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Special variants of Honda CR-V, Mobilio, Civic can now be ordered

CUSTOMERS can now order the limited-edition variants of the Honda CR-V, Mobilio, and Civic at Honda Cars showrooms. Deliveries will start in November.
Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) explained the special variants come with sporty and stylish enhancements.
The limited edition CR-V Touring Diesel 9A/T will have a new grille, running board, rear bumper protector and exhaust pipe finisher, along with a Touring Edition emblem. The Mobilio 1.5 Premium CVT will come in a White Orchid Pearl paint color, a shark-fin antenna, exhaust pipe finisher, and a Premium Edition Emblem.
Only 100 units of the Mobilio 1.5 Premium CVT will be available. It sells for P968,000. The Civic RS Turbo CVT Limited Edition will be offered in a Brilliant Sporty Blue color, with only 30 examples to be sold at a price of P1.576 million.

Are car shows still relevant these days?

The first international motor show I ever attended was the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show (TMS) — yes, more than two decades ago, if you’re fond of math. Let’s just say I caught the auto-show scene right at the start of the digital revolution. There was already Internet at the time — there was also e-mail — but the motoring press still preferred to cover the car show the old-fashioned way (read: with the help of analog cameras and bulky press kits). In fact, the TMS organizers even offered free courier service so international journalists could send dozens of their press materials back home.
At the time, on the first of two press days, the venue was packed to the brim with editors and writers and photographers from all over the world. Because then, these media practitioners were the messengers of exciting news (and glossy images) to car fans around the planet. If a petrolhead in Manila wanted to see the latest metal from the Japanese automakers, he had to buy his favorite car magazine or — if he’s parsimonious — check out the motoring section of the household newspaper. Like I said, there was already Internet at the time. But as the data bandwidth then was pathetically inadequate, Web sites looked basic and their photos appeared borderline grainy by today’s standards.
As the Internet progressed and the kind of media that could be served to audiences improved by leaps and bounds, so did our coverage of the motor shows. Press packs gave way to CDs; CDs gave way to thumb drives; thumb drives gave way to just Web site links. Companies soon realized that they could play a much bigger role in the narrative if they simply provided the articles, the photographs and the videos.
And so the so-called “media sites” grew in prominence. Even non-journalists can now access these sites if they’re crafty and imaginative. Once inside these sites, an amateur blogger has access to a buffet of content that looks more polished than anything the professional news producers can come up with. The weirdest thing about all of this? It’s the fact that a potbellied troll is now able to broadcast a freshly unveiled automobile on social media at exactly the same time as the mainstream media outlets. It is not uncommon these days to see the world’s leading motoring media titles getting “scooped” by small, independent bloggers when it comes to car launches — to think that the former have representatives on the show floor, and the latter just sit lazily at home (while probably also watching porn on one of the browser tabs). I’ve certainly seen this happen to me a couple of times (as a member of the first group, if you must ask).
The question among journalists: Is it still worth personally covering car shows in faraway places when everything is available online anyway?
The question among car brands: Is it still worth spending millions on car shows when more and more people are just happy to browse photos and watch videos online?
Let’s take the once-mighty Detroit Auto Show, for instance. This year, the leading European brands have already signified their intent to skip the event in 2019. Car makers like Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Porsche, and Volvo have all apparently decided that the leading motor show in the United States is no longer worth participating in. And who can blame them? Their customers no longer make their purchase decision at these events — they do so in front of a laptop or while holding a smartphone. And with such social media platforms as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram now allowing car brands to reach out directly to their target market, the logic behind auto shows is getting harder and harder to defend during budget meetings.
So, is the car show dead?
Not really. I think the smaller, market-specific ones will continue to thrive. The biennial Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) that’s happening on Oct. 24-28 at World Trade Center is an example. With this year’s edition adopting the theme “Future Mobility,” PIMS aims to show the Filipino motoring public some of the latest automotive technologies on offer today. And because seeing shiny new cars in the metal is still a lot more fun than scrolling through a Web page, I expect throngs of visitors to flock to the venue. After all, our car market is still at the point where people marvel at premium vehicles.
What is clearly in the throes of death is the international motor show, which requires a round-trip plane ticket in order for fans to experience it. The local or domestic car show, on the other hand, still has a lot of good mileage in it. I know I’ll drive 10 kilometers and pay P100 to see sleek wheels. I hope you will, too.

