NGCP, DICT reach deal on fiber optic network use in broadband
PRIVATELY OWNED National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said it had reached a “mutual decision” with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on “the way forward” for the use by third parties of the fiber optic capacity installed within the country’s power transmission system.
In a statement, NGCP said DICT officer-in-charge Undersecretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. had committed to partner with the grid operator on the use of the power transmission backbone for the national broadband program (NBP) for the duration of the company’s concession.
It said the commitment was reached after Henry Sy, Jr., NGCP president and chief executive officer, met with Mr. Rio.
NGCP’s statement is the latest development in the continuing issue involving the use of the fiber optic cable network, which enables real-time communication between transmission facilities, and with power generation companies and distribution utilities.
National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), an agency attached with the Department of Energy (DoE), previously asked to audit the network but was turned down by NGCP.
On Tuesday, NGCP said it would enter into an agreement up to the life of its concession, which it placed to be in 2034, “provided that in the event that the Concession is extended, the bilateral agreement will also be extended.”
NGCP will not object to any separate agreement DICT signs with TransCo “for so long as the exclusive rights of the company in relation to transmission and related businesses, for the entire duration of its concession are upheld.”
It quoted Mr. Rio as saying: “The core of the matter is who owns the dark fiber of NGCP/TransCo. When it is turned over to TransCo, whatever agreement was done with NGCP may be modified, changed, or reviewed by TransCo.”
NGCP’s franchise stems from the passage of Republic Act 9136 in 2001 or the “Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001” (EPIRA), which paved the way for the sale of government energy assets.
The law separated the different components of the sector, including power transmission, which was spun off to state agency TransCo ahead of its turnover to the private sector through concession.
Unlike outright sale, the concession agreement allowed the government to keep ownership of the transmission assets through TransCo. NGCP started operating the grid in 2009.
In its statement, NGCP said the fiber optic capacity to be leased out by the company uses transmission facilities. It said allowing the government or third parties to “piggy-back” on this transmission communication backbone would be critical in the immediate implementation of this government’s national broadband program.
“We are not interested in entering the telecommunications business. Transmission operations remain the primary business of NGCP. The lease of available fiber optic capacity is specifically allowed under our concession as a ‘related business to maximize the utilization of its assets.’ Such lease agreement is contemplated by our concession and franchise and is not considered our primary mandate,” it said.
NGCP said its available fiber optic capacity could support both the needs of the government and a private party.
“Should the government use only a portion of the fiber optic capacity available for use of third parties, NGCP may also enter into other bilateral contracts with interested telecommunication companies based on the contract with government, for the use of the remaining capacity.
Under the EPIRA, 50% of the net income from these bilateral contracts will be used to reduce transmission rates. But priority use remains with NGCP’s internal communications purposes and the government’s NBP.”
Separately, DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi he was amenable to a tripartite contract among NGCP, TransCo and DICT for the national broadband plan to move forward.
“Tripartite na lang para wala ng gulo. ’Yan na lang ang solution. Then I called for a meeting here [DoE office]. Unfortunately, Mr. Sy was not able to attend in the meeting,” he told reporters.
“Unable for me to ask the question, I wrote him later . . . I raised three questions there, sinagot ako ‘no’ lahat. So I referred that back to TransCo,” he said.
Mr. Cusi said as the owner of the transmission facility, TransCo should be involved in the project because after the end of the concession, ownership reverts to the government agency.
He said NGCP has 16 remaining years on its lease, which may not be attractive for any interested third-player in the local telecommunications industry.
“TransCo is supposed to get back the facilities,” he said. — Victor V. Saulon
WB sees risks for those emerging from poverty
THE NUMBER of people just above the poverty line remains high, putting that demographic at risk if economic growth should stall, the World Bank (WB) said in a briefing yesterday.
In the annual “Prospects for the Philippines” conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) yesterday, Mara K. Warwick, the country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, noted that the region served as “the biggest poverty reduction machine” in recent years because governments pursued “export-oriented” and “labor-intensive” growth strategies, as well as high investment levels in education and health.
