SANTIAGO — Global miner Anglo American laid off 180 workers at its flagship Los Bronces mine in central Chile, part of a plan to boost productivity at the deposit that has raised the ire of some of its unionized workers.
The layoffs were necessary to combat rising costs at the mine, Anglo American said in a statement. The mine sits high in the Andes but on the outskirts of the capital city of Santiago, well south of the majority of the country’s copper deposits.
“The future viability of Los Bronces requires an adjustment in the way we’re organized, how we work and the technology that we use, in order to boost our efficiency and productivity,” the miner said in the statement.
The mine’s Union #2 staged a temporary walk-off ahead of the announcement, and said in a statement it was considering further labor action.
Several other miners in Chile, including top copper producer Codelco, are also overhauling mines and strategies as they seek to boost productivity amid increasing demand for the red metal but sometimes declining ore grades at the country’s aging deposits.
Los Bronces produced 369,500 tonnes of copper in 2018. — Reuters
By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter
CEBU PACIFIC is allocating between $650 to $700 million to fund its acquisition of new aircraft this year, as it aims to recover “lost market share” over the past two years.
Lance Y. Gokongwei, president and chief executive officer of the budget carrier, said the company is keen on expanding its fleet and expects to receive 12 new planes this year.
“I would say we have 12 deliveries this year and… we’ve already secured financing for the first seven or eight. So, it’s only the back three or four that we’re arranging financing now…,” he told reporters at the launching of its new Airbus A321neo (new engine option) in Makati City.
“The $650-700 million that I indicated for financing is actually the capital expenditure number. I don’t know the exact financing number, but definitely the $650-700 million will be funded from internally generated funds from some borrowing,” he aded.
Cebu Pacific has a fleet of 71 aircraft as of end-2018 and aims to receive six Airbus A321neos, five A320neos and one ATR 72-600 by end-2019.
Mr. Gokongwei said the new aircraft will help the company “increase capacity in key markets or even launch new routes,” with the goal of growing capacity from low to mid-teens for 2019. The airline is looking to fly to new cities in India, Russia, Northern Japan and Australia.
He noted that Cebu Pacific was not able to keep up with the growth in passenger demand in recent years, causing the budget carrier to lose “a little bit of market share particularly outside in Clark and in Cebu where we didn’t grow as fast as we wanted to.”
“But I think the next three years you’ll see us clawback a lot of the share we’ve lost, and also we want to introduce a lot of new routes that we haven’t been able to because we didn’t have enough aircraft,” Mr. Gokongwei added.
Mr. Gokongwei is optimistic about the airline’s prospects this year, after its bottomline suffered last year due to soaring jet fuel prices and the weakening of the peso against the US dollar.
“We think 2019 looks significantly brighter, because first and foremost, I think fuel prices have stabled, the peso is strengthening. But equally important is we haven’t been growing as fast the last two years. This year we’ll add 11-12% more seats, and when you have that amount of seat increase, we’re going to see economies of scale that it will benefit the airline and our unit cost,” he added.
For the first nine months of 2018, Cebu Air said its net income dropped 36% to P2.781 billion as the growth in expenses outpaced revenues.
Cebu Pacific aims to have a total of 83 planes by end-2022, comprised of eight Airbus A330s, 18 A320ceos (current engine option), five A320neos, seven A321ceos, 27 A321neos, 16 ATR 72-600s and two ATR CF.
It targets to fly 22.5-23 million passengers in 2019 with a load factor of mid- to high-80s. The target last year was to fly 22 million passengers, and Mr. Gokongwei said they achieved “over 20 million” end-2018.
PAG-IBIG Fund wants to hike employees’ monthly contribution to support growing demand for housing loans.
THE HOME Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) is considering to increase the monthly contribution share of employees to support growing demand for housing loans projected in the coming years.
In a press conference, Pag-IBIG Fund Chairman of the Board Eduardo D. Del Rosario floated the idea of increasing the monthly contribution to P300 from the current P200, which may be done as early as 2021.
