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Megaworld allots P35 billion for Pasig township

MEGAWORLD Corp. will be spending P35 billion to develop its township in Pasig City called Arcovia City, launching the first condominium to rise in the property.
Located along C-5 road in Pasig, the 12.3-hectare Arcovia City will offer a mix of office, residential, retail, and lifestyle mall components.
The first residential project is the 18 Avenue de Triomphe, a 37-storey condominium slated to bring in P4 billion in sales. The building will house a total of 576 residential units ranging from studio sized up to 32.5 square meters (sq.m.), one-bedroom (up to 63 sq.m.), two-bedroom (up to 110.5 sq.m.), and three-bedroom (up to 154 sq.m.).
All units at 18 Avenue de Triomphe will have their respective balconies, giving residents a view of Eastwood, Ortigas, Fort Bonifacio, and Antipolo.
Amenities include a swimming pool, children’s playground, outdoor fitness park, game and entertainment room, fitness center, event hall, outdoor lounge, and a viewing deck.
Megaworld expects to complete the project by 2023. 18 Avenue de Triomphe is part of the P80 billion worth of residential projects the company is launching this year, banking on the strong demand from local buyers, overseas Filipino workers, and foreign investors.
At the same time, the listed developer is currently building its first office tower in the township called One Paseo. The 17-storey building will offer around 23,000 sq.m. of leasable office spaces. The company is also set to build a lifestyle mall with its own walk parks, viewing deck, and leisure facilities.
Arcovia City will also feature a museum topped by a monument designed by Spanish sculptor Gines Serran Pagan. The museum is being positioned to be the township’s major attraction, alongside a 62-feet high arch monument inspired by the Arco de la Victoria in Madrid, Spain.
“Our vision for this new township is to inspire the young generation to persevere and work harder to attain their own successes and victories in life. There is a deeper story embedded into this development, and we will tell that story through the installations and attractions around the township,” Megaworld Senior Vice President Kevin Andrew L. Tan said in a statement.
Megaworld has committed to spend P60 billion in capital expenditures this year to support its lineup of projects.
The company delivered a 13% increase to its net income attributable to the parent to P7.25 billion in the first six months of 2018, following a 10% jump in revenues to P26.8 billion.
Megaworld is the property firm of tycoon Andrew L. Tan, who also has investments in liquor, gaming, and quick service restaurants.
Shares in Megaworld ended flat at P4.15 each at the stock exchange on Tuesday. — Arra B. Francia

