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Asus Philippines expects to surpass growth in first half

ASUS Technology Philippines, Inc. expects in the coming months to exceed the 42% sales growth it recorded in the first half, its local head said, attributing his expectations to the launch of the new ZenFone 4 series.

“We are very confident about our growth in the second half of the year,” Asus Philippines Country Manager George Su told reporters at the launch of the smartphone series.

In the first semester, he said Asus Philippines’ business grew by around 42%, which he said the company was confident to top in the second half with the launch of the Zenfone 4 series. The series offers five phone models: ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro, ZenFone 4 Selfie, and ZenFone 4 Max.

ZenFone 4 Pro, the top-of-the-line smartphone in the series, has a market price of P39,995, while the lowest-priced smartphone in the series, ZenFone 4 Max, costs P9,995.

Mr. Su said the company also hopes to improve its market position in smartphone distribution to fourth from fifth.

“We hope to be at number four by the end of the year,” he said.

He said Asus had put “best efforts” in creating the newest generation of ZenFone and had learned from media, users and partners on improvements that could be done on the previous generation of the phone.

“We already prepared all the good answers, solutions to all our users here,” Mr. Su said.

Jerry Shen, Asus’ global chief executive officer, told reporters the group has adopted a philosophy of “empowering luxury for everyone.”

“We want the user [to feel] very proud [of] owning the product,” he said

Mr. Shen said the camera, design and audio features of the ZenFone 4 series show the “biggest improvements” from the ZenFone 3 series.

He also noted of the big investment Asus put in the camera features of the new series.

The flagship smartphones of the series, the ZenFone 4 Pro and the ZenFone 4, use dual-camera and duel-lens camera systems, respectively.

Mr. Su added that aside from the “very critical” photography feature and function of a smartphone, other features such as battery life and good user interface are big concerns for users.

“It’s about the total user experience,” he said. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

Lenders set to merge under CPRB

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez,
Senior Reporter

GROUPS of rural banks based in Southern Luzon and Leyte will soon merge as bigger lenders under the government’s consolidation program, with regulators also looking to accept other similar proposals as it seeks to extend the two-year window which ends this week.

Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) president Roberto B. Tan said two groups of small lenders based in these areas have moved closer to their merger plans under the Consolidation Program for Rural Banks (CPRB), which dangles financial and technical aid to such firms.

Of the three proposals received by the government agencies, those submitted by a cluster of banks in Southern Luzon and Leyte are closer to carrying out the mergers.

“Two of these bank groups have recently submitted their proposed consolidation plans for evaluation by the PDIC and BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas),” Mr. Tan said in a text message last week, while noting that a third group of banks has moved forward in choosing a financial advisor for the planned merger.

The PDIC, BSP, and the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) run the program, which seeks to prod rural banks located in one province or region to merge by extending legal, technical, and financial aid as they form one entity that would be of better financial footing.

Under the guidelines, the surviving entity must have a risk-based capital adequacy ratio of at least 12% and a combined unimpaired capital of at least P100 million. The banks may infuse fresh capital or tap Landbank’s equity investment facility to meet the requirements.

Banks merging via the CPRB may seek financial assistance for portions of the costs incurred for financial advisory services, business process improvement services, or capacity building support in pursuing the consolidation.

The BSP previously dangled incentives for bank consolidation. Such mergers are seen to fortify the capital and asset base of the lenders, making them more liquid and resilient versus defaults.

In April, the regulators eased program rules by letting go of the five-bank requirement to enjoy the perks under the CPRB. Now, any number of banks looking to merge can tap the facility, provided that they can meet the required capitalization.

BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. previously said that the mergers will likely be realized later this year.

The CPRB will accept applications until Friday, which marks the end of the two-year program. However, Mr. Tan said the agencies are now working to extend the offering. “Review and possible revisions in the guidelines of the CPRB are ongoing. PDIC, BSP, and Landbank will seek approval from their respective boards on the proposed extension of the program,” Mr. Tan added.

