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Netflix row riles Berlin Film Festival

BERLIN — A row over whether films produced for streaming platform Netflix should be shown at the Berlin Film Festival has overshadowed the premiere of Elisa & Marcela, Isabel Coixet’s tale of two Spanish lesbians.
Independent arthouse cinema operators in Germany wrote to German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters and Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick on Monday demanding that the film be withdrawn from the competition.
“The Berlinale stands for the big screen, Netflix for the small screen. We want it to remain that way in future and we don’t want the world’s biggest festival in terms of audience — with more than 300,000 moviegoers — to become a television festival,” they said.
But a spokeswoman for the Berlinale said the film was eligible for competition because it is due to be shown in Spanish cinemas.
Netflix has stirred unease in the traditional movie industry by encouraging people to watch films at home rather than go to the cinema. Major theater chains refuse to show Netflix films, and some top directors have balked at making films that will be seen primarily on the small screen.
Ms. Coixet said she was a “struggling filmmaker” and had tried for 10 years to find financing for the film but no one was interested before Netflix.
She said it was not fair to demand the film be withdrawn from the competition “in the name of culture,” adding: “I’m sorry, that’s not culture — the culture has to be about respecting the author. And I think saying the film doesn’t deserve to be here is not respecting the author.”
Last year Netflix Inc. pulled out of the Cannes Film Festival after organizers banned its films from competition over its refusal to release them in cinemas.
LOVE STORY
Ms. Coixet’s black-and-white film is based on the true story of Elisa Sanchez Loriga and Marcela Gracia Ibeas, who fall in love at school and manage to get married in 1901 when one of them disguises herself as a man called “Mario,” cutting her hair, drawing on a moustache and wearing a suit.
Same-sex marriage in Spain was legalized in 2005.
Villagers suspect Mario is really Elisa and turn up at their house with pitchforks, smashing their windows and yelling “whores” at them. The pair want to escape to Argentina but are caught and imprisoned while saving up for the journey.
“I want people to feel that even centuries ago, people loved each other and there’s no rules for love — just leave people alone living their sexuality,” Ms. Coixet told Reuters.
Natalia de Molina, who plays Elisa, said: “I want everyone to know this story because this still happens — there are so many Elisas and Marcelas around the world.”
Elisa & Marcela — which was made in four weeks — is one of 16 films competing for the prestigious Golden and Silver Bears at this year’s Berlinale. The winners will be announced at a prize-giving ceremony on Feb. 16. — Reuters

Competition watchdog blocks URC-Roxas Holdings deal

THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on Thursday said it has blocked Universal Robina Corp.’s (URC) takeover of a Roxas Holdings, Inc. (RHI) subsidiary’s sugar milling and refining assets in Nasugbu, Batangas, saying the deal will create a monopoly in Southern Luzon.
In a statement, the anti-trust body said it issued the decision after finding that URC’s acquisition of Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc. (CADPI) “leads to a monopoly in South Luzon.”
“The prohibition prevents this deal from creating a monopoly in the relevant market that could harm the welfare of the sugarcane planters. It is the duty of the Commission to prevent the creation of monopolies when applying the merger control powers conferred on it by the Philippine Competition Act,” PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan was quoted as saying in the statement.
The PCC described CADPI as URC’s only competitor in the sugarcane milling services market in the area. URC has a sugar mill in Balayan, Batangas.
“A merger-to-monopoly deal is among the most detrimental types of business transactions. The URC takeover removes its only competitor, erodes the benefits of competition for the sugarcane planters, and leaves market power at the hands of a single provider in an area,” Mr. Balisacan said.
Last July, URC said it was acquiring the sugar milling and refining assets owned by CADPI and RHI in Barangay Lumbangan, Nasugbu in Batangas. The following month, the competition watchdog conducted a further review of the deal, after concerns over its effect on the local sugar industry.
In January this year, the PCC flagged the same competition concerns on the transaction.
To salvage the merger, the parties submitted voluntary commitments but the PCC did not consider these sufficient to address the monopoly issue.
“Both mill operators are in Batangas but the monopoly to be created by the merger will substantially lessen competition in the sugar milling services market not only in Batangas, but also in Cavite, Laguna, and Quezon,” the PCC said.
While the deal mainly concerns sugarcane farmers in Southern Luzon, the PCC noted the sugar processed in these facilities are sold throughout the country.
In a statement, URC said it accepted the anti-trust body’s decision.
“URC initiated the proposed acquisition of CADPI with that objective mind, convinced that it would bring about such efficiencies that would translate to better sugar planter and consumer welfare driven by a more stable and profitable sugar production industry in Southern Luzon,” the Gokongwei-led company said.
URC said the PCC decision “does not materially affect the (company’s) business plans”, as it continues to look for “opportunities to attain greater production efficiency.”
URC is engaged in various food-related businesses, including the production of packed foods and beverages, sugar, agro-industrial products, and bioethanol. Its mills, which produce raw and refined forms of sugar and molasses, are located in Batangas, Iloilo, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Cagayan.
RHI, also engaged in the trading of raw and refined sugar, and molasses, has 100% stake in CADPI which operates an integrated sugar cane milling and refining plant in Batangas. — Janina C. Lim

