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MPIC logistics unit to build warehouses in Cavite

THE logistics unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) will be setting aside P8 billion for the development of warehouses in Cavite, as it aims to become a leading player in the logistics space.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, MPIC said its wholly-owned subsidiary Metropac Movers, Inc. (MMI) has signed the deal with Property Company of Friends (ProFriends) to buy 202,000 square meters (sq.m.) of land worth P1.2 billion in General Trias.
ProFriends is one of the property firms under tycoon George S.K. Ty’s conglomerate, GT Capital Holdings, Inc., which in turn is the second largest shareholder of MPIC.
MMI has allocated P8 billion “to develop the property into 141,000 square meters of covered warehouse space and purchase the equipment to service its clients.”
“The property… will be used by MMI to develop and manage distribution centers for its existing and potential clients in the fast moving consumer goods, consumer durables, automotive and e-commerce spaces,” MPIC said.
In addition, MMI plans to purchase another 300,000 sq.m. of land in Bulacan.
MPIC said the completion of the warehouses can provide employment to around 7,000 residents of Cavite and Bulacan. To-date, MMI employs about 2,400 people under its existing warehouses and owned trucks.
The company currently has 207,000 sq.m. of leased warehouse space across the country.
These warehouses will complement the 522 new trucks acquired by MMI in the fourth quarter of 2017.
“These resources…will be utilized by MMI to build the leading logistics firm in the Country, the first choice of existing and future clients for their logistics needs — “the ONE logistics company”. It will fulfill a much needed function in today’s fragmented logistics market where resources to efficiently track and deliver goods to all parts of the Philippine Archipelago are still lacking,” MPIC said.
The listed conglomerate has been ramping up its investments in the logistics industry, announcing earlier this year that it is on the look out for two to three logistics firms this year. It is currently in the closing stages of acquiring transport and logistics solutions provider Air21.
MPIC grew its core profit by 16% to P3.6 billion during the first quarter of 2018, following a 68% jump in gross revenues to P19.4 billion.
MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of First Pacific, the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
Shares in MPIC shed 17 centavos or 3.41% to close at P4.82 each at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