Complete list of winners 2018 Palanca Awards

KABATAAN DIVISION
• Kabataan Sanaysay: 1st Prize, Jack Lorenz Acebedo Rivera, “Paglaya Mula sa Pagtakas”; 2nd Prize, Jacob Renz R. Ambrocio, “Sino ang Lumansag sa Lunday ni Lola Basyang?”; 3rd Prize, Maria Jamaica S. Columbres, “Gulugod sa Pagsibol ng Binhi”
• Kabataan Essay: 1st Prize, Floriane T. Taruc, “Worlds Behind Words”; 2nd Prize, Jaz Varon Villanueva, “Boundless”; 3rd Prize, Jana Gillian Ang, “A Passage to Reading”
FILIPINO DIVISION
• Maikling Kuwento: 1st Prize, Eugene C. Soyosa, “Gina”; 2nd Prize, Andrew A. Estacio, “Ang Kanonisasyon ng mga Santa Santino”; 3rd Prize, Luna Sicat Cleto, “Tatlong Proposisyon ng Puting Hangin”
• Maikling Kuwentong Pambata: 1st Prize Jerwin Eileen G. C. Tarnate, “Ang Higad at ang Paru-paro”; 2nd Prize, Eugene Y. Evasco, “Siyap ng Isang Sisiw”; 3rd Prize, Early Sol A. Gadong, “Maraming-Maraming-Marami”
• Sanaysay: 1st Prize, Gil A. Dulon, Jr. Amoral, “Ang Siyensya Subalit May Boses Din Ang Mga Maso”; 2nd Prize, Adelma L. Salvador, “Kambak-kambak”; 3rd Prize, Iza Maria G. Reyes, “Hindi Ako Dalisay”
• Tula: 1st Prize, Paul Alcoseba Castillo, “Luna’t Lunas”; 2nd Prize, Mark Anthony S. Angeles, “Ang Babae sa Balangiga at iba pang Tula”; 3rd Prize, Noel Galon, “Ang Bata sa Panahon ng Ligalig: Mga Tula sa loob at labas ng Bayan ng San Diego”
• Tula Para sa mga Bata: 1st Prize, Paterno B. Baloloy, Jr., “Paumanhin ng Kuting”; 2nd Prize, Will P. Ortiz, “Himbing na Kuting at iba pang Tula sa Ilalim ng Araw”; 3rd Prize, Noel P. Tuazon, “Klik Madyik”
• Dulang May Isang Yugto: 1st Prize, Michelle Josephine G. Rivera, Kaharian ng Pinto; 2nd Prize, Maynard Gonzales Manansala, Tao Po; 3rd Prize, Allan B. Lopez, River Lethe
• Dulang Ganap ang Haba: no winners for the 1st and 2nd Prizes; 3rd Prize, Rolin Cadallo Obina San Nicolas, Ang Sarsuwela
• Dulang Pampelikula: 1st Prize, James Ladioray, 11 Septembers; 2nd Prize, Arden Rod B. Condez, John Denver Trending; 3rd Prize, Andrian M. Legaspi, Pandanggo sa Hukay
REGIONAL DIVISION
• Short Story — Cebuano: 1st Prize, Januar E. Yap, “Baradero”; 2nd Prize, Dave T. Pregoner, “Sunog”; 3rd Prize, Leoncio P. Deriada, “Dili Baya ko Bugoy”
• Short Story — Hiligaynon: 1st Prize, Early Sol A. Gadong, “Sa Lum-ok Sang Imo Suso”; 2nd Prize, Alice Tan Gonzales, “Haya”; 3rd Prize, Dulce Maria V. Deriada, “Candelaria”
• Short Story — Ilokano: 1st Prize, Ariel Sotelo, “Tabag Gasanggasat”; 2nd Prize, Paul Blanco Zafaralla, “Sarming”; 3rd Prize, Jaime M. Agpalo, Jr., “Nakakidem-a-Simumulagat”
ENGLISH DIVISION
• Short Story: 1st Prize, Joe Bert Lazarte, “Describe the Rapture”; 2nd Prize, Francis Paolo M. Quina, “Pigs”; 3rd Prize, Matthew Jacob F. Ramos, “The Final Bullet”
• Short Story for Children: no winners for the 1st and 2nd Prizes; 3rd Prize, MaryRose Jairene Cruz-Eusebio, “I Have Two Mothers”
• Essay: 1st Prize, Jefry Canoy, “Buhay Pa Kami: Dispatches from Marawi”; 2nd Prize, Ronnie E. Baticulon, “Some Days You Can’t Save Them All”; 3rd Prize, Chuck D. Smith, “Origin Story”
• Poetry: 1st Prize, Rodrigo V. dela Peña, Jr., “Self-portrait with Plastic Bag”; 2nd Prize, Shane Carreon, “The Gods who Dissolved under our Tongues and other Poems”; 3rd Prize, Jose Luis B. Pablo, “To Desire in Liturgy”
• Poetry Written for Children: 1st Prize,- Maria Amparo Nolasco Warren, “Lola Elina Maria’s Savory-Sweet Cookbook of Poetry”; 2nd Prize, Sigrid Marianne P. Gayangos, “Of Monsters, Math and Magic”; 3rd Prize, Roselle Eloise B. Bunayog, “Brave, Undying Warriors”
• One-Act Play: 1st Prize, Katrina M. Bonillo, Burying Mamang in Sugar; 2nd Prize, Joe Bert Lazarte, Senator Pancho Aunor’s Blue Balls of Despair and Disillusionment; 3rd Prize, Luciano Sonny O. Valencia, Leavings
• Full-Length Play: 1st Prize, Beryl Andrea P. Delicana, Mango Tree; 2nd Prize, Patrick James M. Valera, Symphony; 3rd Prize, Dominique La Victoria, Toward the Fires of Revolution

