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Love, Purpose, Impact: The leadership principles of Zephaniah ‘Khalid’ Mesa at KPC BALL 2025

Zephaniah “Khalid” Mesa

At the grand celebration of the KPC BALL 2025: Celebration of Breakthroughs and Success, one of the evening’s most moving moments came when Zephaniah “Khalid” Mesa took the stage. Held at the prestigious Okada Manila in honor of KPC’s 5th anniversary, the event paid tribute to the Top 100 Importers whose breakthroughs drive the country’s economic growth. But beyond accolades and milestones, the night became a testament to purpose-led leadership.

Mr. Mesa, the visionary behind thriving ventures such as Zion Philippines, Pablings Barbershop, and Hope Urban Villa, Inc., offered more than just a success story — he shared his vision of  truth. “Meeting God in 2021 changed everything,” he said. “From that point on, it was no longer just about business — it was about building lives, restoring hope, and honoring Him in all that I do.”

He spoke with candor and conviction, reflecting on how his faith became the foundation of his leadership. For Mr. Mesa, real breakthroughs don’t just happen in boardrooms — they begin in the heart. His approach, rooted in love, empathy, and accountability, has reshaped the way he builds companies and uplifts communities.

Beyond his business ventures, Mr. Mesa also leads with impact. He founded Veryfyd, a platform designed to create a safer, more authentic online space by fighting scams and fake accounts. Through his Change Life Cares Foundation, Inc., he supports scholars and organizes outreach efforts such as feeding programs and medical missions. As the head of Lawyers for Christ (LFC), he empowers legal professionals to provide justice for those who need it most.

Mr. Mesa’s message deeply resonated with the event’s theme — a Celebration of Breakthroughs and Success — reminding everyone in the room that true breakthroughs aren’t just measured in numbers or titles, but in how many lives are touched along the way.

In a ballroom filled with industry giants, strategic minds, and accomplished achievers, it was Mr. Mesa’s heartfelt call to lead with love that left the most lasting impression. His words reminded everyone that leadership, when grounded in faith and compassion, becomes a force for transformation — not just in business, but in life.

 

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Indonesia to propose $10 billion US energy imports increase in tariff talks

STOCK PHOTO | Image by jorono from Pixabay

JAKARTA – Indonesia will propose increasing its imports of crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas from the United States by around $10 billion as part of its tariff negotiations, energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia told local media on Tuesday.

Indonesian officials are set to leave for Washington later on Tuesday for negotiations over proposed U.S. trade tariffs.

In total, Indonesia plans to buy U.S. goods worth $18 billion to $19 billion as it seeks to eliminate its trade surplus with the U.S. and avoid a threatened 32% tariff on its exports.

Bahlil said the energy ministry recommended increasing the LPG import quota for the U.S., as well as importing more U.S. crude, to help reach the target.

To make room, Indonesia would need to cut LPG imports from other origins, Putra Adhiguna, managing director at thinktank Energy Shift Institute, said, adding it could start by reducing by 20%-to-30% its LPG imports from non-U.S. sources, depending on existing contracts.

Kpler data show Indonesia imported 217,000 barrels per day of LPG last year, around 124,000 bpd of which came from the U.S. Around 23,000 bpd were imported from Qatar, while United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia each contributed around 20,000 bpd.

Indonesia also imported around 306,000 bpd crude oil last year, with Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Angola as the top suppliers, Kpler data showed. Around 13,000 bpd were imported from the U.S.

Asked about the U.S. LPG import proposal, a spokeperson at state energy firm Pertamina, the biggest LPG retailer, said the company is conducting reviews of its imports and awaiting instructions from the government. – Reuters

Nvidia faces $5.5 billion charge as US restricts chip sales to China

FILE PHOTO: The logo of technology company Nvidia is seen at its headquarters in Santa Clara, California February 11, 2015. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/File Photo

Nvidia on Tuesday said it would take $5.5 billion in charges after the U.S. government limited exports of its H20 artificial intelligence chip to China, a key market for one of its most popular chips.

Nvidia’s AI chips have been a key focus of U.S. export controls as U.S. officials have moved to keep the most advanced chips from being sold to China as the U.S. tries to keep ahead in the AI race. After those controls were implemented, Nvidia began designing chips that would come as close as possible to U.S. limits.

Nvidia shares were down about 6% in after-hours trading.

