Philippine Labor Force Situation
UNEMPLOYMENT in the Philippines eased to 4% in August as more female workers got hired in the service sector, the local statistics agency said on Tuesday. Read the full story.
Job gains by industry (Aug. vs July)
In August, employed Filipinos reached 49.15 million, higher by 1.46 million from July. This can be traced to 1.15 million jobs generated month on month by wholesale and retail trade. Read the full story.
Eton Properties Philippines signs sustainability pact
LUCIO C. TAN’S Eton Properties Philippines, Inc. has partnered with the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) to promote environmental sustainabiliy in real estate development.
A memorandum of understanding was signed on Sept. 27 for the partnership, which focuses on the management of protected areas within or near development sites, conserving natural habitats, and creating spaces to support local wildlife and plant species, Eton Properties said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday.
The two groups will also work on improving disaster resilience via nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches, sharing data and research results, and increasing awareness and engaging local communities on biodiversity conservation.
“This partnership demonstrates our shared vision to build a sustainable future, where economic growth complements the preservation of our natural ecosystems,” Eton Properties Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Kyle C. Tan said.
Eton Properties said biodiversity loss has a direct impact on the expanding economy of the region, which depends on natural resources and is deemed highly vulnerable to climate change impacts.
“Businesses have relevant knowledge, expertise, and resources that can, directly or indirectly, have positive or negative impacts on biodiversity. Hence, the actions and decisions that this sector makes will be pivotal in our efforts to successfully address biodiversity loss and its accompanying consequences,” ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim said.
Eton Properties is the real estate unit of listed conglomerate LT Group, Inc. The property developer specializes in high-end and mid-income high-rise and horizontal residential developments, office projects, commercial centers, and mixed-use township developments.
Established in 2005, ACB facilitates cooperation and coordination among ASEAN countries and different regional and global dialogue and development partners to intensify regional actions on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
US Supreme Court rebuffs singer R. Kelly’s challenge to sex abuse conviction
WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear imprisoned former R&B superstar R. Kelly’s appeal of his 2022 federal conviction on charges involving child pornography and luring underage girls to have sex with him, one of two cases in which he was found guilty of sex crimes.
The justices turned away Mr. Kelly’s challenge to a lower court’s decision upholding his conviction by a federal jury in Chicago.
Mr. Kelly, now 57, claimed in his Supreme Court filing that prosecutors filed the charges against him in the case after the statute of limitations had expired.
During that trial, several women testified that Mr. Kelly sexually abused them when they were minors. The jury also was shown video of Mr. Kelly molesting his goddaughter, who testified that the abuse began in the 1990s when she was a teenager.
Mr. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the case. He was found guilty of three child pornography counts and three counts of enticing minors for sex, but acquitted of seven other charges that included obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to receive child pornography.
Mr. Kelly in 2021 was convicted in another trial by a jury in New York City’s borough of Brooklyn on all nine charges he faced, including racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which forbids transporting people across state lines for prostitution. He was given a 30-year prison sentence in that case, set to largely overlap with his sentence in the Chicago case.
Mr. Kelly is incarcerated at a Butner, North Carolina federal prison and is eligible for release in 2045, according to federal Bureau of Prisons records.
Mr. Kelly filed his Supreme Court appeal after the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in April rejected his challenge. — Reuters
Peso drops further due to Middle East conflict
THE PESO dropped further against the dollar on Tuesday, moving closer to the P57 level, amid the worsening conflict in the Middle East.
The local unit closed at P56.905 per dollar, weakening by eight centavos from its P56.825 finish on Monday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.
This was the peso’s lowest close in almost two months or since its P57.245-per-dollar finish on Aug. 16.
The peso opened Tuesday’s session slightly stronger at P56.80 against the dollar. It climbed to as high as P56.72, while its weakest showing was at P56.98 versus the greenback.
Dollars exchanged rose to $1.897 billion on Tuesday from $1.295 billion on Monday.
The peso weakened on Tuesday due to safe-haven demand for the greenback amid growing tensions in the Middle East, a trader said in a phone interview.