The central bank has shut down five rural banks so far this year after these were found incapable of remaining in business due to unhealthy balance sheets and insufficient assets.

Killing in the streets

The economic briefing to preferred clients opened with the puzzler: “The Philippine peso closed at P51.47 as of Aug. 17, from P49.72 to the dollar as at end December 2016 — a -3.52% change. The peso is the worst performer in Asia — compared to the Thai baht that has appreciated 3.81% versus the dollar! But why is the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) going steadily up, from a trough of below 6,600 in December 2016, to breach 7,700 in June 2017, and still climbing? Isn’t it that when the peso is down, the stock market is also down?”

Not to worry — we are hedged on the exchange rate. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in its “managed float” regime, purposely wants a weak peso in these times of heightened global risk. As the peso slid to almost 11-year lows in June, Filipinos working and living abroad sent a three-month high of $2.467 billion in remittances, increased from $2.334 billion a year earlier, when the peso was in the P46 to the dollar levels (actually a decrease in volume). OFW remittances and business process outsourcing (BPO) have traditionally insulated the Philippine economy from external shocks by ensuring a dependable supply of foreign exchange.

Go with equities — buy now, the PSEi has climbed to the 8,000 level, with YTD return of 17.19%, in the esteemed company of Vietnam and South Korea, next only to Hong Kong and India. Invest in good, stable companies that show faith in Philippine growth. Private businesses in these risky times have bravely invested huge capex to contribute to national development more than for profit. A good portfolio mix would be about 60% equities, 23% bonds and 10-15% cash.

Get some dollars, anything below P51. What, despite President Donald Trump, and what harm he might do to America? What if he is impeached? An article in Newsweek thinks Trump could be impeached in 2019 or sooner, after the 2018 mid-term elections when Democrats would be stronger in the House. Trump would just be six votes shy of being convicted by a two-thirds vote at a Senate trial, with 48 Democrats and 12 Republican senators who have shown a willingness to take on the president when they believe he is in the wrong (Newsweek, 08.17.2017).

Trump’s fiscal reform platform is stalling in neutral, hampered by his many missteps: in January an executive order attempting to ban travel from several Muslim-majority countries; his June withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord; allegations the Russians tampered with the US presidential election in his favor; his embarrassing failure to rescind and replace the Obamacare health package; and only last week his racist response to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, protested by angry crowds in the streets and in all media (Forbes, 08.16.2017). But perhaps the most telling of Trump’s failure as “CEO/COO” of America is the ugly breakup with the American business community by individual resignation of corporate CEO-advisors to Trump and the voluntary disbanding of two business advisory councils now openly disenchanted with him — the Strategy & Policy Forum and the Manufacturing Council, which hosted many of the top corporate leaders in America (Washington Post, 08.16.2017).

“Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville… the President should have been — and still needs to be — unambiguous on that point,” CEO-consultants to Trump said (Forbes, 08.16.2017). We are not like that, even Republicans are now saying of Trump (CNN 08.18.2017).

“We (Filipinos) are not like that. We have been disgraced by this culture of impunity a long time ago… it should not happen,” Vice-President Leni Robredo stated when asked to comment on the killing of 32 drug suspects in Bulacan overnight from Monday to Tuesday last week (The Philippine Star, 08.18.2017). Obviously, she and many Filipinos were shocked that President Rodrigo R. Duterte said policemen should kill “another 32 every day, maybe we can reduce what ails this country,” referring to the “One-time-big-time” drug clearing in Bulacan. Duterte also warned he would shoot down human rights advocates obstructing his campaign against illegal drugs.

“The statements of the President that called for increasing the body count in police operations in the course of the drug war coupled with the off-the-cuff calls to shoot human rights monitors further exacerbate the climate of impunity that has characterized this administration,” the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Jose Luis Martin C. Gascon said.The international Human Rights Watch investigations revealed that police routinely execute drug suspects and then cover up their crimes by planting drugs and guns at the scene. Efforts to seek accountability for drug-war deaths have gone nowhere, the group said.

