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Philippine Seven reports higher profit, sales in second quarter

The local licensee of the chain of 7-Eleven convenience stores saw its net income jump by 18.9% in the second quarter of 2018, driven by the strong performance of existing stores.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Friday, July 13, Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC) said it generated a net income of P342.7 million in the April to June period of 2018, higher than the P288.3 million posted in the same period a year ago.
System-wide sales jumped 19.2% to P11.55 billion for the period, benefiting from a 6.3% increase in same-store sales for the period. — Arra B. Francia

US asks UN to cut off oil products to North Korea

The United States asked the UN Security Council on Thursday to order an immediate halt to all deliveries of refined oil products to North Korea after accusing Pyongyang of violating sanctions with illegal imports of fuel, according to documents seen by AFP.
A confidential US report sent to a UN sanctions committee estimated that at least 759,793 barrels of oil products had been delivered to North Korea between January 1 and May 30, well above the annual quota set in a UN resolution at 500,000 barrels.
The illegal supplies were provided through ship-to-ship transfers at sea using North Korean tankers that have delivered their cargo at least 89 times, according to the report.
The United States requested that the UN committee declare that North Korea had violated the UN-approved quota and “order an immediate halt to all transfers of refined petroleum products” to North Korea.
The committee has until next Thursday to consider the request, which could be blocked by China and Russia. The two countries have resisted toughening sanctions on North Korea.
The US request came just days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang to press for concrete steps by Kim Jong Un’s regime to scrap its nuclear and ballistic programs.
While Pompeo said those talks were making progress, North Korea angrily accused Washington of making “gangster-like” demands for quick denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
In Washington, President Donald Trump released a letter from Kim Jong Un, in which the North Korean leader voices confidence in efforts to end their standoff but called on his US counterpart to take “practical actions” to build trust.
The letter was dated July 6 – the day that Pompeo landed in Pyongyang.
Oil transfers must stop
The United States has insisted that tough economic sanctions will remain in place until Pyongyang scraps its military programs and that the dismantling is independently confirmed.
Under the latest sanctions resolution adopted in December, crude oil supplies to North Korea were capped at four million barrels per year and a ceiling of 500,000 barrels of refined oil products per year was set.
But UN experts monitoring the sanctions have reported that North Korea was circumventing sanctions with the illegal imports of oil products that are vital for the country’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
The US intelligence report sent to the UN sanctions committee estimated that ship-to-ship transfers may have provided North Korea with as much as 1,367,628 barrels of refined products.
In its report, the United States pointed the finger at China and Russia for continuing to sell refined petroleum products to North Korea.
“These sales and any other transfer must immediately stop since the United States believes the DPRK has breached the … refined petroleum products quota for 2018,” it said.
The United States has released photographs of eight instances in which North Korean tankers were caught at sea receiving fuel cargo.
According to the US information, a Russian-flagged tanker identified as Patriot transferred fuel to a tanker on April 10 which then arrived at North Korea’s Nampo port five days later.
The sanctions committee chaired by the Netherlands set a deadline of 12:00 pm (1600 GMT) Thursday July 19 for countries to raise objections. If no objections are raised, the US request will be approved. — AFP

Trump releases 'very nice' letter from Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump Thursday released a letter from Kim Jong Un, in which the North Korean leader voices confidence in efforts to end their nuclear standoff, while calling on his US counterpart to take “practical actions” to build trust.
“A very nice note from Chairman Kim of North Korea,” Trump tweeted alongside a copy of the letter dated July 6 — the day that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Pyongyang for what turned out to be difficult talks with Kim’s regime.
“Great progress being made!” Trump added in his tweet.
In the letter Kim describes his June 12 summit with Trump in Singapore, and the resulting joint statement agreed by both sides, as the “start of a meaningful journey.”
“I firmly believe that the strong will, sincere efforts and unique approach of myself and Your Excellency Mr. President aimed at opening up a new future between the DPRK and the U.S. will sure surely come to fruition,” Kim writes.
“I deeply appreciate the energetic and extraordinary efforts made by Your Excellency Mr. President for the improvement of relations between the two countries and the faithful implementation of the joint statement,” he adds.
The North Korean leader also voices hope that “the invariable trust and confidence in Your Excellency Mr. President will be further strengthened in the future process of taking practical actions.”
Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang for two days last week in a bid to flesh out denuclearization commitments made during last month’s historic summit between Trump and Kim.
North Korea has long trumpeted a denuclearization goal, but one that it sees as a lengthy process of undefined multilateral disarmament on the entire Korean peninsula, rather than a unilateral dismantlement of its nuclear arsenal.
Speaking afterwards in Tokyo, Pompeo insisted the talks were making progress and were being conducted in “good faith.”
But in stark contrast, Pyongyang’s take was overwhelmingly negative, with the North warning that the future of the peace process was being jeopardized by overbearing US demands for its unilateral nuclear disarmament. — AFP

