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Spanish films shown to celebrate Int’l Women’s Day

TO CELEBRATE International Women’s Day which falls on March 8, a series of movies directed by Spanish female filmmakers, called “Espacio femenino: Spanish Female Directors,” will be shown at 6 p.m. every Saturday at the FDCP Cinematheque Manila. The film cycle aims to highlight the relevance of female filmmakers in the film industry.

The films are presented by the Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy Spain, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

The lineup is composed of award-winning films such as the poignant drama La novia (The Bride), the comedy Requisitos para ser una persona normal (Requirements to Be a Normal Person), Vicky Calavia’s documentary María Moliner (2017), and Riot Girls, a set of short films directed by Spanish female filmmakers.

The film cycle will kick-off on March 3, 6 p.m., with the screening of La novia, a drama inspired by García Lorca’s play Blood Wedding. The story is set in Spain in the 1930s and tells of a blood feud between families that is about to be settled by a wedding. But fate has other plans as the bride is in love with another man, and unbridled passion will set a chain of events in motion that will have devastating consequences. Directed by Paula Ortiz in 2015, the film has bagged several awards, among them the Premio Feroz 2016 to the Best Film, Best Director, and Best actress for Inma Cuesta.

The film cycle will continue on March 10, with the comedy Requisitos para ser una persona normal. Directed by Leticia Dolera in 2015, it tells the story of María, a 30-year-old woman who has an immediate goal in life: to become a normal person. But first of all she has to discern what this implies. What does it exactly mean, to be normal? After a while she creates a list of those requirements needed, and she starts a journey to reach them all.

The documentary María Moliner (Vicky Calavia, 2017) will be shown on March 17. A female presence leads us through the important events in the life of linguist María Moliner, highlighting the terms that define them, using the definitions María offers in her great work: the Diccionario de Uso del Español.

Finally, the series of short films Riot Girls: Españolas en corto will conclude the film cycle on March 24. The lineup of short films is composed of: Miss Wamba, directed by Estefanía Cortés in 2017; Oasis, directed by Carmen Jiménez in 2014; Sara a la fuga, produced by Belén Funes in 2015, and Waste by Laura Sisteró and Alejo Levis, 2016.

Entrance is free on a first-come, first-served basis. The FDCP Cinematheque Manila is at 855 T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila. For details, visit http://manila.cervantes.es, www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila, or e-mail cinematheque@fdcp.ph.

Transgender artists make history at the Oscars

LOS ANGELES — Transgender representation in entertainment has made baby steps forward in recent years, but 2018 has seen a history-making giant leap, with two movies involving trans artists in the Oscars race.

Chilean actress Daniela Vega has won acclaim for her turn as Marina, a young waitress and aspiring singer who falls prey to the prejudices of society, in A Fantastic Woman, the overwhelming favorite in the best foreign language film category.

Yance Ford is also shattering glass ceilings for his intensely personal documentary Strong Island as the first openly transgender director — or trans man in any category — vying for a statuette.

Ford is only the third-ever openly transgender nominee, after Anohni — formerly Antony Hegarty of experimental US band Antony and the Johnsons — lost out for best original song in 2016, and composer Angela Morley, known as Wally Stott before a sex change, was nominated twice in the same category in the mid-1970s.

“It’s a pattern happening in the last few years, since Transparent or Laverne Cox in Orange is the New Black… and now the Oscars,” said Larry Gross, a social media and communications professor at the University of Southern California.

The history of transgender representation at the Oscars is predictably threadbare — but not completely nonexistent.

The Crying Game (1992) examined race, gender, and sexuality against the backdrop of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, while Oscar-winner Hilary Swank starred as an American trans man who falls victim to a brutal crime in Boys Don’t Cry (1999).

More recently, Jared Leto won an Academy Award for his acclaimed performance as an AIDS-stricken transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club (2013), while Eddie Redmayne was a losing nominee as a pioneer of the transsexual movement in The Danish Girl (2015).

‘SEISMIC MOMENT’
On television, Transparent, starring Jeffrey Tambor as a Californian homemaker, has been an outlier in the movement for greater representation of transgender characters in entertainment.