The conflict also led to higher global crude prices and US Treasury yields, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
For Wednesday, the trader sees the peso moving between P56.60 and P57.10 per dollar as the market awaits the release of minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting and US consumer inflation data.
For his part, Mr. Ricafort expects the local unit to range from P56.80 to P57 versus the greenback.
The dollar clung to seven-week highs against major currencies on Tuesday as investors pondered the outlook for US rates after a strong jobs report last week dashed bets for large rate cuts, while escalating tensions in Middle East dented risk sentiment, Reuters reported.
Traders have drastically shifted their monetary easing expectations from the Federal Reserve this year.
Markets are no longer fully pricing in a rate cut in November and are ascribing an 86% chance of a 25-basis-point (bp) reduction, the CME FedWatch tool showed. Just 50 bps of easing is priced in by December, down from more than 70 bps a week earlier.
That has kept the dollar on the front foot and surging to a multi-week high against the euro, sterling and the yen, though the yen clawed back some of the losses on Tuesday as rising geopolitical worries led to safe-haven flows.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against major rivals, last fetched 102.38, just below the seven-week high of 102.69 it touched on Friday.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military said on Tuesday it had begun ground operations in southwest Lebanon, expanding its incursions to a new zone a year after exchanges of fire began with armed group Hezbollah and amid pleas by the UN for a diplomatic solution.
The regional tensions triggered a year ago by Palestinian armed group Hamas’s attack on southern Israel have spiraled to a string of Israeli operations by land and air over Lebanon and direct attacks by Iran onto Israeli military installations. — Aaron Michael C. Sy with Reuters
Empowering Filipino youth for a resilient future
ON International Disaster Risk Reduction Day, we turn our attention to a powerful force shaping the Philippines’ resilient future: the youth.
There are 30 million young people aged 10-24 in the Philippines, making up 28% of the total population. This will remain nearly the same by 2055 based on the projection of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
In 2024, the World Risk Index tagged the Philippines as the most disaster-prone country in the world. In general, young people didn’t cause climate change, yet they will inherit a world riddled by its consequences.
While this poses a concern on the potential vulnerability of young people to climate change and disasters, this demographic holds immense potential to drive significant change on the country’s overall resilience. It represents not only the shift in numbers, but it is also a unique opportunity. These young Filipinos are not mere bystanders, but active voices in many platforms where a disaster-free future is central to the conversation. They bring fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and a deep understanding of local contexts.
The recently concluded UN Summit of the Future committed to empowering young people by cultivating a nurturing environment that allows youth and future generations to fully realize their dreams and ambitions. The youth ought to be both protagonists and beneficiaries in resilience agenda. With access to information and education, the youth are well placed to lead innovation, disaster risk reduction, and local resilience action.
Championing resilience in the context of empowering the next generation is where the Strengthening Institutions and Empowering Localities Against Disasters and Climate Change (SHIELD) Program plays a critical role through the support of the Australian Government.
As the climate and disaster resilience flagship program in the Philippines, SHIELD enables harnessing the collective strength of communities to build resilience against disasters and climate change. Being led by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the Philippines, the program prioritizes inclusivity, integrating gender equality, disability, and social inclusion across all its workstreams, ensuring that the specific needs and perspectives of young people, especially those from marginalized groups, are considered in every resilience-building activity.
Recognizing multi-stakeholder partnerships as core agent of change in this process, SHIELD invests in the unique potential of youth in building climate resilience. The program targets to deliver strong partnership and collaboration platforms in the formation of Sama-Samang mga Samahan para sa Isang Matatag na Bayan (Sambayanihan) — a locally led collaborative effort, where young people could engage with policymakers, marginalized groups, and development partners in the very important decisions and implementation in resilience space. Youth representatives from the Local Youth Development Offices and youth non-government organizations are part of the core working groups that are involved in a series of capacity development and resilience planning and programming activities — creating a community of practice at the local level.
In the provinces of Davao Oriental and Eastern Samar, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, for instance, youth participation has been crucial in SHIELD’s resilience initiatives. The youth representatives have been actively involved in the program’s wide-ranging workstreams on the ground, including capacity assessments and risk scenario development, which are essential in ensuring that their needs and priorities are reflected in local resilience planning and decision-making process.