FDCP honors films, filmmakers that did good abroad

THE Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) kicks off the centenary of Philippine Cinema by awarding 86 filmmakers, films, and artists in the third installment of its Film Ambassadors’ Night held last Sunday in the Samsung Hall of SM Aura in Taguig City.
“[The Film Ambassadors’ Night] was really about celebrating films and its makers. Glad to see independent and commercial filmmakers, national artists and film critics, documentary and content makers, animation and television providers, government officials and stakeholders all in one room,” Will Fredo, FDCP executive director, said in a Facebook post about the event.
The annual event is meant to recognize films, filmmakers, and artists “who won in globally recognized film festivals,” according to a press release.
Honorees this year include films that received accolades from international film festivals: Shireen Seno’s Nervous Translation (NETPAC Award for Best Asian Feature Film at the 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam in Netherlands and Best Screenwriter for Asian New Talent Category at the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival in China), Alberto “Treb” Monteras II’s Respeto (Centenary Award for the Best Debut Film of a Director at the International Film Festival of India in Goa, India), and Brillante Ma. Mendoza’s Alpha, The Right To Kill (Special Jury Prize at the 66th San Sebastian International Film Festival in San Sebastian, Spain).
But the night’s biggest awards were given to newly minted National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik (real name: Eric de Guia), the film Hows of Us (2018) considered the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time due to its P800 million box office take, and producer Bianca Balbuena-Liew who was behind films such as Lav Diaz’s Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis (2016).
The three were given the Camera Obscura Artistic Excellence Award, “the highest honor given by the agency to those who displayed excellence in the global film arena and made major contributions in Philippine cinema,” said the release.
“We want the entire film industry to have a glimpse of how we are going to celebrate the 100 years of Philippine cinema because it’s really important for not just our filmmakers and our producers to have ownership of this event. I hope it will also trickle down to the audiences, the very people who are watching our films, that they take to heart the celebration of 100 years of Philippine cinema,” said Mary Liza Diño-Seguerra, chairperson and CEO of the FDCP.
Though moving pictures were introduced in the Philippines in 1897, it wasn’t until 1919 that the country produced its first film, Dalagang Bukid, by Filipino filmmaker Jose Nepomuceno popularly called the Father of Philippine Cinema. — ZBC

