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A giant girl at Art in the Park

A 20-FOOT inflatable sculpture of a girl hugging a goat and a four-foot tall perfume bottle are some of the artworks to be displayed at this Sunday’s Art in the Park fair at the Jaime Velasquez Park in Salcedo Village, Makati.
The girl hugging a goat, titled Alone But Not Lonely, is a 2018 work by Palawan-based artist Yeo Kaa. It was previously shown at the Yavuz Gallery in Singapore and, according to Ms. Kaa, is a self-portrait and a representation of how she realized that despite living alone after a break-up she felt “alone but not lonely.”
“I have a pet goat. I bring it with me whenever I travel,” Ms. Kaa told the media during a March 5 press conference in Salcedo Village, Makati.
The 29-year-old once described her works as a “rainbow with dark colors” as they are often grim and haunting images done in pastel colors evoking children’s book characters.
She will also be presenting new colorways of her five foot-tall dolls though she said she’s not sure if she will sell them.
While the massive sculpture — which will be displayed on top of a gazebo in the park — is not for sale, Ms. Kaa will be selling hexagonal tiles for P1,500, though she admitted that the workshop that does her tiles had a fire so she has to start again and aims to have 100 pieces ready for the fair.
Aside from Ms. Kaa’s inflatable, perfumer Oscar Mejia III is presenting an installation called Enigma of Scent, a four-foot tall perfume bottle with a bubble machine which will emit a citrusy fragrance.
“Our sense of smell is the most mysterious of all, as it can perceive both the tangible and the intangible,” Mr. Mejia said during the press conference.
Called an “affordable art fair” as the works on sale are capped at P50,000, Art in the Park is now on its 13th year. The fair on March 17 will feature 56 exhibitors including galleries, art collectives, independent art spaces, and schools, among others.
Last year’s one-day art fair welcomed 13,000 people, two of whom unwittingly scored valuable pieces — an unsigned Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera painting and an unsigned Manny Garibay.
“Things in this country sometimes don’t seem to last. I want [Art in the Park] to last long and for people to know there’s a reliable event that’s going to be there every year that they can look forward to and know what to expect, like new art by young people and certain favorites of theirs,” Lisa Ongpin Periquet, founder of Art in the Park and Art Fair Philippines, told BusinessWorld during the event.
Aside from Ms. Kaa and Mr. Mejia, the other artists featured this year are painter and photographer Zean Cabangis and artist/designer Leeroy New who will be presenting pieces from his Aliens of Manila project.
Art in the Park, which is known for it relaxed atmosphere, will have jazz trio Soulful Mood play throughout the day while the Bleu Rascals, the Philippine representative to the 28th International Blues Challenge in the US, will play their “spirited take on the blues” for the evening’s special performance.
The fair will also have a variety of food tents (including vegan).
Art in the Park will be held on March 17 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Jaime Velasquez Park in Salcedo Village, Makati City. Part of the proceeds of the fair will go to the Museum Foundation of the Philippines in support of its projects and programs for the National Museum of the Philippines and its network. Entrance to the fair is free. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Ayala Land to issue P8 billion worth of bonds