She warned, however, that these strategies “that worked so well in the past might not work going forward” due to the slowing growth of global trade, the declining demand of labor brought by technological innovations and the region’s high income inequality: “Concentration of wealth has grown faster than in other regions of the world,” she said.
Another set of risks, Ms. Warwick said, are specific trends “that are turning opportunities into challenges.”
“First, is urbanization. Urbanization promises a better life, better jobs, and better services. But if urbanization is not properly managed, living conditions in cities can be very difficult, especially for the poor and the most vulnerable,” she said.
“Second, and this is certainly true for the Philippines, a huge number of young people are bursting into the work place and there are not enough good jobs on offer. Many of these young people need better education and skills to work in twenty-first century jobs.”
In the case of the Philippines, she noted the strides made in decreasing poverty as those living below the international poverty line accounted for just less than 7% of the population compared to 13.3% two decades ago.
“In addition, the percentage of economically secure and middle class has grown in the last 20 years with almost 35% of the population now economically secure, and a middle class that has grown from 7% in 2002 to almost 10% today.”
On the other hand, she cautioned the continued high percentage of those just above the poverty – or those “who are not yet economically secure and still at risk of slipping back into poverty.”
“These groups have not changed very much in the Philippines in the last 20 years: the total for the moderate poor and economically vulnerable combined has remained constant at 50% of the population,” she said.
According to the World Bank, the people who are classified as moderately poor and economically vulnerable are those living on $1.90-$3.10 a day and $3.10-$5.50 a day, respectively.
The World Bank advised the Philippines to promote inclusive growth by increasing “economic mobility.”
“For the Philippines, the best strategy is to meet those different needs by fostering economic mobility – which in layman’s terms is essentially the ability to improve one’s lot in life… At the core of economic mobility are jobs and livelihoods,” Ms. Warwick said.
Specifically, these include increasing the quality of jobs, addressing disparities in education, providing job opportunities for the poor as well as greater access to financial services.
“The country should maintain its social assistance programs for the poor and social insurance should be extended to cover all workers, not only those in the formal sector. Resilience to shocks, including natural disasters, is also a priority. This requires a broad range of interventions, including resilient infrastructure, social safety nets, and insurance to deal with these shocks,” Ms. Warwick said.
“Not surprisingly, there also needs to be stronger revenue mobilization so that the tax system can raise more resources to support these measures.”
Late last year, the World Bank released a report, “Riding the Wave: An East Asian Miracle for the 21st Century,” where the Philippines, together with Indonesia and Cambodia were classified as “out-of-extreme-poverty” countries, characterized as those where extreme poverty levels are low, but where the middle class remains small.
In that report, over 5% of Filipinos were found to be “extremely poor” or living on less than $1.90, accounting for around 13.8% of the extreme poor in East Asia and the Pacific. — Jochebed B. Gonzales
DoE receives 10 bids for fast-track project status
By Victor V. Saulon,
Sub-Editor
THE Department of Energy (DoE) has received 10 applications from companies in the energy sector that want their projects to be classified “nationally significant” under Executive Order No. 30, the law that offers faster regulatory approval.
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said among the projects is the proposed P52-billion transmission interconnection plan for Visayas and Mindanao, which last year secured provisional approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
“They have applied for EO 30,” he told reporters.
The project, which secured provisional authority from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on July 11, 2017, will enable power supply importations among the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids.
“There is already a ready company,” he said, adding that he still wanted to make sure that they will not be any issue before the department issues an approval.
The project involves linking of the power grids via Cebu in the Visayas and Dipolog City in Mindanao. The converter stations in Visayas and Mindanao will be located in Sibonga, Cebu and Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, respectively.
With the project, he said the deficiency of supply in Visayas may be supplied by importing power from Luzon or Mindanao.
The project, run by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, is estimated to be completed in 46 months or nearly four years and still within the term of the current political leadership, which ends in 2022. The estimated cost is P51.6967 billion.