“Actually, we have discussed this during our previous board meeting. If ever the demand will be so high, then we might increase from P100 to P150,” Mr. Del Rosario told reporters late Wednesday.
“We are thinking about 2021. We will see how the market grows and the demand. We will watch the trend for the housing sector.”
Currently, the minimum monthly contribution of Pag-IBIG Fund is at P200, equally shared by the employer and the employee.
Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti explained the mutual fund may opt to increase its contribution to address the financing gap, given that demand for home loans is increasing.
According to the 2018 financial report delivered by Mr. Del Rosario on Wednesday, Pag-IBIG Fund’s home loan takeouts reached P75.31 billion, 16% higher than the P65.1 billion tallied the previous year.
“To continuously fund the lending of our members…we can also encourage members to support an increase in monthly contribution,” Mr. Moti said.
Apart from increasing its monthly contribution, Pag-IBIG Fund said it is also considering to adjust its rates or borrow additional fund to support the growing demand for housing loans.
“Based on projections…it looks like 2020, we would hit the P100 billion (home loan takeouts). If that trend holds, then we’ll have to look for other fund-sourcing activities of ours, either we do bond flotation… or increase [the members’] savings rate,” Mr. Moti said.
However, he added that the mutual fund still does not see any reason to borrow.
The mutual fund said the last time it adjusted the contribution rate was in 1982, with the value of P100 around that time now valued at P1,866.
“I think it’s better that we open this in the meantime so all the members will be aware of the possibility and they won’t be surprised,” Mr. Del Rosario said.
“If we will make [the monthly contribution to] P150 [for employees, we can] ensure that we can maintain the interest rate and we can provide the best services that Pag-IBIG Fund can offer.” — K.A.N. Vidal
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (Meari to Majo no Hana) Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi
HERE’S A pretty pickle: how do you follow after the work of arguably one of the greatest animated studios in recent decades? With the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki and the shuttering of Studio Ghibli (actually old news: he has come out of retirement and the studio has since unshuttered) many of the people who worked there established their own outfit, Studio Ponoc, and this film — Mary and the Witch’s Flower (Meari to Majo no Hana), helmed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (When Marnie Was There, Secret World of Arrietty) is their debut offering.
On first glance you’d think they simply stepped right into the problem: the opening is an escape as wordless and thrilling as the opening of Castle in the Sky: young girl, cradling some blue and precious object, flies away in a broom stick, closely pursued by creatures not unlike the glutinous henchmen in Howl’s Moving Castle ( Mr. Miyazaki, among other obsessions, has his gleefully scatological side); an explosion of unknown origin, the broom blown out of control, and the girl plummets to an unknown fate below.
More echoes and borrowings to follow: an insecure girl a la Spirited Away, only this time named Mary (voiced in English by Ruby Barnhill) and possessed of hair of brightest ginger; a large-headed elder named Madam Mumblechook (Kate Winslet), not unlike Yubaba in the same film; cats straight out of Whispers of the Heart and a school of magic straight out of Harry Potter (only more childishly fanciful); a climax that recalls the uncontrollable forces unleashed in Princess Mononoke.
We’ve seen it all before for the most part, and Ponoc with Yonebayashi seem content to merely parrot (though to be fair, parroting some of the finest hand-drawn images ever), the various motifs shuffled and mixed to seem new, or newish.
I submit that what we see here is studio and filmmaker following their instincts: to start with a characteristically Japanese gesture of humility (in effect bowing deep and saying “I am but a student of the master and apologize in advance for the clumsiness of my work”) and proceeding to tell their own tale, the struggle to find a voice in the shadow of Mr. Miyazaki and Ghibli. Mary is unhappy with everything about her, from her clumsiness to her outrageously stiff and bright red hair; the domestic scenes at Aunt Charlotte’s (Lynda Baron) estate that sketch this (Mary’s parents are at work elsewhere, and she’s staying for the summer) have the heartfelt quality of self-confession. When Mary unwittingly lands at Endor College for Witches and Warlocks and is extravagantly praised, part of the humor of the situation is that she knows the praise is undeserved — all she’s done, really, is find a glowing blue flower in a field (the same flower — hint — the unknown girl in the film’s opening had stolen).