Retired Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) commented on the daily reports of summary killings in the country saying, “Whether we like it or not, this mentality is creeping in, especially in the minds of our young people… that killing people is not a problem and that is worrisome.”

Senators crossed party lines on Friday and are set to conduct an inquiry into a recent surge in drug-related police killings following the apparent summary execution of a 17-year-old boy by police in Caloocan, The Philippine Star reported (08.19.2017).At last!

And on Friday, “the peso continued to weaken against the dollar, shedding another 13.5 centavos (closing at P51.49) amid fresh terrorist attacks in Barcelona as well as the debate over the pace of interest hikes by the US Federal Reserve (The Philippine Star, 08.19.2017).” The PSEi tumbled 56.02 points closing at 8,016.73 “echoing the downtrend in global stocks as escalating worries about Trump’s ability to push through its economic agenda rattled investors.”The reasons cited by analysts were external threats to the financial markets and to the economic growth of the country dependent on the US and its chimeric Donald Trump. Certain realities in our country’s “New Normal” have been cautiously avoided — by analysts, traders, bankers and others who might have personal interests to protect.

Like Big Business, enjoying the opportunities from blood being in the streets — double-digit profit growth for businesses and highs of GDP growth for the country cannot ever justify killing in the streets.

Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

ahcylagan@yahoo.com

DTI to launch Marawi rehab with Iligan livelihood center

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it is beginning an initiative to rehabilitate Marawi even with the fighting not yet over by setting up livelihood programs for residents of the southern city.

In an online message on Sunday, DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the department will rent a two-hectare site in Iligan City which he said will be known as a “Little Parian” — a marketplace that used to be in Marawi but has since been destroyed.

The marketplace will be in a high foot-traffic area that used to be a bus terminal, he added. Little Parian will be opened to Maranaw traders from Marawi, allowing them to make a living even before the fighting ends.

“This will help the Marawi traders and their families’ lives to return to normalcy,” Mr. Lopez said.

Marawi City has been occupied since fighting broke out on May 23 between the government and the Maute group. The attack later prompted the declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

Mr. Lopez said the marketplace “will complement plans to also open up a section in the malls in Iligan like Robinsons for a similar selling place for Marawi products to be merchandised for the general public.”

He also said the department plans to open “DTI commissaries” in four towns around Lake Lanao to ensure basic commodities are available at affordable prices. The commissaries will be operated by Maranaw traders and distributors, he added.

“This will augment the current efforts to send DTI rolling stores to communities around Marawi,” he said.

“We have also provided sewing machines and raw materials for Marawi evacuees,” he added.

Government livelihood training agency Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will provide more sewing machines, Mr. Lopez said, while DTI will add more livelihood kits for eateries, bakeries, and variety stores for individuals who want to start a business.

DTI will also offer business seminars and microfinancing, he added. — Victor V. Saulon

Princess Diana: fashionista who shook up the royal dress code

LONDON — Princess Diana revolutionized the royal dress code with the help of some of the world’s greatest designers during a glamorous life that came to a tragic end 20 years ago this month.

“Diana has become a fashion icon in the same way as Jackie Kennedy or Audrey Hepburn — timeless, elegant, and still so relevant,” said Eleri Lynn, curator of Diana: Her Fashion Story, an exhibition at her Kensington Palace home in London.

Nicknamed “Shy Di” ahead of her marriage to Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, in 1981, Diana came out of her shell and realized how her clothes could be used as a powerful communication tool.

“The princess learned to make her wardrobe say what she could not, and worked closely with designers like Catherine Walker to curate her personality through clothes,” Sophie Goodwin, fashion director of Tatler magazine, told The New York Times in February.

Diana mastered the art of wearing the right dress for the right occasion.

She wore bright clothes when visiting hospices, in order to appear warm and accessible.

On foreign visits, she would chose clothes inspired by the national colors, such as the white dress with red spots she wore on the trip to Japan in 1986.

