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Arts & Culture (10/02/24)

Calle Wright reopens its doors

AFTER a brief hiatus, gallery Calle Wright has reopened its doors with the exhibition Lived/Loved by Christina Quisumbing Ramilo. The show makes use of tools, scraps, and remnants of daily life, like used sandpaper, frayed painting rags, and discarded pencils, to speak of the wear and tear of labor and the passage of time. Ms. Ramilo said in a statement that she selected “works that enter into conversation with Calle Wright, a house that once held life and bears the marks of a lived experience” in order to reveal the intimate relationship between used objects and previously inhabited spaces. The show will run at Calle Wright — 1890 Vasquez St., Malate, Manila — until January 2025.

4th staging of Ang Pinakamakisig sa mga Nalunod sa Buong Daigdig

CO-PRESENTED by the FEU Center for the Arts and Alumni Relations Office, the FEU Theater Guild (FTG) returns to the uncanny coasts of Isla Esteban and restages for the fourth time the play Ang Pinakamakisig sa mga Nalunod sa Buong Daigdig to close its 90th theater season. Set on water, this mystery-filled play was adapted from Gabriel Garcia-Marquez’s The Handsomest Drowned Man by Teresa Lorena Jopson. Jeff Hernandez composed the music, along with musical direction by Jesus Singh III. Dudz Teraña, the Artistic Director of the FTG, handled the overall direction and choreography. Premiering on Oct. 2 at the FEU Center of the Arts Studio, the play will have two principal casts, one an all-female and one all-male, each character played by either current members of the FTG or its alumni. There will be performances from Oct. 2 to Nov. 23, 6 p.m. Ticket prices are P200 for the FEU Community, P400 for regular guests, and P600 for VIP seats.

October exhibits at Vinyl on Vinyl

THREE ARTISTS will open their solo exhibitions at Vinyl on Vinyl on Oct. 3. The first is Dennis Bato’s Existsentience, which represents his personal perspective on the 12 universal laws of the cosmos through the relationship of the micro to the macro and the inner to the outer. Meanwhile, Roger Mond’s Homo-Eclectic will present a smorgasbord of images with themes such as the post-apocalypse, piracy, artificial intelligence, robots, and horror, confronting modern-day existential curiosity and dread about walking into the future hand in hand with technology. The third exhibit is Iyan De Jesus’ Sheepskin. The three exhibits will be on view at Vinyl on Vinyl, La Fuerza Plaza, Chino Roces Ave., Makati.

Indigenous Peoples Month kicks off

THE National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ sub commission on cultural communities and traditional arts, is celebrating Indigenous Peoples (IP) Month at Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, from Oct. 3 to 5. Titled Dayaw, which means to “honor” or “celebrate,” the program features activities that promote the rich culture and tradition of IPs all around the country. With the theme “Katutubong Filipino: Pagtibayin ang Tagumpay 2030 (Indigenous Filipinos: Strengthening the Success by 2030),” it will host groups of Manlilikha ng Bayan and Cultural Masters of the Schools Living Traditions who ensure the continued safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Various cultural performers will showcase their talents while an outreach program will demonstrate food, arts, and crafts in select locations and high schools across Lake Sebu and South Cotabato.

Maria Makiling musical set to open in October

KIDS Acts Philippines is opening its 19th season with a Philippine myth written by National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, titled Maria Makiling, which will run from October until April 2025. This musical adaptation is the artistic collaboration of two award-winning Filipino directors, Luigi Nacario and Eugene Belbis. The play features Hya Leonado, Kris Robles, and Mirriam Reyes alternating as Maria Makiling and Jared Balling as Juan. It opens on Oct. 8 at 6 p.m., at St. Cecilia’s Hall at St. Scholastica’s College Manila, 2560 Leon Guinto Street, Malate, Manila. Tickets cost P1,000. For reservations, call 0945-350-4242 or e-mail kidsactsphilippines@yahoo.com.ph.

