By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
YIELDS ON term deposits surged yesterday as banks took advantage of the higher interest rates set by the central bank, with appetite still skewed towards the shortest tenor.
Wednesday’s auction was met by weak demand from banks as they were only willing to place P92.636 billion under the term deposit facility (TDF) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This barely filled the P100-billion offer and slipped further from the P100.634 billion bids received a week ago.
Players betted big on the week-long instruments which accounted for about half the total tenders, leaving the two-week and one-month tenors undersubscribed for the third straight week.
The seven-day papers received P45.831 billion in total offers, surpassing the P40 billion on the auction block but dropping from the P64.409 billion bids seen the week prior. This pushed yields higher to average 3.7523%, some six basis points (bp) higher than the 3.6927% fetched during the June 20 exercise.
Meanwhile, appetite for the 14-day term deposits remained tepid. The BSP’s P40-billion offer was met by P31.99 billion worth of tenders, which slightly improved from the P28.016 billion submitted last week.
Despite this, banks asked for wider margins ranging from 3.7-4%, as they maximized the higher spreads set by the central bank. As a result, the average rate surged to 3.8689%, up 13.5bp from 3.7342% previously.
The 28-day tenor also saw a partial recovery in demand as it shored up P14.815 billion worth of bids from P8.209 billion a week ago. Still, this failed to fill the P20 billion which the BSP wanted to sell. This pushed the average yield to 3.8471%, which is 11.5bp higher from the 3.7326% fetched last week.
The TDF is the central bank’s main tool in arresting excess money supply in the financial system. The BSP actively adjusts auction amounts each week in order to bring market and interbank rates within its desired spread.
Last week, the Monetary Board announced a fresh 25bp hike in policy rates to rein in inflation expectations, which comes back-to-back with a similar move in May.
Central bank officials earlier said that banks have been biased towards shorter tenors as they avoid keeping their funds locked in for too long, at a time of uncertainties in the domestic and global financial markets.
Over the past weeks, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said market players have chosen to place more funds under overnight facilities rather than lock down their cash for several days or weeks under the TDF.
The same trend has been observed with government-issued debt papers, with investors crowding Treasury bills over the longer-term bonds floated every week.
PARIS — It might seem like there are two on every corner in Paris, but old-style bistros and street cafés are dying out to such an extent that a movement has started to try to protect them.
Alain Fontaine, owner of Le Mesturet and founder of Bistrots et Terrasses de Paris, says an essential part of Parisian life will be lost unless a way can be found to preserve the classic café with zinc-topped bar, terrace, and good food.
“They’re vibrant places, open to life and the city,” his group says on its website, which has launched a campaign to get recognition from UNESCO, the Paris-based UN cultural organization. “They’re threatened and need protection.”
Thirty years ago bistros and street cafés made up half the restaurants in Paris, according to Fontaine, but the figure has fallen to just 14%, with fast-food joints, coffee chains, and snack bars steadily squeezing them out.
For Fontaine, UNESCO recognition would restore pride to bistro owners and put tradition back on the map.
“Tourists would know where to go in Paris,” he told Reuters.
“If they want to meet Parisians in bistros and on terraces, there would be a label, we will be in the guide, there will be signs in the windows reading ‘this establishment is recognized as a world heritage site by UNESCO’.”
In some popular areas of the city, the absence of sidewalk cafés has begun to stand out.
On the Boulevard Saint-Michel on the Left Bank, near the Pantheon and the Luxembourg Gardens, Burger King and McDonald’s now occupy two corners where cafés once stood, and across the street a bistro recently shut down.
Tourists say they like the idea of a special status.
“There’s only a few cities where there’s really a café culture, a bistro culture, and Paris is one of them, and that’s really my favorite part about coming here,” said Holly, an American visitor having lunch with her partner.
“We’d be walking down the street and be like, ‘oh, let’s get a cup of coffee’, and it’s so easy for us to pop in anywhere. You can’t do that in most places.”
But bistros aren’t just for tourists. Many French drop in for a coffee or lunch at their local favorite, glad to get a meal of steak frites or confit de canard at a decent price.