But that conversation quickly developed into a call for more actors who are transgender in real life to be hired for these roles, traditionally given to the “cisgendered” — people whose sense of gender corresponds with their birth sex.

“I hope I’m the last cisgender man playing a transgender woman,” Tambor said when he won his second Emmy for the hit Amazon show in 2016.

When the Academy Awards take place on March 4, that breakthrough will truly be felt.

“It’s incredibly meaningful, especially to share this with Daniela Vega. Our work hopefully transcends the fact that we’re transgender,” Ford said in an interview with AFP.

“It is a seismic moment, a tiny earthquake, and hopefully it will begin to change the field overall, and the ability of trans actors and actresses and artists of all backgrounds to have recognition.”

Strong Island chronicles the arc of Ford’s African American family from the racial segregation of the Jim Crow era to the promise of a better life in New York, shattered by the unexpected, violent death of Ford’s brother.

William Ford, Jr., a 24-year-old teacher, was fatally shot in 1992 during a trivial argument with a mechanic on New York’s Long Island.

A grand jury decided his killer had a “reasonable” fear for his life and shouldn’t be tried after Ford bizarrely became “the prime suspect of his own murder,” his character scrutinized for signs that he actually got what was coming to him.

CARICATURE
In Sebastian Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman — “a love story that happens to a transgender woman,” according to the Chilean director’s own synopsis — Vega embodies a woman almost like any other, with feminine wiles but also strength and dignity.

“Marina and I share being trans, loving to sing opera, and handsome men,” says Vega. “But that’s it.”

The actress described her character as “more elegant than me, more patient… a very peaceful woman” whereas Vega herself is “more explosive, more Latin.”

For Ford, Vega’s performance and the attention it has garnered are important because she was playing an ordinary woman.

For a long time, trans characters have been portrayed as disturbed, marginal, depressive, and on edge — one clumsy remark away from committing mass murder.

“There were a lot of psychopathic killers, like in The Silence of the Lambs,” said USC professor Gross, contrasting Jonathan Demme’s 1991 thriller with Transparent and A Fantastic Woman, and their more authentic characters.

“The media industry loves it when they know a new twist becomes possible. Often the stories are about the challenges of being different,” Gross told AFP.

“This movie, A Fantastic Woman, is an example of that. They’ve done it before with gay people, people of color, Jews — the old wine of your narrative in a new bottle… The big challenge always, is that the difference is good, rather than threatening.” — AFP

Indebted Lisa Marie Presley, manager file lawsuits

LOS ANGELES — Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis Presley, says she is facing financial ruin and has filed a $100-million lawsuit accusing her former business manager of negligence and mismanaging her finances. Her ex-manager has filed his own lawsuit, accusing Presley, 50, of squandering her famous father’s inheritance because of her lavish lifestyle. The lawsuit seeks $800,000 in unpaid bills. The dueling lawsuits, filed earlier this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, follow the collapse in 2016 of Presley’s fourth marriage and her announcement that she was $16 million in debt. Presley was just nine years old when Elvis died in 1977, leaving her his sole heir. Her affairs have been managed by Barry Siegel since 1993, when she came into her inheritance through a trust. Her lawsuit said Presley’s “11-year odyssey to financial ruin” began in 2005 and alleged that as result of Siegel’s actions, “Lisa has been damaged in an amount that has not yet been fully ascertained, but is believed to be in excess of $100 million.” The 2005 deal she was referring to involved income from Elvis’ former home Graceland and his intellectual property rights. The lawsuit said that by 2016, the trust was left with $14,000 in cash and over $500,000 in credit card debt. Siegel’s lawsuit said Lisa Marie has “twice squandered” her inheritance and she had been repeatedly told to curb “her spendthrift ways.” Siegel’s attorney, Leon Gladstone, said in a statement on Friday that the 2005 deal Presley was complaining about “cleared up over $20 million in debts Lisa had incurred and netted her over $40-million cash and a multimillion-dollar income stream, most of which she managed to squander in the ensuing years.” “It’s clear Lisa Marie is going through a difficult time in her life and looking to blame others instead of taking responsibility for her actions,” Gladstone said. Presley launched her own career as a singer in 2003 and has released three albums to mixed success. She is better known for her two-year marriage to singer Michael Jackson and her 108-day marriage to actor Nicholas Cage. — Reuters

Maynilad inks P18.5-B notes facility

MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. has signed a P18.5-billion notes facility with various banks, which will be used mainly to refinance debt.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and DMCI Holdings, Inc. disclosed their subsidiary Maynilad will use the proceeds of the notes facility to refinance existing peso-denominated loans and other general corporate requirements.