China opens embassy after Burkina switches from Taiwan

China opened its new embassy in the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou on Thursday after the impoverished Sahel state stunned Taiwan by switching diplomatic ties to Beijing.
The official opening comprised the unveiling of a plaque in an upmarket hotel where the embassy is being housed temporarily while a new building for it is constructed.
“Today is a historic day,” declared Vice Prime Minister Hu Chunhua, who led a major delegation to Ouagadougou to oversee the event.
“As of today, the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Burkina Faso is open,” Hu said, describing the mission as the “driver of Chinese-Burkinabe friendship.”
“Burkina Faso is honoured to welcome you on its soil… after a break of 24 years,” Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba, said in reply.
The opening of the embassy “is a strong signal of the importance that the highest authorities in Burkina Faso and China attach to relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.”
With the exception of eSwatini — the new name for Swaziland — Burkina Faso had been the last African state to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Taipei has been competing with Beijing for international recognition since the People’s Republic was founded in 1949.
China deems Taiwan, to where the defeated Nationalists retreated, to be a renegade province, and isolating it internationally is a key objective.
On May 24, Burkina Faso announced it was breaking ties with Taiwan because of “changes in the world (and) the current socio-economic challenges facing our country.”
The move came as a shock to Taiwan, prompting the immediate resignation of its foreign minister, Joseph Wu. The island is now left with only 18 diplomatic allies around the world.
China’s diplomatic offensive south of the Sahara has gone hand-in-hand with lavish infrastructure projects and huge contracts to purchase resources.
Chinese teams have already arrived in Burkina Faso to work on cooperation schemes, including the building of a large hospital in Bobo-Dioulasso, the country’s second largest city.
Before leaving on Friday, Hu is expected to meet President Roch Christian Kabore and invite him to make his first official visit to China in September, when Beijing hosts a China-Africa summit.
A landlocked country of 18 million people on the southern rim of the Sahara, Burkina Faso is one of the poorest nations of the world.
It ranked 185th out of 188 states in the UN’s Human Development Index for 2016. — AFP

AirAsia announces flights from Clark to Taipei

Philippines AirAsia, Inc. said it is now flying to Taipei from its hub in Clark, Pampanga.
In a statement on Friday, July 13, the budget airline said its first Clark-Taipei flight landed at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 12.
“We are officially painting the skies of Clark airport with AirAsia’s iconic color. Our return to international skies via Clark hub reaffirms our commitment to travelers in Central and Northern Luzon and Metro Manila who truly deserve nothing but only the best quality service, affordable airfare and efficient connectivity,” Philippines AirAsia president and chief executive officer Dexter M. Comendador said in the statement.
Philippines AirAsia will operate two Clark-Taipei flights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Aside from Taipei, AirAsia’s hub in Pampanga also flies to Iloilo, Caticlan, Davao, Cebu and Tacloban.
In May, Mr. Comendador told reporters they are looking to develop hubs outside of Manila to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). — Denise A. Valdez

ICTSI wins bid to manage port operations in Sudan

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) said it has been chosen to handle the operations and management of the South Port Container Terminal in Sudan.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Friday, July 12, the Razon-led company said it has been tapped to continue the operations and development of the port in Sudan for 20 years.
“Sea Ports Corporation of Sudan (SPC), the independent state corporation of the Republic of the Sudan that governs, constructs and maintains the country’s ports, harbors and lighthouses, has confirmed ICTSI as the Preferred Bidder to operate and manage the South Port Container Terminal (SPCT) at the port of Port Sudan, Republic of the Sudan, under a 20-year concession,” it said. — Denise A. Valdez

An M.V.P. at life

Manny V. Pangilinan is one of the biggest names in the Philippine business scene, whose initials stand for the most-sought after award in a sport competition. MVP, as he is often called, is the best player in his own game, and has proven how will and determination can get anyone a great shot at success.