NTC sued over alleged “money making schemes” in third telco search

By Mariel Aguinaldo, Online Reporter
NOW Telecom, an affiliate of local telecommunications, media, and technology company NOW Corporation, filed a case against the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on October 8. This is over claims of legal violations in the New Major Player Terms of Reference by NTC and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Earlier this year, DICT announced that they would be naming a new major player for telecommunications with the objective of stimulating competition in the industry. With the September 21 release of the terms of reference, NOW Telecom pointed out new requirements such as a P700 million “participation security” which they claim were not only not discussed during public hearings but also violated existing laws.
“NOW Telecom is suing NTC to protect the interest of its public shareholders and President Rodrigo Duterte from any suspicion that he is complicit to the money making schemes in the [terms of reference] for the third telco,” said Mel V. Velarde, president and CEO of NOW Corp.
Mr. Velarde also said that NOW Telecom prefers that, come Nov. 7, Mr. Duterte were the recipient of the bidding documents and final decision maker for the third telco, not the NTC.

Grab partners with Microsoft, adopts Azure cloud platform

Grab to launch new services in Cebu
LEVERAGING Microsoft’s expertise in fields such as big data and artificial intelligence “will transform the delivery of everyday services and mobility solutions in Southeast Asia,” said Grab President Ming Maa. — BW FILE PHOTO

By Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
TRANSPORT network company GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd has just partnered with Microsoft Corp. to improve their digital services in Southeast Asia.
In a press statement on Tuesday, Grab announced it has entered into a five-year agreement with Microsoft, with the transport network company set to utilize Microsoft Azure as its cloud computing platform.
While no exact amount was specified, Microsoft’s investment in Grab was said to see both parties collaborate on a broad series of technology projects.
Grab president Ming Maa said that making use of Microsoft’s expertise in fields such as big data and artificial intelligence, “will transform the delivery of everyday services and mobility solutions in Southeast Asia.”
“As a global technology leader, Microsoft’s investment into Grab highlights our position as the leading homegrown technology player in the region,” he added.
“We look forward to collaborating with Microsoft in the pursuit of enhancing on-demand transportation and seamless online-to-offline experiences for users.”
Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of Microsoft, said this strategic partnership “opens up new opportunities to innovate in both a rapidly evolving industry and growth region.”

Muted foreign interest in 3rd telco slot

By Denise A. Valdez
Reporter
FOUR LOCAL FIRMS and only one foreign company, Norway’s Telenor Group, firmed up their interest in participating in the auction for the country’s third major telecommunications service provider by purchasing the bid documents on Monday — the first day of its availability.
Representatives from businessman Dennis A. Uy’s Udenna Corp., Telenor Group, Now Corp., a consortium of Davao-based TierOne Communications International Inc. and former politician Luis “Chavit” C. Singson’s LCS Group of Companies, as well as an unidentified local company, bought the bid documents at the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) office in Quezon City.
“Actually we were just thinking four or five would be competing. But I think we would have more,” NTC Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba said in a briefing.
Mr. Cordoba said he was surprised that five companies have already bought documents on the first day, while some who have been “very vocal” about their interest have not done so yet.
“We’re surprised na ganoon karami [that it was that many], because we were just thinking ang sasali [those who would join] would be four to five,” he added.
However, the muted interest from foreign firms comes after Information and Communications Technology Acting Secretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. previously said China Telecom, South Korea’s KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp., and Vietnam’s Viettel Telecom are keen on participating in the bidding.
Telenor, the incumbent telecom operator in Norway, is looking for a local partner to boost its bid. Late last month, Shanshil Ahmed Shibly, deputy director for regional operations of Telenor subsidiary Grameenphone, said the company is in talks with potential local partners.
However, the NTC is hopeful more firms will come forward. Bid documents can be purchased online or at the NTC office for P1 million until the deadline for submission of bids on Nov. 7.
“The selection documents are composed of information on the Philippine market, DICT’s (Department of Information and Communication Technology) national broadband plan, and instruction to participants which include everything they have to do and follow to submit their selection documents,” Mr. Cordoba said.
Meanwhile, Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (PT&T) confirmed in a text message that they have downloaded the bid documents from the NTC website, but will make the payment at the NTC next week.
“We have downloaded the bid documents,” PT&T President James G. Velasquez told BusinessWorld.
Aside from TierOne, PT&T and Now Corp., Mr. Rio previously identified Converge ICT Solutions, Inc., Transpacific Broadband Group International, Inc. (TBGI) and EasyCall Communications Philippines, Inc. as the local companies keen on becoming the third telco.
The government’s initiative to attract a third telco player comes at the request of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who wants to break the duopoly of Globe Telecom, Inc. and PLDT, Inc.
After the opening of bid documents on Nov. 7, Mr. Cordoba said it would be able to identify the bidder with the highest level of commitment shortly after. The “provisional winner” will then be given 90 days to finalize its business and roll-out plans, among other requirements.
Mr. Rio earlier assured that the third telco will be named before Christmas.
Although buying bid documents comes at no restrictions, eligible participants are only those with a congressional franchise or pairs with a company that has one, have a paid-in capital of at least P10 billion, have experience as a nationwide telco provider for the last 10 years, and have no outstanding liability to the NTC as of Oct. 1. It also cannot be affiliated with Globe or PLDT.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Power rates to go down in October