Ricky Davao, Rina Reyes return to the stage

THIS MONTH, film and TV actors Ricky Davao and Rina Reyes return to the stage in Tanghalang Pilipino’s (TP) Filipino adaptation of Georges Feydeau’s classic farce, A Flea in Her Ear, on Oct. 18-21 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
Titled, Baka Naman Hindi, Mr. Davao and Ms. Reyes play the husband and wife Victor and Alicia Delgado in the play set in 1907 Philippines. Alicia fears that her husband is cheating on her and, wanting to catch him in the act, start the ball rolling for the mayhem and misunderstandings that come after.
This adaptation was created by Virgilio Beer Flores.
“My father (Charlie Davao) was in the play. I must have been about 13 then. It was the very first play I had ever seen and I was fascinated,” Mr. Davao was quote as saying in a press release. That 1970s production featured some of the country’s great actors including Vic Silayan and Bernardo Bernardo and was produced and directed by the current CCP President, Arsenio Lizaso.
Mr. Davao said that this was one of the reasons why he decided to become an actor. A few years after watching his father perform in the play, he starred in TP’s first ever production — Dalagang Bukid — where he played an American character. He went on to perform in various plays including Bongbong at Kris, In Frailty’s Grace, Silang Nalugmok sa Gabi, Lihis, and Felipe de las Casas, among others.
Meanwhile, Ms. Reyes, who has focused on film and TV, noted at the sidelines of the press conference on Oct. 2 at the CCP that “theater is for my soul,” and that she relishes being back on the Tanghalang Pilipino stage.
“This is me coming out of hibernation, me coming home [to theater],” Ms. Reyes said.
Ms. Reyes used to perform regularly with the theater group, having played in Bienvenido Noriega’s Bituing Marikit during the group’s first season, and in the twinbill Paraisong Parisukat/Kailangan: Isang Tsaperon directed by Spanky Manikan.
Also joining the cast of Baka Naman Hindi is Lou Veloso, Tex Ordonez de Leon, Nazer Salcedo, Rafa Siguion Reyna, Nelsito Gomez, Raffy Tejada, Gilleth Sandico, Mosang, Anthony Falcon, Jef Henson Dy, Felipe Ronnie Martinez, and Wenah Nagales.
“This is my first time doing a comedy and a farce and it’s really challenging because it’s very technical,” Mr. Siguion Reyna told reporters shortly before the press conference.
Directing this adaptation is Dennis Marasigan who functions both as the director and lighting designer. Mr. Marasigan is also directing TP’s Ang Pag-uusig, an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible which is now on its second run after a successful 2017 production. Ang Pag-uusig runs until Oct. 28 at the CCP Studio Theater.
Baka Naman Hindi has performances on Oct. 18 to 21 at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater). There are 8 p.m. performances on all four days, and 3 p.m. matinees on Oct. 20 and 21. Tickets cost P1,000 and P1,200 (with discounts for students, senior citizens, government employees and groups) and are available at the CCP Box Office (832-3704) and Ticketworld (www.ticketworld.com.ph or 891-9999). — Zsarlene B. Chua