The loan will have a tenor of seven, 10 and 15 years. It tapped BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, BPI Capital Corporation and China Bank Capital Corporation as lead arrangers and bookrunners for the deal.

Maynilad, the concessionaire for Metro Manila’s west zone, earlier said it is setting aside P9 billion for 2018 as capital expenditure (capex).

Two-thirds of the capex or about P6.5 billion will be spent on infrastructure projects, such as rehabilitation of water network facilities, upgrade and construction of pumping stations, and reservoirs for better supply and pressure management.

Maynilad will also allocate P1.7 billion for wastewater management projects to increase sewerage coverage and maintain network reliability. The remaining budget will go to upgrading the company’s customer service and information program.

WATER CONNECTIONS
In a separate statement, Maynilad said it connected nearly 53,000 water service connections to its distribution network in 2017, bringing the total number of accounts to over 1.4 million. Most of the new connections are in Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Caloocan, and parts of Cavite province.

As of end-2017, the water concessionaire said around 98% of its customers have 24-hour water supply. It noted all of its customers receive water at an average pressure of 7 psi (pounds per square inch), allowing water to go up to the second floor of a house.

Maynilad said it is targeting to bring water pressure to 16 psi., which is already being provided to 70% of its concession area.

“We have yet to reach more than 600,000 residents in the West Zone, who still rely on unsustainable water sources like deep wells for their daily needs. More investments are still needed to expand our distribution network so that we can provide these people with potable surface water,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez was quoted as saying in a statement.

MPIC, which has majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

With IT parks and competitive rents, Quezon City reels in more office builders

By Francis Anthony T. Valentin,
Special Features Assistant Editor

ROBINSONS LAND Corp. (RLC) recently held a topping-off ceremony for one of its newest structures, the Zeta Tower, situated near the busy intersection of E. Rodriguez, Jr. Avenue (C-5) and Ortigas Avenue in Quezon City. With a total floor area of 34,517.70 square meters (sq. m.), the 20-storey edifice will primarily have information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) firms as its tenants.

Zeta, which has a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, is connected to another tower called Exxa, which is of the same height. The latter is nearing completion, while the former is expected to be fully operational by the second half of the year.

Exxa and Zeta are the second and third towers to be constructed within the Philippine Economic Zone Authority-accredited (PEZA) Bridgetowne IT park, an eight-hectare development in Barangay Ugong Norte. They were preceded by Tera, which is also 20-storey high. A fourth building, named Giga, is already under construction. RLC General Manager for the Office Buildings Division Faraday D. Go said during the topping-off ceremony that there are three more towers in the pipeline.

Bridgetowne is RLC’s second IT park in Metro Manila, following Robinsons CyberGate in Mandaluyong City. “In terms of location, it’s very strategic,” Mr. Go said of Bridgetowne’s Quezon City address. It’s strategic in that Bridgetowne has easy access to two of the major thoroughfares in the region, and that it’s a short drive from Ortigas Center and Eastwood City.

It’s also strategic demographically speaking. Mr. Go pointed out that Bridgetowne’s location is close to the eastern cities of Antipolo City and Marikina City, densely populated areas from which talent can be sourced. “So it’s preferred by a lot of BPOs,” he added.

COMPETITIVE RENTS
The country’s former capital, Quezon City is fast emerging as a powerhouse in the booming office property market in Metro Manila. According to the fourth-quarter report on the office market prepared by the consultancy Colliers International Philippines, Quezon City’s office supply in 2017 stood at 89,600 sq. m. Two buildings that were completed in the fourth quarter of 2017 that added a combined 10,200 sq. m. of space to the city’s stock were 68 Kalayaan Building and The Sky Suites Tower. Of all the submarkets Colliers keeps tabs on, only Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City had a greater office supply of 383,000 sq. m.