TYPICAL HOUSEHOLDS can expect their monthly electricity bill to go down by P19 in October after distribution utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Monday another cut in the overall rates due to a reduction in power generation charges.
“We are pleased to announce that despite prices of other basic goods and commodities generally going up, Meralco customers can find some relief in the decrease of power rates these past two months, as this goes against the current trend that we see with other products,” said Joe R. Zaldarriaga, Meralco’s spokesperson and head of its public information office.
Meralco said the overall electricity rates once again went down, with this month’s reduction placed at P0.0966 per kilowatt-hour (/kWh) to P9.9766/kWh from P10.0732/kWh in September.
The decrease means 200-kWh households, which account for the bulk of residential customers, will enjoy a P19.32 cut in their power bills while those consuming 300 kWh, 400 kWh and 500 kWh will see a reduction of P28.98, P38.64 and P48.30, respectively.
Publicly listed Meralco said the lower power supply agreement (PSA) charges brought down the generation charge for the month.
For October, the generation charge fell by P0.0811/kWh to P5.1908/kWh from P5.2719/kWh last month.
The company said the decrease was mainly because of a P0.2790/kWh decline in the charges of PSAs. This was despite the weakening of the peso against the US dollar and the scheduled maintenance shutdown of the first unit of the Sual plant.
The Sual plant started its outage on Aug. 31, but the cost of power from power supply contracts dropped because of the higher dispatch of the Masinloc and Ilijan power plants. The share of PSA purchases to Meralco’s requirement for the month was 36%.
With the lower PSA charges, the increase in the cost of power at P0.0414/kWh from independent power producers (IPP) due to the weakening peso was offset. Meralco said the share of IPP purchases to its total requirement in October was at 41%.
Meanwhile, the cost of power from the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) also went up although only at P0.2981/kWh. The rise was because of the lower availability of power plants in the Luzon grid. WESM purchases accounted for 23% of Meralco’s requirement for the month.
Other charges slipped except transmission charge, which rose by P0.0111/kWh for residential customers after higher ancillary service charges of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). Taxes and other charges dropped by P0.0266/kWh in October.
“Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 39 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015,” the utility said as it reiterated that it does not earn from pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges.
Payment for the generation charge is remitted to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to privately owned NGCP.
Taxes and other public policy charges, including the feed-in tariff allowance or FiT-All, are remitted to the government.
Shares in Meralco fell by P14.40 or 4% to close at P341.60 each on Monday.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by 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. — Victor V. Saulon