Filipinos present their art in Japan

TWELVE FILIPINO contemporary artists are set to exhibit their works in Japan this October with an exhibition titled BIJUTSU, a Japanese word that means “fine art.” The group said in a statement that this exhibition will “bring forth and showcase the rich and diverse world of Philippine fine art.” The exhibit will be held at the Toyono Gallery Vitokuras in Osaka from Oct. 11 to 20. The participating artists are Allen V. Sanchez, Angelie Banaag, Ann Theresa E. Bolos, Art Lozano, Arturo Arsega, Jr., Bing Famoso, Daniel Dumaguit, Franklin Cana, Isah Rodillo, TatEs Cannon, Mylene Quito, and Valerie Teng.

70 Filipino authors at Frankfurt Book Fair

WHILE the Philippines will take a central role at the 2025 Frankfurter Buchmesse (FBM) as the Guest of Honor, in the 2024 edition of the world’s biggest book fair, more than 70 publishers, authors, and creatives and around 700 titles will already grace the Philippine booth. The booth at the book fair, which runs from Oct. 16-20, will showcase genres such as graphic novel, children, new adult, and education. The theme for the Philippine participation this year is “The Imagination peoples the air.” A press conference at Frankfurter Buchmesse will take place on Oct. 17 to unveil the visual identity, theme, and plans for 2025, presented by Patrick Flores, the Curator of the 2025 Philippine Pavilion, while Karina Bolasco, head of the literary program and curator for Books for the Philippines, will discuss the literary and publishing landscape in the Philippines. The press conference will also feature conversations with Filipino author Budjette Tan, creator of the graphic novel series Trese, and artist Jaya Jacobo. Participation is made possible through the joint efforts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the National Book Development Board, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda.

Vietnamese firm plans P10-B solar projects in PHL

STOCK PHOTO | Image from Freepik

VIETNAM’S CN Green Roof Asia, a solar energy developer, is allotting P10 billion for its planned solar and battery energy storage projects in the Philippines over the next two years.

Green Roof is planning to develop and construct ground-mounted solar and commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop projects with a total capacity of up to 300 megawatts, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Building on our extensive experience in solar rooftops, we are excited to enter the utility-scale market in the Philippines. We have developed a robust pipeline of high-impact projects and plan to begin construction on our first project by mid-2025,” Green Roof Chief Executive Officer Rob Santler said.

The company recently entered into a partnership with local solar developer Solana Renewable Energy Holdings to put up a 20-megawatt-peak ground-mounted solar plant in Hermosa, Bataan.

A total of approximately P100 million is set aside for the development phase, with an estimated total construction cost of P600 million.

The construction of the project is expected to start by early next year and is slated for operations by the third quarter of 2025.

Aside from Bataan, the company is eyeing to penetrate the Philippine renewable energy market by establishing pipeline projects across provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Established in 2021, Green Roof is a joint venture between investment managers Climate Fund Managers – Climate Investor One and Norfund.

The company said it is planning to invest up to approximately $200 million for both ground-mounted projects and C&I rooftop projects across the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Radiohead and Shakespeare collide in Hamlet Hail to the Thief

RSC.ORG.UK

LONDON — British band Radiohead are reworking their 2003 album Hail to the Thief to soundtrack a new stage adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet that will premiere in Manchester in April.

Radiohead’s sixth studio album, which includes tracks “There There” and “2+2=5,” was recorded following the Sept. 11 attacks in the US and the subsequent War on Terror, and shares with the Shakespearian tragedy themes of fear and paranoia.

Frontman and songwriter Thom Yorke called the collaboration with directors Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett — titled Hamlet Hail to the Thief — an “interesting and intimidating challenge.”

Adapting Hail to The Thief involved pulling its sounds “into and out of context, seeing what chimes with the underlying grief and paranoia of Hamlet (and) using the music as a ‘presence’ in the room,” Mr. Yorke said in a statement.

“Ghosting one against the other.”

Ms. Jones said in the same statement that she first had the idea of combining the album and the play shortly after seeing Radiohead during the Hail to the Thief tour in 2003.

“There are uncanny reverberances between the text and the album,” she said.

“For years I’ve wanted to see the play and album collide in a piece of theater; eventually I shared the idea with Thom, who was intrigued.”