She chose not to wear gloves “because she liked to make contact with the people she was meeting,” said Lynn.

Pictures of the princess shaking hands with AIDS patients in 1987 helped to break down myths surrounding the disease, including the unfounded fear of being able to catch it through touching sufferers.

The most photographed woman of the age, Diana understood the rules of royal dressing but was not afraid of twisting them.

She breached royal protocol by wearing a black ballgown, a color worn formally by royal women only during mourning.

Her outfits included androgynous gear, such as a tuxedo and a bow tie.

“That’s quite the bold, fun look that you don’t necessarily expect of a princess,” said Lynn.

She said Diana was the first woman in the royal family to wear trousers to an evening event.

DARING OUTFITS
She also helped to modernize the royal wardrobe, with outfits that made a lasting impression.

The midnight blue Victor Edelstein velvet evening gown she wore for a dinner at the White House in 1985 is one of her most famous.

It was in this dress that the princess danced with US actor John Travolta, to the hit “You Should Be Dancing” from the film Saturday Night Fever in which he starred.

Nicknamed the Travolta dress, it even has its own Wikipedia page and sold for £240,000 ($318,000) at auction in 2013.

After her divorce from Charles in 1996, Diana switched up her style once again, abandoning the British designers she had relied upon in favor of international fashion houses such as Dior, Lacroix or Chanel.

Diana ditched the frills, taffeta, and giant ball gowns and adopted more daring outfits, like the figure-hugging sky blue Jacques Azagury dress that went as far above the knee as the designer felt he could go at the time with a princess.

“For so many years, the princess of Wales was the world’s one and only fashion obsession, and the forerunner of modern glamour as we know it. She had to make it all up for herself,” wrote Sarah Mower in the Daily Mail newspaper.

Diana’s look was widely copied and still inspires catwalks and designers to this day.

The online clothing site ASOS launched a Diana-inspired collection in October 2016, playing on her off-duty look.

Her style even has a presence in the social media age.

An Instagram account called Princess Diana Forever, which has 160,000 followers, posts a daily picture of her in various outfits, bringing her to a new generation. — AFP

Bolts wary of defensive effort in absence of Hodge

MAKING a similar run from last season when it finished runner-up to eventual champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, the Meralco Bolts have won five of their six games to give themselves another solid push to make the playoffs.

Bolts wary of defensive effort in absence of Hodge
Despite his team’s solid showing, Norman Black is still concern on team’s defensive adjustment in absence of its best stopper Cliff Hodge. — REY JOBLE

They are currently in second place and appeared in great position, but for head coach Norman Black, he still has some concerns with his squad despite the good standing in the season-ending conference.

That’s because the Bolts, known as the no. 1 defensive team, had given up more than a 100 points in their last two games. They lost for the first time this conference against the NLEX Road Warriors and got the breaks they needed in outlasting the Phoenix Fuel Masters a few days ago.

At 5-1, the Bolts need just one more win to make it to the next round, but Mr. Black is still concern on his team’s defensive plays, particularly in the absence of Cliff Hodge, who suffered a severe ankle sprain and missed the team’s last two games.

Mr. Hodge was on walking boot and Mr. Black could only hope his best defensive player could make it in time for the playoffs.

“We didn’t have Cliff Hodge. He’s our best defender. But that’s part of it. We’re trying our best to rest the guys in our team. We can do more a lot defensively if he’s there. We were trying to do the best we could with what we have,” said Mr. Black.

Not only did Meralco will lose Mr. Hodge, the team will also play without Baser Amer and Mike Tolomia, whom the team had loaned to the national team for the Southeast Asian Games.

“Well, it’s for the country. So, you just have to deal with it. A lot of teams are sacrificing for the good of the national team and for the good of the country. We’re very proud to have two players in the national team — Amer and Tolomia. It hurt us in our game against Phoenix, but we’re not the only team sacrificing for the good of the country,” said Mr. Black.

