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BSP tightens capital infusion rules

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
THE CENTRAL BANK has set stricter rules for lenders in choosing strategic investors, as the regulator raised standards on pledges for additional capital.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued Circular 1002 dated May 10, which tightens standards for banks in declaring capital infusions from third party investors (TPIs).
BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier said the new guidelines are meant to ensure the commitment of strategic investors in pouring fresh funds into a lender.
“The crucial part here is: at what point will the investment being made by those TPIs would already be considered as capital of the bank?,” Ms. Fonacier said in an interview when asked to explain the revised rules.
The provisions are specifically important for banks who are in need of bigger capital as prescribed by the central bank, especially distressed banks who are facing regulatory sanctions.
“The tendency is that a bank needing capital will just inform the BSP that they have a TPI, then the TPI will say ‘yes, I’m willing to be an investor of that bank.’ The mere signifying of interest is not sufficient,” Ms. Fonacier added.
“There should really be a concrete action on the part of that particular investor. When you say concrete, to show your commitment is to have an escrow account that is intended really to infuse [capital]. It’s ready, not just a promise.”
The circular requires the submission of documents like escrow deposits as well as certificates that indicate that a TPI’s committed investments are available for the said purpose. This should illustrate the investor’s commitment to bring in additional funding, Ms. Fonacier said.
“In this regard, it is understood that mere submission to Bangko Sentral of a TPI’s Letter of Intent to invest in the bank shall not be considered sufficient action to address the bank’s capital deficiency,” the issuance read, as signed by BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr.
The changes come as higher capital and liquidity requirements required of universal and commercial banks are set to be in full swing next year in compliance with the Basel 3 framework.
Currently, big players are now building up their capital base through stock rights offerings, medium-term notes and deposit certificates, among others.

Yanny or Laurel? Soundbite sparks Internet din

WASHINGTON — An audio snippet with just two syllables has ignited an Internet meltdown, dividing social media users into staunchly opposed camps: do you hear “Yanny” or “Laurel?”
The collective sensory experiment causing a Twitter tizzy mushroomed from a short audio clip originally published by a high school student on Reddit, The New York Times said Wednesday.
Roland Szabo, 18, said he recorded the seemingly innocuous audio from a vocabulary website while doing a project for his school in the US state of Georgia. He played it for his peers, who disagreed over whether the syllables formed “Yanny” or “Laurel.”
Intrigued, Szabo sent it to a friend who posted the clip on Instagram and created a poll that quickly went viral, triggering a mass debate that has spread internationally.
Input from celebrities has inflamed the frenzy: “It’s Yanny,” horror writer Stephen King said in a deadpan tweet.
“It’s so clearly laurel,” quipped supermodel Chrissy Teigen. “I can’t figure out how one would hear yanny.”
In perhaps the most vexing element of the debate, the majority of listeners hear beyond doubt one of the two words, with few waffling between the two.
Others hear only laughter.
The US Department of Defense made light of the controversy on its Twitter account, with a photo of a US Marine Corps instructor berating a recruit: “I said it’s #Yanny, recruit, not #Laurel!”
Circulating elsewhere on the Internet was the line: “Man Calls Girlfriend ‘Yanny’ During Sex, Swears He Said ‘Laurel.’”
A straw poll carried out among staff in AFP’s Washington bureau counted 17 for Yanny, and 14 for Laurel. Just three were caught in between — hearing first one, then the other when played again, or a mix of the two sounds.
BRAIN GAME
Poppy Crum, chief scientist at Dolby Labs in San Francisco, said the environment in which one listens, including whether headphones or a speaker are used, affects the intensity of the frequencies, and hence what one hears.
“When there is more energy towards the mid and higher frequencies, people tend to hear ‘Yanny.’ When the low frequencies are more emphasized, people will hear ‘Laurel,’” Crum said.
She added that our brains want to “categorize” the elements of speech when they are ambiguous, as in this case passing them either into the “Laurel” box or “Yanny” box.
In addition, perception can be influenced by multiple factors such as age, sex or native language of the listener, she explained.
“There really isn’t a true reality, there is only our perceptual reality,” Crum said.
Jody Kreiman, Professor of Head and Neck Surgery and Linguistics at UCLA, said listeners would normally have “semantic context” to interpret what they are hearing.
“But in this case we have an isolated sound with no context,” forcing people to rely on a variety of other factors such as voices they’ve listened to recently.
The controversy recalls the similarly impassioned debate that broke out over the #TheDress: in 2015 a photo of a two-toned frock had social media users tearing their hair out over whether its colors were white and gold, or black and blue.
The audio clip causing Internet dissonance can be heard here: https://twitter.com/CloeCouture/status/996218489831473152. — AFP