Bill fortifying SSC, SSS approved at bicam level

SSS-Social Security System
BW FILE PHOTO

THE BILL allowing the Social Security Commission (SSC) to raise pension contributions starting next year hurdled the bicameral conference committee on Tuesday, with Congress fully adopting the Senate’s version.
Both chambers approved the substitute bill yesterday, which is scheduled to be ratified today before it is endorsed to President Rodrigo R. Duterte for enactment.
Social Security System (SSS) President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel F. Dooc said that although the measure’s current form relaxes spending pressures, he noted some opportunity costs that would have helped reduce the deficit in their pension payouts after the bicam left out some key provisions.
This includes the measure that would have allowed the SSS to set up mandatory insurance policies for its members.
“Ang hindi na-adopt sa akin na (The provision not adopted that for me is) critical and important is the authority to do insurance business. Hindi naisama (It was not included) because we would like to also take advantage of our wide membership. We have a captive insurance just like GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) which grows very significant income or revenues from its insurance business,” he said.
Mr. Dooc said they would defer proposing the measure indefinitely.
The committee also agreed to lower the delinquency penalty rate equivalent to two percent per month from the date the contribution falls due until paid, from three percent currently.
“We have been so used to imposing 3% so malaking bawas din sa income namin (so this will reduce our income significantly),” said Mr. Dooc.
According to the SSS official, they expect an additional P16 billion in revenues in the first year of the proposal’s implementation.
“It’s not huge kasi (because) before we envisioned collecting three percent additional contribution in one lump sum. That would have given us over P50 billion a month, but I’m happy that we have this law and long-term there are provisions to collect more,” he said.
The committee likewise agreed to reduce the mandatory actuarial assessment of the fund to every three years, from four years.
The bill allowed SSC to increase the contribution rate by one percentage point every other year starting 2019 at 12%, until 15% by 2025, from the current 11%. It also gradually raises the minimum and maximum monthly salary credits — the basis for the contribution payments — every other year starting 2019 at P2,000 and P20,000, respectively, until P5,000 and P35,000 by 2025, from P1,000 and P16,000 currently.
Starting 2019, 8% of the 12% will be shouldered by the employer, and 4% by the employee, from the current 7.37%-3.63% split. By 2025, the sharing scheme will be 10% for the employer and 5% for the employee.
Mr. Dooc said the SSS will pay out about P185-190 billion in benefits this year, but only generate P177 billion in contribution collections, resulting in a deficit of about P8 billion to P13 billion. Although the above-mentioned P16 billion will cover the deficit, Mr. Dooc said the expanded maternity leave bill ratified by Congress last month will cost the SSS about P4-5 billion more.
“Still a deficit, but the deficit will be much lower if we do not collect any contributions. So we will still tap the investment income. There are also other measures and initiatives that we have done or undertaken in order to further boost our finances,” he added.
Mr. Dooc also noted that the second P1,000 pension hike — the second trance of the P1,000 benefit increase in 2017 — may give the SSS another headache if Mr. Duterte fulfills his promise to implement it in 2019.
“If we pay the second P1,000…that will be more or less P36 billion, and we will be collecting only P16 billion for the one percent[age point] additional contribution,” he said.
Moreover, the bill also introduces an Unemployment Insurance or Involuntary Separation Benefits, which will be available to SSS members not over 60 years old who are involuntarily separated from employment. These members shall be paid benefits in monthly cash payments equivalent to 50% of the monthly salary credit for two months at most.
It will also include the compulsory coverage of overseas Filipino workers to social security protection.
The measure also requires the SSS to invest at least 15% of its reserve funds in domestic investment vehicles, and foreign currency deposits.
The bill will also give the SSC authority to condone, enter into a compromise or release, in whole or in part, penalties imposed to delinquent social security contributions; while the SSS will also have the power to adopt or approve the annual and supplemental budget including salaries and allowances of the SSS personnel, and to authorize such capital and operating expenditures and disbursements of the SSS as may be necessary and proper for the effective management and operation of the SSS.
The SSS’ new charter, which was identified as a priority bill, was approved in the House of Representatives was approved on third and final reading in January last year, while the Senate approved it on Monday.
Mr. Dooc said he expects the bill to be signed by the President before the end of the year.
“This will ensure a robust strong and more stable SSS. I think it is important the SSS should have a financial robust fiscal condition so that we can fulfill the mandate given to us to provide meaningful and universal social security protection to our workers,” said Mr. Dooc.
But Mr. Dooc said he is confident that the contribution “can improve the fund life,” which currently lasts until 2032. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Hedcor hydroelectric plant fully contracted to 11 distribution utilities

DAVAO CITY — Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower) subsidiary Hedcor, Inc.’s 69.8-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric plant in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon is now fully contracted to 11 distribution utilities in Mindanao, nine of which are electric cooperatives and two private firms.
Jaime Jose Y. Aboitiz, executive vice-president for distribution of AboitizPower, said the run-of-river facility “will soon start operations… to deliver renewable power.”
Hedcor is targeting commercial operations of the plant by the first quarter 2019.
Speaking at an event it hosted for the media over the weekend, Mr. Aboitiz said the plant is part of the expansion of the company’s “generation portfolio in Mindanao, anchored on our balanced mix strategy.”
The two private firms that signed contracts with Hedcor are AboitizPower subsidiaries Davao Light and Power Co. and the Cotabato Light and Power Co.
Davao Light serves Davao City and parts of Davao del Norte province, while Cotabato Light covers Cotabato City.
The cooperatives that will buy supply from Hedcor include the Zamboanga del Norte Electric Cooperative, Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative 1, Misamis Occidental Electric Cooperative 1, Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative 2, Siargao Island Electric Cooperative, Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative, Surigao del Sur 1 Electric Cooperative, South Cotabato 2 Electric Cooperative and Cotabato Electric Cooperative-Main.
In a previous statement, AboitizPower said the Bukidnon plant is part of its commitment this year to increase capacity by about 500 MW. The other new plants are the Pagbilao unit 3, a coal-fired power plant inaugurated in June, and Therma Visayas, another coal-fired plant in Toledo City, Cebu.
The company aims to increase capacity to 4,000 MW by 2020. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Gov’t makes partial award of T-bonds as rates surge