Manga films highlighted in the Eigasai film fest’s 21st year


FOR ITS 21st year, the EIGASAI Japanese Film Festival announces a lineup of 15 films including the third installment of the film adaptation of Yuki Suegetsu’s manga, Chihayafuru.
The films, directed by Norihiro Koizumi, revolve around three childhood friends whose passion for playing karuta (traditional Japanese playing cards) bind them as they compete in the national karuta championships. The third film is the final movie of the trilogy after the first one was released in 2016.
Aside from the third Chihayafuru, the festival — which runs from July 4 to Aug. 26 — will also screen the first two films in the trilogy while its director will give a talk on July 6 at the Ateneo de Manila University.
A karuta card game demonstration will also be held on July 4 and 5 at the Ateneo an hour prior the screenings of the first two films.
CULTURAL EXCHANGE
“Film is a fascinating and powerful medium that journeys across borders and inspires all walks of life,” noted Hiroaki Uesugi, Director of the Japan Foundation Manila, which organizes the festival, in a statement.
“Celebrating the Philippine-Japan Friendship Month, and as part of the Japan Foundation Manila’s commitment to promote art and cultural exchange… we are pleased to showcase once again the best of contemporary and classic Japanese films. We hope Filipinos enjoy accessing and experiencing Japanese culture through films, and also expand understanding through several talks organized in collaboration with the Japan Foundation’s theater, exhibition and dialogue projects,” he was quoted as saying.
Last year’s festival drew more than 26,000 viewers, according to the statement, making it “one of the largest international film festivals in the Philippines.”
LGBTQ FILM
The festival will also screen an independent documentary film, Of Love and Law (2017) by Hikaru Toda, about a couple who operates Japan’s first openly gay law firm.
The film won the Best Film Award at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival’s Independent Japanese Cinema category.
Ms. Toda will attend the film’s Philippine premiere on Aug. 4 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) during the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.
A special screening and panel discussion on LGBTQ minorities and the importance of inclusion will be held on Aug. 5 at the Cinemateque Centre Manila
Japanese classics such as Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) will be screened at the UP Film Institute — Cine Adarna leg of the festival in August. The screening coincides with The Spirit of Budo: The History of Japan’s Martial Arts exhibit at the National Museum which will run from July 21 to Sept. 26.
MANILA NOTES-TOKYO NOTES
Aside from films, the festival also organized a talk by Japanese playwright-director Oriza Hirata. The talk will introduce the Manila Notes project: the Philippine version of the award-winning play Tokyo Notes which premiered in 1994 and has since been translated into 15 different languages.
The Manila version will be Tanghalang Pilipino’s third play for its 32nd season which opens on Nov. 30.
The talk will be held along with a screening of When the Curtain Rises, a 2015 drama film by Katsuyuki Motohiro which is an adaptation of Mr. Hirata’s novel of the same name and tells the story of a high school drama club in a provincial town.
CHEERLEADERS AND MORE
Other films included in the festival lineup are: Let’s Go, JETS! From Small Town Girls to US Champions?! (2017), a comedy by Hayato Kawai which was based on the true story of Fukui Commercial High School cheerleading team’s victory at the USA Cheerdance Championship in 2009; and Rudolf the Black Cat (2016), an animated film by Kunihiko Yuyama and Motonori Sakakibara. The film follows the eponymous black cat as tries to survive as a street cat after being separated from his master.
Survival Family (2017) by Shinobu Yaguchi, meanwhile is a story of a family trying to survive in a world without electricity, while Honnouji Hotel (2017) by Masayuki Suzuki is about a girl who travels back in time and encounters Japanese general Nobunaga Oda before he is killed in the 1582 Honnouji Temple incident.
Memoirs of a Murderer (2017) by Yu Irie is the Japanese adaptation of Korea’s Confession of a Murderer (2012) by Byeong-Gil Jeong where a man writes a book about the murders he committed and announces it after the statute of limitations have expired.
In Tora-san of Goto (2016), director Masaru Oura shows the life of a family of udon noodle makers on the Goto archipelago in Nagasaki Prefecture. The documentary features 22 years of the family doing what they do best — creating udon. The film was awarded the Magnolia Award for Best Documentary in the 22nd Shanghai TV Festival.
Tori Girl (2017) by Tsutomu Hanabusa tells the story of university students who stake everything on a flight contest held once every year on Biwa Lake in Shiga Prefecture.
Rounding up the festival’s lineup are two manga adaptations: RELife (2017) by Takeshi Furusawa, about a 27-year-old who joins the titular social reintegration program and manages to once again live as a high school student for a year; and Daytime Shooting Star (2017) by Takehiko Shinjo, about a love triangle between a quirky country girl, her homeroom teacher, and an aloof classmate.
SCREENINGS
The EIGASAI Japanese Film Festival will run from July 4 to Aug. 26.
The films will be screened in Manila, Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, and Naga, specifically at Greenbelt 1 Cinema 2, Makati City (July 4-8), Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City (July 4-6), CCP Complex, Pasay City (Aug. 4 and 5 during Cinemalaya and Aug. 17), Cinematheque Centre Manila, Ermita, Manila (Aug. 5), UP Film Institute-Cine Adarna, UP Diliman, QC (Aug. 15-18), SM City Davao Cinema, Davao City (July 12-15), SM City Naga Cinema, Naga City (July 27-29), SM City Bacolod Cinema, Bacolod City (Aug. 9-12), and Ayala Center Cebu Cinema, Cebu City (Aug. 23-26).
Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis, except for the screenings at Greenbelt 1 where tickets cost P100 per screening and are available online at https://www.sureseats.com or at the cinema ticket booth starting June 27.
For the complete screening schedule, visit the official EIGASAI Facebook page. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Wilcon to open 9 stores this year

