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This year’s HABI fair includes ASEAN weavers and indigenous fabrics

SOME of the finest examples of Philippine-made textile products take center stage at this year’s HABI trade fair. The three-day trade event pays tribute to the country’s traditional weavers who hail from communities supported by HABI. Their unique skills were given tremendous exposure during the previous fairs and this expertise has since become a viable source of income for them. “Woven Voyages: 8th Likhang Habi Textile Fair 2018” will take place at the Activity Area of the Glorietta Mall in Ayala Center, Makati City on Oct. 12 to 14. It is open to the public.
Organized by the nonprofit organization HABI The Philippine Textile Council, the fair is designed to showcase the artistry of the country’s indigenous weavers. More than 80 exhibitors will take part this year, making it HABI’s biggest trade fair to date. And for the first time, the show will include textile exhibitors from the ASEAN region, namely, the weaving communities of Brunei, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
HABI is placing special emphasis on products made of natural fabrics and will include merchandise of established brands that use the fabrics made by the weavers.
There will be fashionable bags adorned with the cloth made by the Yakans of Basilan; hand-woven blankets, covers, and napkins from the Ilocos region; and toys and novelty items made by local craftsmen.
Among the exhibitors are established brands and manufacturers such as Rurungan sa Tukod Foundation, Interweave, Yakang Yaka, Manila Collectible, Casa Mercedes, Filip+Inna, Gifts & Graces Foundation, Good Luck, Humans, La Herminia Piña, Liwayway Handicraft, Creative Definitions, Kalinga Weaving, Ayala Foundation, Inc., and items by noted Filipina designer Ditta Sandico.
The fair is held each year to provide a major venue for the local weavers to present their wares. It offers them the opportunity to tap Metro Manila’s consumer market by giving them free space in the show. It also allows them to deal directly with wholesale buyers, foreign buyers, and stores. “This way, the middlemen, who had been buying the products from them at lower rates and selling them at much higher prices, are eliminated,” said Maribel Ongpin, HABI’s founder.
“We also want to attract more fashion designers,” says Adelaida Lim, the Baguio-based businesswoman and a member of HABI. “We want them to discover how these fabrics can be used for contemporary fashion, and not just for traditional costumes.”
The participation of the weavers from the ASEAN communities may also open new doors for their local counterparts, said Ms. Ongpin. “The weavers from each country can learn from each other and they may have the opportunity to tap each other’s markets,” she said.
The fair includes a fashion show highlighting the woven fabrics in designs by Patis Tesoro, Len Cabili of Filip+Inna, LARA Samar, Jor-el Espina, Boy Guino-o of Alfonso Davao, Twinkle Ferraren, Malaysian designer Edric Ong, and Laura Fontan of Vietnam fashion house Chula. There will also be an exhibit featuring the textile art of Filipina-French artist Olivia d’Aboville, and the works of the winners of the Lourdes Montinola Weaving Competition. There will also be workshops and lectures on sustainability, and a tribal food lounge.

OUTLIER: Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (MBT)

By Marissa Mae M. Ramos
MACROECONOMIC CONCERNS dragged stocks, including that of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (MBT), in the first trading week of October.
Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed the Ty-controlled Metrobank trading P739.440 million worth of 11.009 million shares from Oct. 1 to 5, making it the seventh most actively traded stock last week.
On a week-on-week basis, its share price was down by 1.19% to P66.2 apiece last Friday from its closing share price of P67 on Sept. 28. Year-to-date, the bank’s share price was down by 36.71%.
For Papa Securities Corp. deputy research head Arabelle C. Maghirang, concerns over the Philippine economy continue to adversely impact stock prices.
AP Securities, Inc. research analyst Rachelle C. Cruz attributed overall stock performance last week to the interest rate hikes.
“This is because in a rising rates environment and tightening system liquidity, banks are affected by higher funding costs,” she said.
Ms. Cruz noted that for MBT in particular, “[i]ntense market competition, especially in the corporate segment, resulted to sticky lending rates in the first half of 2018.”
“This will likely be the story also for the second half of 2018. In contrast, deposit rates have been adjusting faster — thus, NIM (net interest margin) upside will be limited,” she added.
Papa Securities’ Ms. Maghirang concurred: “The intact ratios of MBT… might not matter if the macroeconomic concerns would still persist in the market.”
According to its unaudited report, Metrobank’s net interest margin — the difference between interest income earned and interest paid — on their average earning assets for the first half of 2018 was at 3.77%, slightly higher than 3.72% of last year’s comparable period and 2017’s recorded 3.75%.
Investors continued to be cautious as Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in its Sept. 27 meeting fired off another 50-basis point (bp) increase in benchmark rates to demonstrate its commitment to temper price pressures and quell inflation expectations.
The central bank has hiked benchmark yields by a cumulative 150 bp since May. Further, latest inflation data show a 6.7% inflation rate in September — its highest in over nine years.
Prior to Friday’s inflation report, the Philippine Stock Exchange index entered bear market territory for the fourth time this year after closing at 7,132.36 last Tuesday, 21.3% below this year’s peak of 9,058.62 on Jan. 9.
Looking forward, Papa Securities’ Ms. Maghirang hopes for the next inflation report to be a “catalyst for positive sentiments” to help the equities market’s recovery.
For AP Securities’ Ms. Cruz, MBT’s stock price is expected to trade within the P64 support and P69 resistance levels this week “as there is no major catalyst to push the price higher.”
“For the year, I am looking at an earnings growth of 9% to P23 billion — driven mainly by its core lending business, as well as recovery of its fee-income segment,” she added.
According to its unaudited financial statements, Metrobank had already posted an P11.926-billion net income from January to June, up by 9.97% from 2017’s P10.845 billion.