The H20 is currently Nvidia’s most advanced chip for sale in China and is central to its efforts to stay engaged with China’s booming AI industry. Chinese companies including Tencent, Alibaba and TikTok parent ByteDance had been ramping up orders for H20 chips due to booming demand for low-cost AI models from startup DeepSeek, Reuters reported in February.

While the H20 chip is not as fast at training AI models as Nvidia’s chips for sale outside China, it is competitive with some of those chips at a step known as inference, where AI models serve up answers to users. Inference is fast becoming the biggest part of the AI chip market. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang last month argued that Nvidia is well positioned to dominate that shift.

But Nvidia on Tuesday said that the U.S. government is restricting H20 sales to China because of the risk that the chips could be used in a supercomputer. While the H20 has lower computing capabilities than other Nvidia chips, its ability to connect to memory chips and other computing chips at high speeds is still high.

Those memory and connectivity aspects could make the H20 useful in building supercomputers in China, and the U.S. has placed restrictions on selling chips for use in supercomputers in China since 2022. The Institute for Progress, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday argued for restricting the H20 chips, writing that Chinese firms were likely already building such systems.

“At least one of the buyers, Tencent, has already installed H20s in a facility used to train a large model, very likely in breach of existing controls restricting the usage of chips in supercomputers exceeding certain thresholds. DeepSeek’s supercomputer used to train their V3 model is also likely in breach of the same restrictions,” the group wrote.

Nvidia said on Tuesday that the U.S. government informed it on April 9 that the H20 chip would require a license to be exported to China and on April 14 told Nvidia those rules would be in place indefinitely.

It is unclear how many, if any, of those licenses the U.S. government might grant.

Nvidia declined to comment beyond its filing. The U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees U.S. export controls, did not immediately return a request for comment.

The $5.5 billion in charges are associated with H20 products for inventory, purchase commitments and related reserves, Nvidia said.

The news comes as Nvidia said on Monday it was planning to build AI servers worth as much as $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years with help from partners such as TSMC, in step with the Trump administration’s push for local manufacturing. – Reuters

UNICEF projects 20% drop in 2026 funding after US cuts

REUTERS

UNITED NATIONS – UNICEF has projected that its 2026 budget will shrink by at least 20% compared to 2024, a spokesperson for the U.N. children’s agency said on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump slashed global humanitarian aid.

In 2024, UNICEF had a budget of $8.9 billion and this year it has an estimated budget of $8.5 billion. The funding for 2025 is “evolving,” the UNICEF spokesperson said.

“The last few weeks have made clear that humanitarian and development organizations around the world, including many U.N. organizations, are in the midst of a global funding crisis. UNICEF has not been spared,” said the spokesperson.

UNICEF did not specifically name the U.S., but Washington has long been the agency’s largest donor, contributing more than $800 million in 2024. Since UNICEF was established in 1946, all its executive directors have been American.

“At the moment, we are working off preliminary projections that our financial resources will be, at a minimum, 20% less, organization wide, in 2026 compared to 2024,” said the UNICEF spokesperson.

Since returning to office in January for a second term, Mr. Trump’s administration has cut billions of dollars in foreign assistance in a review that aimed to ensure programs align with his “America First” foreign policy.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last week that it will cut 20% of its staff as it faces a shortfall of $58 million, after its largest donor, the United States, cut funding.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also last month said he is seeking ways to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis.

UNICEF has implemented some efficiency measures but “more cost-cutting steps will be required,” said the spokesperson.

“We are looking at every aspect of our operation, including staffing, with the goal of focusing on what truly matters for children: that children survive and thrive,” the spokesperson said. “But no final decisions have been taken.” – Reuters

UK’s highest court to rule on definition of ‘woman’ under equality laws

JARED RICE-UNSPLASH

LONDON – The United Kingdom’s top court will issue a ruling on Wednesday on the legal definition of a woman under equality laws, a case that could have far-reaching implications for the fractious debate over transgender rights.

The Supreme Court will give its judgment on whether a trans woman with a gender recognition certificate (GRC), a formal document which gives legal recognition of someone’s new gender, is protected from discrimination as a woman under Britain’s Equality Act.

Campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS) argues those rights should only apply based on a person’s biological sex, and is challenging guidance issued by the devolved Scottish government over a 2018 law that was designed to increase the proportion of women on public sector boards.

Scottish ministers’ guidance on that law stated that a trans woman with a full GRC is legally a woman. The Scottish government argues that the British parliament had intended that this should be the case under equality legislation.

Critics argue that, if upheld, such a definition could impact single-sex services for women such as refuges, hospital wards and sports.