ILO finds transition to green economy to create new jobs

A NEW REPORT by the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that the transition to a greener economy could generate 24 million jobs in a span of about a decade, with Asia and the Pacific seen to have the highest level of job creation at 14 million.
According to the report, “World Employment and Social Outlook 2018: Greening with Jobs,” action to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius will result in sufficient job creation to more than offset the expected job losses of 6 million in traditional energy sectors.”
The global findings also showed that, of 163 sectors analyzed, “only 14 will suffer employment losses of more than 10,000 jobs worldwide. Only two sectors, petroleum extraction and petroleum refining, show losses of one million or more jobs.”
On the other hand, “2.5 million jobs will be created in renewables-based electricity, offsetting some 400,000 jobs lost in fossil fuel-based electricity generation,” the report also concluded.
The report also found that “6 million jobs can be created by transitioning towards a ‘circular economy’ which includes activities like recycling, repair, rent and remanufacture — replacing the traditional economic model of “extracting, making, using and disposing.”
In Asia and the Pacific, the report said economic growth remains linked with greenhouse gas emissions. “Environmental degradation is further exacerbated by the high volume of extraction; the region was responsible for 55% of the 84 gigatons of materials extracted globally in 2013 (including freshwater and raw materials),” the report said.
The report further noted: “Heat stress is another concern, as rising temperatures impact the health of workers and reduce worker performance. Southern Asia could face productivity losses equivalent to 4.8%, corresponding to around 40 million full-time jobs as a result of rising temperatures. Agriculture workers will be the most affected.”
Sought for comment, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said in part that it “fully supports the transition to a green economy.”
“The DENR Administrative Order No. 2017-08 provides the guidelines for the transition of the agency’s programs and projects to ‘green economy models’ or GEMs where community members create sustainable goods and services for the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems. It aims to create viable community enterprises where households are the focal members and players in creating value-added environmental products and services, and accelerate the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems,” the DENR also said in its e-mailed response, adding that the order “is pursuant to Republic Act No. 10771 or the Philippine Green Jobs of 2016.
“Among the development and rehabilitation activities to be undertaken under the GEMs are the Enhanced National Greening Program with focus on the expansion of bamboo and mangrove plantations, the biochar program, the Sustainable Coral Reef Ecosystems Management Program, the Coastal and Marine Environment Program, and the National Ecosavers Program. Other activities include ecotourism, mining rehabilitation, pollution mitigation and bioremediation,” DENR said further.
“GEMs are open to all interested households located within and adjacent to existing and potential project sites, as well as organized community enterprises composed of grouped households who are interested in various development and rehabilitation projects of the DENR. Under the GEMs, participant member households will get the chance to have tenurial rights and access to all DENR-controlled resource-based programs and projects,” DENR also said. — Gillian M. Cortez

PSBank income climbs

PSBank
PHILIPPINE SAVINGS Bank saw its net income grow 25% to P641.1 million in the first quarter.