WILCON Depot expects its profit to grow by mid-teens in 2018. — BW FILE PHOTO

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
WILCON Depot, Inc. is accelerating its five-year expansion plan by targeting nine-store opening this year, allowing it to hit its goal of 65 stores one year ahead of schedule.
“We have many funds sitting in the bank, and all the sites are ready. The economy is really moving up quite good, so we’re capitalizing on that. And also its to stay ahead of competition,” Wilcon Founder and Chairman Emeritus William T. Belo said in a briefing after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Ortigas Center on Monday.
The listed home improvement and construction supply retailer announced in 2017 its plan to open 29 new stores by 2021. Of this, 16 will be located in Luzon, five in Visayas, and eight in Mindanao.
So far, Wilcon has already opened five stores last year and another two during the first half of 2018. Starting this June, the company will be opening a new store every month to reach nine by the end of the year.
Wilcon has scheduled seven store openings in 2019, and another eight by 2020, for a total of 65 stores in the next two years.
Each store will cost about P180 million, and up to P250 million, including inventory. The company has P4 billion worth of funds left for its store expansion, taken from the proceeds of its P7-billion initial public offering last year.
Amid the aggressive store expansion, Wilcon also looks to add high-margin products to its portfolio to improve its profits.
“This will add on our product lines that will give us better margins like lighting fixtures… And we are still getting into appliances, and the PPR (polypropylene random) pipings. These are the three major product categories that we want to focus in the next three years,” Mr. Belo said.
These new offerings are expected to lift gross profit margins to 31% this year, versus 29.7% in 2017.
This year, Wilcon expects its net income to grow by mid-teens, helped by a top-line growth of mid- to high-teens. This will be supported by a 5% projected growth in same store sales. For the first quarter alone, Wilcon has already recorded a 5.2% same-store sales growth.
“So there’s quite a possibility that we might exceed the 5% given that we’ve already hit the 5.2% despite the first quarter being a weak quarter,” Wilcon Investor Relations Officer Mary Jean G. Alger said during the briefing.
Asked how the company will be affected by the weakening peso, Mr. Belo noted no immediate effects since most imports have been in their inventory for six to seven months.
“The price increase that we have been doing for the year doesn’t really increase significantly. That’s the beauty of having more inventory. The increase gradually comes, we spread it out with the ones that we have so we do average it,” Mr. Belo said.
Meanwhile, the company said it will be launching an e-commerce platform by the end of the year. The online store is set to complement Wilcon’s brick and mortar business, with its initial phase to be made available to Metro Manila customers only.
“We expect the e-commerce platform to contribute to enhancing sales of our stores… We want to drive customers to get to know Wilcon, those that go online. Because we’ll be able to provide a ‘pay online, pick up service’, so we want to be able to drive customers into our stores and see what we have to offer,” Wilcon President and Chief Executive Officer Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said during the briefing.
Wilcon will offer DIY (do-it-yourself) products and electrical items typically needed in houses or condo units, among others, on its online platform.
Shares in Wilcon went down by 3.18% or 38 centavos to close at P11.56 apiece at the stock exchange on Monday.

Beyonce and Jay-Z celebrate marriage and blackness in surprise album

NEW YORK — Music’s most famous couple Beyonce and Jay-Z pulled a surprise by releasing a joint album, a long-rumored collaboration that celebrates their marital passion and black identity.
The pop diva and hip-hop superstar announced the album, Everything is Love, from the stage in London as they wrapped up the British leg that opened a global tour.
The album came out late Saturday exclusively on Jay-Z’s fledgling Tidal streaming service and is not available on Spotify — a far larger platform, which Beyonce disses on the album in a string of F-bombs.
The couple also put out an elaborately choreographed video that takes place inside the Louvre museum in Paris for a song off the album, “Apeshit.”
The video opens with the couple standing regally in front of the Mona Lisa — Jay-Z in a light green double-breasted suit, Beyonce in a lavender pantsuit — and features a squad of scantily clad dancers moving sensually in front of Jacques Louis David’s The Coronation of Napoleon.
Driven by warm, sultry soul with a largely hip-hop cadence, Everything is Love marries the styles of the two artists but is more consistent with the recent direction of Jay-Z.
The album shatters any lingering innocence from the early days of Beyonce, with the singer of “Say My Name” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” generous in the details of her sex life with Jay-Z.
AN EVEN MORE PUBLIC MARRIAGE
The two stars have recorded together previously, notably on the Beyonce-led single “Drunk in Love,” but the album comes after an especially public window into their marriage.
Beyonce on her last solo album Lemonade in 2016 revealed infidelity on the part of Jay-Z, who a year later asked forgiveness on his own album 4:44.
This year, as the title of Everything is Love implies, their relationship is apparently swell. On her very first lyrics, Beyonce beckons to her husband, “Let’s make love in the summertime.”
On the final track, the joyously brassy “Lovehappy,” the two acknowledge past pain but also their efforts to reconcile.
“We’re flawed / But we’re still perfect for each other,” Beyonce sings.
As two of the most prominent African Americans in pop culture Jay-Z and Beyonce have played increasingly visible political roles, from campaigning for former president Barack Obama to championing the Black Lives Matter movement.
Everything is Love offers a paean to African American identity in “Black Effect,” which opens in Beyonce fashion with a monologue about self-love before a haunting soul sample.
Jay-Z on the song name-checks Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old African American shot dead in 2012 by a neighborhood watchman in a Florida gated community, and raps, in a twist on performers’ rote calls for crowd gesticulation, “Get your hands up high like a false arrest.”
SAYING NO TO SUPER BOWL
Elsewhere on the album Jay-Z appears to confirm a report that he turned down an offer by the National Football League to perform at this year’s Super Bowl, the most-watched event on US television, with Justin Timberlake ultimately playing American football’s title match.
Jay-Z is an outspoken supporter of Colin Kaepernick, the now-unemployed quarterback whose kneeling protest against racial injustice during the national anthem has triggered angry denunciations by President Donald Trump.
“I said no to the Super Bowl / You need me, I don’t need you,” Jay-Z raps.
“Every night we in the end zone / Tell the NFL we in stadiums, too,” he raps, likely referring to the racial dynamics in American football where almost entirely white owners employ mostly African American players.
The rapper, also known by the nickname Hov, takes aim more directly at Trump on “Salud!,” a song with Beyonce that inexplicably did not make the nine-track album but was released simultaneously.
Making no apologies for his success, Jay-Z raps, “Your president tweeting about Hov like he knows us / My road to the top was to take what you owe us.” — AFP