Peso to weaken on hawkish Fed

THE PESO is seen to weaken further this week as likely mixed US data and hawkish Federal Reserve officials may boost the attractiveness of the greenback.
The local unit ended last week at P54.23 against the dollar, nine centavos stronger than the previous close, as market players reacted to a lower-than-expected inflation reading for September, which helped ease negative sentiment towards the peso.
However, the peso weakened week-on-week from Sept. 28’s P54.02-per-dollar finish.
Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, UnionBank of the Philippines chief economist, said the market will be looking at external factors this week.
“It seems that the peso has been quite stable after the last hike,” Mr. Asuncion said in a text message. “Anything that will influence [the peso] otherwise, I think, would be more coming from the outside.”
Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan, market economist at Land Bank of the Philippines, said the dollar is expected to move sideways with an upward bias “supported by likely US producer and consumer price inflation reports” as well as possibly hawkish remarks from various policy makers.
The peso may start the week on a positive note as the dollar may depreciate following the “weaker-than-expected” US non-farm payrolls report for last month.
The American economy added 134,000 jobs last month due to the drop in employment in the hospitality, leisure and retail sectors. However, unemployment rate fell to 3.7% during the month, its lowest in nearly five decades.
“The dollar’s decline might be minimal at best, especially since other labor report remained generally upbeat, including the unemployment rate…and average hourly earnings which continued to show firm results,” Mr. Dumalagan said in an e-mail.
After trading sideways in the next two days, he said the US currency might strengthen on the back of positive inflation reports as well as likely hawkish statements from various policy makers.
The US core producer price index is expected to rise to 2.5% in September 2018 from 2.3% the prior month and above the 2% target by the US central bank. Likewise, the core consumer price index is seen to climb to 2.3%from 2.2% the prior month.
“Consistent with the trend of rising inflation, US Federal Reserve officials…are expected to provide generally upbeat remarks about the pace of US economic growth,” Mr. Dumalagan noted.
For this week, Mr. Asuncion expects the peso to trade between P54 and P54.30, while the market economist gave a P54-P54.40 range.
“The Philippine trade report and the [European Central Bank] policy meeting minute might introduce some volatility,” Mr. Dumalagan said, adding that “erratic movements” caused by lingering US-China trade tensions as well as alleged cyber attacks on US firms may also provide uncertainty. — K.A.N. Vidal

Farmers group asks Brazil for funds so its coffee farmers can delay sales

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s farmers confederation, CNA, said on Friday it had officially requested government funding for a program that would allow coffee farmers to hold back sales and stock the product to avoid selling at current low prices.
CNA said it met on Thursday with representatives of the ministries of Agriculture and Finance in Brasília, where it suggested the government reallocate money from Funcafé, a fund that finances programs for the coffee sector, to finance a plan to help farmers carry stocks that they could sell later, when prices are more favorable.
“We had a large crop this year and the current flow of coffee is very strong,” CNA head Breno Mesquita said in a statement. “We have to finance the farmer so he could wait longer to sell his coffee and get a better price in the future.”
Mesquita said current coffee prices at around 380 reais per 60-kg (132 lb) bag, compared with 500 reais at this time last year, are hurting farmers’ finances.
“Producers took credit to finance their crops, and will have to pay that back with interest. With these prices, their cash flows will be really bad,” he said.
Coffee farmers have criticized the low prices, saying many producers could abandon their crops. They asked for help from the industry as a way to maintain production levels. — Reuters