PHILIPPINE Savings Bank (PSBank) booked a double-digit income growth in the first quarter on the back of strong revenues.
In a disclosure to the local bourse on Thursday, the thrift banking arm of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. said its net profit grew 25% to P641.1 million in the January to March quarter from the P511.1 million tallied in the same period last year.
PSBank attributed the results to “strong revenues, composed of net interest margin and other operating income.”
The bank’s total operating income was at P3.7 billion last quarter, a 15% jump from the P3.2 billion logged a year ago.
PSBank’s loan portfolio grew 11.7% to P149.2 billion, supported by its consumer loan business.
As a result, net interest income improved by 10.4% to P2.9 billion from last year’s P2.6 billion, according to the lender’s separate quarterly report.
The pickup in lending came alongside deposit growth, rising 9.2% to P186 billion.
PSBank’s income from service fees and commissions rose 8.4% to P362.2 million last quarter from the P334 billion logged in the comparable year-ago period.
Other operating income, meanwhile, jumped 77.8% to P406.8 million from last year’s P228.8 million.
Overall, PSBank’s total resources expanded 9.4% year-on-year to P224.8 billion.
“The improvement in our performance this quarter is a result of the year-on-year momentum brought about by our strategy to focus on exceptional customer experience, digitization of products and channels, and automation of backroom processes,” Jose Vicente L. Alde was quoted as saying in a statement.
“These resulted to an expansion of our market stronghold and good bottom line performance.”
The lender’s net interest margin was at 1.52% as of end-March, slightly down from 1.53% in the same period last year.
Its capital adequacy ratio and common equity Tier 1 ratio, on the other hand, were at 13.75% and 11%, respectively.
PSBank shares closed at P86.60 apiece on Thursday, down 10 centavos or 0.12%. — K.A.N. Vidal

Phinma Petroleum withdraws from Leyte exploration project

PHINMA Petroleum and Geothermal, Inc. (PPG) has withdrawn from a service contract that sought to explore the possibility of geothermal energy in Leyte, the company told the stock exchange on Thursday.
The energy exploration company, a unit of Phinma Energy Corp., said it would recognize a loss of P32.7 million for the write-off of its share in expenditures incurred so far in Service Contract No. 51 (SC 51) in Eastern Visayas.
“This is equivalent to 22% of the Company’s total assets as of March 31, 2018,” the company said.
PPG has also informed the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday that it had notified the Department of Energy (DoE) of its withdrawal from SC 51.
The company has a 6.67% participating interest in SC 51, but the stake could have been adjusted to 33.34% upon the DoE’s approval of the withdrawal of its original operator Otto Energy Investment Ltd., a unit of Australia-listed Otto Energy Ltd.
Otto Energy on May 5, 2014 notified PPG and the other partners in the consortium that it had elected to withdraw from SC 51, a move which is subject to DoE approval.
On June 28, 2014, the Filipino partners requested the DoE to suspend exploration for a phase of the project from the date of Otto Energy’s withdrawal and until the approval of the company’s participating interest to the locals.
In March and December last year, the Filipino partners reiterated their intent to carry on with the exploration of SC 51. They further signed a deed of undertaking to pay the outstanding financial obligation of Otto Energy amounting to $124,763.
Otto Energy started in April 2012 a 100-kilometer seismic program in the town of San Isidro, Leyte to pick the optimum location for the drilling of exploration block’s prospect. — Victor V. Saulon

Marvel icon Stan Lee in $1-B lawsuit against the company he started

LOS ANGELES — Comic books legend Stan Lee is suing the entertainment company he cofounded for damages topping $1 billion, accusing bosses of trying to steal his image, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and published by several US entertainment media outlets, alleges that POW! Entertainment CEO Shane Duffy and cofounder Gill Champion failed to fully disclose to Lee details of the firm’s 2017 sale to Camsing International.
The entertainment icon contends that they took advantage of him at a time when he was despondent over the death of his wife Joan and suffering from macular degeneration, a condition affecting the eyes.
The 95-year-old co-creator of many superhero characters, including Black Panther and Spider-Man, alleges he was duped into signing a fraudulent agreement that gave POW! exclusive rights to his name, identity and likeness.
According to the lawsuit, Lee was unable to read the document due to his eye condition, and he doesn’t remember anyone reading it to him, suggesting that his signature may have been forged, copied or induced.
“In addition, POW! took control of Lee’s personal social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, thereby impersonating Lee before a combined 15 million followers worldwide,” the complaint reads.
There has been no response from POW! Entertainment to the lawsuit. But in April, the company issued a statement expressing concern for Lee amid reports that he was the victim of elder abuse.
“We at POW! Entertainment take great pride in our continuing work to create exciting new Stan Lee content and characters as well as safeguarding the legacy of the greatest storyteller of our time,” the statement said.
“We are also fans and share the heartfelt admiration and love of the community who have voiced their sincere concern for Stan’s well-being.”
There were more negative headlines when it emerged last month that Lee was being sued by massage therapist Maria Carballo for sexual assault and battery. She accuses him of inappropriate touching and misconduct during two sessions last year in Chicago.
Lee’s attorney Jonathan Freund has denied the allegations to the Chicago Tribune newspaper.
Lee has faced a similar claim before. In January, the Daily Mail reported on allegations of sexual assault and harassment by nurses who cared for Lee at his Los Angeles home.
Lee’s representatives denied those allegations. — AFP