New features added to Sakay.ph mobile application

SAKAY.PH APP

By Denise A. Valdez
SAKAY.PH is launching its redesigned mobile application to include the latest transportation developments and new features designed to make it easier for commuters to travel within Metro Manila.
“We sort of see, especially in Metro Manila, that the way forward for transport is a multi-modal path. Meaning to say we have to work with not just jeepneys, but trains, buses, P2P (point-to-point), even ride-sharing services like Grab and the new ones that are coming out, to get people from point A to B,” Sakay.ph cofounder and product development head Philip A. Cheang told BusinessWorld in an interview.
When the app was first launched in 2013, Mr. Cheang said it included step-by-step commuting directions in Metro Manila but only for jeepneys, buses and trains.
With the new version, he said the app includes UV Expresses, point-to-point (P2P) buses, the Pasig River Ferry, and some e-jeepneys.
Mr. Cheang said the company is in talks with ride-hailing companies to integrate their services in the Sakay.ph app. It also hopes to allow users to get rides from these companies through their app, before the end of the year.
The company also aims to expand its coverage to include the provinces, which means integrating the routes of provincial buses in its system. As of now, Sakay.ph only shows commute routes in Metro Manila and some parts of Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal.
Mr. Cheang noted the app now has over a million users since Sakay.ph started, and is now close to doubling the figure with the redesign of the app. Sakay.ph available for iOS, Android and Web.
“The redesign is not only about adding new goals. It’s also about hitting the old goals that we wanted,” Kenneth G. Yu, cofounder of Sakay.ph and head of business development, told BusinessWorld.
In redesigning the app, the company sought to improve the users’ experience. For instance, one of the app’s features is allowing users to pick their priority modes of transportation. This feature is now ”front and center” in the redesigned app.
Another feature is setting the time when a user intends to travel, so the operating hours of the transportation alternatives are considered in the route suggestions.
The company is currently working on its own mapping engine for the app.
“We’ve been making efforts to build upon our own map imagery… If we build a really good product, I think there will be an opportunity for us to provide this platform to other people,” Mr. Cheang said.
So far, he said their own map imagery is only available on the Web version of Sakay.ph, as its mobile application still uses Google Maps. The company is targeting to make this available on the mobile version by next month.
The company is also looking into integrating advertisements in the app to generate revenues, but is still finding a way to do so without putting pop-ups and banners which may be distraction to those using Sakay.ph.
Sakay.ph is the winner of the government’s Philippine Transit App Challenge in 2013. It was created by software development company By Implication, Inc.

Century Properties to launch P2.8-billion Batangas project

By Arra B. Francia
Reporter
CENTURY Properties Group, Inc. (CPG) is set to launch its second affordable housing project, where it expects to generate P2.8 billion in sales over the next three to five years.
The Antonio-led property developer said it will unveil Phirst Park Homes Lipa in Batangas by the second half of this year. The 20-hectare property offering around 1,800 units will be developed in three phases, with the first phase to include about half of the total housing units.
CPG is targeting first home buyers for the project, specifically those with a household income of around P30,000 to P60,000 monthly.
Eighty percent of the total housing units will be townhouses, in order to cater to the more affordable segment. Amortization can go for as low as P9,000 monthly for a 40-square meter townhouse.
Amenities will include a village clubhouse, swimming pools for adults and children, an open-air cinema, and playgrounds. The playground will feature spaces for traditional Filipino games such as piko, patintero, taguan, tumbang preso, and holen. This is in keeping with CPG’s concept of a home-in-a-park experience for Phirst Park Homes Lipa.
The community will also have an outdoor gym, basketball court, bike lane, hiking area, and jogging path.
So far, the company has already built a welcome pavilion for residents. CPG President for the Affordable Housing Segment Ricky M. Celis said the company is now bidding out the land development contract for the project.
“Within the year we expect to have substantial land development already. By first quarter of next year is when we’ll see house construction to start,” Mr. Celis told reporters on the sidelines of the project’s launch in Batangas .
For the house construction, Mr. Celis said the company is looking at tapping listed engineering firm Megawide Construction Corp.
The Lipa development is CPG’s second affordable housing project to-date, following Phirst Park Homes Tanza in Tanza Cavite. Mr. Celis said they have so far seen strong demand for the product.
“(Sales are) very good. As of May actually we already sold out phase one. Now we’re going 20% into phase two. So that’s actually two years ahead of schedule,” he said.
CPG’s entry into the affordable housing segment is part of its plan to have a diversified source of income in the following years. To further grow the unit, the company is partnering with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. for the incorporation of Phirst Park Homes, Inc. (PPHI).
PPHI is set to have an authorized capital stock of P5 billion. Under the 60-40 joint venture, CPG and Mitsubishi will be spending P10 billion over the next five years for the launch of 15 projects. These projects are slated to bring in P57 billion in sales for PPHI.
The joint venture company’s incorporation is now pending approval from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).
“If it goes according to PCC’s timeline, we expect approval by August na,” Mr. Celis said.
Once CPG and Mitsubishi secure clearance for the joint venture, Mr. Celis said the Phirst Park Homes brand will now be owned by the partners.