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
AYALA LAND, Inc (ALI) will be issuing P8 billion worth of fixed rate bonds this year to partially finance its hotel, mall, and office projects.
The bonds will have a seven-year tenor, and will be the first issuance from its P50-billion debt securities program (DSP) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The listed property developer will use the funds raised from the bonds for several projects lined up for the year, including Seda Hotel in Manila Bay, Seda Bonifacio Global City Expansion, Arca South and the Taguig Integrated Terminal Exchange in Taguig, as well as Vertis North Corporate Center Tower 3 in Quezon City.
The fresh capital will also be used to finance projects in the provinces, namely Bacolod Capitol Corporate Center and Capitol Central Mall in Bacolod, and Ayala Malls Central Bloc in Cebu.
This is the second time ALI made use of the SEC’s debt securities program. The first registration also amounted to P50 billion and was issued in a span of three years from March 2016 to October 2018.
Local debt watcher Philippine Ratings Services Corp. (PhilRatings) assigned the bonds a PRS Aaa rating, the highest in its credit rating scale. This indicates that the company has an “extremely strong” capacity to meet its financial commitments.
The rating also carries a stable outlook, which means it is unlikely to change in the next 12 months.
PhilRatings took into account ALI’s well-diversified portfolio, healthy outlook for the economy and real estate industry, growing profitability, and sound capitalization in coming up with the rating.
“Prospects for the real estate sector continue to remain healthy anchored on stable fundamentals, a growing economy, remittances from overseas Filipinos, resilient consumption spending in retail, the steady growth in tourist arrivals and continued demand from the Business Process Outsourcing sector,” according to PhilRatings.
The debt watcher noted that ALI has two retail bond issuances that will mature this year, namely fixed rate bonds worth P9.35 billion due in April, and P2.98-billion HomeStart B bonds due in October.
The fund-raising activity will support ALI’s plan to spend P130 billion in capital expenditures this year, 18% higher than its spending in 2018, as it continues to expand its residential, office, commercial, and retail developments. The rest of the capex budget will be funded through bank debts.
The company also plans to launch P130 billion worth of projects for the year, including two estates in Tarlac and Batangas.
ALI booked a net income of P29.2 billion in 2018, 16% higher year on year as revenues also rose 17% to P166.25 billion.
Shares in ALI slipped 0.58% or 25 centavos to close at P42.90 each at the stock exchange on Tuesday.

MSO plays the Beatles, folk songs, Gershwin

The Silaw Foundation, in cooperation with Far Eastern University, presents the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in a concert featuring Filipino folk songs, Beatles tunes, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and the Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2. The MSO will be performing under the baton of conductor Prof. Marlon Chen, with the special participation of pianist Dr. Raffi Kasparian at the Far Eastern University Auditorium on March 13, 4 p.m. The concert continues the celebration of FEU’s 91st anniversary and the 70th birthday of the Auditorium. While admission to the concert in FEU is free, tickets are required to enter. They may be obtained through Ticket2Me: https://www.ticket2me.net/e/1573. For additional information and to reserve parking, contact FEU’s President’s Committee on Culture at 849-4145.

DM Consunji order book up 12% in 2018

CONSTRUCTION and engineering firm D.M. Consunji, Inc. saw its order book increase by 12% in 2018, as it was tapped to build the first Ikea store in the Philippines and other private sector projects.
The local contractor said in a statement on Wednesday its order book stood at P27.9 billion at the end of 2018, higher than the P24.8 billion it posted in 2017.
Bulk of DM Consunji’s projects came from building and infrastructure contracts at P11.2 billion and P11.1 billion, respectively. Contracts from plants and utilities reached P2.9 billion, while energy projects hit P2.7 billion.
One of the company’s projects is the first Ikea store in the country, valued at about P1.6 billion. DM Consunji targets to complete its construction by 2021.
Sy-led SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is building the Philippine store of Swedish furniture maker Ikea, located within the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City. Ikea will occupy a gross floor area of 65,000 square meters, making it the largest Ikea store in the world.
DM Consunji was also tapped to build The Estate Makati, a luxury condominium jointly developed by SM Development Corp. and Federal Land, Inc. The company said they will construct the units using double-slab technology, which will allow owners to fully customize the layout of their units. The contract for The Estate Makati is worth P1.3 billion.
DM Consunji’s major ongoing projects include the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project of MPCALA Holdings, Inc., Prima Infra Dev. Corp.’s Bued Viaduct and Roadway, LRT Line 2 East Stations under the Department of Transportation, Ortigas & Company’s Maven at Capitol Commons, and Anchor Land Holdings, Inc.’s Anchor Grandsuites.
DM Consunji Senior Vice-President for Business Strategy Development Rebecca E. Civil said bulk of the revenues from these projects will be recognized next year, as most of the projects will be completed by then.
“Konti na lang matitira for 2021 so we need to add this year. Baka next quarter meron na kaming magandang balita (Maybe by next quarter, we have some good news),” Ms. Civil said in a press briefing in Makati City last week.
Ms. Civil noted that they are encountering right of way issues with some projects, including San Miguel Corp.’s Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.
She added the company is set to complete seven kilometers of the CALAX project by June, although the interchange from South Luzon going to be CALAX has yet to be bid out by the Department of Public Works and Highways, making the tollway inaccessible.
DM Consunji’s net income climbed 22% to P1.6 billion in 2018, from P1.28 billion in the previous year. — Arra B. Francia