Mr. Pangilinan, who is turning 72 years old tomorrow, has achieved a lot in life. He is currently at the driver’s seat of many of the country’s biggest and most influential business entities that contribute significantly to nation building, including Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC); PLDT, Inc.; MediaQuest Holdings, Inc.; Philex Mining Corp.; Manila Electric Co. (Meralco); and Maynilad Water Services, Inc.

Behind MVP’s awe-inspiring accomplishments is a tale of struggle and adversity. Unlike other business personalities who inherited a good fortune from their families, Mr. Pangilinan started from nothing. His journey to success was not easy; he also stumbled and suffered from failures.

Born on July 14, 1946, Mr. Pangilinan is the second son of Dominador Pangilinan, who was a messenger at Philippine National Bank, and Soledad Velez-Pangilinan, who was a homemaker. They lived with his grandparents for a while in Sampaloc, Manila and soon transferred to Little Baguio, in San Juan.

“Our house stood right on the boundary of a squatter settlement. But from my bedroom window, I could see, smell, and feel the lives of the real poor,” Mr. Pangilinan said during a commencement address to the graduating students of Philippine Women’s University in 2013, recalling his early life as a student, a professional manager, an overseas Filipino worker and a successful entrepreneur.

Mr. Pangilinan said that he owed much of his achievements to education. In his elementary and secondary years, he was a scholar at San Beda College, where he only had a daily allowance of 25 centavos for snacks and bus fare.

He continued his tertiary education at one the most reputable and expensive universities in the country, Ateneo de Manila University. While a lot of his classmates had cars and others even had their own drivers, he only had a P10 weekly allowance. Despite the lack of financial support, Mr. Pangilinan graduated cum laude with an economics degree.

“After college at Ateneo, I wanted an MBA in the United States. But I knew no money was available for this. So I had to find a way myself. Fortunately, Procter and Gamble offered a rare scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. It was a national competition. I entered and won,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

The professional career of Mr. Pangilinan started after he completed his studies abroad. He began as an executive assistant to the president of a local gas company, Fil Oil, with a salary of P1,000 a month. After several years, he decided to try his luck abroad, where he worked for a Philippine investment bank based in Hong Kong, Bancom International, and later on, for a joint venture investment bank with American Express.

In 1981, Mr. Pangilinan, with the help of some clients he met in the region, founded the First Pacific Company Limited in a 50-square-meter office space in Hong Kong. From a small enterprise, having only six people, First Pacific grew into a large investment management and holding company with key interests in consumer food products, infrastructure, natural resources and telecommunications. The company is now earning billions of dollars a year and employs more than 102,000 people as of December 2017.

At present, Mr. Pangilinan is still at the helm of First Pacific as its managing director and chief executive officer. The company’s portfolio has a balance of more mature assets in various corporations from different countries, including MPIC, which Mr. Pangilinan chairs.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (left) and MPIC Chief Finance Officer David J. Nicol presided over a press briefing ahead of the company’s analysts conference in a building of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, which is now simply known as PLDT, Inc., in Makati City on Feb. 28, 2013. — BW File Photo

MPIC is a leading infrastructure holding company in the Philippines, with investments in the country’s largest electricity distributor, hospital group, toll road operator and water distributor. It also holds significant investments in logistics and light rail operations, and in the largest electricity generator in the Visayas region. MPIC is committed to investing through acquisitions and strategic partnerships in prime infrastructure assets with the potential to provide synergies with its existing operations.

Through the years, Mr. Pangilinan received various accolades and recognition for his outstanding accomplishments in business and in philanthropy. Among of these are the Presidential Pamana ng Pilipino Award by the Office of the President of the Philippines in 1996; Best CEO in the Philippines by Institutional Investor in 2004; CEO of the Year (Philippines) by Biz News Asia in 2004; People of the Year by People Asia Magazine in 2004; Distinguished World Class Businessman Award by the Association of Makati Industries, Inc. in 2005; Management Man of the Year by the Management Association of the Philippines in 2005; Order of Lakandula (Rank of a Komandante) by the Office of the President of the Philippines in 2006; one of the Heroes of Philanthropy by Forbes in 2009; and Global Filipino Executive of the Year by Asia CEO Awards in 2010.