House Speaker Arroyo to count on rapport in last big role in PHL politics

By Ricky S. Torre
Associate Editor
IN WHAT MAY be the last chapter of a long and complicated political career, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo aims to fulfill what she regards as her mission now, or “our objective…to push for the President’s legislative agenda.”
She will be counting on what she says is the “very good” and “constructive” relationship between the two chambers of Congress (after the political tensions under Pantaleon D. Alvarez’s speakership) as well as between the House of Representatives and Malacañang.
But politics is an unstable theater, and the former Philippine president may still run into controversy — a familiar facet in her decade-long tenure in Malacañang — in what should be her brief term as House Speaker which ends before next year’s midterm elections.
A lot of work needs to be done in that short time left. Two crucial measures being tackled on her watch are the national budget for next year and the tax reform packages being pushed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
“The House will certainly do all it can, and I am optimistic we will have a good result,” Ms. Arroyo said in an e-mail reply to questions sent by BusinessWorld. “So I remain optimistic that the legislative branch will deliver on the tax reform packages.”
STRONG PERSONALITIES
Yet the rapport between Congress and the Executive that Ms. Arroyo is counting on to pursue Mr. Duterte’s agenda can be disrupted by the strong personalities of all concerned, the Speaker herself in particular.
Recently, Ms. Arroyo became openly confrontational in one hearing, as she took issue with Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez’s articulation of policy by text that the mining tax reform was not his, but her priority instead.
Until then, Ms. Arroyo’s relations with the President’s economic managers had been civil at best. But an ally of hers in the House — and adviser from the time of her presidency — Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda, had been speaking with more candor about the current state of the economy.
Mr. Salceda came out with a statement early in September that, in effect, flagged the country’s rising inflation under the watch of Duterte’s economic managers. Of the 6.4% inflation last August, Mr. Salceda said, “Ultimately, (this) was really due to the fact that we did little or nothing.”
“Unless we do nothing and do more silly things, 6.4% should already be the peak in this inflation cycle,” Mr. Salceda said. (Inflation since rose to 6.7% as of September.) “But a return to 4% within 2018 is no longer possible especially we are now into the world’s longest Christmas season characterized by higher consumer spending. Returning to 4% is more likely to be achieved by August next year.”
The Speaker was sought for comment on that projection by her fellow economist, to which she replied: “Cong(ressman) Salceda has (a) very strong track record when it comes to economic matters, and this record dates back decades ago to when he was in the private sector as one of the most highly regarded experts in our stock and securities market. When he speaks on such matters, we should pay attention.”
Ms. Arroyo has since been confronted by other complications in the pursuit of Mr. Duterte’s economic program, such as the standoff in the discussions on mining tax reform.
“I don’t think they would be able to beat the time, unless they rush through it,” Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President George T. Barcelon said when sought for comment about his expectations of Congress in its little time left before the midterm elections. “(E)ven the tax reform would be a pending issue,…(before) all of this inflation. (T)hey need to have a quick fix on that first, so Congress, even (former) president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has given priority (to) the cost of living, that inflation is given priority rather than the others.”
With regard to one legislative priority as certified by Mr. Duterte, Mr. Barcelon said, “I hope if the (proposed) security of tenure..law is drafted, all of these (provisions) will be specified, otherwise a lot of sectors will be affected and they cannot, the businesses would not be viable to maintain all these people when there’s really no need.”
POLITICAL MATTERS
Apart from economic issues, Ms. Arroyo has also become involved in political matters, affirming Mr. Duterte’s claim of a destabilization plot against him.
As it happens in Philippine politics, it is possible she will be embroiled in more controversies in her time left as Speaker. This expectation accords with the pattern, or what Nick Joaquin describes, in his 2002 authorized biography of Ms. Arroyo, as “the guise of the Gloria career: to appear offhand while handing it out blow by blow.”
This guise has been once again demonstrated by Ms. Arroyo’s sudden return to the top last July — in what is supposed to be her political sunset, and at the expense of Mr. Alvarez, her ousted predecessor in the House speakership. But, in an interview with ABS-CBN last August, she said she is more interested in a legacy for Mr. Duterte rather than her own as House Speaker. She stuck to that line in her answers to BusinessWorld: “As congresswoman and Speaker, the President’s agenda was and remains my legislative agenda.”
This is in sharp contrast to her hard campaigning as a reelectionist senator, emerging as the topnotcher in the 1995 senatorial race, and, certainly, to her bolting the Estrada administration to lead the EDSA II movement that saw to its downfall.
What became of EDSA II — the endless controversies and the political instability that weighed on her long presidency — still casts a shadow on Ms. Arroyo’s present role. Sought for comment, lawyer and political consultant Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco said, “(K)nowing what happened after EDSA II, I expect many Filipinos will no longer be surprised if next month she announces that she will run for the Senate or for governor of Pampanga.”
Also sought for comment, professor and chairperson Maria Ela L. Atienza of the University of the Philippines’ Department of Political Science, said, “Based on GMA’s past record (saying that she was no longer interested in running for the 2004 elections but later ran) as well as other politicians who say one thing but do otherwise like the current President who initially said he was not running for President in 2016 but eventually ran, we cannot take GMA’s pronouncements at face value. She can run for a local post or a senatorial post in 2019.”
But Mr. Yusingco also said, “I am prepared to concede that she was genuinely sincere and honest when she declared that she will not contest any post in 2019. At that very moment, I think in her heart, she truly wanted to retire from politics.”
He added: “The reality is, these days it is very hard to find a politician who strictly adheres to the principle of palabra de honor (word of honor). Sad to say, but we simply cannot rely on today’s politicians to keep their word. We cannot even be assured of complete candor whenever they speak to us.
Ms. Arroyo was asked about her retirement plans, including the memoirs she said she would write. “I have said that at this stage in my life, I want to make peace with the people I have dealt with, whether friends or enemies. I hope that is possible and that God will guide me. Thus my objective will be to speak more of the good in the people I have dealt with, and less of the bad. Anyway, in the end, what matters will be the historical judgment, not the memoirs.”
When asked if she would be candid about the “Hello Garci” and other “sensitive chapters” (as we politely put it) of her presidency — perhaps more candid than Juan Ponce Enrile was not, according to critics of his A Memoir — Ms. Arroyo said: “Memoirs are a very personal matter to the author, and so long as the events as narrated are factual, then the tone the author takes, I think, reflects his/her perspective in life at that point when he/she sets down the memoirs in writing. I will need to cover so-called sensitive chapters.”
“But beyond what I say in my memoirs, I believe that history and serious analysts will give me, as well as the other presidents, their due credit, irrespective of their memoirs. I tend to take the broad perspective, and so I tend to view the collective and cumulative effort of myself and my economic team, that of President Noynoy (Aquino) and his economic team, as part of a 20-year process wherein we were able to reduce poverty from the 39% level when I became president to, hopefully, the targeted 14% when President Duterte ends his term in 2022. That will be an accomplishment the three of us can be proud of.” — with additional interviews by Charmaine A. Tadalan