It is imperative that we continue to engage with the youth and we treat them not only as a vulnerable group but, more importantly, as allies, change makers, community partners, and key decision-makers in building resilience. Their inclusion ensures that the solutions designed to strengthen local resilience reflect the perspectives of the younger generation, whose futures are directly impacted by today’s climate crisis, racing against time.
In the coming years, the UNDP is committed to working closer with the youth in scaling up data systems, financing for resilience, designing proposals, and establishing policy frameworks and advocacy. The actions we take today will undoubtedly shape the future and generations to come. Inaction is not an option. Through programs like SHIELD, our work goes beyond preparing for disaster today; we are working towards paving the path for a more resilient future for generations to come.
SHIELD is a multi-year partnership covering 11 provinces and two regions in the Philippines that are among the most vulnerable to disasters and climate change impacts. It is implemented by the UNDP Philippines, the consortium partners: Philippine Business for Social Progress, the National Resilience Council, the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, and the United Nations Human Settlements Program or UN Habitat, together with government partners: the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Office of the Civil Defense, and the Department of Science and Technology with generous support from the Australian Government.
Dr. Selva Ramachandran is the UNDP Philippines resident representative.
EdFolio eyes more global users on its learning app
By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter
ILIGAN-BASED startup EdFolio, Inc. seeks to attract more overseas buyers on its e-commerce platform, while offering an additional stream of income to educators selling their digital learning materials.
“Last time I checked, 26% of our sign-ups came from teachers in the United States for their classes,” Ursel M. Laureno, chief executive officer and cofounder at EdFolio, told BusinessWorld. “The market outside is that ripe since they have a similar platform.”
EdFolio started at the height of a coronavirus pandemic in 2021. “I realized that needed a platform to share educational resources, she said.
In 2025, the startup will do “version 2.0” of EdFolio, in which it plans to change the payment currency depending on a user’s location, so buyers will know the price in dollars.
Filipino parents based in countries such as Laos and Cambodia have checked out e-books on the website for their homeschooled children.
“If you’re looking for a place where you can see the e-books or the worksheets that you have sitting on your desk and see what value that can bring you, then you can sign up at EdFolio,” she said.
Sellers can sell e-books that may either be downloaded or paid through subscription.
Ms. Laureno, who is also chief operating officer at Bethany Baptist Academy in Iligan City, said she wants the platform to be a source of extra income for teachers.
“I see EdFolio as one of the e-commerce frontlines for hybrid and online learning platforms because it’s not just EdFolio that’s doing the education,” she said. “It’s partnering with every educator in the Philippines.”
One of EdFolio’s new startup e-book publishers managed to get more than P5,000 in sales for a homeschool parent in Laos last month, Ms. Laureno said.
To date, the app has 1, 036 sign-ups for its e-commerce website, 120 of which are authors from small and established publishers.
The e-books on arts and design, Biology, Chemistry, computer literacy, culinary, engineering, English, home economics, and more, are priced from P20 to P400, significantly lower than other outlets, Ms. Laureno said.
In terms of quality, aside from random checks, the company is planning to launch a campaign called “EdFolio Verified Educators” that aims to hire people who will edit or proofread materials uploaded to the website.
“If [a seller] will reach a certain standard, we will give them a badge,” she said. “If an author has that badge, then that author has been vetted by EdFolio.”
The startup is prioritizing EdFolio over its other educational technology product, Skooltek, an artificial intelligence (AI)-integrated school management system solution.
She said EdFolio will launch the facial recognition feature in its Skooltek platform to enter the school premises and replace the use of radio frequency identification.
Job gains by industry (Aug 2024 vs Aug 2023)
Employment rose by 1.08 million year on year to 49.15 million in August. Wholesale and retail trade led the industry job gainers after adding 1.13 million annually. Read the full story.
Lemon Square baked goods maker taps Berde Renewables to power production facility
BIG E Food Corp. (BEFC), the company behind Lemon Square snacks, has tapped renewable energy company Berde Renewables, Inc. to install a 2.6-megawatt-peak (MWp) rooftop solar energy system at its production facility in Meycauayan, Bulacan.