According to Mr. Pangilinan, there is no magic, mystery or secret recipe to success; it arises from old-fashioned values as basic as being honest and truthful, values as essential as working hard, playing fair, having goals and the discipline and determination to pursue them.

“Success is about passion. Passion to succeed, passion for excellence. Passion to compete. My Hong Kong experience taught me to believe that depth of commitment can overcome lack of resources. That a spirit of purpose can give impetus to human energy. That the power of ambition can set heroic goals and achieve them,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

“Two things will be inevitable in your lives — you will have successes and you will have failures. You must seize both for your constant betterment. Successes tell you that you can attain more successes in the future. Your failures tell you that you can survive, and move on. In the end, it is your character which counts.”

The founding of a telecommunications empire

For nearly a hundred years, PLDT has established itself as the leading telecommunications service provider in the Philippines, proving itself a venerable national institution that has stood the test of time since its creation in 1928.

Starting out as a means by the government to merge four different telephone companies under the operation of the American telephone company GTE, the formerly-known Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company was brought to life by Act No. 3436. The legislation granted PLDT a 50-year charter and the right to establish a Philippine telephone network linking major points nationwide, which provided the groundwork for its eventual growth into what it is known today.

At the time, a typhoon had just ravaged Eastern Visayas, Bicol Peninsula, and Samar. The national crises necessitated the ability to communicate amongst loved ones and across the country that were not available through the disconnected systems of the time. When the new law enacting the creation of PLDT passed, the hope was to interconnect the present “intercom” systems and transform them into a seamless nationwide network that would facilitate communication and delivery of services to the people, as well as spur economic development in the countryside.

The company acquired small rural phone companies to facilitate the establishment of this network and speed up the rollout and connection of the different phone systems all over the country. Through the challenging task, the management of PLDT soon accomplished laying the groundwork for what was going to link Filipinos to each other and to the world

On Nov. 24,1998, near PLDT’s 70th anniversary, First Pacific Co. Ltd., led by Manny V. Pangilinan, acquired a stake in the company and brought in a new culture and enterprise. The following year, PLDT forged a strategic partnership with NTT Communications Corp. (NTTCom), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. of Japan, the world’s leading telecommunications company in terms of revenues. What swiftly followed was the acquisition of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), at the time the country’s largest mobile phone operator.

Coming into the new millennium and under new management, PLDT undertook a number of investments in information and communication technology (ICT), one of which was the formation of ePLDT, the PLDT Group’s principal vehicle for investments in ICT.

Innovation kept the company in top form, with investments in both established and revolutionary systems becoming PLDT’s bread and butter. Brains — an acronym for Broad and Robust ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) and Internet Networking Solutions — was launched in 2000 and made PLDT the only telecommunications company with the fastest, most reliable and cost-efficient voice, data and video transmission services running through a single multi-service network.

DSL, or digital subscriber line, was also introduced in the same year. It is a broadband access technology that allows for high-speed access to the Internet via copper wire lines.

The Next Generation Network was introduced in 2005, which refers to emerging computer network architectures and technologies that can encompass voice, data and video where all information is efficiently transmitted via digital packets of data just like over the Internet, providing greater efficiency, cost savings and more innovative services for subscribers.

In 2006, PLDT saw the rapid growth of its broadband business on the back of its wired and wireless infrastructures. PLDT MyDSL and SmartBro broadband subscribers more than doubled to 265,000 by yearend.

Another notch on the list of PLDT’s many innovative ventures is MediaQuest Holdings — a wholly owned subsidiary of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund. Alongside Smart, the companies conducted test broadcasts of a mobile TV service using the Digital Video Broadcast-Hand held (DVB-H) standard. This was made possible through MediaQuest’s subsidiary, Nation Broadcasting Corp., which operates a network of radio and TV stations.

As the current largest telecommunications and digital services in the country, PLDT now offers a wide range of telecommunications services across the Philippines’ most extensive fiber optic backbone, fixed-line and cellular networks. The company’s principal business groups involve the offering of fixed-line and wireless services, among others.

Grouped with its subsidiaries such as Smart, and Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc., the company is indisputably a telecommunications empire.

Smart Communications, Inc. now serves approximately 95% of the country’s cities and municipalities with its combined 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE network, providing mobile communications services, high-speed Internet connectivity, and access to digital services and content to over 58.7 million Filipinos as of 2017, through its commercial brands Smart, TNT, and Sun. Smart also offers satellite communication services under the brand Smart World.