A charity and a designer mark their milestones together


ON OCT. 27, the Grand Ballroom of the Marriot hotel will be the venue of a benefit fashion show featuring over a hundred designs with each model walking down the runway for two long minutes.
Red Charity Gala, founded by Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Kaye Tinga, this year marks its 10th anniversary along with that of fashion designer Rajo Laurel who is himself celebrating his 25th year in the industry.
For the gala, Mr. Laurel will showcase the Archipelago collection which he considers “his personal essay on what is Philippine design.”
“Clothes are modern representations of armor. It goes without saying that I am a modern creator of armor. Women of power and strength must have the armor and I am a designer who creates these things,” Mr. Laurel told BusinessWorld after the launch at the Manila Hotel on Oct. 3.
The collection will include several series such as “Orchidia,” “Corales,” and “Zarzuela.”
The Archipelago collection will not only focus on the country’s geography but also nature and culture. “I did not begin the collection with a narrative. It began with an experimentation of different fabrication,” said Mr. Laurel.
He joins past Red Charity Gala honorees Dennis Lustico, Furne One, Michael Cinco, Cary Santiago, Ezra Santos, Jojie Lloren, Lesley Mobo, Chito Vijandre, and Joey Samson.
In support of the Philippine Red Cross and the Assumption High School Batch 1981, and partnering with BENCH as its main presenter, the Red Charity Gala this year has a new beneficiary, the MINT Fashion School, and will raise scholarship funds for students.
The gala will also feature an auction. Among the items to be sold are a Jewelmer strand necklace with 53 semi-baroque Golden South sea pearls, a Bernhardt bed frame and two side tables worth P700,000, and overnight packages in Boracay and Palawan. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

UPS uses disruptive technologies to stay ahead

DISRUPTIVE technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and drones have been helping United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) in how it operates in the logistics industry, which itself is prone to disruptions.
UPS has relied on technology to stay ahead, the logistics company said on Tuesday during the inaugural Innovation Series, a platform organized by the US-ASEAN Business Council, the Makati Business Club and Manila House.
Chris Buono, managing director of UPS Philippines, said as a high-asset, fragmented and competitive industry, logistics has a great potential for disruption.
“Resource usage, growing congestion, urbanization, along with greater advances in technology, customer demand, inefficiency and new developments in materials engineering have really pushed logistics and supply chain management into a state where companies have to innovate to stay ahead of the competition,” he said.
Mr. Buono said UPS was able to use technologies like AI as a tool for data generation, making data more visible, and easier to analyze and utilize.
UPS has developed technology that caters to its customers (UPS Bot and My Choice), retailers and merchants (Where To Go), and predictive logistics (On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation tool, or ORION).
In blockchain technology, UPS has applied for a patent for its utilization and distributed ledger technology to route packages in the supply chain. Through this, transparency and efficiency of data among parties in the chain are increased.
UPS is also using drone technology, not only in operations, but also when reaching out to rural communities. Drones have become a solution to the geographical problems faced by the logistics industry. The service focuses on the delivery of health care products to inaccessible communities.
“For UPS, disruption has became a part of how we do things every single day . . . we adopt, we adapt, and then we adept,” Mr. Buono said.
“With the emergence of disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, and smarter transportation, we believe that these technologies should be seen as tools that would make our people more efficient, help us work safer, and create an overall better customer service,” he added.
In the Philippines, he said UPS was still looking at the implementation of these new technologies.
“The opportunity is to be able to grow this country,” he said. “The ability to move into new areas, new markets really is great.”
“Yes, I have plans, but stay tuned,” he said about the company’s expansion plans.
UPS currently has six facilities in the Philippines located in Cebu, Clark, which is the main hub, and Parañaque. It also has a partnership with Air21, allowing it nationwide coverage. — Vincent Mariel Galang