With an interconnected grid, the overall power supply security is expected to be improved as sharing of reserves will be possible.
Mr. Cusi declined to identify the other projects that applied for the perks under EO 30, but he said one geothermal project in north Luzon is among them.
Last month, the Energy Investment Coordinating Council (EICC) issued an advisory to power developers on how their projects can qualify under EO 30.
The EICC, which is headed by the DoE, will require interested applicants or proponents to justify “in a clear and unequivocal manner” how their projects are in consonance with the goals and objects of the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP), the blueprint for the country’s long-term energy outlook.
The proposed projects should be included in the list of projects embodied in the PEP. The proponent should submit a letter of intent addressed to the Energy secretary along with a copy to the DoE director of the energy policy and planning bureau.
“The proponent must be able to establish in a clear and detailed manner that the proposed project is qualified to be declared as EPNS,” it said, citing seven “attributes” for qualification.
The attributes are: capital investment of P3.5 billion; significant contribution to the country’s economic development; significant consequential economic impact; significant potential contribution to the country’s balance of payment; significant impact on the environment; significant complex technical processes and engineering designs; and significant infrastructure requirement.
The EICC was created pursuant to EO 30, which was issued on June 28, 2017, in order to spearhead and coordinate efforts to harmonize, integrate and streamline the regulatory processes, and forms relevant to the development of energy investments relating to energy projects of national significance.
Local gov’t officials back bills to raise IRA but DoF cautious
LOCAL GOVERNMENT officials expressed their support on Tuesday to proposed measures which would increase the internal revenue allotment (IRA) from 40% to 50%.
“This will really empower local government units in terms of autonomy, fiscal autonomy,” said Malolos City, Bulacan Mayor Christian D. Natividad of the League of Cities.
The Senate committee on local government, chaired by Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, tackled Senate Bill Nos. 110, 810, 822 and 843, the so-called “Bigger Pie, Bigger Slice” bills.
The proposed measures seek to amend the Local Government Code in order to raise the share of the local government units (LGUs) from the national budget in the IRA from the present 40% to 50%.
The bills, authored by senators Aquilino L. Pimentel III and Ralph G. Recto, also propose to expand the sources of funds for LGUs by including the revenue of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) in the IRA pool.
Mr. Natividad cited a study by the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) that more than 130 laws enacted by the government remained unfunded, including those that involve LGUs.
“The league of cities supports this bill with the worry of again having the same pain as what the local government units experienced during the last enactment of the local government code that devised for the limitations from the share of the national taxes,” he said.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson raised the issue that during the previous national budget deliberations some cities and municipalities had not utilized their IRA.
Lipa City Mayor Meynardo A. Sabili clarified that the cases only applied to highly urbanized LGUs that were not IRA-dependent, such as cities in Metro Manila.
He pointed out that Lipa City remained dependent on its IRA share.
“Our income is not sufficient,” he said.
Pamela P. Dizon, a director of the Bureau of Local Government Finance-Department of Finance (BLGF-DoF), said the agency would like to look into “the criteria of equalization — that is, equalizing revenue-raising capacity of LGUs” compared to their expenditure needs.
She also said that the proposal to increase the IRA could also be achieved by cutting down the obligations of the national government which the LGUs were directly benefiting from, such as the conditional cash transfer program.
She added that the DoF, which is seeking to boost LGUs’ capacity to raise their own funds, will eventually submit a position paper on the proposed measures soon. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
Philippine 4G availability, improved speed, but still near bottom of rankings — OpenSignal
THE Philippine telecommunication system improved in terms of fourth-generation mobile (4G) availability and speed but still placed near bottom in global rankings, a report by a London-based company said.
In a report by wireless coverage mapping company OpenSignal, “The State of LTE [long-term evolution]”, the Philippines ranked 75th out of 88 in 4G availability, and 85th out of 88 in 4G speed. The survey analyzed 50 billion measurements collected in the fourth quarter covering 88 countries.