Things quickly go south of course. Mary is cast out of the college, her power broken, her friend Peter (voice of Louis Ashbourne Serkis, channeling the abrasive charm of the boy in Whispers) imprisoned; she’s basically cornered into facing herself and what, when all is said and done, she truly is, and in a mirror in a home that has been long abandoned does exactly that.
The film is visually lush, full of the kind of bright colors you remember from Mr. Miyazaki’s early films. That’s a problem — Mr. Yonebayashi is channeling Ghibli films from the 1990s and early 2000s when Miyazaki himself has moved on — the art in Ponyo has this wonderful unfinished quality (visible brushstrokes, sketched-in backgrounds) that suggest someone confident enough not to bother covering every inch of his canvas with paint, that the imagery and ideas are strong enough to hold the viewer spellbound (Isao Takahata — the other great Ghibli filmmaker — pushed this idea even further in his great The Tale of Princess Kuguya, with watercolors that seem to have been tossed out in a hurry, and are all the more enchanting for it). Mr. Yonebayashi seems trapped in the past, some 10 years before; like his heroine he seems unsure or unconfident at the inevitable comparisons that will be made between him and his master and mentor — and personally I find that insecurity poignant, winning even.
By the time of the film’s Mononoke-like finale (Daidarabotchi anyone?) things have gone to hell and a handbasket and Mary and Peter are basically left to themselves — again the self-reflexive metaphor, the desperation that seems sincere. If you think of the giant glowing-blue monster as the film’s equivalent of Mr. Miyazaki’s reputation, still alive and rampaging and still controlling the hearts and minds of the audience you’re supposed to win over (and, if reports are true, about to dominate the animation landscape again with not one but two feature films [the second to be directed by his son Goro]) what are you to do? What can you do? Dig into yourself, I suppose and hope for the best. Which, when all is said and done, is all that any of us can do, in similar circumstance.
KIA Philippines launched the Soluto on Wednesday.
KIA Philippines is targeting to sell 10,000 units this year, boosted by the newly launched subcompact sedan Soluto.
“We hope to see what we have achieved globally in this promising market as well. To prove this, Kia decided to export Soluto with the Philippines as the first export market,” Ted Lee, president of Kia Motors Asia-Pacific, during the launch of the Soluto on Wednesday.
The sub-compact sedan, according to Kia Philippines President Emmanuel A. Aligada, was assembled in China.
The Philippines was chosen as a viable market for the Soluto given the country’s “huge” small cars segment, where Kia sees an edge over other competitors.
“It’s the biggest segment that we are going to play in now,” Mr. Aligada told reporters during the event.
This year, Kia Philippines is targeting to sell 10,000 units, a significant increase from the 2,238 sales in 2018. Last year, the company saw a 57% decline in sales due to higher taxes and soaring inflation.
Half of the 2019 sales target is expected to be delivered by the Soluto.
“If we are targeting for just Soluto, we’re probably close to half of the annual target we’re planning,” Mr. Aligada said.
The company is banking on the Soluto’s ”sleek” design to attract buyers, as well as the “infotainment” features. The price of the Soluto starts at P625,000.
The Soluto brings Kia Philippines’ passenger vehicle offerings to six — with the Picanto, Rio, Sportage, Sorento and Grand Carnival.
Two more Kia vehicles will be unveiled this year — one in April at the Manila auto show and another within the third quarter.
The Wednesday event also marked Kia’s launch as an brand under the Ayala Corp.’s automotive arm and wholly-owned subsidiary, AC Industrial Technology Holdings, Inc. — Janina C. Lim
THE PHILIPPINE Life Insurance Association, Inc. (PLIA) said gross premiums of the life insurance industry likely grew 17% in 2018 on the back of a growing middle class and rising awareness among Filipinos to get insured.