The adaptation will premiere at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International in Manchester, before transferring to the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford Upon Avon.

Radiohead, which also comprises Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway, have released nine critically acclaimed studio albums that span rock and electronic music. — Reuters

Golden MV Holdings acquires 3 firms, land in Villar City for P5.2B

LISTED Golden MV Holdings, Inc. has acquired 396.88 hectares of land in Villar City, a large-scale urban development project in southern Metro Manila and Cavite, for P5.2 billion.

The company’s board approved the acquisition of all the issued and outstanding capital stock of three companies from other companies owned and controlled by Manuel B. Villar, Jr., Golden MV said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

The acquired companies — Althorp Land Holdings, Inc., Chalgrove Properties, Inc., and Los Valores Corp., previously owned by Fine Properties, Inc. and Hollinger Holdings Corp. — own the 396.88 hectares of recently acquired land.

Broken down, Golden MV bought Chalgrove Properties, Inc. for P5.12 billion, Althorp Land Holdings for P49.95 million, and Los Valores for P24 million.

“The acquired companies will allow Golden MV to concentrate on the development of Villar City, a legacy project of Mr. Villar. With this acquisition, Golden MV reaffirms its commitment to becoming a key player in shaping the future of this expansive and innovative development,” Golden MV said in a separate statement.

Villar City is a 3,500-hectare development that aims to become the “new center of gravity” for Metro Manila. It spans across 15 cities and municipalities in Metro Manila and Cavite.

Recent project announcements in Villar City include the construction of two golf courses, a church, an events arena, a university, and an integrated entertainment complex.

In a separate notice, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) imposed a trading suspension on Golden MV shares following the acquisition.

“After a review of the disclosure submitted by the company, the exchange deems that the acquisition of Chalgrove Properties is covered by the rule on disclosure for substantial acquisitions and reverse takeovers under Section 5, Article VII of the Consolidated Listing and Disclosure Rules of the exchange,” the PSE said.

Golden MV is engaged in the development and sale of memorial lots and columbarium facilities. It is also engaged in the residential development business through Bria Homes, Inc.

Golden MV shares were priced at P1,690 per share as of Sept. 30. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Spanish mother and daughter train bacteria to restore church frescoes

VALENCIA, Spain — As Spanish microbiologist Pilar Bosch was casting around for a subject to investigate for her PhD in 2008, she stumbled across a paper suggesting that bacteria, her field, could be used in art restoration, her mother’s own area of expertise.

At that same moment, her mother — Pilar Roig — was struggling to restore 18th century paintings by Antonio Palomino in one of the oldest churches in Spain’s third city, Valencia.

She was finding it particularly difficult to remove glue that had been used to pull the frescoes from the walls of Santos Juanes church during restoration work in the 1960s.

“My mother had a very difficult problem to solve, and I found a paper about bacteria used to clean frescoes in Italy,” Ms. Bosch, 42, said.

She did her PhD on that project. And more than a decade later, daughter and mother have joined forces on a €4-million ($4.46 million) project, funded by local foundations, to use some of the techniques to restore the artworks in Valencia.

The microbiologist trains bacteria by feeding them samples of the glue which was made from animal collagen. The bacteria then naturally produce enzymes to degrade the glue.

The family team then mixes the bacteria with a natural algae-based gel and spread it on the paintings — which were taken from the walls in the 1960s, then nailed back on, still covered in glue.

After three hours, the gel is removed, revealing glue-free paintings.

“In the past, we used to work in a horrible manual way, with warm water and sponges that took hours and damaged the painting,” said Ms. Roig, now 75, whose father and grandfather along with other relatives also worked in art conservation.

Her microbiologist daughter has now joined in. “It certainly runs in the family,” Ms. Bosch said, as both stood in lab coats, supervising the restoration.