This also means that Meralco will lose two point guards for the national team, but Mr. Black has no plans of getting an extra body who could quarterback the squad.

“We won’t get anybody for one game,” said Mr. Black. — Rey Joble

Davao mayor questions DILG drug-related requirement for awards

MAYOR SARA Duterte-Carpio has refused to sign a certification that would declare the city’s barangays drug-free, citing that there are no clear standards or parameters for such declaration. The certification is one of the new requirements set by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the annual awarding of the Seal of Good Local Governance. “I refused to sign even if this would affect the assessment for the seal of good governance, basta di lang ta mamakak (let us not lie) or be deceiving in the papers we will submit to them just so we win an award,” Ms. Duterte-Carpio said in an interview last week. The city was up for validation for the seal last week. “We contested this at the level of the DILG secretary because this is an unreasonable requirement,” she said, noting that given the size of each barangay, there was no measurement or criteria provided by the agency as basis for the ‘drug-free’ certification. “If they want to certify the barangay as drug-free then there should be a criteria; the mayor should not (automatically) certify that a barangay is drug-free just because the chief of police and the barangay captain has already given their certification,” she said. Davao City has been ranked third in the highly urbanized category for the 2017 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index Awards, which was announced last week during the 5th Regional Competitiveness Summit. — Carmencita A. Carillo

North Korea slams upcoming joint US-South military exercises

SEOUL — North Korea warned Sunday that the United States will be “pouring gasoline on fire” by conducting an annual war game in the South next week amid heightened tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.

Combative rhetoric between the nations spiked after Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) last month that appeared to bring much of the US within range, sparking an intense warning by President Donald J. Trump that Washington could rain “fire and fury” on the North.

Pyongyang then threatened to fire a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam — a plan that leader Kim Jong-Un last week delayed, but warned could go ahead depending on Washington’s next move.

Amid the fiery volley of threats, Seoul and Washington will begin Monday the “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” (UFG) joint military exercises involving tens of thousands of troops that Pyongyang views as a highly provocative rehearsal for invasion.

“The joint exercise is the most explicit expression of hostility against us, and no one can guarantee that the exercise won’t evolve into actual fighting,” said an editorial carried by the North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

“The Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercises will be like pouring gasoline on fire and worsen the state of the peninsula,” the paper said.

Warning of an “uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war” on the peninsula, it added: “If the United States is lost in a fantasy that war on the peninsula is at somebody else’s doorstep far away from them across the Pacific, it is far more mistaken than ever.”

Seoul and Washington have said the largely computer-simulated UFG exercise, which dates back to 1976, will go ahead as planned, but did not comment on whether the drills would be scaled back in an effort to ease tensions.

Around 17,500 US troops will participate in this year’s drills — a cutback from last year — according to numbers provided by Seoul’s defense ministry.

But South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported the allies were mulling scrapping an initial plan to bring in two aircraft carriers to the peninsula to take part in the drill.

South Korea’s top military officer said Sunday that the current security situation on the peninsula was “more serious than at any other time” amid the North’s growing nuclear and missile threats, and warned Pyongyang of merciless retaliation against any attack.

“If the enemy provokes, (our military) will retaliate resolutely and strongly to make it regret bitterly,” said General Jeong Kyeong-Doo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his inauguration speech. — AFP

Filinvest readies second phase of Alabang lots

FILINVEST Land, Inc. (FLI) will be launching the second phase of its master planned residential community in Alabang before the year ends, alongside the ongoing turnover of the first phase of the project.

The Enclave Alabang, a 20-hectare exclusive residential development along Daang Hari Road, will offer around 30 to 40 lots for the second phase of the project. Priced at P60,000 per square meter (sq.m.), each property spanning 350 sq.m. could be sold at P21 million.

The first phase of The Enclave has about 170 lots, 90% of which have been sold. Each property can be sold only as a lot or a house and lot. The company noted that most customers chose to buy lots, with plans for the house construction to be submitted for FLI’s review to ensure they follow the design standards of the brand.