As part of PLDT’s massive digital transformation program, Smart has committed to giving more than 90% of the population access to its most advanced LTE network by the end of 2018 in order to support the country’s growing digital economy, as well as provide the best customer experience for an increasingly digital Filipino lifestyle.

An advocate of responsible mining

Manuel V. Pangilinan is a name often equated to success — serving as chairman of various prominent and growing companies in the country today.

One of the companies under his helm is Philex Mining Corp. (PMC), which is known as a mineral resources company committed to environmental stewardship and partnering with communities where it operates.

For 60 years, PMC is known for operating the Sto. Tomas II deposit at Padcal, Tuba, Benguet, which is considered the first underground block-cave operation in the Far East, and is one of the longest operating mines in the Philippines.

According to the company’s Web site, before PMC started its operation in Padcal Mine in 1958, the area used to be logged over with very few families. But, in the present, PMC stated that more than 2,800 hectares have been reforested with some eight million trees with a survival rate of 90%. Moreover, PMC said that the average annual cost for Padcal Mine’s reforestation program is P3.4 million.

With reforestation efforts and other environmental management projects, Padcal Mine received an Integrated Management System Certification from TUV Rheinland, covering both ISO 14001:2004 for Environmental Management System and OHSAS 18001:2007 for Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series in 2015. This certification, PMC said, confirms the mine’s environmentally compliant practices and occupationally safe operations.

Apart from Padcal Mine, PMC’s Sibutad Mine also has reforestation, rehabilitation and other environmental measures in the site. This paved the way for the site to be a consistent awardee of the government’s Adopt-A-Mountain, Adopt-A-Mining Forest Program.

Initiatives to promote the physical well-being of the company’s host and neighboring communities are also being undertaken by PMC through its various health and sanitation programs. These include PhilHeath insurance coverages, medical assistance, regular medical and dental missions, which are then complemented by the construction of health centers, improvement of sanitation systems, and access to clean water sources, among others.

Under its corporate social responsibility initiatives, PMC also has a myriad of projects in the arena of education, livelihood and development, as well as public infrastructure.

These practices in PMC’s mining sites are testaments to the company’s longstanding advocacy of conscientious mining.

Further underscoring this advocacy, PMC stated in its 2017 Sustainability Report that aside from being compliant with Republic Act No. 7942, or the “Mining Act,” it is working with a sustainability framework that puts conscientious mining at the strategic core of its policies, with transparency and accountability as the standards inculcated into the workplace culture.

This sustainability framework rests on five pillars — adherence to good governance; promotion of employee wellness; community empowerment; environmental protection; and workplace safety.

All these initiatives and advocacies reflect Mr. Pangilinan’s stature as one of the country’s foremost proponents of responsible mining as well as his firm belief that responsible mining is aligned with nation-building.

In the same report, Mr. Pangilinan highlighted their belief that humanized, conscientious, and principled mining is doable.

“For us, this translates to adhering to strict labor standards, pursuing active reforestation and environmental stewardship, building schools and major roads to bolster local development, and providing accessible health care, among other activities, that promote the well-being of our host and neighboring communities.”

“This even meant carrying the cudgels for the industry as we initiated the adoption of the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining Initiative in the domestic setting, through the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, to express our strict adherence to and pursuit of global mining best practices, for our company and the local mining industry.”

Mr. Pangilinan also shared that internally, PMC is working toward obtaining ISO 26000 Guidelines with the aim of further strengthening the company’s commitment to social responsibility, relevant to its operations and processes, stakeholders and environmental impact.

This is despite the looming challenge in the mining industry, which is foreseen by the company to persist in the next years to come.

“2017 was a challenging year for the mining industry, following the issuance of the ban on open-pit mining and show cause orders for the cancellation of 75 mining contracts nationwide. Although responsible mining has been our company’s hallmark for more than 60 years, we were also affected by these policy changes, as we were obliged to temporarily suspend development on our Silangan mining project. This despite having already received the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2004 Certification for our pre-mining activities and secured all major permits from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, together with an approved Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility.”

Concluding his message on an encouraging note, Mr. Pangilinan said that the company would continue delivering value to its stakeholders.

“Moving forward, we shall seek solutions and social programs that can turn the mining industry’s prevailing challenges into golden opportunities.”