Chelsea offers to modernize Sasa port

CHELSEA Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLC) said it submitted a P16-billion unsolicited proposal to the Department of Transportation (DoTr) for the modernization of Sasa port in Davao City.
“We already submitted a proposal for the development of Sasa port in Davao. It’s unsolicited. We’re waiting for the actions of DoTr on that matter,” CLC president and chief executive officer Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy told reporters on Friday.
He said the proposal, which was submitted mid-2018, covers a 25-year concession period that will have four phases focusing on the rehabilitation of the port facilities and increasing its capacity.
“If you look at the state of the port of Davao now, it really needs a massive rehabilitation. Yung deck mismo [The deck itself], there’s a lot of damaged areas which we have to rehabilitate. There are very limited equipment as to cargo handling, limited yung mga quay crane nila [their quay crane is limited]. So those are things that we wanted to do with the Phase 1, rehabilitate the existing and install modern equipment,” Mr. Damuy said.
He estimated Phase 1 of the proposal would require around P5 billion.
“Yung phase kasi niyan is depending on the certain milestone…. It’s done in phases na pag na-reach yung certain capacity, we will roll out the next phase [The proposal is based on the success phase after phase when a certain milestone is achieved…. It’s done in phases such that when we reach a certain capacity, we will roll out the next phase],” Mr. Damuy added.
The Sasa port will be handling container, general cargo and passenger ships for both domestic and international markets.
In March, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional office in Davao said the DoTr put the Sasa port upgrade back in the lineup of projects under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program.
To recall, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) had pulled out Sasa port from the PPP list in December 2016 after getting approval from the PPA Board to study alternative development plans with a budget of about P4.7-4.9 billion.
The P19-billion rehabilitation plan drafted under the Aquino administration was opposed by the Davao City government and the business sector which cited its cost.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade on Friday said he wants more attention to be given to upgrading ports in order to improve inter-island connectivity in the country.
Although he can’t disclose details, Mr. Tugade told reporters the DoTr currently has a number of unsolicited proposals for port development.
“Meron sa Davao. Meron sa container sa Cebu. Pero…habang pinag-uusapan at wala pang sure, mahirap [There’s one in Davao, there’s one in Cebu. But until discussions are ongoing and nothing is final, it’s hard to speak],” he said. — Denise A. Valdez