Goldman aims to preserve pre-IPO culture, even as partnership dwindles

WASHINGTON — Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has launched a global training initiative to safeguard the tight-knit culture it developed as a private partnership, even as the bank marks its 19th year as a publicly traded company.
Bank leaders, including Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein and his deputy, Chief Operating Officer David Solomon, have been anchoring 2-1/2-hour sessions with managers across the globe since September, focused on improving culture and employee conduct, executives involved with the effort told Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.
Since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, regulators have put a strong emphasis on improving corporate culture and employee behavior in a bid to reduce risk across the system.
Some 2,500 employees are expected to participate in the mandatory exercise known internally as the “Chairman’s Forum” by the time it concludes later this year, the executives said.
The sessions recreate everyday workplace scenarios to encourage senior staff to think about how they should behave when faced with tough decisions and conflict, including with respect to client transactions. Stephen Scherr, CEO of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, which houses the bank’s consumer and corporate lending businesses, has led two of the gatherings so far.
Instilling uniform cultural values has gotten more difficult as Goldman has grown from the private firm with 5,000 employees Scherr joined in 1993 to the global banking institution with 30,000 employees that it is today, he said.
“When I look back over 25 years, I don’t think the themes that are being covered in these more organized sessions are frankly very different than those that were pervasive early on,” said Scherr. “What has changed is that at a purely practical level we’re a much bigger organization.” Goldman Sachs listed on the New York Stock Exchange in May 1999.
The bank has maintained its partnership program, but partners now represent less than 2% of total staff.
Goldman took a hard look at its culture following the financial crisis, when its image was tainted by claims it misled investors over profitable mortgage trades and a former employee who wrote a book accusing bank executives of calling clients “muppets.”
Following that review, an internal committee released a report in 2013 reiterating a set of core business principles established by former CEO John Whitehead that focused on integrity, trust and putting clients first.
The training sessions build on that effort, especially as Blankfein enters his 13th year as CEO and prepares to eventually hand the reins over to Solomon.
Goldman executives said they are trying to make the training sessions relevant to real situations managers encounter. Sessions begin with video case studies that lead to interactive group discussions.
Blankfein makes an appearance at the start of each session by video, telling managers to foster a culture in which employees see it their “individual responsibility to raise issues that they are worried about.” — Reuters