Ms. Bosch has also applied her use of bacteria to restoration projects in Pisa and Monte Cassino in Italy and in Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. She is now training up cohorts of a different kind of bacteria to clear walls of spray-painted graffiti. — Reuters

Maynilad says P62M generated in anti-illegal drive

MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. was able to recover around 560,000 cubic meters of potable water following its eight-month implementation of anti-illegal operations across its service area, the the west zone concessionaire said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Maynilad said it had implemented 6,900 anti-illegal operations from January to August, targeting unauthorized water connections, tampered meters, and unregistered lines.

The company said that the accumulated volume of recovered water is enough to meet the daily needs of around 3,500 water service connections.

This has improved the water supply availability and pressure for legitimately paying Maynilad customers, it added.

The company has generated P62 million in revenues, as violators were required to settle their penalties and reconnect legally to the Maynilad water network, Maynilad also said.

“Our efforts to crack down on illegal water connections not only prevent the possible entry of contaminants in the system but also ensure that all customers receive their fair share of the water supply,” Maynilad Customer Experience and Retail Operations Head Christopher J. Lichauco said.

Since 2016, the company has closed nearly 25,000 illegal water service connections, which enabled it to reduce losses and improve service delivery to its legitimate customers, according to Maynilad.

The closure of illegal connections forms part of Maynilad’s nonrevenue water management program, which aims to reduce “physical” and “commercial” losses.

Around 92% of water losses in the west zone are due to physical losses, while the remaining 8% are due to commercial losses, Maynilad said.

The company serves Manila, except portions of San Andres and Sta. Ana. It also operates in Quezon City, Makati, Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon.

It also supplies the cities of Cavite, Bacoor, and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario, all in Cavite province.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has a majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Ancient Peru throne room points to possible female ruler, archaeologists say

PANAMARCA.ORG

LIMA — Archaeologists in Peru have uncovered evidence that could point to a woman ruling in a coastal valley during the ancient Moche culture more than 1,300 years ago, including a stone throne and unique scenes depicted in elaborate wall paintings.

The nature of the ancient murals “could indicate it was a woman who used the space, possibly a ruler,” said Jessica Ortiz, research director for the project at the Panamarca archeological site on Peru’s northwest coast.

The researchers found a pillared throne room lined with murals showing a powerful woman intertwined with sea creatures and representations of a crescent moon, sitting on a throne and receiving visitors. Evidence such as the presence of human hair and wear on the stone indicated that the throne was used by a person.

“The most exciting thing is the traces of wear,” said archeologist Jose Ochatoma.

“There is not a surface in this area that is bare. Everything is painted and finely decorated with mythological scenes and characters,” Mr. Ochatoma added.

Mr. Ochatoma compared the room to the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, whose ceiling bears biblical figures and scenes painted in frescoes by Michelangelo. The one in Peru, Mr. Ochatoma said, is “a place where they captured scenes belonging to the Moche ideology.”

Archaeologists believe the throne room dates from the 7th century AD, a time when the Moche culture occupied the coastal valleys of northwestern Peru.

The researchers discovered a nearby room overlooking a square they called the Chamber of the Braided Serpents due to a mural of a figure with legs intertwined with snakes, a motif that has not previously been uncovered. The room has other murals showing warriors, anthropomorphized weapons, and a monster chasing a man.

“We are discovering an iconography that has not been seen before in the pre-Hispanic world,” Mr. Ochatoma said.

The discoveries were made at the Panamarca site near the Pacific coast, known for its colorful murals. The site is located more than 400 km north of the Peruvian capital Lima.

The Andean nation is rich in archeological sites, many dating back thousands of years. It was home more than 500 years ago home to the Inca empire that dominated swathes of South America’s highlands until the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. — Reuters

Can Philippine manufacturing ever recover?

PNA FILE PHOTO

(Part 1)

As there is much talk about the Philippine economy preparing to join Industrial Revolution 4.0 (Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, robotics, data science, etc.), there is widespread unease among both local and international economists that the country has not even completed the three previous stages of the industrial revolution, especially those stages in which manufacturing took the lead.

Philippine manufacturing still accounts for such a low percentage of GDP that there is doubt about our really being an industrial nation.  Latest data (2023) show that manufacturing as a percentage of GDP in the Philippines is only 16% vs. 24% of Vietnam, 23% of Malaysia, 26% of China, 24% of South Korea, 25% of Thailand, 19% of Indonesia, and 13% of India.