Jollibee sets P17-billion capital spending for 2019

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
JOLLIBEE Foods Corp. (JFC) is beefing up capital spending this year to P17.2 billion as it continues to expand its store network this year, following the homegrown food giant’s double-digit profit growth in 2018.
In a statement issued on Thursday, JFC said its capital spending in 2019 will be almost double its actual spending last year. The budget will be used for new stores, renovation of existing stores, and investments in manufacturing plants.
The listed firm said it disbursed P9.6 billion in capital investments last year, most of which went to the construction of new stores, renovation of existing stores, and also for supply chain facilities.
JFC’s aggressive spending plan comes amid its strong performance in 2018. The company saw its attributable profit rise by 17.1% to P8.33 billion from the P7.11 billion it posted in 2017. Revenues also climbed by a fifth or 20.6% to P158.67 billion last year.
The increase was supported by a 23.5% uptick in systemwide retail sales, or the measure of all sales to customers from both company-owned and franchised stores, to P212.19 billion. Without the consolidation of United States burger chain Smashburger into JFC’s portfolio, systemwide sales would have grown by 16.6% in 2018.
In the fourth quarter, JFC’s attributable profit grew by 11.9% to P2.24 billion, on the back of a 22% increase in systemwide retail sales to P59.01 billion and an 18.2% jump in revenues to P43.83 billion.
Sales from JFC’s restaurants in the Philippines alone grew by 15.1%, mainly due to new stores which accounted for 8.2% of the growth. Same-store sales growth stood at 6.9%, referring to the performance of stores that have been open for at least 15 months.
“The Philippine business performed strongly in 2018 despite rising inflation rate and slowing GDP growth…Operating margin even improved slightly compared with 2017,” JFC Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Tanmantiong said in a statement.
Meanwhile, sales of its stores abroad surged by 55.5%, led by its business in North America, thanks to the consolidation of Smashburger.
Mr. Tanmantiong noted that without its acquisitions, JFC’s foreign business would have grown by 22.1%, which is in line with their long-term growth model.
“We opened 502 new stores worldwide or a rate of 1.4 new stores per day. We continue to pursue our aspiration to become one of the top restaurant companies in the world,” Mr. Tanmantiong said.
Of its total store openings last year, 317 were in the Philippines, while 185 were located abroad. It ended the year with a total of 4,521 stores, 19.1% higher year-on-year, and entered four new markets, namely, Italy, Macau, United Kingdom, and Malaysia.
JFC’s brands include Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Burger King, Pho 24, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, and Highlands Coffee, among others.
Shares in JFC rose 1.65% or P5.20 to close at P321.20 each at the stock exchange on Thursday.

Watergate movie was meant to be funny. Then came Trump

BERLIN — The makers of Watergate, a film about the scandal that brought down Richard Nixon, first intended to make a lightly humorous study of the affair. Then came Donald Trump.
The movie, having its European premier at the Berlin Film Festival, recounts the fall of President Richard Nixon, starting with the break-in by thieves seeking material to help his election campaign at the Democratic Party’s offices in Washington’s Watergate complex.
It blends interviews with participants in the affair with original footage and dramatized re-enactments of Nixon’s conversations, using tape recordings from the listening devices the Republican president installed in the Oval Office.
Director Charles Ferguson started making the film before Mr. Trump became a candidate. But once the real estate magnate and former reality television star won the White House, Mr. Ferguson felt he had to adjust the tone.
“The original film had more humor in it and was more of a real-life political thriller,” he told Reuters on Tuesday. “As all these parallels unfolded… I came to realize that just wasn’t appropriate and I had to make a very serious film.”
Mr. Trump’s presidency, like Mr. Nixon’s, has been conducted in the shadow of an investigation by a special prosecutor. In Mr. Trump’s case, Robert Mueller is investigating Russian influence in the election. Several of the president’s top campaign aides have been indicted or convicted. Mr. Trump calls it a witch hunt.
Watergate — Or: How We Learned to Stop an Out of Control President shows scenes of tense conversations in the Oval Office between a Nixon who is by turns charming, bullying, paranoid, or furious, and associates including Henry Kissinger and Bob Haldeman. Nixon is played by the Tony Award-winning British stage actor Douglas Hodge.
Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporters who first revealed that the Watergate break-in was more than a simple burglary, are also interviewed. — Reuters

Razon’s ICTSI expands terminal at Port of Batumi

LISTED port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) said it has officially opened the expansion of its terminal at the Port of Batumi in Georgia.
In a statement, ICTSI said its capacity development at the Batumi International Container Terminal (BICT) is meant to help operations by improving the processing of existing cargo flows and allowing space for new business.
“This new investment consolidates and expands BICT’s competitive position. A comprehensive dredging program, undertaken in cooperation with Batumi Sea Port, provides an 11.5-meter draught in the port’s fairway and alongside BICT’s quay line allowing easy access for feedermax vessels at the port and making it Georgia’s deepest draught port,” Hans-Ole Madsen, ICTSI senior vice-president in Europe, Middle East and Africa Head, said in the statement.
Mr. Madsen said the company also built a new container freight station that has a 180-meter rail spur that will enable it to conduct cross-stuffing from containers to rail cars.
“[W]e have also expanded container and truck storage areas, and following the completion of a new highway to Batumi, introduced a new, dedicated two-lane gate complex for BICT,” Mr. Madsen said.
ICTSI has been operating its own container terminal and dry bulk handling facility in Batumi, Georgia since 2007. Its 48-year concession also grants it exclusivity for container handling in the port.
The company said the expansion of BICT increases its container handling capacity to 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) annually. The project also supports the Georgian government’s plans to develop the area as a transport-logistic hub for the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The Razon-led firm posted an attributable net income of $153.29 million in the January to September period, up 2.66% from same period last year due to a 10% increase in revenues from port operations reaching $1 billion. — Denise A. Valdez