“When you think of Paris, you think of gastronomy,” said local Mathieu Warnier. “Bistros, at least a large part of them… are places where you can get good traditional food without paying extortionate prices.” — Reuters
BASIC ENERGY Corp. on Wednesday said it has signed the share purchase agreements to acquire a 15% stake in two Thai companies, which are building a solar power project in Myanmar.
“We signed [for] the entry of Basic [Energy] into two EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) companies that are based in Thailand. They’re doing the EPC contract for the 220-megawatt (MW) solar project in Myanmar,” Basic Energy President and Chief Executive Oscar L. de Venecia, Jr. told reporters after the company’s annual stockholders meeting on Wednesday.
Basic Energy signed the deal with Meta Corp. Public Co. Ltd. (Thailand) covering the purchase of shares in Vintage EPC Co. Ltd. (Thailand), or VEPC, and VTE International Construction Co. Ltd. (Thailand), or Vinter.
Mr. De Venecia clarified his company’s participation is as stakeholder in the EPC companies and not the solar project.
In a disclosure on Wednesday, Basic Energy said that as of Dec. 31, 2017, the company had remitted around $2.622 million as earnest money deposit, which will be converted into its paid-in capital contribution into the VEPC and Vinter on the closing dates stipulated in the share purchase agreements.
Under the shareholders agreement, the company will be represented by Mr. de Venecia as one of the directors of the Thai companies.
VEPC and Vinter are the EPC supplier and the EPC construction service contractor, respectively, for the solar power project in Minbu District, Magway Region, Myanmar.
The owner-developer of the project is Green Earth Power (Myanmar), which is the holder of the power purchase agreement with the Myanmar government’s energy and power ministry, the company said.
The plan, design and construction of the project started in 2016. The first phase, which is under construction, is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2019.
Basic Energy said the equity investments in the Thai companies marked its foray into solar-related energy projects overseas.
The company said it “continues to pursue its geothermal energy projects, while opportunities in other renewable energy projects, such as solar, wind and biomass energy, are currently undergoing due-diligence studies and work.” — Victor V. Saulon
By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo Reporter
ASG Technologies Group, Inc. is optimistic about its operations in the Philippines given its client base.
General manager for Asia Pacific Praveen Kumar said that in the Philippines, the country is experiencing above 60% growth in consumer and revenue base for this year, and they are expecting double-digit growth for next year.
“We would have about double-digit growth even next year,” Mr. Kumar told reporters in a roundtable on June 26.
The company offers information management and information technology (IT) system management solutions.
Mr. Kumar said the company has seven major banks in the country as its clients, as well as nonbanking financial institutions. The company however plans to cater to second-tier banks (STBs), as well as the retail and manufacturing industries, to grow further and expand its base outside the financial sector, which is the main client due to the bulk of data that financial institutions handle.
“Our main growth driver is the financial sector… We now have to look at the second-tier banks for growth, as well as the retail, automotive, and other industries,” Mr. Kumar said.
He said that the Philippines is more or less at par with its neighbors like Malaysia in terms of digitization, while the country is at the learning scale towards the level of more mature markets in terms of data management and privacy.
Mr. Kumar said that companies have no choice but to handle data well, as well as continue to transform towards digitization.
“For data security, it is driven by governance, companies need to do it due to the penalties… While digitization is a need from the consumer-driven perspective the need is revenue-driven,” he said.
ASG has been in the Philippines for about 12 years. The company has its headquarters in Florida, United States.
APPLE, INC. is about to pump up the volume on its audio-device strategy, planning higher-end AirPods, a new HomePod and studio-quality over-ear headphones for as early as next year, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Cupertino, California-based company is working on new AirPods with noise-cancellation and water resistance, the people said. Apple is trying to increase the range that AirPods can work away from an iPhone or iPad, one of the people said. You won’t be swimming in them though: The water resistance is mainly to protect against rain and perspiration, the people said.