Best superhero movie of the year


By Noel Vera
Video Review
Psychokinesis (Yeom-Iyeok)
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho
Netflix
I KNOW, I know, I know, I know — if you’re sick of the genre as I am you probably don’t want to hear about yet another super-powered protagonist, let alone the first ever to come out of South Korea.
Yet I think Yeon Sang-ho’s Psychokinesis (Yeom-Iyeok, 2018) is different. Or different enough to be worth a look.
Lemme tell you first what the movie’s not: it’s not an overblown, overproduced, overlong megaproduction with over a dozen hyperjuiced characters battling over the fate of the world; it does not feature smart-alecky dialogue expertly designed to defuse skepticism and cynicism by adopting its own skeptical cynical attitude (the movie is committed to its own cheesiness); and it’s not stuffed to the gills with state-of-the-art digital effects (the effects — when they’re not blessedly practical — are barely passable, as if the filmmakers had other priorities than making their work look professionally slick).
What it is is a parable of failed fatherhood seeking redemption. Seok-heon (Ryu Seung-ryong) walked away from his wife and child years ago; he’s even come up with an explanation for his act, thinking they wouldn’t want to be associated with a loser like him. The past few years he’s worked as a security guard, supplementing his meager income with a little theft on the side; along the way he sips from a mountain spring enriched by Essence of Meteorite, and somehow gains telekinetic powers.
The first time Seok-heon hears from his estranged (now full-grown) daughter Roo-mi (Shim Eun-kyung) she’s doing well: she and her mother have developed a particularly tasty Korean fried chicken (KFC — a thing in Korea that has apparently spread worldwide), and their hole-in-the-wall has grown into a popular local draw. Unfortunately, a gang-affiliated construction company wants to buy the store’s location cheap for its own large-scale office development project; while defending their little eatery against an assault by hired thugs, Roo-mi’s mother is killed. Which is how Seok-heon got updated on his daughter’s life: she felt he at least deserved a call, if little else.
Does Seok-heon use his newfound powers to defend Roo-mi’s tiny establishment against corporate greed? Not really — when father and daughter attend a neighborhood association meeting in response to the recent violence, Seok-heon’s advice is to not risk their necks and just leave; he’s just conceived the idea of supporting them both by using his powers to perform onstage magic tricks, and to hell with the others. The man means well but his thickheadedness becomes a constant source of frustration for Roo-mi.
Seok-heon eventually gets the message: Roo-mi is serious about defending her little chicken joint; the message hits home especially hard when it dawns on him that idealistic lawyer Kim Jung-hyun (Park Jung-min) — who provides the neighborhood association with free legal advice — may be in love with his daughter. Seok-heon has landed himself in a situation many a wayward dad may find familiar: he has to earn back his daughter’s trust by being more enthusiastic about her cause than her wannabe boyfriend, at same time he has to re-establish his role as father and guardian when there’s already a potential rival in the horizon (which brings to mind a popular online meme “Rules to Remember When Dating My Daughter No. 9: I’m Not Afraid to Go Back in Jail.”)
The movie has its share of digital and practical SFX but easily the single most effective effect is Ryu Seung-ryong’s face as Seok-heon, Roo-mi’s father. Where most superheroes are boyishly pretty or craggily heroic — at most sporting a goatee or the odd mustache — Seok-heon’s face is nakedly, unrelievedly commonplace, with jowls that lend him a melancholy Droopy Dog expression. He’s about as far from a superhero as one can possibly imagine with all the accompanying human vices, from pride to greed to cowardice (Though strangely not lust — the only woman in his life apparently is Roo-mi). Unlike, say, a Henry Cavill or a Chris Evans, his demeanor does not immediately suggest courage or confidence; he has to grow into the role painfully, in fits and starts.
Also love the movie’s villain (skip the next two paragraphs if you plan to watch!). When we first meet the construction gang it’s being led by President Min (Kim Min-jae), an odious corporate suit whose swagger is easy to loathe; turns out that behind Min is the more highly placed Director Hong (Jung Yu-mi) — a hilariously foulmouthed, unpredictable charmer who acts the perfect luncheon host one moment, and morphs into gleeful sociopath the next.
For all its virtues, the movie is hardly an example of elegant storytelling — the implied rivalry between Seok-heon and his wannabe son-in-law is never really developed; we fail to see the promised confrontation between the two most significant male figures in Roo-mi’s life. Likewise Director Hong is presented as a more prosperous alternative daughter to the stubborn Roo-mi (Hong is, in effect, Roo-mi with an unlimited credit line and absolutely no moral inhibitions whatsoever) and that possibility is barely even suggested before it’s summarily dropped.
But who cares? What matters is that Yeon Sang-ho (who also directed the underrated zombies-on-rails thriller Train to Busan) drags the superhero and his overblown adventures back down to Earth where they firmly belong, his characters flawed and believable, his villains funny and unpredictable, his tragicomic adventures human and modestly scaled. Best superhero movie of the year — of the past several years? Absolutely.