Colliers sees the most populous city in the country contributing 148,100 sq. m. of space to Metro Manila’s total office stock this year, and 157,400 sq. m. next year.

When it comes to rents, Quezon City’s foremost mixed-use development, Eastwood City, is competitive. Colliers noted that rental rates in the development ranged from P550 to P950 per square meter per month, much cheaper than the rates in Makati Central Business District (P1,300 to P1,750) and in Fort Bonifacio (P900 to P1,500).

The number of businesses operating in the city has been steadily growing this decade. In 2011, there were 60,154 registered businesses. In 2016, the latest year for which data is available, Quezon City had 69,204 registered businesses, of which 12,116 were new.

And the city has a growing portfolio of vast information technology parks. As of October 2016, it had nine, including Bridgetowne. Mr. Go said Bridgetowne will later be expanded to 30 hectares. He added, “We will have… offices, mall, hotel and residential developments all within a total of 30 hectares.”

Nanette Fabray, winner of Emmy and Tony awards, 97

HOLLYWOOD — Nanette Fabray, a child performer in the 1920s who went on to star in Broadway musicals, dance with Fred Astaire on the big screen and win three Emmy Awards working with Sid Caesar during television’s Golden Age, has died at the age of 97, media reports said. Fabray, who also had her own short-lived TV show in the 1960s as well as a recurring role on the sitcom One Day at a Time in the 1970s and 1980s, died on Thursday of natural causes, her son, Jamie MacDougall, told the Los Angeles Times. Born on Oct. 27, 1920, Fabray was a child singer in vaudeville, billed as “Baby Nanette,” and performed with silent movie comedian Ben Turpin. She debuted as an adult actress in a secondary role in director Michael Curtiz’s lavish film The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. Fabray’s singing and comedy talents were put to good use in the 1940s in Broadway musicals such as the hit High Button Shoes opposite comedian Phil Silvers. She won a Tony Award in 1949 for Love Life and was nominated in 1963 for Mister President. In the 1950s, Fabray starred with Caesar, one of the shining stars of television’s Golden Age of the 1950s, in his Caesar’s Hour sketch comedy program. Having taken the place of comedian Imogene Coca opposite Caesar, she won two Emmy Awards in 1956 and another one in 1957. Fabray’s best role on film was with Astaire, one of the great Hollywood dancers, in director Vincente Minnelli’s 1953 musical The Band Wagon, which earned three Oscar nominations. Fabray appeared in a handful of episodes in the 1990s in the sitcom Coach alongside her niece, Shelley Fabares, who had a starring role. Fabray was married twice and MacDougall was her only child. Fabray, who was hearing impaired, also was known for her advocacy on issues involving people with hearing impairments. — Reuters

Gov’t rejects all bids for T-bills as yields climb

THE GOVERNMENT rejected all bids at yesterday’s auction of Treasury bills (T-bill) as banks asked for higher returns following growing expectations of a rate hike from the US Federal Reserve soon.

The Bureau of the Treasury’s offer yesterday was met with P21.3 billion in demand, slightly above the P20-billion program. Broken down, the 91-day debt paper saw demand worth P13.328 billion, higher than the P9 billion the Treasury offered yesterday. The offers had an average rate of 2.989%, up from the 2.67% fetched during the last auction.

The Treasury also rejected P3.81-billion worth of bids for the 182-day tenor, which fell short of its P6-billion offer. The bids averaged 3.265%, rising from the 2.854% fetched in the Feb. 12 auction.

Lastly, the 364-day debt papers attracted only P4.19 billion in demand, likewise below the programmed borrowing of P5 billion. If the Treasury had awarded the offer size, the average interest rate would have gone up to 3.428% from the 3.04% fetched during the previous auction.

At the secondary market before the auction, the 91-day paper was quoted at 2.9975% and the 182-day tenor at 3.6836%. The 364-day T-bill fetched 3.9496%.

At the close of trading, the three-month, six-month and one-year papers fetched lower yields at 2.974%, 3.025% and 3.4882%, respectively.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told reporters after the auction that the unreasonable offers the banks gave prompted the Treasury to reject all bids.