P9 million the going rate at auction for Lunas, Hidalgo


PAINTINGS by Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo fetched P9 million at Salcedo Auctions’ Important Philippine Art sale on March 9.
Luna’s boceto (a preliminary sketch) for The Death of Cleopatra and Hidalgo’s Draped Nude — both unsigned works — were both hammered in for the same price, P9,344,000 (inclusive of tax and buyer’s premium), to a floor and phone bidder, respectively; while Luna’s The Hunting Party went to a floor bid for P9,928,000 (inclusive of tax and buyer’s premium).
According to Salcedo Auctions, the Cleopatra boceto sold at the highest price for a Luna in history, based on its size of 10 x 15 inches. “It comes in at P62,293 per square inch vs. España y Filipinas which only sold at P51,171.20 per square inch,” said a post on the auction house’s Facebook page.
Among the lots that fetched the highest prices during the auction were National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto “Bencab” Cabrera’s Sabel (2008) which went for P16,352,000 and a Ronald Ventura oil painting titled Recover (2017) which was hammered at P9,344,000.
A 19th century bishop’s chair from the Tambunting family collection which sold at P700,800 and a 19th century kamagong and narra tambol aparador which went for P1,752,000 were among the highlights from the Important Philippine Furniture sale.
During the March 10 jewelry and timepieces auction, the lots which drew the highest prices were a 1970s Piaget wrist watch which went for P420,480; a set of dangling diamond earrings and matching necklace for P350,400; a Rene Boivin yellow gold ring and bracelet set for P327,040 and a 2 carat diamond ring for P303,680. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

NCCC buys Davao’s oldest mall

DAVAO CITY — Homegrown retail and shopping mall operator New City Commercial Corp. (NCCC) has acquired Victoria Plaza Mall, the first mall in the city.
In a press statement on Tuesday, NCCC Chair Helen A. Lim said an agreement for the takeover of the mall will be signed before the end of March.
“This is a historic and strategic acquisition for NCCC. As a local, we are very confident in the city’s participation in our country’s growing economy,” said Ms. Lim.
Sharlene Faye A. Lim, NCCC Malls president, added that it is a “privilege for a homegrown company like ours to have the opportunity to develop this property that is very much a part of Davao’s culture. We will strive to preserve this history while rewriting it to respond to the future.”
The company did not disclose the amount it paid for the property, but said it will present its plan for development before the end of the month.
The Philippine National Bank (PNB), which took possession of Victoria Plaza following failed mortgage payments, did not respond to BusinessWorld’s request for comment.
Built in the early 1990s by the late businessman Robert Alan L. Limso through his Davao Sunrise Investment and Development Corp., the three-storey Victoria Plaza became a local icon as the first shopping mall in Davao City.
Mr. Limso mortgaged the mall to PNB.
NCCC recently opened a new mall in the northeastern side of the city. The company partnered with DMCI Homes to develop an eight-hectare mixed-use project on the site of its previous mall that was burned down in Dec. 2017. The project includes a mall, a convention center and a residential component. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Reworked El Bimbo musical soars