Transgender campaigners say if the court rules in favor of FWS, it could lead to discrimination against those with gender recognition certificates, especially over employment issues.

The FWS case was rejected in the Scottish courts, leading to the Supreme Court appeal, with both sides anticipating that Wednesday’s ruling could be complicated.

 

CHALLENGES TO TRUMP ORDERS

The landmark British case is the latest example of the wider debate around transgender rights ending up before the courts.

In the United States, legal challenges are underway after President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders which include barring transgender people from military service.

FWS lawyer Aidan O’Neill told the Supreme Court in November that the argument that the use of woman and man in the equality act referred to ‘certificated sex’ was “just wrong”, and should be understood in the “ordinary, everyday language” sense.

Lawyers representing the Scottish government, however, said the guidance was lawful and that a trans woman with a full gender recognition certificate is a woman under the law.

Several human rights organizations intervened in the appeal, with Amnesty International backing the Scottish government and lesbian groups such as LGB Alliance supporting FWS.

In 2022, Scotland’s parliament passed reforms to make it easier for transgender people to change their legal gender, including removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and lowering the minimum age to 16 from 18.

But Britain’s Westminster government blocked the law and the Scottish government later dropped a challenge to that decision. – Reuters

Biden reemerges to defend Social Security as Trump cuts agency staff

REUTERS

WASHINGTON – Former Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday made his first major speech since leaving the White House in January, defending the Social Security Administration as the Trump administration cuts agency staff and shutters some of its offices.

The speech in Chicago to disability advocates was a major reemergence by Biden onto America’s political landscape, as President Donald Trump‘s Department of Government Efficiency, run by tech billionaire Elon Musk, makes massive cuts to the federal workforce.

“Social Security is more than a government program. It’s a sacred promise we made as a nation,” said Biden. “We know just how much Social Security matters to people’s lives.”

The SSA pays out $1.4 trillion in benefits to 73 million elderly and disabled Americans annually. Mr. Trump repeatedly pledged during his election campaign not to touch Social Security benefits.

Members of the DOGE team have been inside the agency since February where leadership has pledged to cut at least 7,000 staff and shutter offices, triggering fears of longer lines, longer wait times and benefit disruptions.

In March a federal judge said the SSA likely violated privacy laws by giving Musk’s aides “unbridled access” to the data of millions of Americans inside the agency’s networks, and ordered a temporary halt to further record sharing. The case continues.

“President Trump is absolutely certain about protecting Social Security benefits for law-abiding tax-paying American citizens and seniors who have paid into this program. He will always protect that program,” Karoline Leavitt, Mr. Trump’s White House press secretary, told reporters before Biden’s speech. – Reuters

Students more prepared for PISA according to DepEd

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

In the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), fifteen-year-old students from the Philippines ranked 77th among 81 countries. The report highlighted the weaknesses of the Filipino participants in mathematics, reading, science, and creative thinking. 

The Department of Education (DepEd) said it had prepared Filipino students better for the 2025 PISA in order to avoid the same results from 2022.

“Noong 2022 walang preparasyon, nagalit mga tao… [People were angry in 2022 because of the lack of preparedness…],” Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara told reporters in Filipino at the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the department and the Special Olympics Pilipinas. 

In a statement, DepEd said their preparations for this year’s PISA will serve as a ‘benchmark’ for future programs and other international large-scale assessments (ILSAs).  

“We prepared new types of exam questions, we prepared for critical thinking. It’s not just math or science, we have combined the questions,” Mr. Angara said. 

“We taught the students how to use laptops because in 2022 they did not know how to use them. They were rattled and did not finish the exam,” he added. 

To further show preparedness, the department said the schools with logistical gaps in testing centers, laptops, and Internet access were given maintenance and augmentation funds. Teachers were also assessed through its education technology (edtech) partners Khan Academy Philippines and Frontlearners. 

“Our goal here is a more robust and equitable testing environment,” Mr. Angara said in a press release. “We must learn from the gains of this exercise and scale it for future initiatives.”

The department completed the participation of around four million Filipino students for PISA 2025 on April 11 and will ‘welcome’ the results in September 2026. – Almira Louise S. Martinez

Philippines, China accuse each other of dangerous moves in disputed South China Sea shoal

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

BEIJING/MANILA – China and the Philippines accused each other on Tuesday of dangerous maneuvers in a hotly disputed shoal in the South China Sea, in the latest confrontation over the waterway.