Deepening agriculture crisis in India could hurt Modi’s re-election bid in May

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI — The financial squeeze on India’s farmers is set to worsen because of record high fuel prices and surging costs of fertilisers, posing a challenge to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an election that must be held by May.
The rise in input prices could not have come at worse time for farmers, already grappling with falling domestic product prices due to rising yields and abundant harvests.
Yet, the government has few easy options to respond. Rival global producers have complained about Indian state support and falling global farm product prices undermine export prospects.
Indian farmers voted overwhelmingly for Modi in 2014. But a fall in rural incomes risks damaging that support next year.
Thousands of farmers marched on New Delhi on Tuesday to demand better prices for their produce. Police responded with teargas and water cannon. Farmers suspended their protests after talks with officials that ran into early Wednesday morning.
But their demands and those of other agriculture workers, who together make up about half India’s 1.3 billion people, have not gone away.
“Although we have decided to end our protest, we still believe that the government is not serious about addressing the concerns of the farmers,” Anil Talan, national secretary of farmers body Bhartiya Kisan Union, said after the march.
Diesel prices have surged 26 percent this year, making tilling fields, harvesting, and transporting crops expensive for India’s 263 million farmers who mostly use diesel tractors.
Alongside rising diesel costs, prices of key fertilizers such as potash and phosphate have jumped nearly 15 and 17 percent respectively in a year, as companies pass on the rise in global prices and the impact of the weak rupee to farmers.
India, the world’s second-biggest producer of staples such as rice and wheat, imports all its potash needs and relies on foreign supplies for nearly 90 percent of the phosphate it uses.
“It’s a double whammy for farmers who have to bear the brunt of lower crop prices and higher input costs,” said Devinder Sharma, an independent food and trade policy analyst, saying this explained “why farmers’ anger has come to the fore.”
Diesel demand is rising as farmers have started harvesting summer crops. After tilling, they will plant wheat and rapeseed, the main winter crops.
Union official Talan said the government needed to prop up commodity prices and keep a lid on farmers’ costs to support the agricultural industry, which accounts for about 16 percent of India’s $2.6 trillion economy.
“Because of higher diesel prices I need to spend nearly 20 percent more on harvesting soybean but soybean prices have crashed this year,” said Uttam Jagdale, a farmer from Pune, about 150 km (94 miles) south of Mumbai.
Nilesh Sable, a cane farmer from Sangli in the western state of Maharashtra, said fertilizer prices were rising each month.
Fertilizer firms say they have little choice but to pass on at least some extra costs due to a sharp fall in the rupee and a 20 percent rise in international potash and phosphate prices.
“Still, we are not passing the entire burden to farmers,” said an official with a state-run fertilizer company, asking not to be named in line with government policy.
Greater farm efficiency is partly to blame. Mechanized farming, high-yielding seed varieties and increased use of pesticides have pushed up harvests. Output of most crops has soared to record levels each year.
India’s production of pulses, such as lentils and beans, surged to 24.51 million tonnes in the year to June 2018, up from 23.13 million tonnes in the previous 12 months.
Imports of pulses, such as lentils from Canada, Australia, and Russia, fell to 1.2 million tonnes in the financial year to March 2019, the lowest since 2000/01 and well below the 6.6 million tonnes imported in 2016/17 after back-to-back failures in the monsoon.
Plentiful supplies extend to other crops. India is set to surpass Brazil as the world’s top sugar producer in the 2018/19 season, but rising output has driven down local sugar prices by 15 percent and left mills nursing losses.
In bid to help the sector, the government unveiled measures last week such as transport subsidies and incentives to export at least 5 million tonnes of sugar. Brazil, Thailand, Australia, and other rival producers were quick to complain.
Vegetable prices, especially onions, cabbage and tomatoes, have also fallen 25 percent from last year, largely because of overproduction. Without enough refrigerated trucks, excess production cannot be stored.
Domestic milk prices dived more than 25 percent in the past year, but a global glut has made Indian exports uncompetitive.
Harish Galipelli, head of commodities and currencies at Inditrade Derivatives & Commodities in Mumbai, said India needed to find markets abroad to reduce its inventories.
“But exports will not be easy, as global prices are depressed, and there is no export parity for most commodities,” he said. — Reuters