As regards the labor force composition, it is even worse: manufacturing accounts only for 8% of the total labor force.   Matters seem to be worsening for Philippine manufacturing as factories leaving China are trooping to other ASEAN countries, especially Vietnam.  Our biggest handicaps are very high energy costs, higher wages and inefficient logistics.

As we categorized countries all over the world into levels of development according to their respective per capita incomes, upper middle-income countries — which we are aspiring to become in the next two to three years — have an average percentage of manufacturing to GDP of 22%. It would be reasonable for us to target that level in the next five to 10 years.

What is the possibility of attaining such a goal given prevailing government policies and existing market conditions, both domestically and globally? Will the Luzon Economic Corridor, that the US and Japan are planning to help install, going to reduce our handicaps, especially in the case of chips manufacture? Will our large domestic market finally enable more capital-intensive manufacturing enterprises like vehicle, steel, and chemical production to reach the economies of scale needed to be profitable without huge subsidies from the Government? Will a dramatic increase in the productivity of large-scale growing of agricultural raw materials lead to selling finished food products not only to the large domestic market, made up of mostly young people below 30, but also to the global market as some of our neighboring ASEAN countries, like Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, are already doing?

Before answering these questions, let us clarify some of the important definitions of the various sectors of the economy.

There is the primary sector, i.e., Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (AFF).  This accounts for 7.7% of GDP. Then there is the secondary sector called Industry which accounts for 26.5% of GDP made up of the sub-sectors Mining (0.7%), Manufacturing (17.7%), Public Utilities (2.8%) and Construction (5.2%). It is worth noting that a country can still be heavily industrialized even if manufacturing does not loom large in terms of GDP as long as the other industrial sectors are contributing significantly to GDP. The preference for manufacturing by most economists is that it has the highest labor productivity and can, therefore, contribute most to increasing the wages of workers.

The biggest contribution to GDP is from the so-called Tertiary sector, Services, which account for 54.9% of GDP, led by Wholesale and retail and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (14.4%), Financial services (10.2%), and Professional and business services (5.2%).

The two largest contributors to GDP (together making up 20% of GDP) are OFW remittances and business process outsourcing-information technology (BPO-IT) which are predominantly part of the Service sector.  In fact, there are those who do not worry about the low level of manufacturing in the Philippines and maintain we can leapfrog into becoming a predominantly service economy, especially if we take seriously our transformation into the digital economy that Industrial Revolution 4.0 connotes.

We shall see, however, later in this discussion that because of our large and growing population and our rich natural resources, it would be unwise for us to skip the first three stages of the industrial revolution that most large nations had to traverse over the last 200 years, starting with England that experienced the first ever industrialization revolution (Industrial Revolution 1.0).

Even small territories that are part of the First World today like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, had to start with manufacturing on their road to becoming highly industrialized economies. In the first decade or so after the Second World War, these territories (together with South Korea) capitalized on their demographic dividends back then by establishing labor-intensive, export-oriented factories producing textiles, garments, toys, furniture, and other consumer products for the rich markets of the US and Europe.  In that way, they laid the foundation for more capital- and technology-intensive manufacturing enterprises in their later stages of industrialization. This enlightened strategy helped them reach full employment of their labor force and simultaneously imbibed among their workers an industrial culture. Furthermore, they were able to earn the foreign exchange that they badly needed to import what they could not produce locally.  It is no coincidence that these four economic territories became famous as the East Asian tigers of the last decades of the 20th century.

In contrast, the Philippines followed the opposite path of inward-looking import-substitution and capital-intensive industrialization which kept the vast majority of the working population in low-productivity farming and services. The results were high rates of unemployment, and especially underemployment, and thus very high poverty incidences.