During the induction of new officers, PLIA President Olaf Kliesow said the life insurance sector likely grew 16.75% in 2018 in terms of gross premiums written, assuming the industry’s performance in the fourth quarter was at around the same pace as the comparable 2017 period.
“16% is the outlook for 2018…but that’s estimate because we only know the figures as of third quarter,” Mr. Kliesow told reporters yesterday.
In the July-September period, life insurers booked a 20.39% growth in terms of gross premiums written.
Mr. Kliesow attributed the expected expansion of the life insurance industry to the rising number of middle class citizens, as well as the increasing public awareness of the benefits of getting an insurance policy.
“I think it’s a combination of factors. It’s just reflecting the [growth] of the middle class. So it’s a reflection of the strong economic output also in 2018,” he said.
PLIA noted that the economy remained strong in 2018, even as full-year gross domestic product growth slowed to 6.2% from the 6.7% pace in 2017 as elevated inflation slowed consumer spending.
Mr. Kliesow also attributed the expected premium growth in 2018 to consciousness about the benefits of being insured, boosted by the efforts of the industry to promote financial literacy.
Looking ahead, Mr. Kliesow is expecting to log another double-digit growth in terms of written premiums this year, on the back of improved economic outlook.
“I would be very happy if it’s another year that would generate premiums in excess of 10%,” he said. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal
7 films to see on the week of February 1 – February 7, 2019
Instant Family
INSPIRED by the life of writer and director Sean Anders, the film follows Pete and Ellie who want to start a family and wind up in foster care adoption. Hoping to take care of one small child, they end up with three siblings. The couple must adjust instantly and learn the do’s and dont’s of parenthood. Directed by Sean Anders, the film stars Mark Wahlberg, Octavia Spencer, Rose Byrne, Isabela Moner, Margo Martindale, and Tig Notaro. The Washington Post’s Kristen Page-Kirby writes, “It’s not uncommon for comedy trailers to contain nearly every good joke in the actual movie, so when you get into the theater you find there’s nothing new to see. Instant Family is the opposite. Yes, you get what the trailer advertised. But you also get much more.” Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 82%. MTRCB Rating: PG
Second Act
JENNIFER LOPEZ plays 40-year-old Maya who is struggling with unfulfilled dreams. When a friend gives her a fake new identity, she is given a chance at Madison Avenue to prove that street smarts are valuable. Directed by Peter Segal, the film also stars Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams, and Milo Ventimiglia. rogerebert.com’s Neil Mino writes, “The film’s point of view is uncomfortably anti-educated people, if not anti-education entirely. While two young characters are urged to get college degrees, the movie portrays ‘street smarts’ and instinct as more authentic and more valuable than the kind of dumb team-building exercises a person with an MBA would think worthwhile. School does have value; a teacher grading this script would have sent it back with corrections and insisted on another draft.” Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 44%. MTRCB Rating: PG
Solis
ASTEROID mining engineer Troy Holloway finds himself as the sole survivor of an accident as he wakes up trapped in an escape pod. As he drifts towards the sun, he is physically and psychologically challenged to survive. Directed by Carl Strathie, the film stars Steven Ogg and Alice Lowe. The LA Times’ Kimber Myers writes, “Along with the impressive visuals and effects, Ogg’s performance carries the film. But his work as the rude, quick-tempered tech is a little too effective, making it difficult for the audience to care about the sole character on-screen until far too late in the movie — if they ever do at all.” Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 0%. MTRCB Rating: R-13
Then Came You
THE film follows Skye, a teenager with a terminal illness who befriends 19-year-old hypochondriac Calvin. With Calvin’s help, Skye gets to do the things on her bucket list before she dies. In the process, Calvin learns to conquer his own fears. Directed by Peter Hutchings, the film stars Asa Butterfield, Maisie Williams, and Nina Dobrev. MTRCB Rating: PG
Ang Sikreto ng Piso
RONNIE needs to support his wife and only daughter so he accepts an odd job — to collect as many one-peso coins as he can, not knowing that the coins are to be smuggled abroad. Directed by Perry Escano, it stars Bea Binene, Gelli de Belen, and Ariel Rivera. MTRCB Rating: PG
Bato: The General Ronald dela Rosa Story
A BIO-PIC about former PNP Chief General Ronald dela Rosa. Directed by Adolf Alix Jr., it stars Robin Padilla. MTRCB Rating: PG
‘Tol
THREE best friends have always looked out for each other. However, their friendship is tested when they come across a girl whom they all try to impress. Directed by Miko Livelo, the film stars Joross Gamboa, Arjo Atayde, Ketchup Eusebio, Jessy Mendiola, and Jimmy Santos. MTRCB Rating: R-13
HOUSTON — The United Steelworkers (USW) union on Wednesday rejected the first offer from Shell Oil Co. in talks for a new national agreement covering 30,000 U.S. refinery, chemical plant and pipeline workers, according to three sources familiar with the negotiations.