“We already have lot owners who have submitted plans for review. They’re the type who really want to live here… We built model houses to showcase the kind of architecture, theme that we want for the village [as] benchmark,” said Catherine A. Ilagan, Filinvest Alabang, Inc. executive vice-president, told eporters during the launch of the company’s luxury brand in Alabang last week.

“Limited edition designer residences are also made available for clients to choose from — liberal in space with smart floor plans, and distinctive and airy tropical modern architectural designs,” the company said in a statement.

The amenities of the community include a one-hectare central park with a mini man-made lagoon, as well as a tropical clubhouse that spans 1,500 sq.m.

The Enclave is one of four properties under FLI’s Filigree brand, a luxury real-estate brand that pools together top consultants in architecture, interior design, urban planning and landscape architecture for the development of the company’s properties.

“We have an expansive landbank, and we have properties that are in very high-value locations which are fitting for luxury and high-end developments. We’ve been inspired by local trends in luxury developments,” said Josephine Gotianun-Yap, FLI president and chief executive officer, during the brand’s launch in Alabang last week.

Other projects include Bristol at Parkway Place, a 40-storey residential condominium in Alabang that stands along the so-called millionaire’s row. The tower has a total of 345 units, ranging from 53 to 168 sq.m. in size, depending on the number of rooms the unit offers. The project will start turning over the units by the first quarter of 2018, with project completion slated for 2019.

Botanika Nature Residences, which FLI considers as the most premium among Filigree projects, will have its first tower ready for turnover by the fourth quarter of 2017. Located inside Filinvest City in Alabang, Botanika will offer 101 units that start at 122 sqm to as much as 218 sq.m. The entire project is targeted to be completed by December 2020.

Outside Alabang, FLI has developed The Beaufort, which consists of two towers inside Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. Units in the condominium span from 50-57 sq.m. for one-bedroom units; 70-103 sq.m. for two-bedroom; and 148-155 sq.m. for three-bedroom units. To ensure exclusivity, each floor contains only four units. The Beaufort is currently ready for occupancy.

FLI reported a net income attributable to the parent of P1.21 billion in the April to June period, 8% higher year on year following a surge in rental income amid a decline in real estate sales during the period.

Shares in FLI shed two centavos or 1.06% to close at P1.86 each at the stock exchange last Friday. — Arra B. Francia

Unbranded personality

People are sometimes identified as brands just like products. This reference is not necessarily what their calling cards say. Such identification can be self-promoted attributes (the brightest in the room) or simply attributed to a person from her social inclinations (social climber).

Self-identification (how you are known by others) is actively promoted in the motivational lecture circuit — you are a rock star! Evangelical speakers insist on promoting “Brand Me” as a way to success. This can mean having the right attitude or even dressing the part — you are what you wear.

Is it possible to afford a nice house even if you are unassertive, stay out of the limelight, and move with the urgency of a snail to the buffet table? Is there a counter-trend in corporate behavior rooting for invisibility and aiming to be unbranded and merely generic?

Modesty is seldom considered a corporate virtue. Aggressive behavior, including shoving others aside to get into a picture with the celebrity boss, seems the hallmark of a winner. Yes, he is obnoxious but he gets things done, or at least gets credit for it.

In an acquisition, management takeover, merger, or reorganization, does the one who can keep his head down get to keep it joined to the shoulders for a longer time?

When voices are raised all around, the quiet one provides a calming presence with a smile and a reluctance to join in personal attacks. When asked to comment, he speaks in a soft voice — we need to check the impact of this on our supply chain. He rolls the apple of discord back to its source by bringing up a cliché — Instead of cutting costs, shouldn’t we be raising revenues?

A lack of interest in jockeying for a higher position than the one already occupied requires alertness too. Paying attention when a meeting is called allows the patient one to hear the sound of bones breaking (not his) or the loud thuds of falling bodies (his superiors’). Calmness through political storms all around is enhanced by the mantra — I need an umbrella.