Yields on gov’t debt rise

By Mark T. Amoguis,Researcher
YIELDS on government securities went up last week as market players stayed cautious ahead of expectations of a faster September inflation print.
Bond prices dipped as yields climbed by a week-on-week average of 25.29 basis points (bp) week, data from the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. as of Oct. 5 showed.
According to Nicolas Antonio T. Mapa, senior economist at ING Bank N.V.-Manila Branch, last week’s trading was largely influenced by expectations of a faster inflation print.
“Prior to the release, forecasts for elevated levels for price gains may have forced a cautious tone from players while global developments, in particular surging US Treasury yields, also left traders with more incentive to stay sidelined,” Mr. Mapa said.
Carlyn Therese X. Dulay, first vice-president and head of institutional sales at Security Bank Corp., agreed, adding that: “Another factor was the sell-off in US treasuries on higher services PMI (purchasing managers’ index) with the CT10 reaching a high of 3.22%,” referring to the current 10-year US Treasury bond.
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday that headline inflation printed at 6.7% in September, picking up from 6.4% in August and the 3% logged in the same month last year on the back of faster increases recorded in the heavily weighted food index as well as the non-alcoholic beverages index.
The latest inflation print was the fastest in nearly a decade or since February 2009’s 7.2%.
The September reading was below the BusinessWorld poll median and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) estimate of 6.8%, but still within the regulator’s 6.3%-7.1% predicted range. However, it was higher than the 6.4% pegged by the Department of Finance.
For the year thus far, headline inflation averaged at 5%, above the 2-4% government target. The central bank now expects the inflation to average at 5.2% this year.
At the secondary market last Friday, bond yields rose across the board, save for the three-year debt, which declined by 42.32 bps from a week ago, fetching 6.6107%.
“Client demand on the short end supported the levels on the three-year paper which is why yields dropped on this tenor,” Security Bank’s Ms. Dulay explained.
The yield on 182-day Treasury bill (T-bill) climbed the most, adding 80.25 bps to end at 5.4516%. It was followed by 10- and four-year Treasury bonds (T-bond), whose rates increased by 53.23 bps and 48.93 bps, respectively, to 7.7671% and 7.9357%.
Similar upward movements were seen in the yields of the 364- and 91-day T-bills, which added 41.51 bps and 40.73 bps to 5.6911% and 4.7167%, respectively.
Two-, five-, seven-, and 20-year T-bonds climbed 19.18 bps, 6.23 bps, 3.05 bps, and 2.10 bps, respectively, to fetch 6.3908%, 7.1018%, 7.1406%, and 8.3179%.
For this week, Ms. Dulay of Security Bank expects yields to remain within range “with some upward pressure ahead of NFP (non-farm payrolls) data and the scheduled Treasury bill and five-year bond auction, which is expected to fetch 7.10-7.25%.”
ING’s Mr. Mapa added that the Treasury bond auction on Tuesday “will set the tone for the rest of the week.”
The Bureau of the Treasury will offer P15 billion worth of T-bills today, while it will auction off its reissued five-year papers with a remaining life of four years and four months worth P15 billion on Oct. 9.

Shares to decline further amid lack of fresh leads

SHARES may continue falling in the week ahead given the lack of catalysts that may encourage investors to return to the market.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 0.21% or 15.14 points to close at 7,078.20 on Friday, bringing its week-on-week loss to 2.73% or 198.62 points. Market participants stayed on the sidelines for most of the week as they focused on the release of September inflation data. The Philippine Statistics Authority announced on Friday that headline inflation printed at 6.7% last month.
The property and holding firms counters dragged the index, as they respectively dropped by 3.6% and 2% last week. Foreign investors also remained sellers, with average net outflows growing by 22% to P535 million each day.
“The index failed to close above the 7,200 support level which means the bottom that we saw back in July may not be the bottom that we had hoped for. Next key support level is at 7,000, and if that doesn’t hold there is no telling how low this market can go,” Eagle Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in a weekly market note.
Mr. Mangun noted that as US markets and the dollar get stronger, foreign funds will also continue fleeing the local stock exchange. So far, foreign investors have been in net selling mode for 27 consecutive trading days.
Online stock brokerage 2TradeAsia.com also explained that investors are expected to favor bonds. For instance, 10-year US Treasury yields jumped to around 3.2% last week, the highest recorded in the last seven years.
“In light of the US Fed[eral Reserve]’s expected adjustment on its widely followed rate, funds flow has favored fixed income, ahead of an expected jump in yields. This partly explains some fund managers’ portfolio reallocation in favor of fixed assets, while waiting for macro catalysts to warrant their risk appetite for equities,” 2TradeAsia.com said in a weekly market note.
Eagle Equities’ Mr. Mangun also noted that while the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said inflation has peaked in September, rising crude oil prices may still lead to a faster print in the months ahead.
“Nothing is giving investors the peace of mind to get back into the market. Last year we saw a one-directional market to the upside and this year we might see the opposite unless something positive happens fast,” Mr. Mangun explained.
Meanwhile, 2TradeAsia.com said participants may also start looking to nine-month earnings results, with the deadline for submission scheduled on Nov. 15.
“Participants’ focus will be on nine month earnings results, with special emphasis on quarter-on-quarter improvements. Until the selling pressure ebbs, most might opt for defensive bets, especially for stocks worth holding for the long term with sustainable dividend yields,” it said.
The online brokerage placed the PSEi’s immediate support at 7,000, with resistance from 7,200 to 7,350. — Arra B. Francia

How PSEi member stocks performed — October 5, 2018

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Friday, October 5, 2018.