By Giselle P. Kasilag Contributor
THEATER REVIEW
Ang Huling El Bimbo
By Dingdong Novenario
Directed by Dexter Santos
Full House Theater Company
Performances until April 7
Newport Performing Arts Theater,
Resorts World Manila, Pasay City
SEVEN YEARS after the revolution, a nation once filled with hope but now confronted with the enormity of the task to rebuild a broken country woke up to the unique sound of the Eraserheads. The rock band, whose members came from the University of the Philippines, debuted Ultraelectromagneticpop! in 1993. This album would be the first of over a dozen. It also led to Ang Huling El Bimbo — a musical inspired by the music of arguably the most popular Filipino band of the ’90s.
Now on its second staging at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila (RWM), this 1,500-seat auditorium saw a first run of 30 sold-out shows. RWM President Kingson Sian said that about 50,000 people saw those performances and clamored for more. A re-staging was inevitable.
But Full House Theater Company (which mounted the show for RWM) did not rest on its laurels. That gap between the last show in September 2018 to the first show of the re-staging in March 2019 was fully utilized to tweak the already successful material. The result was a stronger narrative and better performances.
The curtain rises to a crime scene. Joy (Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo) — a supposed drug courier on the watch list of the Philippine National Police — is dead and the last calls made on her cellphone were to three respected and successful men. Eman (OJ Mariano) is a government worker; Anthony (Jon Santos) is a businessman; and Hector (Gian Magdangal) is a film/television director.
Summoned to the police station to establish their innocence or guilt, the three men are reunited for the first time since they left college. Apparently, they were schoolmates and they knew the victim though they are all reluctant to admit to the connection.
Flashback to their younger selves as dorm mates in the State University where freshmen Hector (Bibo Reyes), Emman (Boo Gabunada), and Anthony (Phi Palmos) meet for the first time. Innocent and hopeful, the world is theirs for the taking.
They become friends with Joy (Gab Pangilinan), an out-of-school youth who sells turon (banana fritters) while her aunt runs a small eatery on campus. It is a mutually beneficial relationship with the kids inspiring each other to do better to achieve their dreams. Eventually, a romantic relationship develops between Hector and Joy.
But while it was the best of times, it was also the worst of times. Sheltered in the campus, the violence of the real world soon catches up with them. On the eve of their graduation, all their dreams crash before their eyes. Unable to cope, the fall-out would set the stage for the death that opened the show.
Without giving too much away, it was the tweak made in this pivotal scene that truly strengthened the narrative. A decision made by Hector — rather than Joy which was the case in the first run — allowed the audience to make sense of the characters’ reactions and how it affected their adult selves.
Much credit must be given to Dingdong Novenario and Floy Quintos for piecing together a cohesive and emotionally piercing script from hundreds of beloved Eraserheads pieces. They resisted the urge to pack in all the songs, selecting instead only those that would truly push the narrative forward. They did not bind themselves to the original intentions of the songs but used them as tools at their disposal. The result is a very fresh take on what was the soundtrack of an entire generation.
A favorite was the Citizens Military Training scene that made use of a version of “Pare Ko” that very few would imagine possible. It was creative yet nostalgic — the running thread of this production.
“Tikman ang Langit” was another wonderfully utilized piece of music. Originally used as a commercial for a burger joint, the song was used to show the move from a time of innocence to the degradation of values and morals. The same piece sung by different characters created entire scenes that are polar opposites in nature. It was a genius treatment of material.
With the tweaks, the production finally understood that the adult characters — all with impressive theater credentials — were not the stars of the show. The younger selves were. And Gab Pangilinan’s Joy was the most central character of them all. The singing was nuanced and her voice was more than a match for the challenge. Combine that with her acting and the result was a character that the audience immediately felt relatable and comfortable. She grew into her character, credibly taking the audience from childhood to the challenges of adulthood.
There was real chemistry between her and the three boys. And they matched Pangilinan’s energy every step of the way. Their characters were as distinctive as their voices. But they were clearly listening to each other, thus, the blending of voices was wonderful to the ears.
The same was true for the rest of the cast. In the scenes where everyone was singing, one could still distinguish the voices of the lead characters and appreciate the harmonies.
The one sore point is the singing voice of Jon Santos. While a competent actor, his singing voice couldn’t quite match the strength and sensitivity of his colleagues’. When Magdangal and Mariano would be soaring, Santos could barely hold the note.
The unsung hero of the production, however, was Jamie Wilson as Banlaoi — a man who started out as a rough and tough but doting family friend of Joy’s who was also the university’s CMT commander. He had the most fully realized character from the beginning, and every movement, every glance, every stress on the words carried meaning. As he moved from likable tough guy to sleazy scum, the audience easily accepted the character’s progression because of Wilson’s credible performance.
Finally, the other important tweak was the ending. It no longer forced a tidy resolution to the messy lives of the four leads. While there was personal closure, life rarely gives people a definitive resolution to complex issues. That the creative minds behind the production chose to stop and walk away from a neatly packaged ending was a gamble that truly paid off.
Ang Huling El Bimbo is a wonderful and painful reminder of where we came from and how we found ourselves in our current mess. And it sends an urgent message: through thick or thin, we are all on the same boat, and we are all in this together.
Tickets to Eng Huling El Bimbo are availabel at TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph).