The Philippines recorded a 63.73% availability rate, up from 58.83% in the July to October period. OpenSignal defines 4G availability as the “proportion of times” a user can access a network. This then means that users were able to latch onto an LTE signal in six out of 10 attempts.
Countries at the top of the availability table are South Korea (97.49%), Japan (94.70%), and the US (86.94%), while at the bottom were Algeria (40.94%), El Salvador (40.70%), and Ecuador (46.07%).
The Philippines’ LTE speed averaged 9.48 Mbps, against 8.24 Mbps in the last testing period. Recording top speeds are Singapore (44.31 Mbps) the Netherlands (42.12) and Norway (41.20) while at the bottom of the table were India (6.07 Mbps), Algeria (8.65 Mbps), and Indonesia (8.92 Mbps).
OpenSignal said that a country’s 4G speed depends on many factors, like amount of spectrum devoted to LTE, adoption of new 4G technologies like LTE Advanced, density of networks, and level of congestion in the networks, but presence of new technologies and number of devices capable of handling the technologies were seen driving fast LTE speeds.
Availability improved in top countries. “Consumers in five countries had access to an LTE connection more than 90% of the time — up from a mere two countries just three months ago,” OpenSignal said.
The company said that the industry is still waiting for speeds above 50 Mbps.
“For the last several State of LTE Reports, OpenSignal has found that in the fastest countries average LTE download speeds have stalled at just over 45 Mbps. The industry is still waiting on that spark that will push speeds beyond 50 Mbps on a national level,” OpenSignal said. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
Some samurai bond proceeds to help redevelop Japan property
SOME of the proceeds from the offer of yen-denominated bonds will be used to redevelop properties owned by the Philippine government in Tokyo, the Finance secretary said on Tuesday.
“[The] samurai bond [funds] will be spent in Japan. We will reconstruct the embassy there,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez, III said after the Treasury bond auction yesterday.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon added that Mr. Dominguez’s intention is for a property in Tokyo’s Shibuya ward to be “redeveloped.” The other uses of the proceeds from the offer, which will take place “within the year,” will refinance previous bond issues and also represent new borrowing.
“We may borrow some more… So partly refinancing, partly new debt, partly for that project,” Mr. Dominguez said.
The current Philippine embassy is in the Roppongi district of Tokyo’s Minato ward. It is unclear whether the Shibuya project represents a firm plan to move the embassy. Last week, Mr. Dominguez said he is looking at redeveloping a government-owned 2,500-square meter property in Nampeidai in the Shibuya ward, with plans to build three structures in the area.
Mr. Dominguez said the structures will include a building for the Philippine embassy and chancery, as well as apartments for the embassy staff, among others.
Ms. De Leon added that the amount to be raised will be determined by the cost of the redevelopment plan.
“Whatever the amount is, [that will we] issue in the samurai [bonds],” adding that they may issue additional amount “for their budgetary requirements.”
Asked for a preliminary estimate of the issue size, Ms. De Leon said between “$500 million to $700 million.”
Aside from the samurai bonds, the government will also issue yuan-denominated bonds, expected next month.
Last week, Ms. De Leon said the Treasury is looking at offering three- to five-year year papers, with the People’s Bank of China and National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors having approved the issuance.
In November, the government and the Bank of China signed the underwriting agreement for the country’s maiden issue of $200 million worth of yuan-denominated securities. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal
US says Indonesia forgoing billions in investment
INDONESIA is forgoing billions of dollars on offer from American companies eager to invest in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph Donovan said.
As the US tries to arrest a deteriorating trade balance with Indonesia, which last year found itself in President Donald Trump’s cross-hairs, Donovan has also rejected complaints of increasing American protectionism. Indonesia had made significant progress on macroeconomic stability, improving the business environment, education and infrastructure, yet more must be done to encourage trade as well as foreign investment, he said.
“Those that caution the United States about being trade protectionist, I would respectfully suggest that they look at their own markets and they might find a good deal of ingrained protectionism there,” he said in an interview on Feb. 14 in Jakarta.