Aiming to be a news authority in the age of fake news

As the fourth estate, the press plays an integral role in the stability of a democratic order. The media, in all its forms, keeps a society in check, watching over the general public, and keeping those elected into power accountable.

As one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the Philippines, The Philippine Star has stood by its role from the very beginning, when it was first published seven months after the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled strongman Ferdinand Marcos and propelled Corazon Aquino to the Philippine presidency. Its founders Betty Go-Belmonte, Max Soliven and Art Borjal were integral in such a historic moment. They were veteran journalists involved in the “Mosquito Press,” the collective name for the different newspapers criticizing the Marcos administration.

The Philippine Star has grown and built around it a network of other publications covering a variety of topics. The newspaper is owned and published by Philstar Daily Inc., which also publishes the monthly magazine People Asia and the Sunday magazines Starweek, Gist and Let’s Eat. The PhilStar Media Group, its sister publications include the business newspaper BusinessWorld; Cebu-based, English-language broadsheet The Freeman; Filipino-language tabloids Pilipino Star Ngayon and Pang-Masa; Cebuano-language tabloid Banat; and online news portal InterAksyon.

In March 2014, the newspaper was acquired by MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., a media conglomerate owned and controlled by PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, after the company purchased a majority stake in Philstar Daily, Inc. This acquisition also brought it into close contact with another Pangilinan-owned media network with a rich history, TV5.

Going back to the 1960s, TV5 has been serving the public with its own brand of journalism even before the Marcos era until it was forcibly shut down in 1972. The network made an amazing comeback, however, after the People Power Revolution, growing to a point where it was dubbed the “fastest growing network” in the 1990s.

The link between Philstar Daily, Inc. and the 5 Network under MediaQuest Holdings has allowed new, innovative forms of journalism to come into existence. As online platforms like Facebook and Twitter have come to dominate everybody’s lives, there also came with them a wave of false and malicious information. With the staggering amount of freely accessible information on the Internet, it is very easy to become lost and misinformed about the state of the world.

Now more than ever, there is a need for a credible source of news and information in the Philippines. The press must remain vigilant in this time of confusion and misinformation, and an eminent news source or authority can help inform Filipinos of the issues of vital importance to the nation and give meaningful insights into and analyses of what these issues mean for them.

MediaQuest Holdings, on the back of the authority and vast amount of experience of its media networks, launched One News, a flagship news station on Cignal TV. Aiming to combine the training and expertise of some of the biggest and most trusted media organizations in the Philippines, namely The Philippine Star, BusinessWorld, TV5, and Bloomberg TV Philippines, One News is an ambitious and concentrated effort to reinvent the way Filipinos consume and discuss news and current events.

“One News is a news channel that draws its strength, its news authoritativeness from strong news institutions in the Philippines,” Ray C. Espinosa, president of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., said.

“Gathering the content from them, curating and moderating it, we should be able to achieve a viewer base that understands that news is about trust and the organizations behind this news channel are eminently trustworthy news institutions in their respective rights.”

By marrying the strengths and capabilities of established names in print and of respected broadcast news institutions, One News aims to transform the media landscape, offering a powerhouse bench of anchors and program hosts seasoned in the fields of broadcast journalism, business, sports, information technology, and entertainment.

“The idea is that the content will come from all the four different strategic partners so that we’re able to present different points of views,” Jane Jimenez-Basas, president and chief executive officer of Cignal TV, Inc., said.

“At the end of the day, as in any news media outfit, the objective is to be able to inform the public and to be able to educate them, hoping that as individuals, we’ll be able to make better decisions for ourselves and for the community that we are all a part of.”

Ms. Jimenez-Basas noted that One News marks the first time in media history that established news organizations are involved in a cooperative endeavor to deliver news on a national scale. “It’s unique in that sense because it plays on the strengths of each of the brands and each of the organizations, putting everything into one voice that is delivered to the public,” she said.

Mr. Espinosa added that One News has chosen hosts and anchors with the credibility in dissecting critical issues, the integrity to talk about them in a fair and balanced way, and the expertise in analyzing them from different points of view.

“I think it’s very important when you become an issues-oriented news channel that the hosts and the anchors have the gravitas to discuss those issues,” Mr. Espinosa said. “We’re not talking about superficial discussions. We want discussions to be deep, for them to ask searching questions, not just superficial ones, so that we can better expose the subject matter in its fullest as part of discovering and searching for the truth. That’s how we want to distinguish ourselves.”