Collateral damage inflicted by the slow growth of manufacturing was that it took much longer for Filipino workers to transition from a rural to an industrial culture. The higher growth rate of the Philippine population back then did little to help the country match the economic growth and industrial progress of its East Asian neighbors. It was not the growing population, however, that was the problem. It was the failure of the government leaders to take advantage of the demographic dividend by encouraging the private sector to invest in the appropriate labor-intensive, export-oriented industries and to give the highest priority to developing the agricultural sector.

These preliminary insights into our lackluster industrial history should already explain to a great extent our present difficulties in improving the share of manufacturing to our total GDP.

At this juncture, I would like to state that in subsequent columns I will be quoting copiously from a blog on the internet posted on Sept. 15, 2018 by Eric Howard entitled “The Evolution of the Industrial Ages:  Industry 1.0 to 4.0.”  It encapsulates for the lay person a whole semester on Economic History that I took under famous Harvard Economics professor Alexander Gerschenkron (1904-1978). I was very fortunate to have learned economic history from this pioneer of quantitative New Economic history who was considered the doyen of economic history in the US.

It would be worthwhile reflecting on the stages of the so-called Industrial Revolution to understand better how the Philippines “missed the boat” because our leaders during the first half century of our independent national development decided to plunge head into what they considered industrialization without first completing some of the pre-requisites to sustainable industrial development of a large nation like ours. As we shall see in subsequent columns, the gravest mistake we made was to try to industrialize without first completing the green or agricultural revolution that preceded the first ever industrialization that happened in England during the period 1770 to 1840. That is why at this late stage of our development, we are still talking about attaining food security and lamenting the very high rate of hunger among our population, especially among the hapless children.

I dedicate this part of this series of articles to the memory of my Harvard professor, Alexander Gerschenkron.

(To be continued.)

 

Bernardo M. Villegas has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard, is professor emeritus at the University of Asia and the Pacific, and a visiting professor at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. He was a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission.

bernardo.villegas@uap.asia

IMI closing Japan sales office, downsizing others

INTEGRATED Micro-Electronics, Inc. (IMI) will close its Japan sales office and is currently downsizing its Singapore and Malaysia offices to boost margins, the company announced on Tuesday.

“In a move to better align support costs with current business needs, IMI will… be closing its sales office in Japan and will soon initiate the process of the dissolution of the entity,” the listed company said in a regulatory filing.

“IMI’s extensive sales team, strategically positioned across various regions, will continue to address opportunities in Japan, eliminating the need for a physical office and reducing overhead costs,” it added.

Aside from the Japan office, IMI said it is currently downsizing its Singapore and Malaysia offices.

“These activities are part of IMI’s ongoing commitment to streamline operations and drive improved margins across its global footprint,” it said.

Meanwhile, IMI United States will end prototyping and manufacturing operations by yearend. Its production functions will be transitioned to IMI facilities across North America, Europe, and Asia.

IMI US will also channel prototyping needs of selected customers to California-based XLR8 Corp. as part of a new agreement.

In turn, XLR8 will transition mass production projects to IMI as its preferred manufacturing partner.

IMI is a global electronics manufacturing solutions expert specializing in highly reliable and quality electronics for long product life cycle segments in the automotive, industrial, power electronics, communications, and medical industries.

On Tuesday, IMI stocks rose 1.10% or two centavos to P1.83 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Sicilian Cathedral’s stunning mosaics regain golden luster

MONREALE, Italy — The mosaics of a medieval cathedral in Sicily, built by the island’s last Norman king, are set to regain their golden luster thanks to careful restoration work and new lighting.

The Monreale Cathedral, erected in 1174–89 near Palermo on the orders of King William II, is a UNESCO World Heritage site that combines Western, Islamic, and Byzantine styles and is home to one of the world’s largest indoor mosaics.

The church is “unique in the world,” and the beauty of its art “is like a dart that strikes you, wounds you, makes you suffer, creates passion and at the same time opens the heart,” local archpriest Father Nicola Gaglio said.

The decorations, covering an area of 6,500 square meters and depicting biblical stories from the Old and New Testament, are believed by experts to have been made using 2.2 tons of pure gold.