Smart teams up with Nokia for 5G

PLDT, INC.’s wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. announced on Tuesday it is partnering with Nokia for the rollout of its fifth generation (5G) network in universities.
The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of Smart’s 5G standalone (5G SA) solutions, which are commonly used for artificial intelligence, drones and Internet of Things. The deal also covers the deployment of 5G products such as handsets and applications.
“We are happy to partner with Nokia to help develop intelligent solutions and technologies for the benefit of the Philippine education sector,” PLDT Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement.
Compared to 5G non-standalone (5G NSA) which also uses existing fourth generation (4G) resources, 5G SA is entirely dependent on the 5G network for data transmission.
“By working with partners like Nokia in unlocking the full potential of 5G for Filipino enterprises and customers, we are putting the Philippines at par with the rest of the world in preparing for the deployment and adoption of 5G,” PLDT-Smart Chief Technology and Information Advisor Joachim Horn was quoted as saying.
In 2016, Smart and Nokia also teamed up to test 5G in the Philippines, where they were able to reach speeds of 2.5 gigabits per second (Gbps) over a live network.
Jae Won, Nokia head for Asia Pacific and Japan, said the company is happy to continue its partnership with PLDT and Smart. “This goes beyond just speed. 5G SA enables introduction of services like real-time remote control of robotics and autonomous driving of transport vehicles…,” he was quoted as saying.
Aside from Nokia, PLDT and Smart had also tapped Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. for the deployment of its 5G network. It fired up its first 5G cell site in Makati City in November.
Mr. Pangilinan said last week they want to keep a “mixed approach” to their 5G rollout amid growing cybersecurity and spying concerns from the United States and other countries on partnering with the Chinese tech firm. “We are likely to stay with that mixed vendor kind of approach. The actual mixture, I think we’d have to leave pretty much to fundamental considerations,” he said during PLDT’s briefing on its 2018 financial results.
“What we told Huawei is that we must together address those concerns that have been raised by the US government. So you have to cooperate with us and you have to be transparent with us in terms of where the vulnerabilities are,” Mr. Pangilinan added.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Denise A. Valdez