“By shifting to solar energy, we’re not only cutting down on emissions but also setting ourselves up for a more efficient and future-ready operation. It’s a reflection of our dedication to both our consumers and the environment,” EJ Vergel De Dios, BEFC’s head of corporate strategy and planning and chief executive officer of Lemon Square Bakery Treats, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The solar photovoltaic energy systems are expected to generate over 3,681.77 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, helping to mitigate carbon emissions equivalent to around 2,500 tons per year.
“This collaboration with Big E Food Corporation is one of several we’ve established this year, demonstrating our commitment to accelerating the energy transition here in the Philippines,” Berde Renewables CEO Patrick Zhu said.
“By helping companies like BEFC make the switch to renewable energy, we’re not only reducing carbon footprints but also providing them with a sustainable solution to manage rising energy costs,” he added.
Last month, Berde Renewables announced that it had entered into a solar power purchase agreement with retail company Magic Group of Companies for the installation of a 729-MWp solar power system at Magic Mall San Carlos.
Berde Renewables is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager. It develops, builds, and operates distributed renewable energy projects for commercial and industrial customers. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
Peru archaeologists find 600-year-old child sacrifice site
LIMA — In a vacant lot outside the town of Trujillo, in northern Peru, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of nearly four dozen children — all thought to have been ritually sacrificed more than 600 years ago.
“Many of these remains have cuts on the sternum, some on their ribs,” said archaeologist Julio Asencio from the excavation site.
Each child was buried separately, the scientist said. The remains of two adults and nine llamas — thought to be an offering representing their source of food, clothing, and transport — were also found nearby.
They likely belonged to the local Chimu group, which dominated northern Peru from the 700s to the late 1400s, Asencio said.
Historians believe the group may have participated in child sacrifices as an attempt to appease their gods after heavy rains and flooding. They were conquered by the Inca just decades later.
Scientists had previously found another site thought to be a mass sacrifice by the Chimu nearby, of 140 children all with cuts on their sternum and ribs, their hearts believed to have been removed thereafter, alongside hundreds of llamas.
Peru is home to hundreds of archaeological ruins from a number of pre-Hispanic cultures up through the Inca Empire, which stretched from what is now southern Ecuador through central Chile some 500 years ago. — Reuters
Bored Bitcoin seeking direction after big bang
BITCOIN has been distinctly listless in the past three months after starting the year with a bang.
The crypto leader has largely shuttled between $56,000 and $63,000 so far in the second half of the year — a contrast to the first six months when it jumped 45%, propelled by the launch of US exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking its spot price.
Market players are now eyeing possible new crypto catalysts heading into yearend and early 2025, beyond broader market-moving events such as shifts in US interest rates and the American presidential election.
Jake Ostrovskis, trader at UK-based crypto firm Wintermute, is anticipating the upcoming launch of options on BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, a new product he believes could attract more US retail money after its approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission last month.
Because regulators view Bitcoin as a commodity, though, such options may also need the green light from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees commodity derivatives, said Youwei Yang, chief economist at BIT Mining.
“If successful… (ETF options) could increase Bitcoin’s market sophistication and volatility, driving greater institutional and retail engagement,” Mr. Yang added.
It’s been quite a run for crypto as the anticipation and approval of US ETFs helped drive Bitcoin activity globally.
The total size of the cryptocurrency market has ballooned to $2.2 trillion as of Oct. 1 this year, from $8.3 billion at the start of 2023, according to CoinGecko data.
“We’ve observed a significant increase in institutional on-boarding and trading activity,” this year said Mr. Ostrovskis, adding there was a strong demand for platforms and services for digital assets that resemble traditional financial structures.
Notoriously wild Bitcoin’s 90-day volatility has fallen to 42% this year from 67% in mid-2020, according to Deutsche Bank data. Market watchers cautioned that Bitcoin still showed a strong correlation to other cryptocurrencies and was likely to be among the first assets dumped by investors retreating from uncertainty and risk; Bitcoin slumped 5% on a new spike in hostilities in the Middle East last week, for example.
BIGGEST CRYPTO COUNTRIES?