He continued: “That’s what we want to be known for: credibility, trust. Essentially, we want to become a news authority, especially in this age when there’s so much talk about fake news all over the place. We need to reassure the public that there are still organizations like us that invest in this type of institutions.”

Lighting the way to a sustainable future

Manuel V. Pangilinan was named chairman of the board of directors of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) in 2012 — ushering in a new brand of leadership in the century-old company. Under his leadership, Meralco was able to reach significant milestones, including the increase in customer count from one million in 1981 to six million in 2016.

It was also in the same year that the company reportedly embarked on a comprehensive digital transformation journey, as mentioned in its 2017 annual report. Called the “6D’s of Digital,” the initiative is anchored on six key areas: digital customer interaction, digital grid operations, digital asset management, digital field worker, digital enterprise, and digital energy products and services.

In 2017, the same year when Meralco shares marked 25 years of listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company also reported a positive and strong performance. Mr. Pangilinan noted in the annual report along with Meralco’s President and Chief Executive Officer Oscar S. Reyes: “The achievements were made in a conducive business environment of a rapidly expanding Philippine economy, robust consumer spending, bullish business and public sector investment with the government’s public-private partnership and more recently, “Build, Build, Build” programs, and strong demand for electricity. These factors pushed energy sales and customer count higher and boosted our operational excellence and financial strength.”

The two executives specified in their message that the company’s consolidated energy sales reached its highest level in 2017, rising 5% to 42,102 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 2016. The same year also saw first in Meralco’s history — electricity sales volume consistently breached the 3,000 GWh level in every month of the year.

Meralco attributed these gain in sales to combined effects of the company’s expanding customer base, the positive economic conditions with gross domestic product at 6.7%, moderate inflation at 2.9%, and favorable power supply conditions which saw reduced power plant outages.

The company noted that number of its customer accounts grew 5% to 6.3 million at the end 2017. It also noted that the peak demand in their franchise area was at 6,973 megawatts (MW), 3% higher than the 6,748 MW in 2016. Peak demand in the Luzon Grid reached 10,054 MW, up 3% from the 2016 level of 9,726 MW.

“Our 2017 Consolidated Core Net Income (CCNI) grew to P20.2 billion, 3% higher than in 2016. The increase in energy distributed, higher financing income due to improved yields, as well as adjustments of provisions with the favorable resolution of certain commercial and business issues, sparked the rise in our CCNI. Consolidated Reported Net Income amounted to P20.4 billion, 6% higher than the year before. Core Earnings per Share reached P17.93 while Reported Earnings per Share stood at P18.09,” the two said.

Along with successes in 2017, Mr. Pangilinan and Mr. Reyes mentioned some persistent challenges the energy sector continues to face. These include periodic episodes of power plant and Malampaya gas facility outages and the consequent power supply interruptions and higher Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices; energy policy and regulatory uncertainties; intensifying competition in the retail electricity market; technological disruptions; and the need for massive capital expenditures in power distribution and investments in new power generation to stay ahead of the curve vis-à-vis growing power demand.

“The imperative for the Philippine energy industry continues to be energy security in terms of available, highly reliable, least cost power supply, and 24×7 transmission and distribution to customers across the various grids,” Mr. Pangilinan and Mr. Reyes said.

In relation to this, the approval of new power plants in the country is perceived to address these challenges. “Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen) is in joint ventures for the development of new power plants to assure the highly reliable and cost efficient power supply required by our customers in the Meralco franchise area and in the Luzon Grid. These include the country’s first supercritical coal-fired power plant, the 455 MW San Buenaventura Power Limited power plant in Mauban, Quezon; the first ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant, the 2×600 MW Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E) plant in Atimonan, Quezon; and the first phase of the 2×300 MW Redondo Peninsula Energy (RP Energy) circulating fluidized bed coal-fired power plant at the Subic Freeport Zone,” the two executive said.

“The Power Supply Agreements for A1E and RP Energy, which along with SBPL will significantly contribute to energy security, are awaiting regulatory approval.”

Apart from bringing MGen’s projects into operations, Mr. Pangilinan and Mr. Reyes also mentioned that they are “embracing the emerging realities”of renewables, including solar and wind, distributed generation, and the potential market and use cases for electric vehicles (eVehicles).