A buffet of fitness


By Michelle Anne P. Soliman
Fitness event
FitCon MNL|5
May 18 to 20
Green Sun Hotel,
Chino Roces Ave. Ext.,
Makati City
HEALTH AND FITNESS programs, sessions on the new physical exercises, and workshops on fitness entrepreneurship come together in the rebranded FitCon MNL|5 this weekend at Green Sun, Makati City.
The fitness event organized by Dynamic Duo — founded by Rica Rodriguez and Divine Masinsin — returns for its second year with new activities for athletes, coaches, instructors, and fitness enthusiasts.
Over 60 workshops and 28 master classes facilitated by 15 experts from around the globe will be held during the three-day event. The activities include sessions on nutrition, sport science, the business of personal training, physique transformation, cooking healthy, more efficient workouts and sports practices, and workout programs for special populations. Three keynote speakers — Philippine fitness icon Vivian Zapanta, author and diet coach to the stars Nadine Tengco, and Glenn Ang, founder/director of RAW Active Singapore — will conduct workshops.
An expo hall will also be open to the public for the first time. It will highlight the latest trends in the industry. The hall’s activity center will showcase hourly master classes on bodyART, bosu, kamagon, piloxing, stott pilates, surge, TriggerPoint foam rolling, yoga, and Zumba. Participants may opt to attend on all days, specific days, or specific classes or workshops.
With over a decade of experience in the fitness industry of the United Arab Emirates, Ms. Rodriguez and Ms. Masinsin aim to share their knowledge with their countrymen. “We’ve been to fitness conventions around the world and they’ve always taught us so much for us to use in our careers,” Ms. Rodriguez was quoted as saying in a press release. “We wanted to bring the same to the Philippines and see the local fitness industry become globally competitive,” she said.
“Every year, there’s a new exercise or a breakthrough in sports science. Constantly learning and upskilling is necessary for anyone in the industry if you don’t want to get left behind,” Ms. Masinsin said in the press release.
There are many misconceptions about health and fitness. “People think they need to look good before they can be fit. That’s a big misconception. When we say fit, we want you to be fit for you,” Ms. Rodriguez said during a press conference at Kerry Sports Manila in Shangri-La The Fort, Taguig. Ms. Masinsin added that it is wrong to think that one has to “die in the gym” to keep fit. “The reason why you’re working out is because you want to live outside,” she said.
Ms. Rodriguez noted that not only diet and weight loss but also cardiovascular fitness and methods for living better that should be considered when it comes to fitness. She said that the main idea behind FitCon MNL|5 is to help participants learn how to take care of themselves, how to live properly, learn about nutrition and discover which routines and workouts are effective for each individual.
This year, FitCon MNL|5 will be held in partnership with TV5 in spreading awareness of the local fitness industry as well as educating the public about health and wellness. “Even if the event is only once a year, we are trying to get as much information as possible so that we can disperse it to the members of the communities in the Philippines that are affiliated or want to get into sports and fitness,” ESPN 5 anchor Amanda Fernandez said at the press conference.
For more information on schedules, workshops or for other inquiries, visit www.fitconmnl.com, e-mail info@dynamicduoinc.com or leave a message on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/FitConMNL/.

How PSEi member stocks performed — May 17, 2018

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, May 17, 2018.

What to see this week

5 films to see on the week of May 18-25, 2018

Deadpool 2


WISECRACKING mercenary Deadpool joins forces with three mutants — Bedlam, Shatterstar and Domino — to protect a boy from the all-powerful villain. Directed by David Leitch, the film stars Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennizon, Zazie Beets, and T.J. Miller. The film garnered a score of 86% on the Rotten Tomatoes film aggregate site. The Washington Post’s Michael O’Sullivan writes: “It is a fairly brilliant sendup of comic-book action movies, as well as also being an excellent example of one.” The Chicago Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper opines: “Deadpool 2 is wicked, dark fun from start to finish, with some twisted and very funny special effects, cool production elements, terrific ensemble work — and for dessert, perhaps the best end-credits ‘cookie’ scene ever.”
MTRCB Rating: R-16

Early Man


FROM NICK PARK — the creator of Wallace and Gromit — comes this animated comedy set in the prehistoric times about a tribe of displace primitive hunters who challenge the invading bronze-makers to a soccer game in hope to win back their home. The film features the voices of Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall, and Richard Ayoade. The Atlantic’s David Sims writes, “It’s just about the biggest cliché one could imagine for a British animated feature. And yet like any Park film, it’s pretty charming, the kind of kids movie that finds the right mix of slapstick humor and intelligent storytelling to keep everyone in the audience happy.”
MTRCB Rating: PG