THE GOVERNMENT accepted P9.74 billion worth of reissued five-year Treasury bonds (T-bond) yesterday amid tepid demand as investors continued to react to the September inflation print.
The Bureau of the Treasury made a partial award of the T-bonds on offer even as total tenders reached P15.73 billion, a tad higher than the P15-billion program
The papers, which have a remaining life of four years and four months, fetched an average yield of 7.342%, surging 144 basis points (bp) from 5.902% tallied in the previous auction last Aug. 14. The papers carry a 5.5% coupon rate.
Prior to the awarding, rates for the five-year bonds at the secondary market were higher at 7.818%.
At the close of trading, the yield on the bonds climbed to 8.0357%.
After the auction, Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana said the Treasury opted to partially award the bonds as the rates “came in a little higher than what we’ve expected.”
“Although the rates were in the cut-off, that’s within the initial feedback from our [eligible dealers]. So based on our survey, it reflects the rate at which we cut the auction already,” Mr. Sta. Ana told reporters yesterday.
He added that investors opted to hold back their bids, awaiting confirmation that the country’s inflation rate has already peaked in September.
Headline inflation accelerated to a fresh nine-year high of 6.7% last month, faster than the 6.4% tallied in August.
However, the September print was a bit slower than the 6.8% median estimate in a BusinessWorld poll, which matched the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) own projection.
Both the central bank as well as the government’s economic team are of the view that inflation has already peaked and will clock in slower in the last three months of the year.
“Of course, we’re still on a rising rate environment and tendency for market participants is to stay on the sidelines until there’s a better clarity on where we are,” Mr. Sta. Ana said. “That’s probably the reason why the tenders [were tepid].”
Sought for comments, a bond trader said the appetite for the bonds remained weak as market players wait for another round of policy tightening from the BSP as well as the US Federal Reserve.
“Until we see some signs that inflation has already peaked or any other catalysts, then demand will remain tepid,” the trader said in a phone interview.
The Treasury is raising P270 billion from the domestic market this quarter through auctions of securities, offering P180 billion in Treasury bills and another P90 billion in T-bonds.
The government plans to borrow P888.23 billion this year from local and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which is capped at 3% of the country’s gross domestic product.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sta. Ana said the government will conduct a non-deal road show in the United States to get the pulse of foreign businessmen.
“We’re still doing a road show…just to update investors where we are,” Mr. Sta. Ana said when sought for an update regarding the government’s planned dollar bond issuance.
“There’s a plan for a road show in the US because these are your major investors, together with the European Union, United Kingdom and Asia.”
The government held an economic briefing in London last Sept. 24-26 to “update” British businessmen on the performance of the economy as well as the Duterte administration’s tax reform and infrastructure initiatives.
In January, the country returned to the global capital markets after four years, offering 10-year global bonds worth $2 billion which carry a 3% coupon.
Aside from this, the government is also looking at issuing yuan- and yen-denominated papers within 12-18 months to maintain presence in the Chinese and Japanese capital markets. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Mamma Mia! Here it goes again!