What we learned from Everything is Love

NEW YORK — Jay-Z and Beyonce late Saturday released Everything is Love, a surprise album after years of speculation that they were working on a joint project.
The album — which came two years after Beyonce revealed Jay-Z’s infidelity through lyrics — again offers plenty of tidbits into the lives of music’s most famous couple.
Here are some highlights:
• No love child — Jay-Z shot down rumors that he has an illegitimate child. Aspiring rapper Rymir Satterthwaite has alleged for years that he is the superstar’s son due to his mother’s purported fling with the then little-known Shawn Carter in 1992.
“Billie Jean in his prime / For the thousandth time / The kid ain’t mine,” Jay-Z raps on “Heard About Us,” referencing Michael Jackson’s classic song about a paternity case.
Jay-Z and Beyonce’s six-year-old daughter Blue Ivy separately makes an appearance on the album and says “hello” to her twin siblings Rumi and Sir, who turned one on Thursday.
• Recovered from infidelity — Everything is Love, as the title implies, speaks much about the strength of their marriage after highly public troubles.
Beyonce on her 2016 album Lemonade revealed infidelity by Jay-Z, who apologized a year later on his own album 4:44.
On the joint album’s boisterous closer “Lovehappy,” the two say that they have patched up.
“You did some things to me / You do some things to me,” Beyonce sings with brass in her voice. “But love is deeper than your pain and I believe you can change.”
• Angry at legal action — Jay-Z vents frustration several times on the album about legal action against him. Most recently the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the rapper to testify as part of an investigation into his sale of his Rocawear clothing line.
On “Nice,” Jay-Z denounces the subpoena and suggests he is being targeted because he is a successful African American, wondering why he did not face such scrutiny in his earlier life as a Brooklyn drug dealer.
“Time to remind me I’m black again, huh? / All this talking back. I’m too arrogant, huh?”
Later on the album he professes his innocence in disputes with authorities — so often known by their agencies’ acronyms — as he raps: “I pass the alphabet boys like an eye test.”
• No to Super Bowl — Jay-Z appeared to confirm a report that he turned down an offer from the National Football League to perform at this year’s Super Bowl, the most watched event on US television.
Jay-Z is an outspoken supporter of Colin Kaepernick, the now-unemployed quarterback who stirred a nationwide discussion by kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice.
He alludes to the racial imbalance in American football, where team owners are almost entirely white and players mostly African American.
“I said no to the Super Bowl / You need me, I don’t need you,” Jay-Z raps.
“Every night we in the end zone / Tell the NFL we in stadiums, too.” — AFP

Work on LRT-1 Cavite extension to start in Oct.

THE average daily ridership at the Light Rail Transit Line 1 has gone up by an annual 3% to 459,400 passengers per day during the first quarter of 2018. — LIGHT RAIL MANILA CORP.