Gov’t fully awards 10-year bonds as yield drops on easing inflation

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of reissued 10-year Treasury bonds (T-bond) on Tuesday as the average yield plunged on the back of easing inflation expectations.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P20 billion as planned from its T-bond offer yesterday after receiving overwhelming bids worth P54.603 billion, almost triple the amount it wanted to raise.
The 10-year papers, which carry a coupon rate of 6.875%, fetched an average rate of 6.196% yesterday, 63.3 basis points lower than the 6.829% fetched when the instruments were last offered on Jan. 8.
At the secondary market on Tuesday, the 10-year IOUs were quoted at 6.183%, based on the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates.
Following the auction, Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana said the average yield of the 10-year bonds dropped sharply as investors started to price in expectations of decelerating inflation, which wasn’t clear yet when the 10-year securities were last sold.
“[Last] January 8, I think the market was actually just looking for how inflation would be moving forward. So now that we have seen inflation falling within the band already, then it just shows in the rates for this auction,” Mr. Sta. Ana told reporters yesterday.
Headline inflation in February stood at 3.8%, coming from the 4.4% print in January and easing for the fourth straight month due to milder price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Last month’s inflation rate also landed within the government’s 2-4% target range for the year.
“And then there’s also…news about possible easing by the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) given the pronouncements of Gov[ernor Benjamin E.] Diokno in his interview. So we think those are the catalysts for these rates,” Mr. Sta. Ana added.
Given “decelerating” inflation in the country, Mr. Diokno said last Friday that there is an opportunity for the BSP to ease monetary policy settings, although he noted that any adjustments in interest rates should be data-dependent and that timing will be the issue.
Mr. Sta. Ana also noted that the Treasury is in a “comfortable” cash position following the conclusion of its five-year retail Treasury bond (RTB) sale.
“From a cash stand point, it’s actually better for us because of the settlement. We’re talking about P235.9 [billion], almost P236 billion in fresh cash for us. And then we had a full award so we are in a good position,” he said when sought for comment on why the BTr did not open its tap facility yesterday despite excess demand.
The Treasury raised P235.935 billion from the 22nd offering of RTBs, which were offered the institutional and individual investors within a two-week period that ended last Friday. National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said tenders received for the RTBs were “much higher.”
A bond trader said yesterday’s auction results were within market expectations.
“The results were in line with the expectations, since the market was looking at a rate between 6.15-6.25%. The secondary market was near that range,” the trader said in a phone interview.
The government is set to borrow P360 billion from the domestic market this quarter. Some P240 billion will be borrowed through 12 weekly Treasury bill auctions, while P120 billion worth of T-bonds will also be issued through six fortnightly auctions. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Interactive theater: Amidst despair, always hope