The current national agreement for refinery workers expires on Friday. The union and the U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which is representing oil companies, have been meeting since Jan. 16 to hammer out a new pact.
The offer was rejected in part because it lacked language requiring the successor to a current owner of a plant to accept the contract with the union in place at the time ownership is assumed, the sources said.
The rejected offer also lacked no-retrogression language prohibiting plant owners from going back on terms agreed to in past contracts.
Shell spokesman Ray Fisher said the company continues to work toward an agreement with the union for “our workers to continue to grow, develop and enjoy earnings that are among the most competitive in the manufacturing industry.”
A union spokeswoman said talks were continuing.
“The USW will continue to negotiate in good faith for a pattern agreement that is beneficial for our members, their families and their communities, and that allows them to work safely and productively for their employers,” union spokeswoman Lynne Hancock.
The first offer made by the lead company, which since 1997 has been Shell, has always been rejected by Steelworkers negotiators.
The union is seeking a three-year agreement to replace the expiring four-year pact that was agreed to after rolling strikes in 2015 in which more than 7,000 workers at 12 refineries and three chemical plants were off their jobs for at least two months at most sites and six months at a few others.
The union is seeking an 8 percent annual raise for workers who make an average $40 an hour with four years experience. The union is also proposing its members begin replacing as much as 10 percent a year of the non-union workers who perform maintenance work at refineries and chemical plants.
Shell has not disclosed its proposals.
The national agreement between Shell and USW covers pay, benefits, safety and health issues and will be pared with agreements on local issues at each plant to form the contracts for individual sites. — Reuters
S&P Global Ratings has withdrawn the ratings of state-led National Power Corp. (Napocor) at the request of the company, the firm said on Thursday, while affirming with a positive outlook the rating of another government energy entity Power Sector Assets & Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).
“The outlook on the long-term rating was positive at the time of the withdrawal,” S&P Global said about Napocor, which oversees the government’s small power utilities group.
“At the time of the withdrawal, the rating on Napocor reflected the company’s status as a government-related entity of the Philippines (BBB/Positive/A-2). We equalized the ratings on Napocor with those on the sovereign, based on our assessment of an almost certain likelihood of extraordinary government support to the entity,” the firm said.
Separately, S&P Global said it had affirmed the ‘BBB’ rating of PSALM, which manages the government’s energy-related assets ahead of their eventual sale to the private sector.
“The outlook on the rating is positive,” it said.
“We affirmed the rating on PSALM to reflect our opinion of an almost certain likelihood that the Philippines (BBB/Positive/A-2) government would provide timely extraordinary support to PSALM in the event of financial distress. Therefore, the rating on the government-owned PSALM is equalized with that of the sovereign,” the firm said.
The certainty on government’s support for PSALM was based on the agency’s characteristics, including its “critical role in implementing the Philippines government’s reforms to restructure and liberalize the country’s power sector.”