“Meralco is venturing into the growing renewable energy market through its wholly owned subsidiary, MSpectrum Inc. (Spectrum) for rooftop solar, and utility scale solar installations. Meralco has also formed eSakay, Inc. to provide eVehicles and charging infrastructure solutions to service public utility and private sector eVehicle requirements.”

Meanwhile, taking the company to greater heights means helping communities grow as well. Meralco’s annual report mentioned that the company reached new milestones in the area of its corporate social responsibility. “Its advocacies, implemented by its social development arm, One Meralco Foundation, transformed the lives of 56,854 families across the country through various programs — from providing electricity access to energy education, youth development, grassroots partnerships, disaster response and employee volunteerism.”

Empowering Filipino athletes and inspiring a culture of hard work and perseverance

Sports are an inherent part of being a Filipino. Turn a few streets and it’s almost guaranteed that you will find a basketball hoop propped up somewhere, and a few people playing beneath it.

From a young age, Filipinos are taught in school how to play, not only basketball, but a variety of other sports like volleyball, badminton, and football. Outside the classroom, many Filipinos also engage in sports like boxing, cycling, and martial arts like taekwondo.

Which is why the MVP Group of Companies, one of the foremost business conglomerates in the Philippines, established the MVP Sports Foundation, Inc. Incorporated in 2011 and registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, the MVPSF is a nonstock, nonprofit organization that privately funds sports development in the country, focusing on its chosen sports: badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, football, golf, taekwondo, rugby, and weightlifting. The MVPSF was established to support sports programs through funding and give its feedback and technical advice to help and improve current sports practices used in the programs it supports.

The organization seeks to inspire and empower the Filipino athletes toward the first Philippine Olympic Gold Medal while creating a culture of hard work and perseverance.

“The MVP Sports Foundation will be the driving force in the development of world-class Filipino sports champions as well as the leading proponent of a culture of winning through sports using the grassroots programs established in its chosen sports,” the MVPSF wrote on its Web site.

The organization seeks to offer Filipino athletes a wide range of innovative, quality programs in partnership with several sports associations, empowering them and engaging the next generation of champions. This includes the creation, encouragement, promotion and undertaking of various programs, plans, projects and enterprises for sports, athletic, educational, livelihood and other socio-civic objectives geared toward the uplifting of individuals, groups and communities. The opportunities it will provide will target Filipinos from different walks of life, backgrounds, beliefs, and skill levels, with the hope that they can have the opportunity to compete “for flag and country and allow their journey serve as an inspiration to others.”

Such support extends even toward helping the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) with funding. Most recently, the MVPSF donated P20 million to the POC as part of the national athletes’ training for Asian Games that will be held Indonesia this year and the 2019 Southeast Asian Games that the country will be hosting.

Other development efforts will involve the promotion of sports programs and athletic projects such as coach and referee trainings, summer camps, medical sports clinic, an athletes academy and a sports complex, among others.

“Here’s a perfect opportunity, a perfect vehicle, to further help Philippine sports, while at the same time encourage everyone to live like a winner by leading a more active and healthier lifestyle,” Manny V. Pangilinan was reported as saying during the foundation’s launch in 2011.

“For basketball, the goal is to be the Asian champion; for boxing and taekwondo, no less than an Olympic gold; for cycling, the goal is to have a Filipino qualify in the Tour de France; for badminton and football, the goal is to be among the top three in Southeast Asia; for tennis, to be the best in Southeast Asia, while for running, to be the best in all of the Asian region.”

And while the medals will bring honor and glory to the country, the ultimate goal of the MVPSF is far grander. As the Philippines continues to make itself known on the world stage as a developing country, there is also a rising need to redefine the country’s cultural identity. Part of the MVPSF’s purpose is to nurture that identity, to inspire and raise aspirations enabling continued participation, supporting physical, educational and personal development to create a culture of winning in the country. In that way, Filipinos may find within themselves the determination to make a positive impact on the nation and enable them to achieve their goals and progress in life.

The foundation aims to instill the value of the Filipino determination as well as the ability to compete with other nations on a fair stage. To strengthen the unity of the Filipino people, amidst challenges, is the true victory.

“Sports, to me, is more than just playing games. It is also a powerful catalyst for change. It motivates each one of us to become a better person. It gives us the courage to surmount challenges and can even offer escape from poverty and the answer to our desire to lead better lives,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

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