liquidity or M3, the broadest measure of money supply in an economy, grew 6.7% year-on-year to P11.9 trillion, picking up from the 6.4% rise in June, latest BSP data showed.

Month-on-month, money supply increased 0.8%.

“Demand for credit eased slightly but remained the principal driver of money supply growth,” the BSP said in a statement.

Net claims on the central government contracted by 1.8% year-on-year, an improvement compared to the 3.9% year-on-year contraction in June. Meanwhile, domestic claims, which were mainly supported by the sustained growth in credit to the private sector, grew 5.7% in July, easing from 6.2% in June.

The central bank said loans for production activities continued to be driven by lending to key sectors such as real estate activities; financial and insurance activities; electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply; construction; and wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

Meanwhile, net foreign assets (NFA) in peso terms climbed 5.8% year-on-year in July, faster than the 5.3% logged in June.

“The BSP’s NFA position expanded during the month, driven by foreign exchange inflows coming mainly from overseas Filipinos’ remittances, business process outsourcing receipts, and foreign portfolio investments,” the central bank said explained.

On the other hand, the NFA of banks dropped as their foreign liabilities grew due to higher placements and deposits made by offshore banks with their local branches and other lenders.

“This increase in liquidity can be attributed to the recent monetary policy cuts. These cuts are meant to encourage economic activity that influences the rise of money supply,” UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in an e-mail.

The central bank has cut benchmark interest rates by a total of 50 basis points (bp) so far this year — by 25 bps each on May 9 and Aug. 8 — to 4.25% for the overnight reverse repurchase rate, 4.75% for overnight lending and 3.75% for overnight deposit, 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, banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRR) now stand at 16% for big banks and six percent for thrift banks after the phased 200-bp cut implemented after an off-cycle meeting last May. The RRR of rural and cooperative lenders was also cut to four percent from five percent effective May 31.

Reductions to lenders’ reserve ratios were estimated to have released some P200 billion of liquidity into the system.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno has hinted on further cuts to benchmark rates and big banks’ RRR within the year.

BANK LENDING PICKS UP
Meanwhile, bank lending picked up in July due to faster growth in credit to households, the BSP reported separately on Tuesday.

Outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks expanded 11.1% year-on-year in July, faster than the 10.5% growth in June. Inclusive of reverse repurchase agreements, bank lending growth rose 10.7% in July from 10.3% the previous month.

Production loans made up bulk of total credit, cornering a 87.6% share as the total grew 9.8% in July, steady from the previous month.

Construction loans continued to log the highest increase at 38.2%, followed by financial and insurance activities at 19.1%; real estate activities at 18.1%; electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply at 13.8%; and wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles at 4.5%, the central bank said.

Lending to other sectors also increased in July except those in other community, social and personal activities which dropped 41.3%, and professional, scientific and technical activities, which declined 36%.

Meanwhile, loans for household consumption grew 23% in July, faster than the 15.3% pace booked in June, on the back of an expansion in motor vehicle and salary-based general purpose loans.

“Going forward, the BSP will continue to ensure that the expansion in domestic credit and liquidity remains consistent with the BSP’s price and financial stability objectives,” the central bank said. — L.W.T. Noble

Blowing Bubbles

September 4, 2019 | 12:06 am

By Tesa Celdran

CLOUD CANYONS No. 31’s catalogue details read as:

David Medalla, B. 1942.

CLOUD CANYONS NO. 31, Plexiglas tubes, wood, fibreglass, water, soap and oxygenators; 254.2 by 199.5 by 199.5 cm. 100 by 78-1/2 by 78-1/2 in. (installation dimensions variable) Conceived in 1964 and executed in 2016

PROVENANCE The Artist, another vacant space, Berlin.

EXHIBITED, Lyon, 14^th Biennale de Lyon, 2017-18; Wakefield, The Hepworth Wakefield, Hepworth Sculpture Prize, 2016-17

David Medalla’s works have been shown and/or are in permanent collections in London, New York, Paris, Madrid, Queensland, Auckland, Munich.

Yet the artistic world of David Medalla has remained extremely remote from the Philippine audience. Only recently has an understanding of what is required to be an exemplar artist in the intimidating and complex world of art (international relationships of artists, collectors, museums, galleries, markets, auctions, fairs). David Medalla’s cofounding of Signals in 1960s London was considered a radical move because the gallery had taken its name from what was then a heavily criticized form of the avant-garde, kinetic art. This was a time and a place where the margins of modernism revolutionised the idea of art as so much more than a flat, disembodied filtering of time. That art can be and is a sensual three dimensional experience of science/technical and the aesthetic/magical. Moreover, Signals was a pioneer in featuring artists from as far as the Philippines, Venezuela, and Brazil. There is an underground brilliance when artists work together and inspire newer forms of expression.