Slated for 2019, the earbuds will likely cost more than the existing $159 pair, and that could push Apple to segment the product line like it does with iPhones, one of the people said. Apple is also working on a wireless charging case that’s compatible with the upcoming AirPower charger.
The company has also internally discussed adding biometric sensors to future AirPods, like a heart-rate monitor, to expand its health-related hardware offerings beyond the Apple Watch, another person said. The current AirPods will be refreshed later this year with a new chip and support for hands-free Siri activation, Bloomberg News reported.
There are over-ear headphones coming from Apple, too. Those will compete with pricey models from Bose Corp. and Sennheiser. They will use Apple branding and be a higher-end alternative to the company’s Beats line. Apple originally intended to introduce the headphones by the end of 2018, but has faced development challenges, and is now targeting a launch as early as next year, the people said. They asked not to be identified talking about unreleased products. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
The upcoming audio push builds on Apple’s earlier success in the field. The iPod and iTunes digital music store helped revive the industry and began a transformation that turned the company from a computer maker into a mobile-device giant.
In 2012, Apple declared itself one of the largest shippers of audio speakers because of the earbuds that come bundled with its devices and the built-in speakers in iPhones, Macs and iPads. Two years later, Apple bought headphone maker and streaming-music company Beats for $3 billion, its largest acquisition. An in-house audio-product team is run by Gary Geaves, formerly an engineer from B&W Group Ltd., a maker of speaker systems and headphones.
Apple is shaking up its supply chain in preparation for the latest audio products, expanding a partnership with iPhone manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group and decreasing its reliance on smaller hardware maker Inventec Corp., the people said.
Apple plans to ramp up AirPods production by working with Foxconn, people familiar with the arrangement said. So far, it has mostly worked with Inventec, but builds about 30% of the units with Luxshare Precision Industry Co. When the earbuds first came out in 2016, they were delayed, and there was limited supply after the product finally went on sale. A Foxconn press official declined to comment.
Apple’s latest music-focused device, the HomePod, was also delayed, and has seen sluggish sales so far — although reviewers praised the sound quality. It was originally built with Inventec, but Apple has since expanded production to Foxconn. Apple is working on a new version of the HomePod for as early as next year, and it could switch production away from Inventec for the latest model, according to people familiar with the relationship.
Inventec executives met with Apple executives in California in recent weeks to discuss future HomePod orders, but a final decision on working with Inventec on the new model hasn’t been made, the people said. An Inventec spokeswoman said the company “will try its best to secure new orders.”
For the over-ear headphones, Apple has discussed working with Tymphany, a Primax Electronics Ltd. subsidiary that makes consumer and professional audio systems, according to a person familiar with the situation. Production hasn’t started, and the deal isn’t finalized. — Bloomberg
THE PESO could weaken further to breach the P54 level against the dollar this year amid a persistent trade gap and faster inflation, analysts at BMI Research said, with recent rate hikes still not enough to keep the currency competitive.
In a report, the Fitch unit said the peso will likely continue its depreciation streak to average P52.50 versus the greenback for 2018, which is weaker than their previous estimate of P51.90 per dollar.
“Fundamentally, the peso remains vulnerable due to negative real interest rates as headline inflation (at 4.6% year-on-year in May) is significantly above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy rate of 3.50%,” the research firm said in the report published yesterday.
“In our view, the interest rate is too low for an economy that is expanding by close to 7.0%, and this concern has also been echoed by bond investors who are demanding higher returns for their expectations of higher inflation.”
The peso has been trading above P53 since mid-June, which analysts said reflected market cautiousness amid uncertainties in both domestic and global markets.
BMI said the peso remains to be among the worst performers in the region, noting that they are still seeing “room for further weakness” for the coming months. Inflation has averaged 4.1% for the first five months of 2018, with May’s reading clocking in the fastest in at least five years. This has merited back-to-back policy rate increases from the BSP, although the research unit said the central bank will need to tighten rates anew just to catch up.
Price increases are seen to trend above four percent for the months ahead, especially as BMI expects rapid credit growth to keep putting pressure on inflation. In turn, they said one more rate hike is needed from the BSP within 2018.