HOW DO you keep yourself restrained when there’s a party on stage and iconic ABBA songs are playing? This can be the biggest challenge one encounters when watching the ongoing run of Mamma Mia! at The Theatre at Solaire: controlling your desire to stand up and dance and sing along with the cast.
Mamma Mia! opened on Sept. 29, and media was invited to the gala night performance on Oct. 2.
But before the show, they got a chance to talk with the cast members, who have already made observations on the Filipino audience.
“Here in Manila, they’re attentive. And right at the end they went absolutely crazy. It’s a brilliant reaction: Everyone was on their feet,” said Lucy May Barker during the media interview. She plays the role of Sophie, the daughter whose determination to find out who her father is triggers the action of the musical.
Mamma Mia! tells the story of the hippie chick Donna and her daughter Sophie, who, in the run-up to her wedding, is determined to find out who among the three men her mother was involved with 20 years ago — Bill, Sam, and Harry — is her father.
Not so much of a spoiler, but there’s a disco/concert party in the final act that had everyone getting up, dancing, and singing to ABBA’s timeless hits.
“Here, people are getting up and dancing at the end. Which have been done in all other venues — and which we loved. There’s a fantastic opportunity at the end where we encourage people to come and dance along in the finale,” said Shona White who is playing as Donna.
TIMELESS
The 19-year-old West End original production, like wine, ages perfectly well over time, thanks to ABBA’s music that transcends generations, and to its story that empowers women, especially single moms raising their kids in a judgmental and patriarchal society. It’s not preaching, but the lesson is communicated well through the songs and the script.
The worldwide success of the musical inspired a movie adaptation in 2008 starring Meryl Streep as Donna, and, after 10 years, a sequel, Mamma Mia 2 was released which traces how Donna met Sam, Bill, and Harry, and ended up settling in Greece.
Will the theater production also have a part two like the film?
“The first musical, which is our musical, is 20 years old in April next year… But we don’t know [if there will be a part two]. It might be difficult because there are some similarities and the choices of songs are already in the first movie. But it would be fantastic because there’ll be before, during, and after. It’s nice to know what our characters’ histories were,” said Ms. White.
Phillip Ryan, who plays Sophie’s fiancee Sky, added that the allure of the musical is its high energy and absence of any antagonist. “The songs keep playing them on record. I think the good thing about the story’s there’s no villain. It’s just a great evening of dancing and singing.”
LOVE FOR REAL
Mamma Mia! celebrates love — apparently even off stage. It was revealed during a press conference when the actors playing Sky and Sophie were asked how they relate to their characters that they are engaged in real life.
“We’re engaged in real life and also on stage. At the end of the show, Sophie and Sky are about to travel around the world, which resonates with us,” said Ms. Barker, adding that she gets to tour around the world thanks to the show.
The couple met during their final audition for their roles in 2015, and from there, they hit it off.
“It’s quite special to put in the wedding dress in ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ scene knowing that I have to also do it in real life,” she added.
“There’s no acting required.” — Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

SEC tells listed firms to comply with data privacy rules

THE country’s corporate regulator has ordered capital markets, listed companies, and other institutions to comply with data privacy laws following reports of security breaches in both local and international firms in the previous months.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Markets and Securities Regulation Department said in an e-mailed statement that it has required the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), listed firms, and other market institutions to submit compliance reports within 30 days.
The commission noted that aside from the Data Privacy Act (DPA) of 2012 and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), these institutions must also follow the 2015 Securities Regulation Code (SRC), which mandates that market participants should have a comprehensive information technology plan.
The SRC also states that the institutions’ information technology, trading, business continuity, disaster recovery and risk management systems must be reviewed and audited by an independent firm on a regular basis.
“These are designed to ensure that trading in the market are efficient, not interrupted and not susceptible to glitches, as well as for the protection of personal and other data against any accidental or unlawful destruction, alteration and disclosure, and against any other unlawful processing,” the SEC said.
As per the DPA, personal information controllers (PIC) or personal information processors (PIP) with more than 250 employees must register with the National Privacy Commission. Those with less than 250 employees must still register if their processes likely pose a risk to the rights and freedoms of data subjects, and if they include sensitive personal information of at least a thousand individuals, among others.
PIPs and PICs are further expected to produce a privacy manual and form a privacy management program as part of their corporate governance responsibilities.
In addition, corporations which have been issued secondary licenses by the SEC must determine whether they are covered by the DPA as a PIP or PIC, and then comply with the rules.
Meanwhile, the EU GDPR covers companies outside the EU which offer goods and services or monitor the behavior of individuals in the EU.
In its letter to the PSE dated Oct. 5, the SEC requested the bourse operator to also inform its trading participants, listed issuers, and other stakeholders about the requirements of data privacy laws and data protection regulations.
“The trading participants, listed issuers, and other stakeholders of PSE are likewise required to submit such report,” the SEC said.
The SEC’s order came amid the recent data breach which affected two online stores of listed company ABS-CBN Corp. The media giant temporarily shut down the online stores which may have exposed the personal and financial information of more than 200 customers.
The commission also cited its counterpart in the United States, which slapped a $1 million fine against broker-dealer and investment adviser Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. for violating the Safeguards Rule and the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. The violations supposedly stemmed from weaknesses in its cybersecurity procedures. — Arra B. Francia