By Maria Jovita Zarate
THEATER REVIEW
Every Brilliant Thing
By Duncan MacMillan
Directed by Jenny Jamora
Sandbox Collective and
9 Works Theatrical
March 15, 8:30 p.m., March 16
and 17 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Maybank Performing Arts Center,
BGC Arts Center, 26th St., BGC, Taguig City
SHE GLIDES onto the stage, lithe and nimble, and randomly distributes what seem like rectangular flashcards to members of the audience. There are numbers and words written on those cards. She instructs them to hold on to those cards and remember the numbers and words written on them.
And then the performance area in this theater-in-the-round fully lights up, the play starts — but the house lights stay on, at least partially, to render the audience visible. Project Runway host-turned-actress Teresa Herrera re-enters the stage to play the part of an unnamed daughter who we first come to know as a seven-year-old dealing with the death of her dog and wrestling with the question “why does my mother want to take her life?”
Her father provides the answer: “Your mother says nothing in life is worth living for.”
And so, the seven-year-old builds a list of things worth living for. Every brilliant thing, she calls them. Number 1: ice cream. Number 3: Staying up past bedtime. She wanted to convince her mother that there are many reasons to want to keep on living. Time and again, she would yell out the numbers and those holding on to those cards would yell back the words written on them. Number 12! Kung Fu movies! Number 96! Shooting milk out of your nose.
The list grows longer and at a certain point we know that she is also writing the list for herself, as she deals with the intricate givens of family and circumstance. At one point the list is shelved, almost forgotten, until a lover retrieves it in between the pages of a book she has lent him.
She works on the list again, but this time she is doing it for herself, looking for what the outwardly trivial moments could offer to her as she battles her own demons. Now on the list: Falling in love! Sex! Nina Simone on vocals!
Every Brilliant Thing is about seeing life through the prism of these minutiae so that we may hold them up to the light and let them gleam against the shadows of despair. At one point, in a moment of epiphany, she seems to have snapped out of her desolation, and, with a sense of urgency, compellingly admonishes the audience: “I have some advice for anyone who has been contemplating suicide. It is really simple advice: Don’t do it. Things get better. They may not really be brilliant but they get better.”
Playwright Duncan Macmillan brings to his material two masterstrokes which director Jenny Jamora generously recovers from the written text and makes luminous in this Philippine production of Every Brilliant Thing.
First, the interactive portions which sees the performer breaking — nay, smashing — the invisible fourth wall that divides performers from the audience. The lead actress snaps out of her character and invites a member of the audience to play a part — the guidance counsellor who dresses her hand with a sock to converse with a child; the father, sometimes too taciturn, sometimes nurturing; the college crush turned lover turned estranged husband.
The interactive portions thrive on an improvisatory spirit, eliciting mostly spontaneous reactions from the bit player plucked from the audience. He or she may fumble with the lines, or take to the task with raw enthusiasm, but invariably these moments draw light-hearted laughter from the audience. The onus is still on Teresa Herrera’s improvisational skills to steer the performance back to its track.
These interactive moments disrupt the emotional arc of what could otherwise be a slow descent to darkness owing to the theme — depression and suicide, and the immense toll it leaves on the immediate family. But interactivity as a stylistic strategy allows emotions to ebb and tide, move from dark to light, despair to hope. Always hope.
We know little about the mother except that she was suicidal and was quite reflexive about it. After the mother’s second attempt, the daughter recalls how her mother drew out a hearty laugh as the two sat in the kitchen and wallowed in each other’s silence. But the mother still ignored the list or it may not have been enough to prevent the inevitable tragedy. We also don’t know much about the father except that he stayed with the mother until that inevitable and saw through his daughter’s rites of passage.
Here comes the second masterstroke from the playwright: when less is a lot in character-building for the theater. Except for the unnamed daughter, which Teresa Herrera makes alive with sensuous precision, MacMillan’s characters are all disembodied and come to us physicalized only in those brief moments when a bit player is recruited from the audience to improvise with the lead actress.
But a singular detail shines — her father’s penchant for jazz music, and his periodic retreats to his study to listen to jazz greats (Curtis Mayfield, Ray Charles, and surely many more), where he drops vinyl records on a phonograph, and treats us to the warmth of analogue sound (skillfully rendered by sound designer Arvy Dimaculangan) — until you hear the pops, and the crackles, as fallible as the life they are holding on to. Beyond the text, you imagine how the melodic currents of jazz allow him to fold into his self as he wrestles with frustration and, most likely, with the fears that arise from anticipating his wife’s end of life.
Before the lights are switched off, the unnamed daughter mentions the 1,000,000th entry to her list of every brilliant thing which seals the enduring bond she’s always had with her father. From the theater speakers roll out what could be the almost inaudible sound of the needle hitting the vinyl, and you think something immense is about to happen, but here now is the hiss and crackle of analog music, strangely sultry and nostalgic, then the vocalist croons… “Into each life some rain must fall/but too much is falling in mine…” The denouement is light and a delight. And hope. Always hope.
And then it’s dark. And then the lights are back. Teresa Herrera enters the stage and calls on the bit players to join her in the curtain call.
The author is a member of the jury of Gawad Buhay, the country’s first industry awards body for the performing arts. She teaches at the University of the Philippines Open University.