LIGHT RAIL Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) said it expects to begin the construction of the first phase of the Cavite extension project by October.
“The first package, konti na lang ang natitira [very little is left]. So we can start on October. Kasi binigay na yung right of way nila eh [Because the right of way has already been given],” LRMC Operations Director Rodrigo P. Bulario told reporters on Monday.
Mr. Bulario said less than 5% of the right of way for the first phase needs to be obtained.
As part of its concession agreement with the Department of Transportation (DoTr), LRMC will extend LRT-1 from Baclaran station to Bacoor, Cavite. Eight stations will be built as part of the extension: Redemptorist, NAIA Avenue, Asia World, Ninoy Aquino, Dr. Santos, Las Piñas, Zapote and Niog.
The construction of the 11.7-kilometer railway is divided into three packages, the first one covering the first five stations from Redemptorist to Dr. Santos in Sucat.
LRMC President and Chief Executive Officer Juan F. Alfonso told reporters in May that the construction of the Cavite extension will take four years.
HACKATREN
At the same time, LRMC launched a crowdsourcing program to encourage information technology (IT) specialists to propose ways to improve the customer experience at the LRT-1.
In a press conference in Taguig, LRMC head of Information Management and Technology Randy S. Sac bared the details of the hacking marathon called “Hackatren,” organized in partnership with the Hub of Innovation for Inclusion (HiFi) of the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (DLS-CSB).
IT students and professionals are invited to form teams of three to four members, who will pitch a digital solution to make the commuting experience of passengers “more enjoyable and efficient.”
Mr. Sac said LRMC will work with the top three winners to put their proposals into reality, with the help of HiFi.
Aside from this, the three winning teams will also win a cash prize of P100,000, P50,000 and P25,000 each.
Mr. Sac noted the goal of the initiative is to find out what passengers experience during their commute and find solutions that they may adopt to improve the train system.
Interested participants may sign up for the competition until June 30, which is also the “Pre-Hack Day” of Hackatren. The top 15 teams will be invited to the actual Hackatren event on July 14 and 15, on which the winners will also be announced.
LRMC is the consortium of Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd.
Metro Pacific Investment Corp. is one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group. — Denise A. Valdez

Incredibles 2 shatters records with heroic $180-M US opening

LOS ANGELES — The opening weekend of Incredibles 2 was, well, incredible.
The Disney-Pixar movie flew to a record-breaking launch of $180 million in 4,410 North American locations, easily landing the superhero sequel the best debut of all time for an animated film. That title was previously held by fellow Pixar sequel Finding Dory, which bowed with $135 million in 2016.
Incredibles 2 also landed the eighth-biggest domestic opening of all time, and surpassed 2017’s Beauty and the Beast ($174.6 million) for the best debut for a PG-rated film.
Overseas, where it has opened in 26% of the international market, Pixar’s 20th film collected $51.5 million, bringing its global total to $231.5 million.
With 14 years since the original film, 2004’s The Incredibles, enthusiasm has been strong for the follow-up, and it seems that audiences and critics alike were not disappointed. The film boasts a coveted A+ CinemaScore, as well as a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“The film shows the drawing power of the superhero genre, whether in the live action or animated realm,” box office analyst Paul Dergarbedian said. “The combination of the Pixar brand and Disney’s perfectly executed marketing and distribution strategy made the film an instant classic and a box office juggernaut.”
Disney’s head of distribution, Cathleen Taff, attributes the massive opening to pent up demand for another Incredibles film, along with positive word of mouth. It also helps that it’s been a while since a family film has hit multiplexes, she added.
“We’re so thrilled,” Taff said. “Brad and team put together a great film that delivers something for everybody. It was the perfect storm.”
Incredibles 2 picks up directly following the events of the original film with the Parr family members attempting to balance having a normal life with their superpowers. Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Vowell, and Samuel L. Jackson reprise their voice roles, while Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, and Sophia Bush voice new characters. Brad Bird returned to write and direct the sequel.
Incredibles 2 should set Disney back on track after Solo: A Star Wars Story disappointed earlier this summer. The expensive Star Wars film has had difficulty gaining traction at the box office since launching with $103 million over a four day weekend. Though every previous Disney-released Star Wars adventure has managed to fly past the $1 billion mark, Solo is struggling to cross $400 million.
Disney doesn’t exactly need to break a sweat, however. Incredibles 2 scored the third biggest opening of 2018, meaning the three best debuts of 2018 all belong to the Magic Kingdom. Disney-Marvel titles Black Panther ($257.7 million) and Avengers: Infinity War ($202 million) secured the No. 1 and 2 spots.
Also opening this weekend was Warner Bros. and New Line’s Tag, which targeted a debut of $14.6 million in 3,382 theaters. The R-rated comedy — starring Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner — is based on a Wall Street Journal profile about a group of grown men who play a longstanding game of tag.
Attendees seem satisfied, giving the film a B+ CinemaScore and 74% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
New Line’s latest title, Game Night, opened earlier this year with $17 million — a solid start given the film’s $16 million price tag. As of this week, the Jason Bateman/Rachel McAdams dark comedy has pocketed $117 million globally, including $69 million domestically.
The final wide release, Superfly, got a head start by opening on Wednesday. Sony’s remake of 1972 blaxploitation classic Super Fly pocketed $8.4 million in 2,220 locations during the five-day period. Well-known music video helmer Director X took the reigns on the $16 million project, which only began production in January and finished in time for its June release.
The film features all new songs written by rapper Future, who co-produced along with Joel Silver. Superfly stars Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Michael Kenneth Williams, Lex Scott Davis, and Jennifer Morrison.
The original 1972 Super Fly, starring Ron O’Neal and directed by Gordon Parks, was hugely profitable at the box office with a $30 million gross from a $500,000 budget. While the film became a cult hit, its soundtrack composed by R&B legend Curtis Mayfield became even more popular and ultimately outgrossed Super Fly’s box office earnings.
Ocean’s 8 managed to steal the No. 2 spot in its sophomore frame, picking up another $19.5 million in 4,145 locations. The female-fronted heist spin-off had a series-best opening last weekend with $41.5 million. Its domestic tally currently sits at $79 million.
In fourth is Solo: A Star Wars Story with $9.3 million. In four weeks, the tentpole has made $193 million at the domestic box office.
Rounding out the top five is another superhero sequel, Deadpool 2, which scored $8.6 million in its fifth outing. To date, 21st Century Fox’s blockbuster starring Ryan Reynolds has amassed $294.5 million domestically. — Reuters