“You see in terms of the increase, it’s not really reasonable to have such very big spikes in the bids that were offered today,” Ms. De Leon said on Monday.

She attributed the rise in yields to “imminent Fed rate hikes” and “very hawkish statements of Fed officials.”

A number of Fed officials have raised their economic forecasts as economic activities and the labor market in the US continue to strengthen at a solid pace.

This caused the market to expect the Fed to hike its interest rates as early as next month.

Last week, San Francisco Fed President John H. Williams said the US central bank should raise its rates “three to four times” this year, adding that the next rate hike should take place in the near future.

Meanwhile, the market is waiting for the testimony of newly minted Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell before the US House of Representatives.

“Though the demand [was there], it’s more of the yields they [offered]. It was high. If ever BTr accepted that, it would push the market to sell off, so they opted to reject it altogether,” a trader said when sought for comment.

Meanwhile, Ms. De Leon said February inflation data, which will be computed using a new methodology, and the implementation of the 19% reserve requirement ratio might normalize the bond market.

“As they move to the new methodology of inflation, [it might] normalize. And also once we see the liquidity to be unleashed in March,” she said.

The Treasury plans to auction off P120 billion worth of Treasury bills and another P120 billion worth of Treasury bonds in the January to March period. This is higher than the P200 billion it offered in the last quarter of 2017.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which for this year is capped at 3% of the country’s gross domestic product. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

SMC Global’s acquisition of Masinloc power plant gets go-signal from PCC

THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has approved a San Miguel Corp. (SMC) subsidiary’s acquisition of the 630-megawatt (MW) Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales.

In its decision dated Feb. 23, 2018, the antitrust watchdog said the acquisition of the power plant by SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. does not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the relevant markets.

The approval comes after SMC Global announced in December last year that it had reached a share purchase agreement with the two equity holders of the power plant’s owner, Masin-AES Pte. Ltd. in a deal worth $1.9 billion.

In clearing the deal, PCC cited three reasons, first: “There remain sufficient post-acquisition competitive constraints from competitors in the power generation and retail electricity supply market.”

“There appears neither increased ability nor incentive to engage in anti-competitive foreclosure, post acquisition,” it added.

Thirdly, the PCC said: “The transaction is not likely to substantially increase the likelihood that the parties will engage in anti-competitive coordinated behavior.”

PCC said it rendered its decision based solely on the facts and circumstances of the transaction disclosed by SMC Global and AES Corp.

The proposed transaction involves the acquisition by SMC Global of a 51% and 49% equity interests of AES Phil Investment Pte. Ltd. and Gen Plus B. V. respectively, in Masin-AES. It also involves the acquisition of a 100% equity interest of AES Corp. in AES Transpower Pte. Ltd., and 100% equity interest of AES Phil in AES Philippines, Inc.

SMC Global’s portfolio in the power generation includes Sual Power Plant in Sual, Pangasinan; San Roque Hydroelectric Multipurpose Power Project in San Manuel, Pangasinan; Ilijan Power Plant in Ilijan, Batangas, among others.

PCC said SMC Global intends to improve its baseload capacity to provide affordable and reliable supply of power to its customers, while AES Corp. aims to re-shape its global portfolio of businesses and markets to be consistent with its new strategy.

“As to Gen Plus B.V., their objective in pursuing the transaction is to focus on its existing power plant portfolio in the Luzon market and to pursue new development and investment opportunities for thermal and renewable power plants in the Philippines,” it added.

As a result of the transaction, SMC Global will become the 100% owner of each of Masin-AES, AES Transpower and AES Philippines. — Victor V. Saulon

BDO income up on expansion of core businesses

BDO Unibank, Inc. booked higher earnings in 2017 on the back of strong expansion across its business segments.

In a disclosure to the local bourse on Monday, the Sy-led BDO said it recorded a record-high net income of P28.1 billion in 2017, up 7% from the P26.1 billion logged in 2016.

BDO said the “sustained expansion in lending, deposit-taking and fee-based businesses” boosted its performance last year. The bank’s net interest income climbed 25% to P81.8 billion last year from the P65.6 billion posted in 2016.