Routine administrative work keeps Mr. Generic busy signing checks, initialing reports, sipping coffee, and approving leaves. He avoids taking any radical stand on issues, bouncing up approvals on everything to higher-ups, not starting a discussion with an opinion but a question — is this really a choice between bankruptcy and loss? He provides background information like industry trends as well as harmless observations — yes, the club sandwich has too much mayonnaise.

It may no longer be necessary to employ old-fashioned back-stabbing, rumor mongering, and bad-mouthing. It takes too much scheming and conniving work. Antiquated weapons of political intrigue leave fingerprints and eventually get traced back to their sources. Even deleted e-mails can be retrieved. It is enough to allow others to juggle hot potatoes, deal with individuals who have connections to the powerful, or push policies with foreseen disadvantages to entrenched interests.

Being generic and unbranded offers its own rewards. Pretty soon, those raising their brands by making difficult decisions and fighting battles that can’t be won become casualties of power plays. Rivals are eliminated by attrition and when the dust settles, the unbranded person who is merely doing his job is the only one left standing.

It’s a matter of time for the generic executive (cures headaches in 30 hours) to be groomed for a top position vacated by corpses. This patient strategy however is by no means foolproof. The meek ones can just as easily be bypassed as not tough or decisive enough for the road ahead.

Blending with the furniture may result in being sat on and vacuumed. An outside hire may then be considered for the vacancy which requires a hard-hitting body banger, rather than a mild-mannered insider who seems to have no opinions of his own.

Patience may run out and the previously mild one switches to a new strategy — changing into a werewolf. And many will say of him when he is finally unmasked as the one responsible for all the mayhem that he used to be so quiet and seemed incapable of hurting a fly.

One day, the meek one just grows facial hair and longer fangs and becomes too threatening. Then, it may be time for the silver bullet to the heart.

A. R. Samson is chair and CEO of Touch DDB.

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Competition agency seeks additional staff

THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is preparing to request additional staff from the national government to aid in its investigations, as cases start piling up after its two-year transitory period lapsed earlier this month.

As the PCC starts imposing sanctions on those engaging in anti-competitive agreements, its chairman, Arsenio M. Balisacan, said that the agency will seek staff support from the Office of the President, as it expects its caseload to increase.

“Given the resources that we have, obviously we don’t have enough. We are expecting more cases especially after today. We are preparing a submission for the Office of the President for supplemental staff support,” Mr. Balisacan told BusinessWorld in a chance interview earlier this month.

“We need more resources, more manpower as we move into the full enforcement stage,” he said.

The PCC chair said that he is looking into requesting about 100 additional support staff for its key offices.

“We are still finalizing with the submission but I expect a hundred more people to lift up our investigation team, economics team, and the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) team,” Mr. Balisacan said.

Despite its lack of personnel, Mr. Balisacan said that the agency will observe the review period as prescribed by the law.

“We’ll comply. I think we can live with that.”

According to Mr. Balisacan, the PCC selects cases up for review in terms of the potential impact on consumers and the economy.

“The prioritization is a basic issue for us, because we can’t obviously tackle everything. We have to choose one that’s very strategic,” he said.

In an earlier statement, the agency said that it will stick to its P1-billion threshold mandatory M&A notification for firms. However, Mr. Balisacan said: “In any case, we will be reviewing the threshold again, in due time, and will raise it if new data and our experience with M&A support such move.”

The PCC, an independent quasi-judicial entity, is tasked to conduct a preliminary inquiry of up to 90 days after a verified complaint or referral. The body will then decide whether to approve the case or to move to a full-scale investigation.

Currently, the two year-old anti-trust body has initiated three full administrative investigations, in power, cement, and another industry that the PCC has declined to identify. It has also commenced a preliminary investigation into an alleged cartel in the garlic industry.