 
Philippine Stock Exchange’s most active stocks by value turnover — October 1-5, 2018

Labor dep’t sees infrastructure as a hurdle to telecommuting law

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said weak IT and electronic infrastructure in some areas could pose a barrier to telecommuting work arrangements.
The Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) welcomed the efforts of legislators to enact a law on telecommuting but added that infrastructure in many areas may not be sufficiently developed.
“The infrastructure is a challenge,” said BLE Director Dominique R. Tutay in an interview with BusinessWorld Friday when asked about possible difficulties in implementing the Telecommuting Act.
On Wednesday, the Senate ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposal legislation which will allow workers in the private sector the option to adopt work-from-home arrangements.
The BLE Director cited Internet speeds and wireless connectivity in some areas as possible issues.
“First and foremost is our Internet connectivity. It’s not very good at the moment. There are areas where the signal is fluctuating even in the urban areas. That is still a big challenge),” she said.
She added that unreliable power in many areas will also be an issue.
Ms. Tutay said that she hopes other government agencies and even the private sectors can help address these issues when telecommuting work arrangements are allowed by law.
According to Speedtest.net, the Philippines has a global ranking of #81 in the Fixed Broadband Category with a downloading speed of 17.57 megabits per second (mbps) and #98 in the mobile broadband with a downloading speed of 14.07 mbps.
Despite the challenges that the proposed law might face, the labor department still welcomes the measure which will allow employers to offer a telecommuting program for workers based conditions both the employer and employee agree on.
“We’re actually welcoming the initiative of our legislative department in keeping up with the changes in the labor market. Meaning there’s more flexibility for our workers,” Ms. Tutay said.
The House of Representatives and Senate versions of the Telecommuting bill requires DoLE to draft guidelines on telecommuting work arrangements. She added that the department is also required to monitor how companies and industries implement the bill.
“In the bill, we are given three years to do some industry studies.
We will see what the global practices are and whether our labor standards will work,” she said.
The Telecommuting Bills also give DoLE the responsibility to conduct a “Telecommuting Pilot Program” in selected industries. Ms. Tutay said that the labor department is looking at the following industries for the pilot program: wholesale and retail; Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IT-BPM); and the engineering and architectural design components of construction. — Gillian M. Cortez

Issues with Dalian trains delaying new MRT-3 maintenance agreement

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said issues with Chinese commuter trains ordered from CRRC Dalian Co trains are delaying the signing of maintenance deal with Sumitomo Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo-MHI) for Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).
Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade told reporters on Friday that the deal is still expected for signing within the next two months, after the original timetable of an August or September signing lapsed.
“There’s still an issue about the Dalian trains. We’re still discussing it,” he said.
The Dalian trains are 48 Light Rail Vehicles procured under the previous government intended for use on the MRT-3, but the DoTr said they cannot be deployed yet because of issues centered on the measurements and weight of the trains.
“I wanted that signed already…. It’s not that they don’t want to sign. We’re just talking about the timing,” Mr. Tugade added, without providing details.
The DoTr said late last year that it was in high-level discussions with the government of Japan for the comeback of Sumitomo-MHI as the maintenance provider for the MRT-3. The Japanese firms designed the system between 1998 and 2000 and maintained it for 12 years until 2012.
Last month, the DoTr directed the Philippine National Railways (PNR) to conduct simulated runs with the Dalian trains to test their suitability for revenue service.
After the evaluation, PNR must submit a report to Mr. Tugade indicating if the train sets still need further adjustment from CRRC Dalian before deployment. The Chinese firm committed to the DoTr in July to rectify problems with the trains for free.
The DoTr terminated its contract with MRT-3 maintenance provider Busan Universal Rail, Inc. (BURI) late last year, alleging its failure to maintain the train line’s efficiency. — Denise A. Valdez

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