The bank’s customer loans expanded 18% to P1.8 trillion from the P1.5 trillion booked in 2016 as all segments posted strong growth.

BDO’s total deposits likewise grew 11% to P2.1 trillion in 2017 from the P1.5 trillion booked in the prior year as low-cost current account and savings account deposits — which made up 73% of the bank’s total deposits — rose 12%.

The bank’s non-interest income also grew 13% year-on-year to P47.2 billion.

The increase, the bank said, was led by its fee-based income which rose 30% to P28.9 billion. Insurance premiums likewise went up 23% to P9.9 billion. These offset the 20% decline in the lender’s trading and foreign exchange gains to P3.9 billion due to “challenging market conditions.”

Overall, the bank’s gross operating income rose 20% to P129 billion.

Meanwhile, BDO’s operating expenses climbed 21% to P84.9 billion from the P70.1 billion logged in 2016. Excluding one-time and extraordinary items, however, expenses would have increased by just 15%.

The bank opened 76 new branches in 2017, bringing its total branches to 1,180, including its Hong Kong branch.

The lender also set aside higher provisions totalling P6.5 billion, which covers the required provisioning associated with the change in loan loss methodology to expected credit losses.

The bank’s gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio improved to 1.2% in 2017 from its end-2016 ratio of 1.3%. NPL cover also rose to 146% from the 139% in 2016.

BDO’s capital base stood at P298.3 billion, with its capital adequacy ratio and common equity Tier 1 ratio at 14.5% and 12.9%, respectively, above the regulatory requirements. The bank raised P60 billion in fresh equity through its stock rights offering in January 2017.

“For 2018, BDO believes that its focused growth strategy, robust business franchise and solid balance sheet and capital base place the bank well-positioned to tap opportunities in growth sectors benefiting from the country’s favorable demographics and the government’s infrastructure build-up,” the bank said in the disclosure.

As of September 2017, BDO was the biggest bank in the country in terms of assets, capital, deposits and loans.

BDO shares closed at P150 each yesterday, up P3 or 2.04% from the previous day. — K.A.N. Vidal

Bollywood legend Sridevi dies at 54 of cardiac arrest

NEW DELHI — Indian actress Sridevi, arguably Bollywood’s first female superstar, died in Dubai after cardiac arrest, media reported on Sunday. She was 54. Sridevi is survived by her husband — producer Boney Kapoor — and daughters Jhanvi and Khushi. She was in Dubai to attend a family wedding and died late on Saturday. In a career spanning five decades, Sridevi acted in 300 films and was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honor in 2013. Born Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, she started acting at the age of four, appearing in several Tamil-language films in the 1960s and 1970s, and eventually dropping out of school for a career in the movies. She acted in Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu films, performing alongside leading men such as Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. Sridevi made her Bollywood debut in 1979 with Solva Sawan (16th spring), but it was in 1983, with Balu Mahendra’s Sadma (Shock) that she made her mark in the Hindi film industry. The year, she also acted with Jeetendra in K. Raghavendra Rao’s blockbuster Himmatwala (The courageous one), cementing her place as one of Bollywood’s top actresses. — Reuters

Berjaya PHL invests in Malaysian restaurant operator

BERJAYA Philippines, Inc. said it has invested in a company that operates the Starbucks and Kenny Rogers Roasters brands in Malaysia.

In a disclosure posted Monday, Berjaya Philippines said it purchased 1.5 million shares in Berjaya Food Berhad (BFood), equivalent to 0.4% of the company’s total outstanding shares.

The shares were priced at 1.58 Malaysian ringgit (P21) apiece for a total of 2.37 million Malaysian ringgit (around P31.5 million). The shares were purchased from the open market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. Berjaya said it used internal foods to fund the transaction.

Incorporated in 2009, BFood develops and operates the chain of Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants in Malaysia. It also owns 100% of Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company Sdn Bhd., which operates over 200 stores under the Starbucks brand in the country. BFood also owns 100% of Jollibean Foods Pte Ltd., operating 25 Jollibean stores and eight Sushi Deli outlets, according to its Web site.