Chainalysis’ Global Adoption index, which tracks crypto use in 151 countries with measures including trading and payments, surpassed the 2021 crypto bull market between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.
Crypto adoption is particularly strong in lower-income countries which often have less developed and accessible mainstream financial systems, the report showed. India took top spot, followed by Nigeria in Chainalysis’ rankings, while seven of the other top 20 countries were Asian emerging markets including Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Crypto fans often point to uses in countries with high inflation and rapid currency depreciation — such as Turkey and Argentina — as evidence of digital money’s real world use.
Chainalysis also noted a significant increase in decentralized finance (DeFi) and stablecoin activity in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
“The value proposition for Bitcoin and stablecoins in Latin America are intact,” said Mauricio Di Bartolomeo, co-founder of crypto loan provider Ledn.
“Most of the emerging world wants to bank in dollars, but they don’t necessarily trust their banks.”
The United States ranked fourth overall on the adoption ranking, while South Korea and China were 19th and 20th, respectively.
In terms of crypto transaction volumes, the US is the world’s biggest market followed by India, according to Deutsche Bank. — Reuters
Want to kill grunt work with AI? Careful what you wish for
COMMON WISDOM about generative AI is that it will displace lots of professional jobs. The more nuanced take: It’ll take lots of entry-level jobs.
I’ve asked several businesses over the last few months how they’re using newfangled generative AI models from the likes of Microsoft Corp., OpenAI, and Alphabet, Inc.’s Google, and a common theme is automating grunt work — the kind you’d give to a new recruit, like conducting market research or writing reports. That might make sense on the surface, but as with every technology revolution there will be a price, one that both businesses and graduates will have to pay as AI raises the bar to starting a career.
One example of the trend comes from Man Group Plc. The British hedge fund has been using a large-language model to synthesize lots of unstructured market data from external sources into pithy paragraphs that are presented to its portfolio managers. That work is normally carried out manually by junior analysts. “Now they can work on higher-value stuff,” says Tim Mace, the firm’s managing director of data and machine learning.
Much the same is happening at some of Wall Street’s biggest banks, who have been experimenting with AI tools that can instantly answer questions about publicly traded companies or generate reports and one-page presentations, work typically done by analysts who’ve just stepped onto the bottom rung of the investment-banking ladder. Top executives at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Morgan Stanley and other banks have been debating how deep they can cut those incoming analyst classes, The New York Times reported in April.
A survey this year by the UK’s Institute for Public Policy Research found that low-ranking office work has a 16% higher chance of being taken over by AI compared to jobs for more senior workers. “For a given job, entry-level positions are more at risk than those of more experienced professionals,” the report said. Little wonder that a frequent piece of advice for adopting ChatGPT is to treat it “like an intern.”
What happens when businesses automate entry-level roles? One outcome is lower costs, but there might be a tradeoff. Grunt work can be a valuable route to learning the tricks of the trade and building the intuition needed in a more senior role. Sure, it can be tedious for a junior analyst at an investment bank to build an Excel spreadsheet with 20 tabs about a stock, or a 50-page slide deck about a potential deal, but the process can also help them develop a better sense for valuing companies. What’s seen as a hazing ritual in some industries, and low-value work, can be useful in training the next generation of senior managers.
It also poses an uncomfortable challenge for college grads targeting professions like law and banking in the coming years. The New York Times goes as far as to say that investment banks will “nullify the need to hire thousands of new college graduates.” If future employers expect their young recruits to do higher-level work, those grads will need to show they have those higher-level skills. Over the next one or two decades, that might even lead to a rethink of how higher-education prepares young people to enter a workforce where they are no longer doing the job of interns but managing machines that are interns instead.
Technology has of course been streamlining entry-level tasks throughout history, taking us from abacuses to calculators, typewriters to word processors, and library stacks to smartphone databases. But generative AI represents a bigger leap: It’s not only automating routine tasks but mimicking human creativity and decision-making, threatening to erase entire categories of junior positions and shutting established entry points to professional careers.
Businesses should be mindful of how they define “low-value” work that’s suddenly ripe for automation. It might be more valuable than they think.
BLOOMBERG OPINION