DoubleDragon to build warehouse complex in Davao

THE industrial leasing unit of DoubleDragon Properties Corp. is partnering with Davao City’s Alsons Group for its fourth warehouse complex in the country.
In a statement issued Tuesday, CentralHub Industrial Centers, Inc said it has signed a joint venture agreement with Alsons Development & Investments Corp. for the development of an industrial complex on an 8.2-hectare property in Davao City.
CentralHub will own 70% of the venture, while Alsons will have a 30% stake.
Located along the Daang Maharlika Highway, CentralHub-Davao will offer 40,392 square meters (sq.m.) of leasable industrial warehouse space. The property is eight kilometers away from the Davao International Container Terminal, and 17 kilometers away from the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City.
DoubleDragon Chief Investment Officer Marriana H. Yulo said there has been rising demand for warehouse space due to the government’s increased spending on infrastructure projects.
“The continuous investment in infrastructure projects are compelling e-commerce and consumer companies to enter new markets which has become the catalyst for the strong demand in industrial space,” Ms. Yulo was quoted as saying in a statement.
CentralHub-Davao marks the company’s first project in Mindanao and its fourth in the country. It is currently building CentralHub-Danao in Cebu, CentralHub-Iloilo, and CentralHub-Tarlac. These projects cover 23.3 hectares with 121,626 sq.m. of leasable industrial warehouse space.
DoubleDragon aims to have at least 100,000 sq.m. in warehouse leasable space completed by 2020. These properties will house modern standardized multi-use warehouses that can be used as commissaries, cold storage, light manufacturing, and logistics distribution centers.
“The company has been seriously focused on building up its portfolio of prime hard assets that can generate high double-digit rental yields and deploy capital only on select prime properties that can appreciate five to 10 folds in the next five to 10 years,” DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar J. Sia II said in a statement.
CentralHub is one of DoubleDragon’s so-called four pillars of growth, with the others being its community malls unit called CityMalls, the office segment, and the hotel group. The four segments are seen to deliver 1.2 million sq.m. of leasable space by next year.
DoubleDragon booked an attributable profit of P966.02 million in the first nine months of 2018, 19% higher year on year, following a 16% uptick in gross revenues to P4.72 billion.
Shares in DoubleDragon fell 2.88% or 60 centavos to close at P20.25 each at the stock exchange on Tuesday. — Arra B. Francia

PCC to further review Dasmariñas-PrimeWater deal

THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on Tuesday said it is further reviewing the proposed joint venture of Dasmariñas Local Water District (Dasma Water) and PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp.
In a statement, the PCC said its Mergers and Acquisitions Office (MAO) opened on Feb. 7 a Phase 2 review into the proposed joint venture of Dasma Water and PrimeWater that will operate the waterworks and supply of water as well as septage management within the service area of Dasmariñas City.
“With the business of water distribution considered an important market, PCC-MAO is looking into how the transaction will affect the competition in the provision of water supply and septage management services, and affect the customers, within and around the service area of Dasmariñas Local Water District,” the PCC said.
The Villar Group’s PrimeWater has 39 existing joint ventures with different local water districts.
“In a Phase 2 review, MAO seeks to investigate whether the transaction would enhance PrimeWater’s ability and incentive to engage in foreclosure of downstream market competitors of the entities affiliated with PrimeWater,” the antitrust body said.
However, the PCC noted that the Phase 2 review “does not mean that PCC MAO has made a conclusive finding of a substantial lessening of competition on the review but rather a required process to get a more detailed analysis of the transaction.”
The MAO has 60 days, starting Feb. 7, to complete the Phase 2 review of the Dasma Water-PrimeWater deal.
The PCC is seeking comments from stakeholders such as water suppliers, septage management providers, representatives from other water districts, sanitary engineers, residents of Dasmariñas and other interested individuals on the proposed deal.
Dasma Water is the local water district with service area covering the entire city of Dasmariñas, Cavite. It currently supplies potable water to 108,713 metered customers in all 75 barangays within the city. As of 2017, Dasma Water had an area coverage of 3,000 hectares or 67.78% of the total area of Dasmariñas City.
PrimeWater is a subsidiary of Prime Asset Ventures, Inc. It provides water supply and distribution systems to real estate developments of sister company Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. such as Brittany, Camella Homes and Crown Asia. It also has bulk water supply projects with partner water districts, according to its website. — Janina C. Lim

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