For M&A deals — where the PCC requires firms to notify the body for transactions worth P1 billion and up — the agency has received 114 merger notifications with a total value of P1.95 trillion, with the majority from the manufacturing, financial, electricity, and transportation sectors.

Of the 114 notifications, 32 have been reviewed. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Yields on gov’t debt mixed as markets eye US, Europe

By Jochebed B. Gonzales,
Researcher

YIELDS on government securities (GS) ended mixed last week as market players remained watchful of the geopolitical tensions between the US and North Korea while digesting better-than-expected Philippine economic data.

Local debt yields, which move opposite to prices, dipped by 1.79 basis points (bps) on average week on week, data from the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. as of Aug. 18 showed.

“Yields traded within an average range of five basis points across the board this week with initial lifting of offers at Monday open, but [saw] an eventual reversal on increased geopolitical risk,” said Carlyn Therese X. Dulay, head of institutional sales at Security Bank Corp.

Helen G. Oleta, trust trading head at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), agreed, saying: “We’ve seen a number of geopolitical issues, another scare like the Barcelona attack [in Spain], but our movement is just five bps. It’s more of a ‘risk off mode’ on part of the market as well.”

Tensions heightened between the US and North Korea early this month with the latter threatening to launch missiles in the Pacific island of Guam, a US territory. US President Donald J. Trump, in response, said North Korea “will be met with fire and fury” should threats from Pyongyang continue.

Ms. Oleta said that while domestic bonds normally track US Treasuries, their yields were not much correlated last week.

“The 10-basis-point movement of US treasuries (UST) is just five bps in local GS yields,” she pointed out.

The 10-year UST jumped by 5.43 bps to close at 2.2728% on Tuesday after US Census Bureau reported that retail sales growth in the US accelerated to a seven-month high, up by 0.6% month-on-month in July, beating market expectations of 0.4%. However, at Friday’s closing, the yield on the 10-year benchmark bond retreated back to the 2.19% it had in the previous week.

On the domestic front, growth of the economy slightly beat market expectations, with gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 6.5% year-on-year on the back of strong private consumption and increased government spending during the second quarter.

“Philippine GDP printed at 6.5% on Thursday, slightly better than the 6.4% market consensus. Buying interest ensued but was halted as profit takers began to hit the better bids in the afternoon session,” said Security Bank’s Ms. Dulay.

RCBC’s Ms. Oleta said that selling on the part of the bond holders reflect cautious sentiment in the market despite ‘good’ GDP number and overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances, which grew by 5.7% year-on-year to $2.467 billion.

At the secondary market on Friday, demand was seen on the short-end led by the 182-day Treasury bill (T-bill) whose yield fell 43.66 bps to 2.5666%.

Yields on the 91-day and 364-day T-bills decreased 1.71 bps and 9.53 bps, respectively, to finish with 2.1782% and 2.9768%.

Other securities that saw their yields drop were the four-, five- and 20-year Treasury bonds (T-bond), which respectively shed 1.84 bps, 14.79 bps and 0.79 bp, to close at 4.1995%, 4.57% and 5.435%.

Offsetting the declines were the rise in the yields on the two- and 10-year bonds by 15.71 bps and 35.66 bps, respectively, to with 3.7982% and 4.9918%.

The rates of the three- and seven-year bonds rose by a marginal 0.25 bp and 2.84 bps, respectively, to 3.8363% and 4.4883%.

Sought for her outlook this week, RCBC’s Ms. Oleta said: “I think we’ll see a three to five basis point move, up and down, for the local GS. But for the US Treasuries, we might see rates go back again to 2.23% from the current 2.19%.”

For Security Bank’s Ms. Dulay: “Expect yields to continue to track UST movement [this] week and for the market to trade range-bound as traders wait for results of the 10-year reissuance of FXTN (fixed rate Treasury note) 10-61, which is expected to print between 4.65% and 4.75%.”

The Bureau of the Treasury plans to raise as much as P15 billion in tomorrow’s auction of the reissued 10-year T-bonds with a remaining life of nine years and eight months.

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