“The government has also committed to assume all remaining assets and liabilities of PSALM after 25 years from its creation in 2001. There are also cross-default triggers on the government’s external indebtedness. We do not assign a stand-alone credit profile to PSALM because the likelihood of government support is almost certain, and we do not believe that this support is subject to transition risk. PSALM implements and executes a strategic reform program on behalf of the government, from which it is difficult to distinguish,” S&P Global said. — Victor V. Saulon
It’s so easy to get lost in an increasingly digital world we live in nowadays. The average person is bombarded with too much data by too many influencers around us, especially with regard to information communications technology (ICT).
To sort through the confusion, my go-to resource is the International Data Corp. (IDC), which releases its annual predictions for the ICT sector at this time of the year. Through a program called IDC FutureScapes, these key trends are used to shape enterprises engaged in ICT planning by providing a framework for evaluating initiatives in terms of their value to business strategy.
FutureScapes is composed of a set of decision imperatives designed to identify a range of pending issues that chief information officers (CIOs) and senior technology professionals will confront within the typical three-year business planning cycle.
A US-based company founded in 1964, IDC has since expanded to 110 countries across six continents. It is a subsidiary of the International Data Group, the world’s leading media, data, and marketing services firm.
For 2019 and beyond, here are IDC’s top 10 predictions for the Philippine ICT industry:
1. At least 30% of organizations will be “digitally determined” by 2020, transforming markets and reimagining the future through new business models and digitally enabled products and services.
2. By 2020, 40% of CIOs will initiate a digital trust framework that goes beyond preventing cyber-attacks and enables organizations to rebound resiliently from adverse situations.
3. 55% of entities will have incorporated new sets of digital key performance indicators by 2023 to navigate the digital economy, focusing on innovation rates, data capitalization, and employee experience.
4. 40% of large enterprises will create data management or monetization capabilities by 2021, thus enhancing enterprise functions, strengthening competitiveness, and creating new sources of revenue.
5. 45% of CIOs will expand agile practices into the wider business by 2021 to achieve the velocity necessary for innovation, execution, and change.
6. 30% of the Philippines’ top 1000 companies would have implemented advanced digital twins of their operational processes by 2023, which will enable flatter organizations and one-third fewer knowledge workers.
7. Over 30% of organizations’ cloud deployments will include edge computing by 2023, and 15% of endpoint devices and systems would be able to execute artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.
8. Prominent industry value chains, enabled by blockchains, will have extended their digital platforms to their entire omni-experience ecosystems by 2023, thus reducing transaction costs by at least 30%.
9. AI-enabled user interfaces and process automation will replace one-third of today’s screen-based applications by 2024, while 30% of enterprises will use conventional speech technology for customer engagement by 2022.
10. 30% of enterprises will task CIOs to transform and modernize governance policies by 2022 to seize the opportunities and confront new risks posed by AI, machine learning, data privacy, and ethics.
Digital determination is the ability to visualize how the markets and customers will change and reinvent themselves to better respond to the needs of these future stakeholders through emerging technologies, capabilities, and business models.
IDC ASEAN Managing Director Sudev Bangah said: “To be digitally determined, Philippine organizations require more than just resilience. They need a blueprint that consists of a unified enterprise strategy; a long-term investment plan based on the principle that digital is inherently valuable to the business; and a single digital platform to scale technology innovations.”
According to Sean Paul Agapito, one of IDC Philippines’ market analysts, the race to the future has begun — and with digital disruption becoming the new normal, no person and entity will be spared the need to at least reboot or reset themselves, if not reinvent altogether.
J. Albert Gamboa is CFO of the Asian Center for Legal Excellence and Chairman of the FINEX Media Affairs Committee’s Golden Jubilee Book Project.
We are planning to conduct a job evaluation program, but we can’t afford an external consultant to help us. Our CEO suggests that the project be done by our human resource department. The trouble is that we have more than 130 jobs in the organization and revising them all would take up a lot of HR’s time. My question is: Whose job is it to write and revise the job description — the HR manager or the line managers who are expected to know what’s best for their respective departments? — Blue Wave.