Their highlight is the giant depiction of “Christ Pantocrator” (literally “ruler of all”) in the apse, or half-dome, at the back of the cathedral. It is a typical Orthodox Christian icon, also present in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

The glass tiles of the mosaics needed restoring due to damage from water infiltration, regional authorities said last year, adding that work was slated to cost €1.1 million ($1.23 million), covered by European Union funds.

Scaffolding used during the restoration is expected to be fully removed from the cathedral by mid-October, while the new lighting, provided by Austrian company Zumtobel, is undergoing testing and is due to be inaugurated in late November.

“A key focus is to highlight the rich colors of the mosaics, especially the dominant golden tones, while keeping the lighting neutral on other surfaces to create a balanced visual experience,” Matteo Cundari, a Zumtobel executive, said.

According to legend, King William II fell asleep under a carob tree while hunting in the woods near Monreale when the Holy Virgin appeared to him in a dream and suggested building a church on the spot.

The legend also said that after removing the tree a treasure was found in its roots, and its golden coins were used to finance the construction. — Reuters

Gov’t fully awards bond offer as yields drop on rate cut bets

BW FILE PHOTO

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of the reissued Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday at a lower average rate amid strong demand as investors locked in returns amid expectations of further rate cuts by the Philippine central bank.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P15 billion as planned via the reissued seven-year bonds it auctioned off on Tuesday as total bids reached P86.38 billion, or almost six times the amount on offer.

This brought the outstanding volume for the series to P234.7 billion, the Treasury said in a statement.

The bonds, which have a remaining life of four years and seven months, were awarded at an average rate of 5.508%. Accepted yields ranged from 5.5% to 5.525%.

The average rate of the reissued papers fell by 55 basis points (bps) from the 6.058% fetched for the bonds when they were last awarded on Sept. 10. This was also 99.2 bps lower than the 6.5% coupon rate for the issue.

It was likewise 8.8 bps below the 5.596% quoted for the same bond series and 6.3 bps lower than the 5.571% fetched for the five-year bond at the secondary market before Tuesday’s auction, based on PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates data provided by the BTr.

“The 7-year Treasury Bond (07-67) reissuance attracted strong demand, prompting the Auction Committee to fully award the security at today’s auction,” the BTr said on Tuesday, adding that the average rate fetched for the papers was lower than what was quoted for the previous reissuance and the prevailing secondary market rates.

Investors swamped the bond offer as they wanted to lock in relatively higher yields before the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) eases its policy stance further, a trader said in a text message.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. last week said the Monetary Board could slash benchmark interest rates by 50 bps more this year and deliver two more 25-bp cuts at its next two meetings scheduled for Oct. 16 and Dec. 19.

The central bank began its easing cycle in August, cutting its policy rate for the first time in nearly four years by 25 bps to 6.25% from the over 17-year high of 6.5%.

On Monday, Mr. Remolona said that while the BSP has the space to reduce borrowing costs by 50 bps in one meeting, this would only be done in a “hard-landing” scenario.

The upcoming reduction in banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRR) also caused T-bond yields to go down, as this would inject fresh liquidity into the financial system, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

The BSP last month announced that it would reduce the RRR for universal and commercial banks and nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions by 250 bps to 7% from 9.5% effective on Oct. 25.

It will also cut the RRR for digital banks by 200 bps to 4%, while the ratio for thrift lenders will be reduced by 100 bps to 1%. Rural and cooperative banks’ RRR will likewise go down by 100 bps to 0%.

The RRR is the portion of reserves that banks must hold onto rather than lending out. When a bank is required to hold a lower reserve ratio, it has more funds to lend to borrowers.

Mr. Remolona on Monday said big banks’ RRR could be brought down to as low as zero before his term ends in 2029. He earlier said the BSP wants to cut this ratio to as low as 5% from a high of 20% in 2018 as the country’s reserve requirements are among the highest in the region.

The BTr plans to borrow P145 billion from the domestic market in October, or P100 billion through Treasury bills and P45 billion via T-bonds.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to help fund its budget deficit, which is capped at P1.48 trillion or 5.6% of gross domestic product this year. — A.M.C. Sy

Competitive Selection Process operationalizes the principles of transparency, accountability, and fairness

FREEPIK

Contrary to the usual notions, transparency, accountability, and good governance are concepts that are not confined to the public sector. It is not only governments that must be transparent. Private corporations, especially those engaged in businesses that have to do with public trust, must also be upfront about their processes every step of the way.