Slew of foreign and local films to be shown at QCinema festival


NOW ON its sixth year, the QCinema International Film Festival offers a slew of award-winning foreign films and five original Filipino films as it runs from Oct. 21-30 in select cinemas in Metro Manila.
Opening this year’s film festival is Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters (2018), which is about a family of petty criminals living in Tokyo who unofficially adopt a girl they found on the streets. The film won Mr. Kore-eda the Palme d’Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival.
“When we saw [Shoplifters] in Cannes, we said we’d bring it for QCinema,” Eduardo “Ed” J. Lejano, festival director and executive director of the Quezon City Film Development Council (QCFDC), said during a press conference on Oct. 5 at the Gloria Maris restaurant in Quezon City.
This year, the festival presents three competition sections: the festival’s main Circle Competition section for independent features where filmmakers are given production grants of P1.5 million each; the Asian Next Wave section which features new works from Asian filmmakers; and the RainbowQC section which features a selection of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) international films, done in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).
For the main Circle section, the festival named five original works: Billie & Emma by Samantha Lee, about a girl who gets pregnant while she falls in love with another girl; DOG DAYS by Timmy Harn, about a half-black, half-Filipino boy named after the famed Michael Jordan who dreams of becoming a professional basketball player; Hintayan ng Langit by Dan Villegas, an adaptation of the one-act play by poet Juan Miguel Severo about a woman who gets to purgatory only to meet an ex-boyfriend in the same place; Masla a Papanok (The Great Bird) by Guttierez Mangansakan, a film set in 1891 Maguindanao where a town’s life is thrown into disarray by the appearance of the Great Bird; and, Oda sa Wala by Dwein Baltazar, about a spinster who befriends a corpse.
“We cast queer people for the queer roles. This is an important step towards inclusivity,” said Ms. Lee of her film.
In the same way, Mr. Mangansakan announced that most of the cast and crew for his film comes from Mindanao and that the film is “not an epic” but an intimate story about Maguindanao.
In the festival’s Asian Next Wave section, the entries are: A Land Imagined (2018) by Yeo Siew Hua about a police investigator in Singapore trying to find a missing migrant worker; Long Day’s Journey into Night (2018) by Bi Gan, a Chinese film about a solitary man haunted by loss and regret; Malila: The Farewell Flower (2018) by Anoocha Boonyawatana, a Thai film about a man who returns to his old village to care for an ex-boyfriend diagnosed with cancer; The Great Buddha+ (2018) by Huang Hsin-yao, a Taiwanese film about a night watchman and his friend who uncover an unsavory video of their boss; The Third Wife (2018) by Ashleigh Mayfair, a Vietnamese film about a 14-year-old who becomes the third wife of a wealthy landowner; and, The Seen and Unseen (2017) by Kamila Andini, set in Indonesia, the films tells of a girl who tries to cope with the death of her twin brother using her imagination.
Meanwhile, the RainbowQC section features six films: Tinta Bruta (2018) by Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, about a repressed gay man who finds freedom in his online strip performances; The Wound (2017) by John Tengrove, about a South African male initiation ritual and the homosexuality of the boys’ mentors; The Heiresses (2018) by Marcelo Martinessi, about two lesbians who, after having been in a relationship for 30 years, separate because of financial difficulties; Sorry Angel (2018) by Christophe Honore, about a student who has an affair with a 39-year-old writer; Knife + Heart (2018) by Yam Gonzales, about a porn producer who tries to film her most ambitious film but her stars are killed one by one; and, 1985 (2018) by Yen Tan, about a man who returns to Texas to tell his parents he has AIDS.
Aside from the competition section, QCinema also presents a documentary section called DocQC which will feature the films All Grown Up by Wena Sanchez, about living with a sibling with special needs, and Pag-ukit sa Paniniwala by Hiyas Baldemor Bagabaldo, about the woodcarvers of Paete, Laguna. The documentaries were give a P300,000 seed grant from the festival.
The festival’s Screen International section features Chang-dong Lee’s Burning (2018) which won the 2018 FIPRESCI Award at the Cannes Film Festival; Faces Places (2017) by Agnes Varda and JR; Gaspar Noe’s Climax (2018), which won the CICAE Award at the Cannes 2018’s Directors’ Fortnight; Cold War (2018) by Pawel Pawlikowski which won Best Director in the 2018 Cannes festival; and Manta Ray (2018) by Phuttiphong Aroonpheng, which won Best Film at the 2018 Best Horizons festival.
Restored films will also be shown at the film festival in its Digitally Remastered section. The films include All That Jazz (1979) by Bob Fosse, Footloose (1984) by Herbert Ross, and Saturday Night Fever (1977) by John Badham.
A selection of French classics will also be shown, including And God Created Woman (1956) by Roger Vadim, alongside films from China, Austria, and Denmark including Austria’s Tomcat (2016) by Klaus Handl who will be gracing the festival.
The festival’s closing film will be Piercing (2018) Nicolas Pesce, a horror film about a man who checks into a hotel room to commit the perfect murder.
QCinema will run from Oct. 21 to 30 at the Gateway Mall, Robinsons Galleria, SM City North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Manila, SM Mall of Asia, Trinoma, and UP Town Center. Tickets cost P150. For more information, visit qcinema.ph. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Reimagining old spaces