“While the BSP hiked its benchmark interest rates by a total of 50bps (basis points) in May and June, and signalled that it is prepared to continue hiking to safeguard macroeconomic stability, this is likely to be offset by rising interest rates globally,” BMI said, pointing out expected rate increases in the United States and in the Euro area.
Intensifying trade tensions with China and the Eurozone could also dampen investor appetite towards emerging markets like the Philippines, the report noted.
A wider trade deficit due to a surge in government spending is also weighing on the peso, as the infrastructure boom pushes up imports growth. These are only partially offset by foreign investment inflows.
Despite this, BMI expects the trade deficit to receive a boost from “large and stable” remittance inflows, which in turn will lend some support to the peso.
The current account settled at $208-million deficit during the first quarter of 2018. This is narrower than the $860-million deficit logged during the same period last year.
The Finance department said in an economic bulletin that the latest current account data “remains healthy” despite sustained outflows.
“Maintaining good macroeconomic fundamentals by keeping the budget deficit manageable, keeping interest rates at the level that sustains the volume of investments and allowing the exchange rate to maintain its competitive level will enable the country to sustain economic growth in the medium term,” the department said. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez
MARCO POLO Ortigas Manila has announced a special promotion at its all-day dining restaurant Cucina — it will be offering its lunch and dinner buffet spread for P1,399 until the end of August. The restaurant is a showcase of flavors from the world’s different capitals, with a revolving spread of selections and daily highlights to enjoy. Mondays feature a Build-Your-Own-Burger, Tuesdays are for fire-cooked specialties with Hot Off the Grill, while Wednesdays are for Make Your Own Pizza. A fiesta of Tex-Mex dishes such as tortilla wraps, enchiladas, and roasted chili, are on offer every Thursday. And finish off the week with the weekend stars featuring the Executive Chef’s Signature Dishes. For details call 720-7777, visit www.marcopolohotels.com or e-mail: manila@marcopolohotels.com.
MOST Filipinos expect to increase their online spending this year, a study by PayPal Holdings, Inc. and Ipsos said.
Results of the PayPal Cross-Border Consumer Research 2018 showed the total online spend of Filipino shoppers is predicted to rise by 32% to P121.9 billion this year from about P92.5 billion in 2017.
The survey, conducted by PayPal and Ipsos, covered 34,000 consumers in 31 countries, with 1,006 participants in the Philippines.
“Out of the survey respondents, 55% of those who are shopping online expect their online spending to increase,” PayPal Strategic Director for Southeast Asia Abhinav Kumar told reporters on June 27.
PayPal also said Filipinos are estimated to spend around P185.16 billion in online shopping by 2020.
“Cross border, which refers to international trade, spend in the Philippines is also expected to grow by 47% in 2018 from an estimated P41.5 billion spent in 2017,” PayPal said in a statement.
Mr. Kumar said that increase in cross-border shopping can be traced to various factors.
“There are multiple reasons, it could be buying something that’s not available locally, or something that’s cheaper abroad,” he said.
In terms of smartphone cross-border purchases, the Philippines ranked third out of surveyed Asia-Pacific countries, which are India, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. Mobile commerce in the Philippines is also expected to jump this year with the growth of mobile use and adoption of new technologies.
“PayPal predicts an increase in Philippines’ mobile commerce from an estimated P38.4 billion in 2017 to an estimated P55.7 billion in 2018. This figure is likely to continue to grow with the proliferation of mobile devices and new mobile technologies that are emerging to create greater mobile-commerce opportunities for Filipino consumers and merchants,” the digital payments company said.
Top reasons cited by Filipinos for increase in online spending are convenience, variety of platforms, and expectation of faster shipping.
The report also showed fashion such as clothing, footwear and accessories is the top category for cross-border shopping in the Philippines, with 68% of Filipino cross-border online shoppers having spent on these items in the past 12 months. This was followed by consumer electronics, and cosmetics and beauty products, with 57% and 56% respectively. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
WASHINGTON — Facebook said Tuesday it was easing a ban on ads for cryptocurrencies while keeping a prohibition on initial coin offerings to raise assets.