Adopting green products for a sustainable lifestyle

By Romsanne R. Ortiguero
THE burdensome cost of electricity is pushing more households to adapt sustainable living through the use of energy-efficient products in homes.
“The Philippines has the highest per kilowatt hour (kWh) rate in Southeast Asia so it’s not just because you want to jump in the bandwagon of sustainable living; it’s more of a necessity because electricity is so expensive. When people choose to live green or do energy-saving stuff, it is because they want to save money,” Philippine Geogreen, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Liza Crespo told BusinessWorld in an interview.
Latest data from the Department of Energy shows that the Philippines’ power rates continue to be the highest in Southeast Asia with P7.49 per kWh rate for commercial users and P8.90 per kWh for households.
Recognizing that more Filipinos want a green lifestyle but have limited ways to do so, Philippine Geogreen, Inc. — distributor of sustainable and environmentally responsible building products for the construction industry — recently launched a pop-up store in Powerplant Mall in Makati City.
“In our first few years, we just focused on commercial and industrial facilities, and this is the first year that we’re focusing on the residential. We have this residential showroom because we wanted them to be able to appreciate the products and to get know more about it,” Ms. Crespo said, explaining that energy-efficient products are gaining more interest among households especially since energy efficient products are not as expensive as before.
Among those featured in the pop-up store are Solatube Daylighting Systems, a tubular daylighting device that captures the sun’s rays through its dome, which is then directed down its tubes, and then delivered throughout a room.
Another is the Haiku fan of Big Ass Fans, which has the ability to circulate huge volumes of air for both small and big spaces with only an operating cost similar to turning on a light bulb.
The pop-up store also features the Atmospheric Water Generator, a device that extracts water from humid ambient air, which then renders water potable through multiple stages of filtration.
“We source the world for the best green products, and that’s what we basically brought here,” Ms. Crespo noted, adding that these top-notch products have won Green Awards.
“When we inspected the products, we wanted to make sure that the warranties are good. We’re all about longevity because that also goes hand in hand with our concept of sustainability; because if you use a product that is only good for three years, you would throw that in a landfill, and that’s not biodegradable so it’s not really good for the environment. For us, we look at the long-term,” Ms. Crespo said.
In next few years, Ms. Crespo hopes the Philippines would be able to catch up with the most environment-friendly countries in the world.
“Slowly, people are getting into it, and they’re finally seeing the light in going green. We still have a long way to go honestly, but we’re getting there. Like now, the products are more available and accessible to a lot of people, and all these other technologies are easier to purchase. I think we’re slowly starting to catch up. I’m hoping that this kind of awareness will pick up in the next few years,” she noted.
“We’re hoping that we bring it down to the mid-level that’s why we’re working with our suppliers to make it more accessible to everyone,” she added.
To encourage more people to use green products, Ms. Crespo said the government could start giving incentives or get tax rebates, similar to what is done in other countries.
“I hope that eventually, the government will look at it as an important thing to do in order to encourage people to go green,” she said.