DFA extends ban on some Polish deployments

THE Philippine Embassy in Warsaw renewed its recommendation to suspend the deployment of workers to the polish road transport sector following the reported poor working conditions of Filipino truck drivers.
“In view of the issues concerning the working conditions of Filipinos who worked as trailer truck drivers in Europe, Chargè d’Affaires (Maria Alnee A.) Gamble said the Embassy is maintaining its recommendation for the suspension of deployment of Filipinos for work in the road transport sector,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement on Thursday.
In November, the DFA reported the rescue of at least 40 Filipino truck drivers in Germany and Poland who “have been subjected to poor working and living conditions.” The Philippine Embassy in Oslo also attended to more than 20 truck drivers living in substandard conditions in Denmark.
The Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources conducted an inquiry on Nov. 26 into the 22 Filipino truck drivers who were supposed to work in Poland but were assigned to Denmark with low pay and substandard accommodation, with no overtime pay and medical benefits.
The DFA also reminded Filipinos seeking job opportunities in Poland to only transact with licensed recruitment agencies with approved job orders from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA).
The DFA issued the advisory after the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI) reported the availability “thousands of careers” in Poland.
Ms. Gamble warned about recruitment agencies that charge excessive fees to applicants. She said Filipinos should ensure that they have a valid working permit, a working visa and a written employment contract before leaving the Philippines. According to the Philippine Embassy, Poland usually provides foreigners coming from outside the European Union with temporary residence for up to three years depending on the length of their employment contract and work permit.
Poland last year expressed interest in hiring workers from the Philippines to address the labor shortages. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

Hulu sees Clooney’s Catch-22 as ammunition in Netflix fight

HULU LLC touted its new lineup of original programming, including shows based on Marvel superheroes and collaborations with stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney, as the streaming service looks to build momentum in its war with Netflix Inc.
Craig Erwich, the head of original content at Hulu, called the video-streaming service the “fastest-growing on-demand platform in the US” It added 8 million customers last year, a nearly 50% increase.
“We have more episodes of TV than anyone,” he said Monday during the biannual presentations made by networks before the Television Critics Association. “Hulu is the complete package.”
The service, which is owned by Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox Inc., Comcast Corp., and AT&T Inc., began as a way for networks to provide online viewing for their in-season shows after their original air date. In recent years, it has branched out into original productions and will play an increasing role in the streaming universe after Disney takes majority control following its acquisition of Fox’s entertainment assets in coming weeks.
Last month, the service announced it was cutting the price of its most-popular plan by $2 to $6 a month.
CATCH-22
Catch-22, a miniseries that debuts May 17, was produced in collaboration with Viacom Inc.’s Paramount TV. Mr. Clooney, who produced, directed, and stars in the series, said he’s looking to do more TV shows, underscoring how some of Hollywood’s most bankable actors are flocking to the medium.
“When you do a movie you don’t have enough time to get to know the characters,” he said at the TCA event. “That’s why you do a television show. I don’t care about the medium — I really don’t. I just care about the quality of the work and the kinds of things we are able to do. Television is doing some really amazing things. We just want to work.”
Hulu also announced an adaptation of the true-life serial-killer book The Devil in the White City, in collaboration with Mr. DiCaprio. It’s also making four new animated Marvel series, featuring talent such as comedian Chelsea Handler and director Kevin Smith. One of them, a Howard the Duck show, will revive a character from one of Hollywood’s most notorious bombs: The 1986 film was a critical and commercial failure, though it later gained a cult following.
Mr. Erwin said Hulu rushed out its own documentary about the ill-fated Fyre music festival to beat a competing documentary from Netflix to market last month. He said having both series airing ended up heightening interest in the topic. The Hulu film has been the No. 1 movie on the streaming service since its release.
“We greatly wanted to be first with the definitive account, not just a dig at our competitor,” he said. “It became a cultural event.” — Bloomberg