The move comes five months after the leading social network said it was banning all ads related to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as a way to curb scams.
To place ads on Facebook for cryptocurrencies, companies will need to be pre-approved and offer proof they have licenses or are traded on a public exchange, the company said.
“Given these restrictions, not everyone who wants to advertise will be able to do so,” Facebook Product Management Director Rob Leathern said in a statement.
“But we’ll listen to feedback, look at how well this policy works and continue to study this technology so that, if necessary, we can revise it over time.
Facebook and other online platforms began cracking down on ads for crypto-related businesses amid concerns over fraud in the burgeoning and largely unregulated sector where currencies can see huge swings.
Fraud is common in the world of red-hot digital currencies such as bitcoin.
Earlier this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission shut down an initial coin offering by a Texas company called AriseBank.
AriseBank was accused of relying on celebrity endorsers such as boxer Evander Holyfield and social media to cheat investors out of $600 million of its goal of $1 billion for a currency it called “AriseCoin.”
Initial coin offerings — used by some start-ups to raise billions of dollars — still won’t be able to advertise on Facebook.
Twitter, Google and Snapchat have announced similar bans.
Bitcoin and similar forms of virtual cash are independent of governments and banks and use blockchain technology, where encrypted digital coins are created by supercomputers.
The virtual currency is not regulated by any central bank but is instead overseen by a community of users who try to guard against counterfeiting. — AFP
ASIA UNITED Bank Corp. (AUB) has completed its migration to microchip-based bank cards, meeting the end-June deadline set by the central bank.
In an interview, AUB Operations and Technology Head Wilfredo E. Rodriguez, Jr. said the Ng-led lender has already migrated completely to Europay Mastercard Visa (EMV) chip enabled cards, phasing out the old magnetic stripe cards.
“We have actually migrated to EMV. As a precaution, we have deactivated the non-EMV cards, so today we are 100% compliant,” Mr. Rodriguez said on the sidelines of AUB’s annual stockholders’ meeting last Friday.
In a previous interview, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier said the regulator will not extend the deadline to shift to EMV technology by the month’s end.
An EMV card contains a microprocessor chip which creates a unique transaction code for each payment, making transactions more secure than the magnetic stripe cards.
Apart from card replacement, the central bank also requires lenders to upgrade their back end and ATMs to accommodate EMV transactions by the end of the month.
Mr. Rodriguez added that the bank set a Dec. 31, 2017 deadline for its clients to switch cards, fully deactivating the magnetic stripe cards at the start of February.
“We have deactivated them to force them to replace it,” he said.
Should inactive AUB clients wish to replace their card, Mr. Rodriguez said all they have to do is to go to their branch. “It will not take them long because they just have to visit and get their card instantly and personalized.”
Beyond June 30, banks who have not yet deployed EMV cards and upgraded ATMs and point-of-sale terminals could face sanctions and penalties from the BSP.
AUB, the 14th biggest bank in the country in asset terms as of end-2017, saw its net profit rise in the first quarter to P797.7 million by 21.3% on the back of double-digit growth in its core lending businesses.
Shares in AUB closed at P59.50 apiece on Wednesday, up 35 centavos or 0.59%. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal
MY GALA DINNER benefactor Ludovic Decoster and his Chateau Fleur Cardinale 2013 magnum. — SHERWIN A. LAO
THE official festivities of the bi-annual VinExpo Asia Pacific Hong Kong normally commence with the staging of the most prestigious by-invitation-only Jurade de Saint-Emilion Gala Dinner (held since 2010) on the eve of the wine fair.
I was one of the 600 attendees of this formal black-tie dinner organized by La Jurade de Saint-Emilion in partnership with the Commanderie de Bordeaux of Hong Kong. Jurade comes from the word jurat (juror or affidavit) but in the context of Jurade de Saint-Emilion it roughly means “the gatekeeper” or “anointed authority” of the Saint-Emilion region.