Indonesian officials such as Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati have consistently criticized the protectionist tone sounded by Trump, who last year accused a host of nations, including Indonesia, of potentially abusing their trade relationship with the world’s biggest economy. Since then, the US trade deficit with Indonesia has worsened to $13.3 billion from $13.2 billion in 2016, according to the US Census Bureau.
“The current protectionist language is definitely going to create concern about whether globally there will be a setback in the progress that has been made over the past three decades,” Indrawati said in an interview on Jan. 30.
Indonesia’s economy has been growing at about 5%. At the same time, however, the government has been struggling for revenue to fund Widodo’s ambitious infrastructure plans.
Oke Nurwan, director-general of Foreign Trade at the Trade Ministry, did not respond to questions about protectionism. He said Indonesia had made progress in terms of ease of doing business and was seeking to better manage imports, as well as targeting export growth of 11% in 2018.
Donovan said the US’s average tariff rate was less than 3% and half Indonesia’s average applied tariff rate. Despite the imbalance, he said trade in goods between the two nations had increased last year by about 7% to approximately $27 billion in bilateral terms, with US exports to Indonesia increasing about 14%.
Indonesia must do more to encourage foreign businesses to invest and trade, he said, adding that the US wants to see more access granted to American companies, particularly in the agriculture sector, including dairy, cotton, soybean, fruit and vegetables.
“Indonesia is leaving billions of dollars on the table right now in the field of power generation by not following through on offers by American companies,” he said, declining to reveal any specifics.
Ekoputro Adijayanto, the chief of the Indonesian Planning Ministry’s Center for Private Investment, said a number of US private equity firms had shown interest in Indonesia, including one that’s “seriously looking” to invest in greenfield power generation. But there also appeared to be a “Trump effect,” he said. “He’s trying to lure investors in the US to invest back in America, make America great again.”
“China is a bit different from other countries,” Adijayanto said. “Instead of us going there, they are coming here. Many Chinese companies are coming to our office.”
Figures show that in the space of three years, the US has lost significant ground to China in terms of foreign direct investment in Indonesia. Last year, direct investment from the US was worth $2 billion, according to the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board, while Chinese foreign direct investment was $3.4 billion.
“It’s not a competition between America and China,” Donovan said. “What I look for are opportunities for American businesses to compete on a level and fair trade ground here. Rather than look at China, what I’m interested in doing is helping American businesses to do more here.”
Donovan said Indonesia must maintain the pace of economic reform established under President Joko Widodo and “stand up to protectionist voices who advocate for special interest under the guise of nationalism.” He cited Indonesia’s local content regulations — which saw Apple, Inc.’s market access curbed before the company built a domestic research facility — as “a real deterrent” to foreign participation in the Indonesian economy.
“It’s important to recognize that these companies have options. They can choose to be here, they can choose to be elsewhere in Asean, they can choose to be elsewhere in the world,” he said. — Bloomberg
DTI sees US free trade deal gaining traction within two years
THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expects considerable progress within one to two years in the Philippines’ bid to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez told reporters on Tuesday that while both sides are still conducting their own studies, it may be possible to move to a phase of more intensive negotiations within two years’ time.
“Right now, it’s only exploratory but at least it’s moving, compared to last year when it wasn’t even moving. By the third year, we could really be at an advanced stage,” he added.
The DTI is currently looking into products that could be promoted further while the US is championing greater access for its meat products, Mr. Lopez said.
“I won’t say this will be fast. It’s a big economy (US) but we hope to seal it within this administration,” Mr. Lopez said.
Mr. Lopez added that negotiations for FTA need around three to five years.
In the meantime, the Philippines will continue to enjoy reduced to zero tariffs in selected exporters to the US through the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) which has been recently amended to be renewed to every three years.
With the expected timeline, Mr. Lopez sees a smooth transition from being a GSP beneficiary to FTA partner.
The DTI is still in the process of negotiating the addition of footwear and garments to the list.
“Right now a lot of products are included. If it’s agro-business, I would expect many, if not all, are included already. Otherwise I would push for more agro-based products to be included aside from garments,” he added.