American humorist Robert Benchley (1889-1945) said it best that “anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing.” This suggests you can always assign writing one’s job description to whoever appears to be doing nothing.
After all, who would want to admit he’s not doing anything?
On the other hand, Bill Gates says “it’s better to choose a lazy person to do a hard job because he will find an easy way to do it.” I’m not sure if the Microsoft founder is joking but I have a better option: Why not ask job applicants to write their job descriptions as part of the screening process? If you do that you can learn many things from your applicants. At the same time, it could form part of the process of weeding out undesirable applicants.
Assigning the difficult task of writing job descriptions to various people can present a whole lot of issues. Some HR managers would consider it a burden that interferes with their daily work of hiring new workers, nurturing and training them, and to some extent, helping fire workers. On the other hand, line executives and similarly-situated people managers may reject the task while thinking it is the HR managers’ job as they are perceived to have the expertise and objectivity.
Workload, qualifications, and even the temperament of management writing or revising job descriptions can’t be ignored. In addition to this, there could be possible office dynamics that should be taken into consideration, like the possibility of one department manager or several managers fighting to build their respective empires.
Also, you don’t want the task of writing or rewriting job descriptions to be seen as a reward to those who appear to be very busy or punishment to those who are doing nothing. Therefore, you must exercise care in making these assignments. Explain the importance of updating the job description with the help of all stakeholders, and not by one single department.
To do this, it is advisable to assign the task to several people in three different stages in the following order so that the load is divided equally and make it acceptable to all concerned: Stage One: The HR department is tasked to create the policy, form, and substance. This is imperative so that the writing or rewriting of job descriptions is done according to a certain uniform template for consistency and corporate-wide application. It is also incumbent upon the HR department to explore, study, and apply what is acceptable according to industry standards and apply the best practices. Stage Two: The concerned line executive must write the job description. When I say “write” I mean to update or revise if they are in consonance with the dictates of company goals, in general and department goals, in particular, and of course if they’re in accord with the guidelines set by HR. This should be easy for the concerned department supervisors and managers to do given the fact that they are the internal experts and privy to the challenges of each worker.
Further, it is easy as I would like to believe that they would not be writing it from zero as there are existing documents and HR’s templates to follow. And as soon as it has passed the review of all line executives, then the draft must be passed on to the workers for their review. Stage Three: The concerned worker must be given the chance to review it. This is best understood under the principle of co-ownership. How can you argue with the boss and their workers who have agreed that what is written in the job description is the best way of doing things?
That’s why it’s always feasible to require each individual worker to take a good look at his or her job description. More than that, there could be several workers doing the same job but with conflicting understanding on how they should be done.
Writing and rewriting job descriptions is easy if there is a division of labor between and among the above mentioned stakeholders. It is wrong to choose between the HR manager and the line executives alone. Besides, the task is not an annual revision. It might take three to five years before you can even think of revising the job description again.
That thought alone should help you accept the task is for everyone.
Unless you’re working for a Japanese corporation that makes job description less important, then you must be particularly conscious of everyone’s job description while having an open mind that multi-tasking could be an excellent way for people to perform many related jobs at the same time.
Finally, when writing or rewriting a job description, you should not forget to include that shotgun statement at the end of form that commits all workers to perform “all other work assignments that are analogous to the foregoing.” ELBONOMICS: You can’t escape responsibility by not updating your job description.
THE LARGEST multi-arts festival, in the country organized by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), will be held from Feb. 1 to 3 at the CCP grounds. The festival has a see-all-you-can-and-pay-what-you-can scheme where one can watch unlimited shows. The program includes performances by CCP resident companies, a street parade, and free museum hopping. For inquiries, call the CCP Marketing Department at 832-3704 or 832-3706. For the schedule of activities, visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.
Eto Na! Musical nAPO! returns
THE musical comedy Eto Na! Musical nAPO! about seven friends who join a songwriting and singing contest returns to the stage from Feb. 2 to March 17 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater at the BGC Arts Center in Taguig city. For tickets and schedules, contact TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).