This gala dinner was held for the fifth time at the Grand Hyatt Wanchai Hotel, right next to the Hong Kong Convention Centre where the VinExpo Asia Pacific was hosted. THE JURADE DE SAINT-EMILION HISTORY
La Jurade de Saint-Emilion, the wine region’s brotherhood of wine, traces its history back to a royal charter issued in the early 12th century by John Lackland, King of England. The charter empowered the local notables, called the Jurades, with economic, political, and legal rights to Saint-Emilion. In exchange for these rights, England was granted the Privilege des Vins de Saint-Emilion or the first priority to have access to the already much sought after wines of Saint-Emilion.
The Jurade played an important role in the region’s wine growing and its economic growth, including oversight of its fine wine production. Saint-Emilion is the oldest Bordeaux wine appellation (dating back to the ancient Romans), and was also the first Bordeaux appellation to be exported.
The Jurade’s authority lasted until the French Revolution of 1789. In 1948, the Jurade of Saint-Emilion was revived and it has stayed strong and relevant since then.
The Jurade still proclaims the Ban des Vendanges or vintage festival every September, aside from other wine related activities, and the Jurade continues to serve as the quality control authority against fraud and wine making violations in the region.
Since 2008 the Jurade also became involved with the promotion of the satellite Saint-Emilion appellations of Lussac Saint-Emilion and Puisseguin Saint-Emilion. The Jurade de Saint Emilion is currently a much larger brotherhood composed of over 3,000 members, with around 130 Jurats (the Saint-Emilion core) and inductees from wine merchants, media personalities, celebrities etc. from all over the world — all playing the roles of brand ambassadors in promoting Saint-Emilion wines. INTERNATIONAL EXTENSION
The Jurade de Saint-Emilion has done an amazing job in propagating the reputation of Saint-Emilion wines all over the world. This has been done through the opening of chancelleries, or basically international chapters, in different countries outside of France, including the UK, USA, Malta, Hong Kong, China, and, just this year during the Jurade de Saint-Emilion Gala Dinner, Singapore and Malaysia.
The traditional induction ceremony this year (done before dinner) took quite long — over an hour before completion — starting from the parade of the Jurats wearing the traditional red ropes with white trims, to the speeches, the introduction of each of the 40 new inductees, and the actual oath-taking. Since this was for VinExpo Asia-Pacific, all inductees were, not surprisingly, from Asia, with the majority coming from mainland China. China is already among the top three import markets of Saint-Emilion wines, and could potentially be its largest importer in just a few years to come. It was nice, too, for Southeast Asia to have its own Jurade chancelleries with the addition of branches in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Saint-Emilion wines have really come a long way against the more popular Medoc wines. Chateau Cheval Blanc has always been one of the most recognized wines of all time, but now we can also hear the wines of Chateau Ausone, Chateau Pavie, Chateau Angelus, Chateau Figeac, among others mentioned in the same breath as Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Mounton-Rothschild and its right bank counterparts. THE 2018 GALA DINNER SELECTION
The five-course sit-down menu was really exceptional, with each of the first four courses paired with two Saint-Emilion Grand Cru classe wines, in an all-red wine dinner affair.
We had a very auspicious first course to start the dinner proper, with dry aged Galician beef carpaccio, shaved foie gras, marinated fig and brioche croutons drizzled with black truffle dressing. This was followed by a duck confit tortellini soup, a lovely flavorful moist lamb loin, an artisanal selection of cheeses from the famous cheesemaking company Philippe Olivier, then a sweet dessert at the end.
The wines served were (in order of serving): Chateau Cadet Bon 2011, Chateau Destieux 2010, Chateau Laroze 2010, Chateau La Tour Figeac 2006, Chateau Grand Mayne 2005, Chateau Dessault 2000, Premier Grand Cru Classe B Chateau Troplong Mondot 2010, and another Grand Cru Classe B Chateau Valandraud 2011.