Terminal


ASSASSINS are out on a sinister mission; a sick teacher; an enigmatic janitor; a troubled waitress — lives intertwine in this tale of a mysterious criminal mastermind bent on revenge. Directed by Vaughn Stein, the film stars Margot Robbie, Mike Myers, Simon Pegg, and Matthew Lewis. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers gives the movie zero stars and writes, “There isn’t a single spark of originality in this whole pointless exercise in neon-lit nilhilism.” And yet, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper writes that “it’s one fantastically loopy journey. This is a highly stylized, beautifully photographed and seriously weird noir mystery.” Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 24% rating.
MTRCB Rating: R-16

Home Invasion (a.k.a. Keep Watching)


INTRUDERS force a family to play “Kill. Or be Killed.” The family then realize that the game is being streamed live worldwide. Directed by Sean Carter, the movie stars Bella Thorne, Chandler Riggs, Natalie Martinez, Ioan Gruffud, and Matthew Willig. Todd Gilchrist of BloodyDisgusting.com writes, “At barely 90 minutes, Keep Watching is thankfully brief, hustling through its expository introduction towards some empty suspense and poorly photographed violence.”
MTRCB Rating: R-13

Kasal


AS STAR CINEMA’s 25th anniversary movie, Kasal centers on public school teacher who questions her decision to marry a candidate for mayor in Cebu. Then, her ex returns in the province wanting her back. Directed by Ruel S. Bayani, it stars Bea Alonzo, Paulo Avelino, and Derek Ramsay.
MTRCB Rating: PG

Agri-agra reforms pushed

farmers
Farmers walk along the slopes of fields with their harvests. — AFP

THE CENTRAL BANK is backing proposals to amend a law setting credit quotas for the farming sector amid poor compliance, as it eyes to accommodate infrastructure financing and other alternatives in order to boost lending.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier said authorities are wrapping up a study towards increased compliance with the Republic Act 10000 or the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act, as well as other modes of credit that will boost banks’ compliance with the required lending.
Signed in 2010, the law mandates banks to allot at least 10% of total loanable funds for agrarian reform beneficiaries, and 15% for farmers and fisherfolk.
Banks only extended a total of P573.7 billion in agri-agra loans in 2017, just half the P1.034 trillion they should have lent to the sector, according to BSP data.
The Agri-Fisheries Alliance yesterday called for reforms in agricultural credit, with sector leaders asking for greater flexibility on lending to allow greater agri-financing. Among their proposals include lumping the agri-agra lending provisions into a 25% blanket requirement for lending to agriculture, which they said will provide more leeway for banks to help out the sector.
Ms. Fonacier said the central bank is in favor of such proposals, adding that there could be other forms of lending which may be deemed compliant with the provisions of the law.
“There may be investments in strategic areas like infrastructure and farm-to-market roads [which may be considered]… BSP welcomes that kind of idea as it will also help banks comply with the Agri-Agra law,” the BSP official said in a briefing yesterday at the University of Asia & the Pacific.
“That will take amendment but we’re favoring a study to have flexibility in the allocation of the entire 25% lending,” Ms. Fonacier added, noting that this would have to go through the legislative mill as the existing law is “very explicit” about the allocations.
Lenders prefer to pay penalties for non-compliance rather than lend to the so-called “risky” segment. In particular, banks only lent 1.05% of their portfolio for agrarian reform, a far cry from the 10% standard. Meanwhile, loans to farmers were higher at 12.83% but still short of the 15% requirement.
Banks are given several options to meet the required lending. Direct compliance involves extending credit lines to qualified borrowers and the purchase of eligible loans from other financial firms.
Meanwhile, alternative methods include investing in duly-declared eligible debt instruments, investing in the special deposit accounts of BSP-accredited rural lenders, wholesale lending to rural banks, granting rediscount loans to other banks covering farm loan credits, and the extension of loans for public infrastructure for the benefit of the farming sector.
For its part, the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) noted that they are planning to issue bonds to be auctioned to other banks in order to help these lenders meet the required lending.
LANDBANK President and chief executive officer Alex V. Buenaventura said, however, that they still need to ramp up their own agriculture-related loans before they can issue “Small Farmers Corporative Bonds” for other lenders to avail of as alternative means for compliance. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

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