Chinese New Year at Edsa Shangri-la Plaza
SHANGRI-LA Plaza mall is all dolled up for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
DRAGON DANCES, fashion shows, Chinese painting workshops, musical programs, and lots of Chinese movies are activities in store for the Chinese New Year festivities at the Shangri-La Plaza mall. The 13th Spring Film Festival will be held until Feb. 5 at the mall’s new Red Carpet cinema giving everyone free access to the best of Chinese film. On Feb. 2, 2 p.m., the Chinese Musical event will showcase the talent of Chinese-Filipino youth in singing and dancing; a fireworks show is scheduled at 8 p.m. with a dragon eye-dotting ceremony and ceremonial blessing, along with a lively dragon and lion dance. Dragon and lion dances will be held around the mall on Feb. 5. On Feb. 3, 2 p.m., there will be a Chinese Painting Workshop with the president and vice-president of the Art Association of the Philippines, Fidel M. Sarmiento and Roger Santos. A Dragon & Lion Dance Exhibition by the Philippine Ling Nam Athletic Federation will be held on Feb. 10, 2 p.m., at the Grand Atrium. For inquiries, call 370-2597/98 or visit www.facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficial.
Chinese New Year at Lucky Chinatown
MEGAWORLD Lifestyle Malls’ Lucky Chinatown in Binondo starts the celebration with the Prosperity Fair at the mall’s Atrium, with lucky charms, Chinese delicacies, and other novelty items for sale until Feb. 10. Discounts of up to 70% and other deals will be offered by participating shops and dining establishments during the Lucky Sale from Feb. 1 to 3. And for every P2,000 receipt from Feb. 1 to 10, visitors can get a lucky ang pao, which contains instant rewards and prizes. The Meisic Street Food Market featuring Chinese cuisine, street food, and more will be up until Feb. 10. To mark National Arts Month, the mall is also hosting the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’s Ani ng Sining: The Philippine Arts Festival on Feb. 3 at the Atrium. There will be live performances on Feb. 2 with rock jazz group Sud at the Lucky Chinatown Atrium at 6 p.m., followed by the Taiwanese band EggPlantEgg. Lucky Chinatown’s Chinese New Year Countdown will be held on Feb. 4, starting at 6 p.m. at the Atrium with performances by I Belong to The Zoo, Janine Teñoso, Bret Jackson, and James Reid. The celebration continues at Lucky Chinatown Walk from 9 p.m. with performances by This Band, Quest, and KZ Tandingan, who will spearhead the countdown celebration to midnight when a fireworks display will light up the sky, followed by a special astrological forecast segment by Johnson Chua. Traditional Lion and Dragon Dances and cultural presentations by Chinese schools and Filipino–Chinese organizations are set on Chinese New Year’s Day, Feb. 5, from 9 a.m. onwards. For details call the mall concierge at 576-8139 or visit www.LuckyChinatownCNY2019.com.
F.V. Coching at the CCP
THE Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) takes part in the centennial celebration of National Artist for Visual Arts Francisco V. Coching via the exhibition, Nasaan Ka Na, Mara-Bini: Tracing Liberation and Empowerment in the Stories of F.V. Coching’s Rebel Daughters. The exhibit is on view for free by the public until April 7 at the CCP’s Pasilyo Vicente Manansala. Nasaan Ka Na, Mara-Bini is also be a part of the CCP’s Women’s Month celebration in March, and its upcoming Performatura Festival in April. For details visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.
Chinese New Year at SM Supermalls
AT SM’s Prosperity Bazaar, find lucky fruits, plush toys, and trinkets for decorating personal spaces until Feb. 5. At SM malls, families can watch Prosperity Performances like the Lion and Dragon Dance and Feng Shui Master, as well as a Chinese Character Parade on Feb. 2, 3, and 5. Also, scan QR codes in participating SM malls for the Digital Hongbao where one can win special prizes. Scan as many codes possible to redeem more gifts until Feb. 5! Check out SM’s Facebook Page for details.