Big banks fail to meet required MSME lending

BIG BANKS remained stingy in providing loans to small firms as they continued to miss the mandated credit quotas provided by law, latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
The banking industry extended P549.887 billion to these small businesses as of June, which is below the P690.371 billion which they should have lent out as provided under the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
This represented roughly eight percent of the total P6.904 trillion loan portfolio, according to central bank data. However, the amount increased by 10.5% from the P497.767 billion credit extended during the same period in 2017.
Passed into law in 2008, Republic Act No. 9501 prescribes that banks must set aside 8% of their total loanable funds for micro and small firms while 2% should be allotted for medium-sized lenders, with the goal of boosting MSMEs by handing them credit for production and expansion.
The Philippines had 915,726 registered enterprises in 2016. Of these, 89.6% were classified as micro-sized, 5% small and 4% medium, and 0.4% large, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Universal, commercial and thrift banks largely missed the minimum loan lines for micro and small firms. Broken down, the big players only provided P152.411 billion credit, which stood at just 2.54% of the P5.99 trillion loanable funds they held as of the first semester.
Thrift lenders also handed out P44.135 billion to small businesses, accounting for 5.45% of their loanable funds versus the eight percent standard. Only rural and cooperative banks met the requirement as they provided 21.9% of their loanable funds to micro and small players worth P22.98 billion.
Micro enterprises are those with less than 10 employees and assets worth P3 million or lower, while small firms have between 10-99 workers with assets less than P15 million. Meanwhile, medium-sized firms are those with 100-199 employees and assets worth up to P100 million.
All lenders were able to fulfill the lending threshold for medium-sized firms. Total loans to these relatively bigger companies amounted to 4.79% of their loan funds worth P330.361 billion, well above the two percent minimum level and up by a tenth from a year ago, according to BSP data.
Big banks extended P268.153 billion to these firms, which stood at 4.48% of their available funding. Thrift lenders also handed out P51.404 billion for medium-sized companies which accounted for 6.35% of their loanable funds. Rural banks posted the highest compliance rate at 10.31%, equivalent to P10.803 billion.
Last year, the central bank relaxed banking rules and assigned a 20% risk premium to credit surety fund availments, a substantial drop from a 75% weight assigned to debts extended to MSMEs.
Still, the latest Banking Sector Outlook Survey published by the central bank showed that big banks said it was difficult for them to comply with the credit quotas. Often, big banks choose to pay penalties for non-compliance rather than take on this riskier segment compared to the corporate sector.
“Financing is key” in terms of developing the MSME sector, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez as he signed an agreement with financial technology firm First Circle in opening a fresh P1.5-billion credit line for small businesses last week.
First Circle started operations in 2016 by offering fully-digital loan application and processing for small firms within Metro Manila. To date, the non-bank lender has received a cumulative P3.4 billion in total loan applications and served over 2,000 customers. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Banksy’s art stunt is economic genius

By Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg Opinion
BASED ON experiments conducted by himself and others around his work, Banksy, the famous street artist, could write an economics dissertation on the monetary value of art. In a way, that unwritten paper could be his crowning achievement.
The self-shredding stencil of a girl letting go of a heart-shaped red balloon, which made headlines over the weekend, was only Banksy’s latest contribution to the empirical study of the value of art.
With his latest stunt — the shredder embedded in the frame was turned on remotely after the hammer fell on a $1.4 million sale — the spray-painting star tested the nature of demand at the high end of the market. The result likely will be that the artwork’s clever partial destruction (the lower part of the picture now hangs prettily out of the frame, evenly cut into narrow strips) will only increase its value, since the happening was so public, and the stunned reactions of people in the auction room have been captured on video. Now, we have the auction price before the shredding — and we’ll likely see a higher post-shredding price, too, putting a clear, separate market value on the story behind the object, something notoriously difficult to do, more difficult even than pricing pure performance art.
Banksy is probably the only artist in history for whose work such a wide range of market prices, from less than zero to millions of dollars, has been documented.
When he started out, his work was sometimes seen as vandalism and painted over like any other graffiti, implying a negative value. This still happens on occasion: last month, the new owner of a shop in Bristol started painting over an early Banksy work, stopping only when he was told of its provenance. Eventually, people started lifting Banksy work off walls and selling it, sometimes for hundreds of thousands of dollars; on a trip tracking Banksy’s stencils in Palestine, I heard the story of a building owner who made more money that way than if he’d sold the house.
But Banksy hasn’t just accepted this irony of stardom as a stroke of luck or as assertion of higher justice. He’s studied it.
In 2013, the artist set up a stall in New York’s Central Park, where a bored senior citizen peddled signed originals, worth tens of thousands of dollars at auction, for $60 apiece. No one bought anything for hours; he made a grand total of $420 in a day. The reason, of course, was that to the passers-by, people who had never heard of Banksy or didn’t believe he’d sell his work so cheaply, there was no story behind the images.
If Banksy were an economist rather than a satirical street artist with clearly leftist views, he might have wrapped his findings into a model — perhaps like the one described in Moshe Adler’s purely theoretical 1985 paper that sought to explain “why a hierarchy in income could exist without a hierarchy in talent.” Adler wrote:
The main argument was that the phenomenon of stardom exists where consumption requires knowledge. The acquisition of knowledge by a consumer involves discussion with other consumers, and a discussion is easier if all participants share common prior knowledge. If there are stars, that is, artists that everybody is familiar with, a consumer would be better off patronizing these stars even if their art is not superior to that of others.
It’s not often that one finds a star willing to contribute as knowingly and creatively to this theory as Banksy does. “When you look at how society rewards so many of the wrong people, it’s hard not to view financial reimbursement as a badge of self-serving mediocrity,” Banksy once wrote. Contempt can be a strong motive for exploration.
In a way, it’s a shame the images can no longer be separated from the economic experiments. Once upon a time, they were fresh and surprising — and made better tattoos. Now, you’d need to be Justin Bieber to get one of the balloon girl. But perhaps it’s best to accept it that Banksy’s true talent is less in his painting (or, rather, stenciling) than in revealing the ways in which the world interacts with art and artists. The body of bittersweet knowledge he’s building up will be his legacy when the last of his stencils fade from walls.

DoE blames global situation for increase in petroleum prices

THE Department of Energy (DoE) on Tuesday blamed the “current global situation” for the rise in petroleum prices as it reassured the public that the agency and energy firms are taking steps to ease the effects on consumers.
In a statement, the DoE said international political and economic factors were at play to drive higher the prices of oil and other petroleum products.
“US exit from the Iran nuclear deal was accompanied by its re-imposition of economic sanctions on Iran, including those related to oil,” it said.
The agency also pointed to “political and economic instability in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves and is considered one of the largest oil exporters in the West.”
Another factor is the “lack of clear commitment from oil producing countries for an actual production increase to replace expected supply constraints.”
“Global oil prices also tend to go up in the winter months (October-March), as demand for heating is at its highest,” it added.
The DoE said that even before world petroleum prices started to rise, the “energy family” had been “relentless in working out ways to help our most vulnerable sectors such as transport groups.”
It said public utility vehicles had been able to avail of fuel discounts through the continued expanding partnership of the DoE with oil companies.
An attached agency — the Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. — had been asked to look into importing low-cost diesel “to augment supply and offer a more affordable fuel option to our public transportation sector.”
“Using fuel wisely is one easy way for us to immediately cope with current fuel costs. We have launched a strengthened information campaign on fuel saving tips. These helpful suggestions and strategies on maximizing fuel efficiency would save us time, money and help our environment,” the DoE said.
“For example, planning one errand day for the entire family is a creative way which allows us to spend more time with our loved ones, while decreasing the number of trips we need to make,” it added.
On Tuesday, local oil companies raised the prices of diesel products by P1.45 per liter, the biggest increase they had imposed so far this year and the eighth week of price hikes since early August.
Gasoline products also rose by P1 per liter, the ninth straight week of increase. Kerosene prices increased by P1.35 per liter.
Last week, the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene products rose by P1.00, P1.35 and P1.10 per liter, respectively. — V.V.Saulon

Philippine foreign trade statistics (1st half 2018)

Philippine foreign trade statistics (1st half 2018)

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