Authorities arrest Roses 4 U employees for illegally soliciting investments

AUTHORITIES arrested 31 people related to the operations of a group called Roses 4 U, which was found to be illegally soliciting online investments.
Operatives from the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group, along with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Anti-Money Laundering Council, served separate search warrants at the Roses 4 U’s office in Cavite and Pasay City.
The SEC had found the group’s agents to be soliciting online investments in foreign exchange and commodities trading, bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, as well as stocks and indices from foreigners through an online portal.
“Roses 4 U makes it appear to foreign investors that their accounts are existent and active when in fact said accounts were fake and actually being manipulated by “Roses 4 U” officers and agents in violation of Section 26 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC),” the commission said.
Section 26 of the SRC states that it is unlawful to “employ any device or scheme or artifice to defraud,” or “obtain money or property by means of any untrue statement of a material fact of any omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.”
The SRC further prohibits people to “engage in any act, transaction, practice or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person.”
The SEC noted that while Roses 4 U is registered as a corporation with the commission, it does not have the license to offer or sell securities, nor were the securities being offered or sold registered with the commission.
Six people from Roses 4 U’s Cavite office were arrested during the operation, where authorities also secured pieces of evidence such as computers, SIM cards, and assorted documents.
At Roses 4 U’s Pasay office, 25 people were apprehended, while gadgets and material evidence used for their investment scam operations were seized.
“The SEC takes very seriously its mandate to uphold the laws it administers. We will enforce the law against these financial scammers,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said in a statement.
“(W)e take this opportunity to warn the public against such investment schemes as we advise them to immediately report the same to the SEC and to refrain from investing their money without first checking with the SEC as to the legitimacy of the investment scheme being offered,” Mr. Aquino added. — Arra B. Francia

ILO warns quality of jobs is sliding for global work force

International Labour Organization (ILO) logo
GENEVA — Global progress in tackling unemployment and the employment gender gap is stalling and the quality of jobs is getting worse, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in an annual report on Wednesday.
Global unemployment fell by 2 million to 172 million in 2018, finally returning to the 5.0 percent global unemployment rate last seen before the global financial crisis a decade ago.
The rate is expected to improve to 4.9 percent this year and remain at that level until 2022, as high-income countries see further falls in unemployment. However, the headline figure masks some worrying trends, the ILO said.
“A deteriorating economic outlook is already affecting some emerging economies and this is raising unemployment rates,” ILO Deputy Director-General Deborah Greenfield told a news conference.
ILO Research Director Damian Grimshaw said 2 billion people, or 61% of the global workforce, were in informal employment, typically vulnerable jobs with low pay and no social protection. In most countries, more than half of the agricultural workforce was in such jobs, the report said.
Governments worldwide have signed up to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, including a goal of attaining what it terms “decent” work for all by 2030. That goal seemed unrealistic for many countries, the report said.
The figures for informal employment showed it included more men in higher-income countries and more women in poorer countries.
Women overall were much less likely to be in the global labor market, with a 48 percent labour force participation rate compared to 75 percent for men.
“The closing of the gender gap has stalled and this is definitely a cause for worry,” Greenfield said.
“Women also faced a higher risk of unemployment in many regions and earn significantly less than men when they are in employment.”
Even advanced economies such as the Nordic countries were struggling to close the gender gap, she said.
The report also showed that the proportion of the global population in the labour market was shrinking, because people were living longer and more were retired, while young people were staying in education longer. — Reuters

Singer Ryan Adams calls accusations ‘inaccurate’

LOS ANGELES — Rock singer Ryan Adams on Wednesday called a New York Times article about him “upsettingly inaccurate” but said he was “not a perfect man” and apologized to anyone he had hurt.
Mr. Adams, 44, was responding on Twitter to a New York Times story in which seven women, including his ex-wife actress Mandy Moore, accused him of manipulative behavior and of pursuing female artists for sex.
One of the women said he had exchanged sexually explicit messages online with her when she was aged 15 and 16.
“I am not a perfect man and I have made many mistakes. To anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologize deeply and unreservedly,” Mr. Adams tweeted. “But the picture that this article paints is upsettingly inaccurate. Some of its details are misrepresented; some are exaggerated; some are outright false. I would never have inappropriate interactions with someone I thought was underage. Period.,” he added.
Andrew Brettler, an attorney for Mr. Adams, told the newspaper that the singer “unequivocally denies that he ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage.”
Asked for further comment, Mr. Brettler referred Reuters to Mr. Adams’ statement on Twitter. — Reuters