Prior to BFood, Berjaya Philippines has also invested in the Malaysian licensee of the chain of 7-Eleven convenience stores in July 2017. The company said it has acquired a 0.49% stake in 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Berhad (SEM) for P87.16 million. SEM has over 2,100 7-Eleven convenience stores in Malaysia.

Incorporated in 1924 originally as Central Azucarera de Pilar, Berjaya Philippines has since changed its name and core investments, as it is now engaged in the distribution of Mazda motor vehicles with its 25.48% stake in Berjaya Auto Philippines, Inc.

Other than motor vehicle distribution, Berjaya Philippines also leases online lottery equipment to the state-owned Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in Luzon through wholly-owned unit Philippine Gaming Management Corp.

Berjaya Philippines booked a net income attributable to the parent of P129.2 million in the quarter ending October 2017, 337% higher than the P29.5 million it recorded in the same period a year ago. This comes amid flattish revenues during the period at P6.99 billion.

Shares in Berjaya Philippines rose by two centavos or 0.41% to end at P4.89 each at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

Palafox backs MyCitiHomes in its biggest project yet

PALAFOX Associates’ principal architect and urban planner Felino “Jun” Palafox, Jr. — a name that’s been equated with sustainable architecture — has been known for not accepting all projects that come his way.

But he said yes to a 47-hectare master planned community that developer MyCitiHomes is building in Barangay Panungyanan, General Trias, Cavite.

Sabella will be MyCitiHomes’ biggest project yet. The developer for the most part has concentrated on affordable housing projects since 1983.

Together, Palafox and MyCitiHomes will be building Sabella.

“For Sabella, we did the master plan, concept, and architecture for the common areas,” Mr. Palafox told BusinessWorld in a Feb. 13 interview.

The Sabella project will be built on principles that coincide with his firm’s core values, the urban planner said.

“It’s really our mission and vision: value for God, country, and planet earth. Then the five guidelines: people first like affordable housing with creation of jobs that will alleviate poverty; then planet earth and for the environment; then we can talk about prosperity and economic growth; then culture, history, and heritage; and interfaith and spirituality,” Mr. Palafox said.

“If one of them does not satisfy, we don’t accept the project.”

MyCitiHomes’ newest master planned community, Sabella, features an eco-park that will provide families with more facilities for outdoor activities. The eco-park will include amenities for team building activities and a zip line.

Sabella will feature a three-hectare eco-tourism park with amenities for boating and fishing, a greenhouse community garden, team building facilities, zip line, specialty shops, crafts center, and a retreat house.

The development also features the usual amenities offered in any other MyCitiHomes’ projects including a grand village entrance, a central park, playgrounds, a multi-purpose clubhouse, chapel, and swimming pool.

MyCitiHomes President and Chief Executive Officer Rosie Tsai told reporters: “We envision this to be a different project from what we normally do. It should be balanced… There will be a different kind of lifestyle, which is more geared towards family, towards a stronger community. We want to provide families with more facilities for outdoor activities.”

“Sabella is a Hebrew word, which literally translates to ‘pledge to God’ because Sabella is MyCitiHomes’ pledge that we continue in our mission and our mission is that we serve God by helping people achieve meaningful lives by building quality homes and communities,” Ms. Tsai added.

Sharing the story behind the envisioned eco-park, Ms. Tsai lamented that most families are becoming more dysfunctional because families do not spend much time with each other, and instead focus their attention on gadgets or in the company of other people like friends.

“The amenities will be within the project so that our homeowners won’t have to go far to have a more family-oriented recreation,” she said, adding that the amenities will cater to everyone from kids to senior citizens.

Prospective buyers can choose from either townhouse or single units with prices ranging from P1.7 million to P2.4 million, which are available through various financing options like Pag-IBIG, bank, and MyCitiHomes in-house financing. There will be a total of 1,800 units to be sold occupying 15 hectares of the property.

The company plans to break ground on Sabella early this year, with a goal to sell 1,800 units in the next two years, Ms. Tsai said.

“Architect Jun Palafox is one of the foremost urban planners in the Philippines. We’d like homeowners to have a strong sense of responsibility, and respect for people and the environment; and architect Jun is known for that,” Ms. Tsai said. — Romsanne R. Ortiguero

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