Treasury bills partially awarded as rates rise ahead of BSP meet

THE GOVERNMENT partially awarded the Treasury bills (T-bills) it offered on Monday, rejecting all bids for the shortest tenor, as the market awaits the policy decision of the local central bank.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) opted to make a partial award of the short-dated securities, raising just P8.356 billion out of the P15 billion it intended to borrow yesterday.
Investors placed P22.36 billion in bids, slightly lower than the P24.08 billion offered a week ago but still above the planned borrowing.
Broken down, the Treasury rejected all bids for the 91-day tenor. Tenders from banks amounted to P6.52 billion, above the P5 billion the government offered yesterday.
Had the government proceeded with a full award, the three-month debt papers could have fetched an average rate of 3.49%, 16.7 basis points higher than the 3.323% logged the previous auction.
Meanwhile, the government awarded P4 billion as planned from the 182-day securities. The offer was oversubscribed as tenders reached P7.106 billion. Still, the average yield climbed 5.2 basis points to 3.766% from the 3.714% quoted at the auction last week.
The 364-day papers were meanwhile also partially awarded as the BTr borrowed just P4.356 billion out of the P6-billion program, even as the offer was oversubscribed, with bids reaching P8.733 billion. The average rate on the papers went up 3.3 basis points to 4.357% from the 4.324% posted last week.
At the secondary market before the auction, the three-month papers were quoted at 3.8783% while the six-month tenor fetched 4.2446%. The yield on the one-year T-bill, on the other hand, was at 4.3191%.
At the close of trading, the 91-day T-bill rallied to fetch a lower yield of 3.29%, while the 364-day papers saw its rate climb to 4.321%. The 182-day T-bill’s rate was steady.
After the auction, Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana said the government decided to reject all bids for the three-month debt papers as investors asked for yields higher than the secondary market.
“The rates were actually higher than secondary market and it’s also higher than the initial guidance from our [eligible dealers]. We felt like it’s not reflective of current market levels,” Mr. Sta. Ana told reporters yesterday.
He added that the BTr partially awarded the one-year securities since the bureau “didn’t want to have at least a drastic increase in the rates.”
“It’s not just about us controlling it but we’re also looking at the submissions, whether it’s higher than the offer size and the secondary market rates. We felt we have to cut it at [that] level.”
The Deputy Treasurer likewise noted that investors are awaiting for the policy decision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday.
In a BusinessWorld poll, six out of 10 economists expect the BSP’s rate-setting Monetary Board to stay on hold in its June 20 meeting amid signs that inflation may be slowing.
Last month, headline inflation accelerated to a fresh five-year high of 4.6% from the 4.5% logged in April. However, the May inflation print was slower than the 4.9% expected by the market.
“We think the market is actually waiting for the results of the Monetary Board meeting this week. And of course, the hawkish comments of the [US Federal Reserve] last week had some bearing on the bids,” Mr. Sta. Ana added.
The Federal Open Market Committee raised its benchmark rates by a quarter of a percentage last week following a similar move earlier this year and amid improved economic conditions in the US.
In a phone interview, a trader said there was mixed reaction from investors.
“Possibly the BTr found the bids for the 91-day papers too high that is why they made a full rejection,” the trader said.
“On the demand side, we saw steady demand from investors. I guess ganoon na talaga ang demand (that’s how demand really is),” the trader added.
This quarter, the Treasury is holding two auctions per week — one for T-bills and another for Treasury bonds — to reflect increased borrowing requirements, as it is set to raise P325 billion via the domestic market in the period.
The government plans to borrow P888.23 billion from local and foreign sources this year to fund its budget deficit, which is capped at 3% of the country’s gross domestic product. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Manila Water unit gets franchise for Pangasinan town

A UNIT of Manila Water Co., Inc. has received on Monday a “notice to proceed” for its proposal to provide water and septage services in the town of Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan province with the passage of a municipal ordinance on the matter, the parent said.
Ayala-led Manila Water told the stock exchange on Monday that its wholly owned subsidiary Manila Water Philippine Ventures, Inc. (MWPV) had been granted the local franchise through Municipal Ordinance No. 2018-10, Series of 2018.
The total capital expenditure for the project is estimated at P730 million.
“The project is expected to be operational by 2019,” Manila Water added.
The franchise covers the provision of water supply and the improvement, operation, maintenance management, financing, and expansion of water supply facilities, and the provision of septage management in Sta. Barbara.
“The Municipality of Sta. Barbara is immediately adjacent to the Municipality of Calasiao in the Province of Pangasinan, where Manila Water has a Concession Agreement with the Calasiao Water District,” Manila Water said.
The company said the franchise granted to MWPV is for a term of 25 years with an assumed billed volume of 16.6 million liters per day (MLD) by the end of the franchise period.
The Sta. Barbara franchise comes after Manila Water and its consortium with MWPV won in April the right to operate the Bulakan water district in Bulacan province. The project is expected to require a capital expenditure of P400 million over a 25-year contract period.
The project is estimated to deliver a billed volume of 16 million liters per day by year 25.
In April, Manila Water said its consortium with MWPV had been awarded a similar project in the municipality of Balagtas in Bulacan.
The Balagtas project requires a budget of P400 million over a 25-year contract. It is expected to deliver a billed volume of 22 million liters per day by the 25th year.
On Monday, shares in Manila Water slipped 2.55% to close at P26.70 each. — Victor V. Saulon

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