“We have to align with the industry sectors to see whatever’s not in the GSP, that’s what we’re going to push for.”
Separately, the US-Philippines Society (USPS) announced it will help explore partnership opportunities in telecommunications construction, energy, agriculture and aerospace industries.
Mr. Lopez said that the aforementioned areas are the same areas that the Philippines has been inviting the US to invest in.
“It’s aligned with our push [which] is the innovation-driven industries,” he added.
USPS co-chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said that the country needs the US to help provide the needed capacity to build on the areas especially those dependent on technology.
“I think that there’s really need for the Philippines really to expand its contacts with American companies like in our case, in telecoms […] and that’s quite interesting to us because that exposes us to technological trends related to business,” he added.
Mr. Pangilinan heads Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co., Ltd.’s investments in the country which include Philex Mining, Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Inc. (PLDT).
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary Mediaquest Holdings, has majority stakes in BusinessWorld through its Philippine Star Group. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
House member alleges 13 Manila rice traders operate as ‘cartel’
A LEGISLATOR on Tuesday submitted to the House of Representatives’ committee on agriculture and food a list of alleged rice cartels operating in the city of Manila.
The committee was conducting an inquiry into the rice inventory of the National Food Authority (NFA) amid the depletion of the agency’s buffer stock.
Manila Rep. Manuel Luis T. Lopez said that the 13 rice traders are based along a stretch of Dagupan Street in Tondo district.
Mr. Lopez, who gave the names of the traders, alleged that these companies control the price of rice in Metro Manila and challenged the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the NFA to conduct an inspection.
“Visit the warehouses, open them. We are not authorized, we don’t have police authority, but you (NFA administrator Jason Laureano Y. Aquino), being under the secretary, have police powers. So I challenge you to do that,” Mr. Lopez said.
However, Agriculture secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said it is not the mandate of the DA to identify rice cartels.
The committee, chaired by ANAC-IP party-list Rep. Jose T. Panganiban, Jr., unanimously approved the motion to invite the companies named by Mr. Lopez in its next hearing. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz
DICT holding off on formal notification to PLDT on CURE frequencies
THE GOVERNMENT will wait until the end of March before writing to PLDT, Inc. regarding plans by the government to assign the Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise (CURE) frequencies without compensation to PLDT.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Acting Secretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. said the department will respect the internal procedures of PLDT and will await the company’s formal communication to them.
“We will not rush them. Probably by the end of March,” Mr. Rio said in a phone interview, asked about the government’s notification time line.
Mr. Rio said the government is focused on releasing the final joint memorandum circular on the selection of the telecommunications industry’s “third player” on March 21. It wants to reassure the potential investor that CURE frequencies will be available.
“(PLDT has its) internal procedure. We trust they will honor their word.”
PLDT Chairman President and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan told reporters yesterday: “There’s a process internally, dictated by our governance. I cannot just send a letter because I just want to send a letter…”
Mr. Pangilinan did not specify a time line.
PLDT this month agreed to the government’s plan to assign frequencies held by CURE to the telecom industry’s “third player” for no compensation.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte was “displeased” with the prospect of having to pay for the CURE frequencies, which were awarded to telcos for free after a “beauty contest” to allocate frequencies.
The government will award the remaining available frequencies, to the third player, including the third-generation (3G) CURE frequencies allowing the new entrant to compete with incumbents PLDT and Globe Telecom, Inc.
The frequency held by PLDT unit CURE was to be divested as a condition of National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) approval of the PLDT merger with Digitel Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. in 2011. NTC was supposed to auction the asset but failed to do so.
The 3G frequency bands were awarded via “beauty contest” by the NTC in 2005. PLDT acquired the 15 MHz band, Globe Telecom, Inc. 10 MHz, Sun Cellular (Digitel) 10 MHz, and CURE, 10 MHz. In 2007, PLDT bought CURE and operated the telco using the brand name RED Mobile. In 2011, PLDT filed for approval of its acquisition of Digitel.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo