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US resumes accepting DACA applications

US IMMIGRATION authorities said on Saturday that it will resume accepting requests under a program that shields young people brought to the United States illegally from deportation after a court order blocked a government decision to end the program.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said on its website that people who previously received a grant of protection under the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) may apply for a renewal under the terms in place before it was rescinded in September.

The announcement comes after a US judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a decision by President Donald J. Trump to end DACA later this year. Congress is debating whether or not to write new legislation that would grant legal status to these immigrants that were brought to the US as children and remain illegally.

Former president Barack Obama enacted DACA to keep the undocumented immigrants, known as dreamers, from being deported.

The immigration office said that deferments under DACA do not confer legal residency but gives prosecutors discretion on enforcing immigration laws. — Reuters

UFC starts 2018 with Fight Night 124 in St. Louis

THE Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) starts its 2018 season today in St. Louis, Missouri, with “UFC Fight Night 124.”

Happening at the Scottrade Center, UFC Fight Night 124 is headlined by the featherweight clash between Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens (#9) and “The Korean Superboy” Dooho Choi (#13) in the UFC’s first visit to St. Louis.

Mr. Stephens, sporting a 26-14 record, is coming off a unanimous decision win over Gilbert Melendez in his last fight in September.

The win halted for the American fighter a two-fight losing streak and something he hopes to build on coming into today’s fight.

“[He’s] facing a heavier puncher and a guy who’s got the skills to pay the bills and go the distance. He’s (Choi) in for a long night…” Mr. Stephens told MMAWeekly in the run-up to UFC Fight Night 124.

“I hit a little bit different, people fight me a little bit different. I feel like I’m a lot more diverse with my striking. I’m better on the ground. If I want to take it to the ground, I can. If I want to keep it up, I will,” he further said.

Mr. Stephens is set to face Mr. Choi (14-2), who lost by unanimous decision in his last trip to the Octagon against Cub Swanson more than a year ago.

He said that the long lull he had is not a problem for him, saying he has trained well and hard for this fight and that he is bent on going back on his winning run that saw him rack up 12 straight victories before dropping his fight in December 2016.

SCRAPPED
Meanwhile, what was supposed to be the co-main feature at UFC Fight 124 between Uriah Hall and Vito Belfort was scrapped as the former could not weigh in for a “variety” of reasons, including his body “shutting down” in training.

The fight was supposed to be Mr. Belfort’s farewell fight and it now remains to be seen if he still pushes through with one more fight after the cancellation or call it career outright.

In place of the scrapped Hall-Belfort fight is the women’s flyweight battle between Paige “12 Gauge” VanZant (7-3) and no. 10 contender Jessica-Rose Clark (8-4).

Other fights in the main card are welterweight Kamaru “Nigerian Nightmare” Usman (#10) against Emil “Valhalla” Meek and featherweight Darren “The Damage” Elkins (#10) versus Michael “The Menace” Johnson.

UFC Fight Night 124: Stephens vs. Choi will be shown live today beginning at 11 a.m. over Hyper Ch. 91 in SD or 261 in HD on Cignal TV. Encore telecast is at 7 p.m. later in the day.

In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost direct-to-home (DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Wells Fargo sees no end yet to scandal costs, gets tax boost

NEW YORK — Wells Fargo & Co. is not certain it has fully uncovered and fixed all problems related to a long-running sales scandal that has hurt the bank’s reputation and sideswiped its efforts to cut costs, Chief Executive Tim Sloan said on Friday.

The third-largest US bank by assets set aside a $3.25-billion reserve to cover litigation related to fake accounts and other customer issues in its fourth-quarter earnings on Friday.

The San Francisco-based company has been working to get to the bottom of its problems for more than a year, after reaching a $190-million settlement with regulators in September 2016 for employees creating phony bank and credit card accounts in customers’ names without their permission.

Since then, it has discovered other problems in businesses ranging from mortgages to foreign exchange trading, while the number of possibly made-up accounts swelled to 3.5 million.

Wells Fargo has tried to rectify the situation by changing how employees get paid, improving corporate reporting structures and ousting several executives. Sloan’s predecessor, John Stumpf, abruptly retired after the scandal came to light.

However, the bank is still scouring businesses for evidence of bad behavior, a process that will continue indefinitely, Sloan said on a conference call in response to an analyst who asked repeatedly why management could not give assurances that problems were resolved.

“I’d love to live in a world where I could give you an absolute guarantee and certainty, but it’s not just the world we live in,” Sloan said.

He later added: “We’re never going to declare victory.”

Shares of the bank were down 1% at $62.40 on Friday afternoon.

Despite that uncertainty, a new target management unveiled signaled that Wells Fargo’s effort to control costs are gaining traction.

The bank expects to spend up to $54.5 billion this year, in line with what analysts had generally expected. However, the $58.5 billion in expenses it reported for 2017 were well above the $54.62 billion non-interest expense analysts had predicted, on average.

Wall Street asked Wells Fargo to offer more detail on costs, which topped 60 cents per dollar of revenue in the aftermath of the sales scandal, a level Sloan has called “unacceptable.”

That figure, known as an efficiency ratio, is closely watched by Wall Street as a sign of how well a bank can manage extraneous costs. Elevated operating losses drove that ratio to 76 cents on the dollar for the fourth quarter, well above the 61 cents per dollar the bank had earlier predicted.

For all of 2017, the figure was 66.2 cents in costs per dollar of revenue, also higher than Wells Fargo’s target range of 55 to 59 cents.

Wells Fargo will provide more details at its investor day event in May, Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry said. The bank has already vowed to slash $4 billion in costs by 2019 through branch closures and other measures. Half of that will be reinvested into businesses.

ONE-TIME TAX BOOST
Overall, Wells Fargo’s fourth-quarter profit rose to $5.74 billion, or $1.16 per share, up from $4.87 billion or 96 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

The quarter included a $3.35-billion one-time boost from writing down its deferred tax liabilities to reflect new US corporate tax rates.

While other banks will likely report one-time charges related to the tax law, passed in December, Wells Fargo gets a boost to its bottom line because it will owe less tax in the future on income from a set of businesses, including mortgage servicing, where revenues are recognized at different times.

Additionally, the 14 percentage point corporate tax cut will apply to income earned in the United States, and unlike lenders with a larger global footprint, Wells Fargo does very little business outside the US.

The new tax law is the first tangible evidence that President Donald Trump is making progress on plans to stimulate economic growth, more than a year after his election sent markets soaring, Shrewsberry said in an interview.

Wells Fargo was one of several major US companies to announce employee pay raises following the law’s passage. Shrewsberry expects that kind of extra income, plus increased business activity due to tax benefits, to have a positive effect on the US economy.

“The only piece of that pro-growth agenda people can really sink their teeth into is that tax reform that just occurred… I see a lot to like in it,” he said. — Reuters

China to step up banking oversight in ‘arduous’ fight on financial risks

CHINA will step up oversight in the banking sector this year to reduce financial risks, the country’s banking regulator said, stressing that long-term efforts would be needed to control banking sector chaos.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said late on Saturday in a statement that its priorities included increasing supervision over shadow banking and interbank activities.

“Banking shareholder management, corporate governance and risk control mechanisms are still relatively weak, and root causes creating market chaos have not fundamentally changed,” the CBRC said.

“Bringing the banking sector under control will be long-term, arduous, and complex,” it said.

The regulator said violations in corporate governance, property loans, and disposal of non-performing assets will be punished more strictly, and that it would strengthen risk control in interbank activities, financial products and off-balance sheet business.

China has repeatedly vowed to clean up disorder in its banking system.

In recent months, regulators have introduced a series of new measures aimed at controlling risk and leverage in the financial system, with everything from lending practices to shadow banking under the microscope.

Already in January, the CBRC has published regulations that put limits on the number of commercial banks that single investors can have major holdings in.

President Xi Jinping has declared that financial security is vital to national security.

The government is particularly concerned about the massive shadow banking industry, lending conducted outside of the regulated formal banking system.

It fears that a big default or series of loan losses could cascade through the world’s second-biggest economy, leading to a sudden halt in bank lending. — Reuters

Upgrade of city airport sought

THE GOVERNMENT should consider upgrading the Zamboanga City airport so that it can be used in servicing destinations between Western Mindanao and regional neighbors such as those in the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (Bimp-Eaga), representatives of the business sector in the sub-region said last week. The call came after a Philippine-based airline had postponed its plan to service the route between Zamboanga City and Sandakan Malaysia. Datuk Roselan Johar Mohamed, former chair of BE Business Council, said the government must equip the Zamboanga City airport with the necessary landing facilities for aircraft to be able to land anytime of the day. “The Zamboanga airport was not ready to host an international flight due to the lack of a landing system,” he said last week as he turned over the chairmanship of the council, considered the fifth member country in the sub-region, to the Philippines as represented by Vicente T. Lao. The Malaysian official said the council hopes that before the end of the year, the Philippine government will eventually install the needed facilities to be able to attract the airlines to serve the route. Mr. Lao, who has assumed the chairmanship of the Mindanao Business Council, said: “We would like to strengthen connectivity to boost tourism and bring ease in doing business in Bimp-Eaga.” — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Naga’s Tree of Life

LAST AUGUST, Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) opened Robinsons Place Naga, a 56,000-square meter mall located in Naga City, Camarines Sur. The mall opens up to a wide circular atrium whose highlight is a 15-meter fiberglass sculpture featuring the Bicol region’s quintessential gabi (taro) leaf at its center.

This fiberglass sculpture — called the Tree of Life — was designed by Fil-Am artist Jefre Figueras Manuel who is known for his larger-than-life installations such as Code Wall (a 264 foot-long installation filled with messages in binary code) currently showcased in Florida. He also did the Sculpture Contour Series in 2016 featuring painted steel sculptures of the Philippine Eagle and carabao, among others.

“[The tree] is really about establishing a moment when people walk into the mall itself into this grand atrium and then there is this ‘larger than life’ tree or sculpture that is also serving as a structural element of holding the building up. It’s a thing that you pass by when you enter the mall and also when you leave,” Mr. Manuel told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview in late December.

But the Tree of Life isn’t just an fiberglass sculpture — it does, after all, stand two stories tall — it is also the country’s first permanent projection mapping project.

Projection mapping is a projection technology used to turn often irregularly shaped objects into a display surface for video projection. Similar projections have been done on historical sites in the country like the Aguinaldo house in Cavite, but those were temporary.

“The concept of the tree is really — more or less — sort of represents this idea of sort of establishing a ‘root’ in the province… [it’s] is really about where people learn about their morals and their values from their family and this idea of having a strong family tree. And so this Tree of Life … came about [with] this idea of creating a strong basis for people in terms of morals and values and how they can grow as an individual but also grow as a unit, as a family,” he explained.

The original nine-minute projection featured the creation of the universe starting with the Big Bang though over Christmas, the mapping also featured holiday imagery like gift-wrapped presents and Christmas lights. — ZBC

Hoge seizes Sony Open lead after missile mistake rocks PGA golfers

LOS ANGELES — Tom Hoge seized the third-round lead at the Sony Open on Saturday as US PGA Tour golfers shook off the panic caused by mistaken missile alert and got down to business in Hawaii.

“For sure, to get that missile threat on your phone, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Hoge said of the early morning scare, in which an alert was sent to cellphones warning of “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII.”

Recipients were urged to seek shelter, and it was more than half an hour before authorities confirmed the alert was sent in error.

Journeyman John Peterson, who was tied for second after Friday’s second round, wrote on Twitter that he had taken evasive action after the warning.

“Under mattresses in the bathtub with my wife, baby and in laws,” Peterson wrote. “Please lord let this bomb threat not be real.”

In a separate tweet after confirmation that the alert was sent in error, Peterson wrote: “Man. How do you press the wrong button like that. COME ON MAN.”

But Hoge, a 28-year-old graduate of the developmental Web.com Tour who is seeking a first US PGA Tour title, showed no sign of any residual nerves as he put together a bogey-free round of six-under par 64 at Waialae in Honolulu.

His 16-under total of 194 put him one stroke in front of overnight leader Brian Harman, who carded a 68, and Patton Kizzire, who climbed up the leaderboard with a 64 for 195.

American Kyle Stanley was alone in fourth after a 65 for 196 and compatriot Chris Kirk fired a 67 for 197.

Hoge’s six birdies included a 40-foot bomb at the 17th. He seized sole possession of the lead with a birdie from a greenside bunker at the par-five 18th.

While he has yet to win on the PGA Tour, Hoge said some solid performances early in the 2017-18 season had given him confidence.

Harman started the day with a three-shot lead. He managed birdies at the fifth and 10th to keep his pursuers at bay, but bogeyed the 11th. He was tied for the lead after a birdie at 16, but he settled for a par at the last after finding the rough off the tee.

Kizzire opened with an inauspicious double-bogey at the first, but reeled off five straight birdies from the sixth through the 10th to power into contention. He added birdies at 14 and 16 to seize a share of the lead heading to 18, where he salvaged a birdie despite driving into a hospitality area. — AFP

The missing link in our tourism strategy

About this time last year, members of Skål International, the world’s foremost organization of tourism professionals, had a meeting with the newly installed Chief Operating Officer of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), actor Cesar Montano. I attended that meeting as a member of the group.

Understandably, sentiments of doubt and trepidation filled the room given Mr. Montano’s lack of experience in the tourism trade and absence of bureaucratic management skills. We wondered: What relevant skills does Mr. Montano bring to the table? Does he even have a plan? Can the fragile state of the tourism industry survive a COO who is learning on the job?

For those unaware, the TPB is the promotional arm of the Department of Tourism and is responsible for all facets of advertising and communications. This includes participation in international tourism expositions; promotion of Meetings Incentives, Conference and Events (MICE); creation of cultural and sporting events; and marketing communications through tri-media advertising, below-the-line advertising, public relations and internet adverts, among others. The TPB has a budget of P2.5 billion.

Before Mr. Montano addressed the group, we were all advised not to ask questions as he will not be entertaining them. It was an ominous sign.

In his pre-written speech, Montano casually shared what he thought was the most potent means to promote the Philippines to the world. His “grand idea” was to produce movies set in the Philippines.

Montano spoke about two films, in particular, which the TBP intended to co-produce and utilize its budget on. One is a film about pre-colonial Philippines and another, a romantic comedy entitled, Prayerfully Yours, starring Megan Fox and — surprise, surprise — Montano himself. Both films are to highlight the country’s landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna in the hopes of doing for the Philippines what the Lord of the Rings did for New Zealand.

There was no talk about country branding, thematic or tactical advertising, MICE or forging alliances with international tour operators. It was all about Montano’s film fantasies. When members of the group huddled after Montano’s talk, we all agreed that we were royally screwed.

NINE MONTHS AFTER
As of October 2017, Philippine tourism arrivals grew by 11% to 5.474 million visitors.

By all indications, the TPB and the Department of Tourism (DoT) will likely reach its target of 6.5 million visitors for the entire year. Not bad. It seems we weren’t screwed after all.

Upon reviewing the TPB’s accomplishments, I discovered that the lion’s share of the its budget were spent on legitimate promotional activities, not on Montano’s movie fantasies. Thankfully, sanity prevailed.

The Chinese were the drivers of growth with more than a million of them visiting our shores. They are now our second largest market, following Korea. While we all know that this is largely due to the cozy diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines, I would like to think that the TPB had something to do with it too.

Records show that the TPB successfully facilitated dozens of familiarization tours with travel operators and media; it participated in numerous international exhibitions like the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Singapore, Guangzhou International Travel Fair, OZTEK Dive Conference in Sydney and the Luxury Travel Congress in Dubai; it produced local tourism events such as the World Food Congress, Anilao Scuba Diving Festival and the Boracay Dragon Boat Festival; and it facilitated (or supported) multiple MICE event primarily relating to the ASEAN summit.

While the year may have been busy for the TPB, regretfully, sheer number of promotional activities are no longer enough to push Philippine tourism arrivals to the level of Indonesia or even Vietnam.

Vietnam attracted 12.9 million tourists last year, a whopping 29% increase from the year before. Indonesia welcomed 15 million visitors, a 21% leap from 2016. Within the ASEAN context, the Philippines is an underperformer and its growth rate, lethargic.

COUNTRY BRANDING
The gaping hole in the TPB efforts is country branding and a strong thematic advertising campaign to support it. This is where the TPB falls short.

To define terminologies, a country brand refers to how a nation is perceived by the world on several dimensions. Not only does it include a country’s attractiveness as a tourism destination, it also speaks about a nation’s heritage and history. It touches upon its culture, the stereotypes of its people, its exports and the global brands associated with it (like Jollibee). It reflects where a nations stands in terms of its economy. In short, a country brand is a snapshot of a country’s past, present, and future.

The concept of country branding has been around since the 1950s and progressive nations around the world have leveraged it for various purposes. Germany, for instance, built an image associated with precision and technology. France established theirs based on design and craftsmanship. Both nations have intentionally crafted these images to lend credibility to their exports, industries and of course, in tourism.

A thematic campaign, on the other hand, refers to a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication.

Former TPB head, Chicoy Enerio and former DoT secretary, Mon Jimenez, did it right.

The Philippine tourism industry grew from the doldrums to 6 million visitors over five years on the back of the “Its more Fun in the Philippines” campaign. It was a brilliant thematic campaign that evolved to become our country brand. It was utilized not only by the tourism sector but also in investment promotions and diplomacy.

We still recall how Philippine investment forums in Europe, Asia, and America would go by the theme, “Doing Business is more fun in the Philippines.” They were packed to the rafters every time.

In diplomacy, bilateral government meetings would be themed as “Partnerships are More Fun in the Philippines.” The word “fun” gave the country its character.

The “Its More Fun in the Philippines” campaign was a runaway success since it was supported by a multimedia blitz utilizing TV, print, billboards, cinema ads, digital ads, and special events. It included advertising spots on CNN International, BBC, the Asian Food Channel, and MTV.

Throughout the life of the campaign, the Philippines became a “fun” place to visit, a “fun” economy to do business in and a “fun” people to collaborate with. It changed the Philippine paradigm in the eyes of the world. It was a smart and effective way to spend the TPB budget.

This is what is lacking in the TPB and DoT today. I would even venture to say that the 11% growth realized in 2017 was largely due to the residual effect of the “Its ore Fun in the Philippines” campaign.

Last June, the DoT launched a new campaign called “Experience the Philippines.” It was aborted, still-born, due to allegations of plagiarism of its TV commercial entitled “Sights.” The DoT and TPB have since reverted to “Its More Fun in the Philippines” as its slogan, but it is not promoted as aggressively as it was before. It is neither seen on international TV nor in billboards in Time Square, Piccadilly Square, or Ginza as it once was.

The TBP must deliver more than 11% growth if it is to be regionally competitive. The TBP, with its P2.5-billion budget, must spend strategically so that growth rates can approximate that of Vietnam and Indonesia.

More than five million people depend on the tourism industry for their livelihood. Tourism provides a trickle down effect with turbo-charged power. This is why the TBP and DoT are just as important as the Departments of Trade & Industry or even the Department of Finance. Let’s not forget, tourism accounts for more than 10% of our gross domestic product. We simply cannot dismiss tourism as a minor cog in our machine.

At this juncture, familiarization-tours, occasional MICE and sporting events no longer cut it. The TPB must think strategically and give due focus on country branding. This is the hole that needs to be filled. Only with growth rates above 20% can the tourism industry uplift the lives of more Filipinos.

 

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist.

Goldman, Morgan Stanley fined for foreclosure cases

THE FEDERAL RESERVE is closing the book on sanctions against US banks over improper handling of post-crisis mortgage foreclosures, fining firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the IndyMac successor formerly chaired by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

In an enforcement case that has stretched across seven years, the Fed is ending its role by fining five companies, the agency said in a statement Friday. More than $35 million in new penalties include $14 million for Goldman Sachs, $8 million for Morgan Stanley, $4.4 million for US Bancorp, $3.5 million for PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and $5.2 million for CIT Group Inc., which had purchased OneWest Bank — the firm that bought IndyMac.

Mnuchin was chairman of OneWest and Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Joseph Otting was its chief executive officer when the firm faced earlier foreclosure sanctions.

The Fed had earlier fined other banks, including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Ally Financial Inc., Suntrust Banks Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc.

BOTCHING FORECLOSURES
After the banks were accused of botching thousands of foreclosures in 2011, the Fed and other regulators required lenders to fix problems in their servicing of residential mortgages. The Fed’s termination of the earlier enforcement actions means the regulator is satisfied that the firms have improved their practices, the agency said.

IndyMac Bancorp failed in 2008 as one of the mortgage meltdown’s major casualties. That same year, Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, led a group of investors that included hedge fund billionaire John Paulson and finance giant George Soros in buying the bank.

IndyMac’s name was changed to OneWest and Mnuchin hired Otting, a veteran West Coast banker, to run it. The firm — beset by the foreclosure scrutiny — was sold off to CIT in 2015, and Mnuchin and Otting joined the Trump administration last year.

The 2011 actions from the Fed, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. were among the largest coordinated enforcement efforts in the years following the crisis.

INEFFECTIVE EFFORT
The regulators first tried to set up what was known as the Independent Foreclosure Review in which the largest US mortgage firms were meant to comb through thousands of foreclosures looking for errors, but the agencies eventually decided that effort was overly time-consuming and ineffective.

So, in 2013 they fined firms hundreds of millions of dollars and ordered them to pay out about $3.6 billion in cash to compensate borrowers, though many of the firms had lingering problems complying with orders to fix their internal systems.

The OCC’s settlements with banks were completed a year ago, including final fines of $70 million for Wells Fargo & Co. and $48 million for JPMorgan after the two were accused of failing to move fast enough to satisfy the earlier orders.

In 2014, the Fed was faulted by its internal watchdog for its handling of complex settlements. Its Office of Inspector General said lax preparation and management led to poor execution of the settlement with the mortgage servicers. — Bloomberg

Israel destroys tunnel from Gaza strip

JERUSALEM — Israel said Sunday it used a combination of air strikes and other means to destroy a tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into the country and continuing into Egypt.

Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the tunnel belonged to Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and was intended for attacks as opposed to smuggling.

Such tunnels have been used to carry out attacks in the past.

He said he was not aware of any casualties from the destruction of the tunnel, which was still being built.

It ran underneath the main goods crossing between Israel and the blockaded Gaza Strip — known as Kerem Shalom — as well as gas and fuel pipelines, he said.

According to Mr. Conricus, Israeli air strikes late Saturday along with other unspecified means were used to destroy the tunnel.

The strikes occurred within the Gaza Strip, while further means were used in Israeli territory.

The tunnel began east of the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, crossed into Israel some 180 meters, then continued into Egypt for an unspecified length, with no exit point detected, he said.

Mr. Conricus said Israel had coordinated with Egypt on the operation.

The tunnel stretched a total length of around a kilometer and a half, he said.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: “Destroying the network of offensive tunnels is an essential component in our policy of systematically damaging the strategic abilities of Hamas.”

“The message to the Gaza leadership and residents is clear — invest in life and not burial tunnels,” Lieberman said in a statement.

Israel says it has been developing a new method to identify and destroy such tunnels, though it does not comment on details.

It is also building an underground wall in the area around the Gaza Strip to stop such tunnels. — AFP

PLDT, Globe wary of government’s plan to reallocate frequencies

By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo, Reporter

PLDT, Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc. are wary of the plan of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to ensure a more “equitable” allocation of frequencies in the telecommunications industry, particularly when a third player comes in.

PLDT Chairman, CEO and President Manuel V. Pangilinan said the public should “give careful attention” to the possible reallocation of frequencies, adding the 700 megahertz (MHz) spectrum acquired by PLDT and Globe from San Miguel Corp. in 2016 are already being “extensively used.”

“That’s a serious matter of public interest. I think we should give careful attention to that particular subject matter. So far as we’re concerned, we are clearly using extensively the frequencies we acquired from San Miguel. They’re actively, extensively used by Smart, Sun, Talk and Text,” Mr. Pangilinan told reporters on Jan. 10.

Globe Senior Vice-President for Corporate Communications Yolanda C. Crisanto said the telecommunications company is using the 700 MHz spectrum “to serve the public.”

“As an incumbent, the number of customers we currently serve is our basis for the spectrum we have. Even in the buyout of the 700 MHz assets, we returned a good number of spectrum to the government on the basic principle that this resource should be used for public good. What the government should avoid from happening again is that any single entity holds a large number of spectrum and does not use it to benefit the public,” Ms. Crisanto said in a text message.

PLDT and Globe in 2016 acquired the telecommunications assets of SMC, including the coveted low-band 700 MHz.

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) earlier estimated only 12.8% of the spectrum will be available for a potential third player in the country.

This is why the DICT is looking at allocating the remaining uncommitted frequencies to a third player, which could possibly be structured as a consortium.

Mr. Rio told reporters last month the DICT does not favor distributing the remaining frequencies to many players, which might lead to buyouts by PLDT and Globe.

Public hearings for spectrum reallocation are expected to be conducted by the middle of February, Mr. Rio has said.

Mr. Pangilinan said PLDT welcomes the possible entry of a third player, and continues to prepare for this.

“But also the main job for us is to really build a superior network for fixed and wireless, to ensure the service is world-class. We said late last year that we would show that with the level of capex that we would announce, hopefully soon enough, that would be north of P50 billion, that is a historic high for PLDT, to demonstrate that we’re getting serious about not only our wireless network but also our fixed (line business),” Mr. Pangilinan told reporters.

Mr. Pangilinan said capital spending on fixed broadband will see “significant increments” compared to 2017.

Globe is keeping its capex flat for 2018, retaining the $850-million capex of 2017. The company said the budget will be used primarily to meet demand for bandwidth-intensive content.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Locator makes first export launch

PANABO CITY-PhilDutch Polymer, Inc, the first locator in the Anflo Industrial Economic (AIE) zone, recently made its first export launch. In an interview Frank R. Jaeckel said about 10 tons of resin granules (one container) were exported during the launch to main markets such as China and Vietnam. Co-owner Ferdie Y. Maranon said that, in terms of volume, they’re expecting to export 40 to 50 containers a month. PhilDutch is the first PEZA non-agricultural exporting company in the Davao Region, which started operating in November last year its processing plant for engineering polymers. Mr. Jaeckel said very soon they will start putting up their processing line. The factory will be fully operational by March. “We’re not yet finished completing the structure that will hold most of the equipment. We will employ about 75 people but as we grow, we might be employing more people from Mindanao,” he said. Co-owner Gregory S. Maranon for his part said; “This is a PEZA zone and as a PEZA rule you have to be 70% of your production will be for export.” He said they already have contracts with three companies in China. — Maya M. Padillo

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