Energy security is an area in which these principles apply. With the growing population and rising demand for electricity, it is critical to explore alternative sources of energy to meet consumer needs. Electricity is a basic need and utility, providing stability to individuals, businesses, and the nation. It enables individuals to thrive in their respective activities and businesses to operate efficiently. Energy companies must always be mindful of their role in the economic life of the nation.

Achieving energy security is one of the main thrusts of the administration. We are aware that the Philippines has one of the highest costs of electricity in our region. This has hampered our growth in the past and has prevented investments from coming in. As we work toward lowering our energy costs and finding a stable and reliable supply to power our collective needs, we bear in mind that our objective is to make low-cost electricity available across the country — even in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Securing energy comes in different phases. There is generation, transmission, and distribution. The closest and most immediate to consumers is the business of power distribution through distribution utilities. For Metro Manila and its neighboring areas, for instance, the dominant Distribution Utility (DU) is Meralco which enters into power supply agreements with power generation companies. Meralco then distributes the power from these suppliers to individual homes.

At every step, the objective is to provide better service through reliable supply and low costs and ensuring that price fluctuations are kept to a minimum if not eliminated altogether.

But how does Meralco know from which power supplier it should get its electricity?

The Energy department prescribes a process called Competitive Selection Process, or CSP. This is a process wherein a power supplier is selected to supply electric power requirements to a DU such as Meralco. This process is in keeping with Section 2 of Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. The provision declares that it is the policy of the State “to ensure the quality, reliability, security, and affordability of the supply of electric power; to ensure transparent and reasonable prices of electricity in a regime of free and fair competition and full public accountability to achieve greater operational and economic efficiency and enhance the competitiveness of Philippine products in the global market; and to protect the public interest as it is affected by the rates and services of electric utilities and other providers of electric power,” among others.

In the CSP, the DUs make transparent their process of selecting which power suppliers to choose so that they can provide the best price to their customers. This is a customer-centric approach that puts the customer’s needs front and center in making the procurement decision, letting only transparency and fairness determine the result of the bidding process.

The CSP has ensured the transparent and efficient contracting of power supply agreements from diverse energy sources for the baseload power requirements of approximately 7.7 million Meralco customers using coal and mid-merit renewable energy sources like liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Thus, this approach not only reduces the risks of supply shortages, which can arise from various factors such as geopolitical tensions or market volatility, but also ensures the availability of reliable power to meet the country’s growing energy needs.

According to procedures being enforced by the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulation Commission, the process is conducted in a hybrid format. There are attendees both in-person and online, as the process is streamed live. The bidders are present, of course, and so are representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry-accredited consumer groups, community representatives, and civil society organizations. All of them act as observers.

Yesterday, Oct. 1, was the most recent round of Meralco’s CSP. It featured the bid submission and bid opening of the 400-MW supply of prospective bidders. Six power generation companies participated in the bidding. They were First Gas Power Corp., First Natgas Power Corp., FDC Misamis Power Corp., GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., Masinloc Power Co. Ltd., and Sual Power, Inc.

The aim of the CSP is to secure a 15-year Power Supply Agreement/s for Meralco’s mid-merit requirement due to start on Aug. 26 next year. The results will undergo the review and approval process of the Energy Regulatory Commission before any agreements are implemented.

Transparency and accountability are fundamental pillars of governance that both the Government and the private sector must not only uphold but actively embody in their functions. By consistently practicing these values, it fosters a culture of integrity and earns the trust and confidence of the people they serve. Without this foundation, true progress and public faith become impossible, making transparency and accountability non-negotiable for sustainable and ethical operations in any sector.

With CSPs in motion, these principles are taken to heart to guarantee energy security and to ensure that all consumers will reap the economic benefits of reliable and stable power services at the least cost.

 

Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.

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