AN ancestral home converted into a spa, the Regina Building as a café, a fire station transformed as a gym and fitness center — these are only a few ideas of the graduating students of Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID).
On its 51st anniversary, PSID mounted this year’s graduation exhibit titled, “Juxtapose: Espasyo at Panahon (Space and Time),” featuring 17 interior designs of adaptive reuse solutions by PSID batch 2018.
PSID batch adviser Nicanor Jardenil said this year’s exhibit theme merges interior design ideas of the present with the past.
“(Adaptive reuse is) the process where you try to make use of old historical places or spaces and try to come up with a new function for that space. It does not have to be the same. Otherwise, if you have the same function, it’s just like restoring the structure,” Mr. Jardenil told BusinessWorld during the exhibit opening.
The annual exhibit is an opportunity for PSID students to practice their chosen field.
“It’s their baptism of fire in the field of interior design. They get to have a hands-on experience if they get to implement their designs,” Mr. Jardenil said, adding students had to deal with sample clients and official contractors and suppliers.
The exhibit is divided into three galleries — Tahanan (Home), Pangkalakal (Trade), and Pang-industriya (Industry). Students were given the opportunity to choose which historical site to redesign.
In the Tahanan gallery, booth 1 was called “The Bar Beneath…in San Juan.” Students converted a 15-square meter bomb shelter under the kitchen floor of the 1933 Castro House in San Juan into a speakeasy bar. The bar’s interiors featured amber lights, panels made from capiz and wood chips supporting a liquor display, and smokey accent mirrors.
In the Pangkalakal gallery, booth 7’s “La Moneda Bookshop & Café” envisioned the Aduana Building as a bookshop and cafe. Retaining its neoclassical design, students chose Philippine coins as its theme to pay tribute to the building’s history as the Mint during the late 19th century.
In the Pang-industriya gallery, booth 16’s Polo Estacion reimagined the old Philippine National Railways Polo station as an artisan market and local wine shop. The brick walls and arched windows were retained and combined with a patterned capiz wall and bronze mirror to project the illusion of space.
Mr. Jarnenil said economic and societal value is considered when choosing a site for adaptive reuse. He said societal value pertains to “its significance in the community,” while economic value is the sustainability achieved through the new function.
“We will get there, if we have just the will and start helping in one way or another,” he said.
“Juxtapose: Espasyo at Panahon (Space and Time)” is located at the 11F Santolan Town Plaza, Col. Bonny Serrano Ave, San Juan city. The exhibit is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Oct. 31. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Henry Sy-led SMIC looking to shift investment strategy

THE holding firm of country’s richest man Henry Sy, Sr. is shifting its investment strategy, favoring businesses where they can secure a minority position instead of taking full control of the company.
“What we will be doing this time is looking at investments differently, maybe looking into those that can perhaps grow with a little push, then maybe we will get just a minority position,” SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) Vice Chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson told reporters on the sidelines of the GRI Sustainability Summit at Conrad Manila on Monday.
“Instead of a majority where we will run, most of the companies will be run by the main proponents,” Ms. Sy-Coson explained.
SMIC has been positioning itself in a number of firms in the previous years. In 2017, it acquired a 34.5% stake in Negros Navigation Company, Inc., the parent of integrated transport solutions provider 2GO Group, Inc.
The listed conglomerate also acquired earlier this year a 34% interest in Goldilocks, Inc., after the deal to buy the entire shareholdings of the bakeshop chain fell through. Goldilocks’ current owners will continue to run the company with SMIC as a minority investor.
A 34% interest should be enough to influence decisions that need approval by at least two-thirds of a company’s shareholders.
Meanwhile, Ms. Sy-Coson said SMIC remains unaffected by the higher inflation and rising interest rates.
“The customers are still buying, it has not been affected by inflation. Maybe there will be (impacts), but not now,” Ms. Sy-Coson said.
The president of SMIC’s property arm, SM Prime Holdings, Inc., echoed this view, saying that consumption has not slowed down amid the negative economic figures.
“I think consumption will continue given that we’re going into the holiday. The full effect of the inflation numbers will probably be after that,” SM Prime President Jeffrey C. Lim told reporters in a separate interview.
Mr. Lim also noted rising interest rates have yet to affect its residential business, saying the company is moving ahead with expansion plans.
“So far, we have not seen it and we continue to do the developments. I guess it’s still too early. The Chinese market is also increasing the demand for residential (projects),” Mr. Lim said.
Asked how SM Prime fared in the third quarter of the year, Mr. Lim said it performed “within target.”
SMIC grew its net income by nine percent in the first six months of 2018 to P18.1 billion, higher than the P16.6 billion it realized in the same period a year ago. Revenues likewise expanded by 12% to P204.9 billion, thanks to the expansion of its shopping mall and residential developments, and retail businesses, offsetting the minimal decline for its banking unit.
Shares in SMIC shed 0.46% or P4 to close at P866 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