Phoenix Petroleum in talks with PNOC for ‘strategic alliance’ on LNG hub

By Victor V. Saulon, Sub-Editor
PHOENIX Petroleum Philippines, Inc. is in talks with Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) towards forging a “strategic alliance” with the state-led firm on its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Batangas province.
“The first engagement meeting between the two parties progressed last week, with the planned joint venture looking into the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with PNOC in the coming weeks,” Phoenix Petroleum said in a statement on Thursday.
The statement follows the Energy department’s issuance of a “notice to proceed” to Phoenix Petroleum unit Tanglawan Philippine LNG, Inc. to develop the facility with CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC).
The company said representatives of Phoenix Petroleum, a Davao City-based independent oil company led by businessman Dennis A. Uy, and PNOC were in talks “in hopes to secure a strategic alliance.”
“With PNOC on board, Phoenix Petroleum has proposed their participation and involvement in the areas of pipeline infrastructure and franchise, banked gas, equity, and other marketing opportunities,” the listed company said.
Separately, PNOC President and Chief Executive Officer Reuben S. Lista confirmed meeting representatives of Phoenix Petroleum on Wednesday last week.
“They are inviting us to join the alliance,” Mr. Lista said in a phone interview.
He said the power plant component would be the next discussion point, along with PNOC’s banked gas and equity contribution to the project.
On its own, PNOC had initiated a similar plan to build an LNG hub, which was among the projects put forward by Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi to ensure energy sufficiency and security.
Last month, the company terminated its selection of a joint venture partner for its proposed LNG hub, formally ending its ambition to spearhead what could have been a state-led facility for the imported fuel.
Five gas-fired power plants in Batangas, with a combined capacity of 3,211 megawatts (MW), are the main customers of the Malampaya gas discovery. The offshore Palawan project is expected to start depleting by 2022 to 2024.
Since its inception in 2001, the gas-to-power project has been providing a stable supply of energy, meeting 35% to 40% of Luzon’s power needs, the Department of Energy previously said.
PNOC has a share in the Malampaya gas find which is “banked” and up for monetization after several negotiations with prospective buyers failed. Its unit PNOC-Exploration Corp. is a partner in the project along with private companies.
“I think we will have a partnership. We will have a part in the partnership,” Mr. Lista said.
“Tumatawad lang kami. May mga offer na sila (We’re just bargaining. They have already made offers),” he said, adding that he considers the discussions towards a partnership as “99%” complete.
In its statement, Phoenix Petroleum said the Tanglawan project is expected to break ground this year on its regasification and receiving terminal with a capacity of 2.2 metric tons per annum (mtpa).
Imported natural gas is liquefied for ease of shipping, then regasified or reverted to its former state in the country of destination.
“The facility will help support the demand for a clean, competitive, and environment-friendly energy source in Luzon. The LNG hub project aims to provide energy security for the country,” Phoenix Petroleum said.
It targets commercial operation of the facility by 2023, while also aiming to develop a gas-fired power generation facility with an installed capacity of up to 2,000 MW.
Mr. Lista declined to confirm whether other entities, including CNOOC and PXP Energy Corp., were part of the discussions last week.
In October last year, Phoenix Petroleum granted preferential rights to PXP Energy to participate and acquire up to a 49% equity in the former’s LNG project under the Tanglawan entity.
PXP Energy also announced that Mr. Uy’s Dennison Holdings Corp. would subscribe to 340 million shares in the listed company at a discounted price of P11.85 per share for a total P4.03 billion.
PXP President Daniel P. Carlos did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the talks between Phoenix Petroleum and PNOC.
Phoenix Petroleum has yet to disclose the final investment cost of the LNG hub, but earlier this month its board authorized the company to invest corporate funds initially at P250 million for the project.
On Thursday, its shares closed 0.88% higher at P11.40 each.

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