Mr. Medalla’s recognition as a key Filipino artist falls short of the eminence he deserves. Being fortuitous as many in the art world know, can be fleeting. Happenstance can be just that, of a time and a place that can quickly be replaced or forgotten. David Medalla is 77 years old and has had two strokes as his partner/collaborator, Adam Nankervis relays, “Speaking is difficult for him now.” Mr. Nankervis explains that despite Mr. Medalla’s health difficulties, in the last three decades, such issues have not laid pause in his genuine consummate belief, almost unwavering obsession, in his art. Mr. Medalla’s art practice has spanned painting, sculpture, installation, kinetic and, performance art abroad (for most of his life) and still continues even as he resides now in Manila. When asked about Mr. Medalla’s current work, Mr. Nankervis replied, “he’s still painting, he still becomes extremely focused, even obsessed with work, that’s why we were a bit late to the reception,” confirming that what seemed like patterns on Mr. Medalla’s dress shirt were, in reality, paint stains.

Cloud Canyons No. 31, now permanently installed in the lobby of BDO Unibank, Inc.’s Corporate Center, deserves applause for laying circumstance to favor the Philippine audience in, finally, discerning for themselves the artistic world of David Medalla and Cloud Canyons No 31. The audience may be baffled, unsettled, even unsure of what to think and feel when viewing Cloud Canyons No. 31 as a progressive, seminal, and iconic artistic expression in the perplexing world of art.

Or such notions may be pushed aside leaving just the delight and childlike wonder of blowing bubbles.

A cue may be taken from Mr. Medalla himself during an intimate reception held by BDO Unibank, Inc. for the artist last Saturday, Aug. 31, where he playfully tossed the bubbles up in the air and blew into them (also, upon being handed a beverage by Mr. Nankervis, Mr. Medalla blew bubbles into the straw more than sipping the refreshment).

Whether confused or charmed, nonplussed or entranced, thrown or elated, we should act accordingly by graciously welcoming, both David Medalla and Cloud Canyons No. 31, home.

RLC to ramp up capital spending in second half

September 4, 2019 | 12:06 am

ROBINSONS Galleria South Mall recently opened in San Pedro, Laguna. — *COMPANY HANDOUT*

ROBINSONS Land Corp. (RLC) will ramp up its disbursement of capital expenditures (capex) in the second half of 2019, after spending less than half of its budget in the first semester.

In a presentation posted on its website, the Gokongwei-led property developer said it spent P9.38 billion in capex during the first six months of 2019. It committed to spend a total of P27 billion for the entire year, 15.8% higher than its P23.4-billion spending in 2018.

“(We) expect acceleration in capex spending in the next two quarters of 2019,” the company said.

The company is slated to complete the expansion of Robinsons Place Magnolia in Quezon City and Robinsons Starmills Phase 1 in Pampanga within the year. It recently opened Robinsons Galleria South Mall in Laguna, which already has an occupancy rate of 91.3%. This will bring RLC’s gross leasable area (GLA) to 1.569 million square meters (sq.m.)

RLC said its malls have a system-wide occupancy rate of 95%, with a network of over 9,000 retailers.

Under the office business, RLC will complete Cybergate Manila, Giga Tower in Pasig, and Luisita Two in Tarlac, to end the year with 588,000 sq.m. in GLA. Its 20 operating offices is 98% leased out.

RLC’s hospitality segment will also see the opening of Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu, Summit Naga, and Summit Greenhills. It will have a total of 3,248 rooms by the end of the year, 19% higher than the 2,736 rooms it had in 2018.

The company’s hotel brands include international names Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Dusit Thani, and homegrown Summit and Go Hotels.

Meanwhile, the residential unit booked P9.7 billion in reservation sales for the first half, 30% higher year on year, on account of three project launches worth P12.67 billion in sales.

Its residential project in China’s Wuhou District with a total land price of P9.63 billion has also been sold out as of March.

The company is also set to complete the construction of a warehouse facility in Laguna with a GLA of 35,000 sq.m. This is its second industrial project following its warehouse in Muntinlupa City, covering 33,000 sq.m. GLA.

RLC said it will continue to scout for strategic land bank across the country. It currently has 766 hectares of land valued at P44.48 billion, bulk of which are in Luzon.

The company’s net income attributable to the parent climbed 20% to P4.01 billion in the first half of 2019, following a 13% increase in revenues to P14.786 billion.

Shares in RLC fell 4.14% or P1.05 to close at P24.30 each at the stock exchange on Tuesday. — Arra B. Francia

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