‘Something different’ in Cinema One film fest


THE 14th run of the Cinema One Originals Festival, titled “I am Original,” will showcase nine original feature films, six international films, 12 original short films, and two restored classics.
“All the films were chosen because we see something different in them,” Ronald Arguelles, Cinema One Originals festival director and channel head said in Filipino of the nine feature films, during the launch on Oct. 2 at the ELJ Bldg., in Quezon city.
“Cinema One Originals is a platform to discover new directors and writers who create unique stories which are different from those that have been produced,” he added.
The films will be shown in selected cinemas from Oct. 12 to 21.
“[The festival] celebrates individuality and the uniqueness of the voice of the filmmaker,” Mr. Arguelles told BusinessWorld shortly after the press launch.
The nine original feature films are:
• A Short History of a Few Bad Things. Described as a “serious comedy” by its director Keith Deligero, the movie, set in Cebu, is about a police detective who becomes obsessed in solving a series of murders no one is interested in investigating.
• Asuang by Raynier Brizuela is a mockumentary about Asuang, the God of Sin from Bikolano mythology, who, in a attempt to change his branding as a social media god, tries to save the world.
• Bagyong Bheverlyn by Charliebebs Gohetia is a comedy about a woman who has just had a bad breakup. When an upcoming super typhoon is about to hit the country, she realizes that it is her misery and tendency to express “hugot” quotes caused it. To save the country, she needs to find true happiness.
• Double Twisting Double Back by Joseph Abello follows Badger, who aims to be the best gymnast in the country and works hard to impress her trainer. She goes out of her way to outperform her best friend Wasi.
• Hospicio, a satirical horror movie by Bobby Bonifacio, focuses on a drug addict who is in the Hospicio Nueva Vida. The patient enters the facility after her younger sister takes a bullet meant for her. But instead of helping patients recover, the facility is said to be a dangerous place.
• Mamu and a Mother Too, by Rod Singh, is about a middle-aged transgender sex worker and how she goes through life-changing circumstances when she takes responsibility for her transgender niece.
• Never Tear Us Apart (original title was Fisting) Director Whammy Alcazaren describes it as “portrait of a modern family.” The film follows Q, a spy who embarks on a final mission in search for the mysterious Shadow that may have taken his son and infected his wife.
• Pang MMK by John “Sweet” Lapus is based on a featured Maalaala Mo Kaya story from 20 years ago. It begins where the episode left off — a father leaving his family behind — and follows the son who had to take charge of his estranged father’s funeral and deal with chaos and drama as they reconnect as a family.
• Paglisan, an animated dramedy musical by Carl Joseph Papa, is about a middle-aged movie star who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and finds himself living in seclusion with his unhappy wife.
The international films to be shown in the festival are: Jia Zhang-Ke’s Ash is Purest White (China); Lukas Dhont’s Girl (Belgium), Marcelo Martinessi’s The Heiresses (Paraguay), Desiree Akhavan’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post (US/UK), Kim Yang-hee’s The Poet and the Boy (South Korea), and Kevin Macdonald’s Whitney (US/UK).
The festival will also screen two restored classics: Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara’s Minsa’y Isang Gamu-gamo (1976) and Frank Gray, Jr.’s Omeng Satanasia (1977).
The nine films will be shown at the following cinemas: TriNoma, Glorietta, Gateway, Santolan Town Plaza, and Powerplant; at SM Cinelokal theaters in SM North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Manila, and SM Sta. Mesa; and in the alternative cinemas FDCP Cinematheque Manila, Up Cine Adarna, Cinema ’76, Black Maria Theater, and Cinema Centenario.
Tickets cost P200 in the major and alternative cinemas and P150 at the SM CineLokal theaters. Students pay P150 in all cinemas. Festival passes are available ktx.abs-cbn.com. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

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