As a bonus, we had two extras, namely a Chateau Fleur Cardinale 2013 magnum (courtesy of owner Ludovic Decoster), and the superb Chateau Figeac 2009 magnum (courtesy of Yann Schyler of negociant Schroder & Schyler).
The eight featured wines were all great, but the two wines for me that came out really well (excluding the bonus Chateau Figeac 2009) were: the Chateau Grand Mayne 2005 which had an alluring nose of mocha, fresh blueberries, good complexity, and which was very silky and juicy all the way to the finish; and Chateau La Tour Figeac 2006, which had the nose of violets, figs, and supple tannins to be enjoyed now. The others may have been a bit too young to show their best taste forward.
This was also the second time I had the Chateau Valandraud 2011, and I am a huge fan. The nose of this 2011 remained the most luscious and concentrated among the lot, but just needed some more time for the quality to surface on the mid palate and finish.
Admittedly this was an excellent lineup, but I saw the list from the 2014 Gala Dinner, which was even more eye-popping, and consisted of more Premier Grand Cru wines including Grand Cru Classe A Chateau Pavie 2001 and Chateau Angelus 2006, borderline Classe A (current Classe B) Chateau Figeac 2005, and Classe B Chateau Beau Sejour Becot 1989.
Saint-Emilion wines’ reputation has been growing in our part of the world, and the collaboration of the Jurade de Saint-Emilion with the most successful Asian wine event, Vin Expo Asia-Pacific, only augurs well for the future of these wines in the region. Sadly though, I believe the region needs to be able explain why almost every bottle of Saint Emilion says Grand Cru, including, unfortunately, the presence of cheap, seemingly diluted, and not very palatable wines from the region. There should be a concerted effort to distinguish Grand Cru from Grand Cru Classe, or otherwise the term Grand Cru will lose its significance in the label. Medoc wines had no problem with this.
I want to thank Ludovic Decoster of Grand Cru Classe Chateau Fleur Cardinale for the kind invitation to this gala dinner. The author has been a member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@yahoo.com. He is also on Twitter at twitter.com/sherwinlao.
PHILEX Mining Corp. is focusing on efforts to extend its Padcal gold-copper operation beyond 2022, while the firm considers the possibility of underground mining at its Silangan project.
During the annual stockholders’ meeting on Wednesday in Pasig City, Philex President and CEO Eulalio B. Austin, Jr. said upstream expansion will allow the company to mine lower-grade ore from Padcal as its operations have been held back by the depletion of higher grade gold ores.
Padcal’s initial mine life was only up to 2014, and is now expected to end by 2022.
“With the challenges of opening a new mine (Silangan), we are going into upstream expansion by mining lower grade ore and deeper deposits which is now the trend in the mining industry, both in local and abroad,” Mr. Austin said. “This will allow us to sustain our operations. So that we can mine as much low grade ore.”
The company is also exploring other areas near Padcal mine for mineral deposits, while looking for areas to expand the tailing storage facilities which are nearing capacity. These facilities are used to store waste generated from mining activities.
Meanwhile, Philex Mining is looking to go into underground mining at its Silangan project, after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued Department Administrative Order 2017-10 banning open pit mining.
Open pit mining is the usual method used for extracting gold and copper minerals.
Despite delays in the government approval for the Silangan project, Philex Mining Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company hopes to start operations “probably second quarter of next year,” depending on the situation.
“We have asked our independent consultants, one of the leading Australian technical mining consultants to look at the underground mining for Silangan,” he added.
The results of the feasibility study is expected to be released by September.
“But the initial numbers we’ve seen so far indicate that the underground mine will not translate to any significant increase in the overall project cost,” Mr. Pangilinan said. “So at this stage, of course it’s difficult to predict if it’s still feasible but the indications [show that] it could be.”
According to the consultant, the initial estimated cost for underground mining at Silangan is at $750 million, which is more expensive than the project cost for open pit mining estimated at about $700 million.
“That’s a very tentative estimate that we were given. So let’s wait until the end of September by which then the numbers would be more or less by fixed,” Mr. Pangilinan said.
Philex Mining is one of the three local units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the two other being PLDT, Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc. — a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