A Chinese coast guard vessel sped up and maneuvered on Monday to block the navigation route of a Philippine vessel around 36 nautical miles off the Scarborough shoal, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

“This incident highlights the CCG’s non-compliance with the international regulations … and reflects a blatant disregard for safety at sea,” it said.

China’s coast guard said the Philippine vessel “dangerously approached” its ship and crossed its route, alleging it attempted to stage a false collision, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

“They illegally approached China’s normal sailing coast guard ship in a dangerous manner, threatening the safety of China’s personnel and ships,” Xinhua reported.

Tensions between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea have escalated in the last two years, including in the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing patch claimed by both as their territory.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, a vital waterway for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The Philippine Coast Guard deployed a plane on Tuesday to challenge a Chinese research vessel which it said was operating without authority in its northern waters near Taiwan.

Chinese research vessel Zhong Shan Da Xue was spotted around 78 nautical miles off the northern island province of Batanes, and did not respond to attempts by the Philippine Coast Guard’s Islander aircraft to establish radio communication.

“PCG aviators underscored on their radio challenge that the said Chinese vessel lacks the authority to conduct marine scientific research within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines,” the coast guard said. — Reuters

Globe wins Standard Insights Consumer Choice Awards for green network and environmental commitment

Globe has once again set the benchmark for sustainability in the local telco industry, winning Standard Insights’ Consumer Choice Awards for Most Sustainable Telecommunications Network in the Philippines and Most Active Telecommunications Network for the Environment in the Philippines.

The Consumer Choice Awards employ a rigorous, research-driven, and unbiased process to capture consumer sentiment accurately and help them make informed decisions about businesses that best meet their needs.

Data is collected through an online survey conducted over a short period for real-time, up-to-date insights through digital cross-platform sourcing.

A total of 1,201 respondents aged 18 and above from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao participated in the survey conducted from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, 2025. The survey focused on individuals with at least one current mobile plan, either prepaid or postpaid.

“We are actively embedding sustainability practices in our operations, from greening our network to providing customers with ways to participate and contribute to social good and environmental conservation. These awards not only validate our ongoing efforts to reduce our environmental impact but also reflect our customers’ awareness and support to our sustainability initiatives,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe’s Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer.

Globe earlier won Standard Insights awards for its sustainability practices, having been proclaimed the Most Sustainability-Driven Network in 2023 and the Most Sustainable Brand in 2024.

One strategic way Globe reduces its environmental impact is by ramping up its efforts on renewable energy such as site solarization. This reduces the company’s reliance on coal-based electricity and diesel generators while maintaining reliable and efficient service. As of year end 2024, 53 sites were equipped with hybrid solar power solutions.

In addition, as of February 2025, 33 Globe offices and sites have fully transitioned to renewable energy, aligning with the company’s goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Reflecting this progress, Globe’s Valero Telepark has received a Special Award for Innovative Technology from the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency Excellence Awards 2024 for operating on 100% renewable energy and utilizing Artificial Intelligence to optimize compressor energy management.

Globe’s commitment to energy conservation and efficiency is demonstrated through its ISO 50001 certification, first received in 2022 and set for re-accreditation this year. This certification helps evaluate processes and systems to improve energy use and consumption across operations, and adopt technologies that contribute to efficiency

For consumers, Globe advances sustainability through initiatives such as EcoSIM, the Philippines’ first SIM made from 100% recycled materials, and the Device Trade-In Program, which enables customers to responsibly dispose of old devices in exchange for postpaid bill credits.

In addition, the Globe Rewards program enables customers to convert earned points into donations for environmental causes, supporting organizations such as the Hineleban Foundation, the Philippine Eagle Foundation, and Philippine Seatizens (Save Philippine Seas).

To learn more about Globe, visit https://www.globe.com.ph/.

 

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P135B raised from new 10-year bond

BW FILE PHOTO

By Aaron Michael C. Sy, Reporter

THE GOVERNMENT raised an initial P135 billion from the offering of its new 10-year fixed-rate Treasury notes it auctioned off on Tuesday under a new issuance format targeting institutional investors.

The amount raised was more than four times the initial P30-billion offering, as tenders reached P197.3 billion, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said in a statement after the auction.

The new Treasury bonds (T-bonds) fetched a coupon rate of 6.375%, resulting in an average rate of 6.286%, results of the rate-setting auction posted on the Treasury’s website showed.

Accepted bid yields ranged from 6% to 6.4%.

The coupon rate was 10.37 basis points (bps) higher than the 6.2713% seen for the 10-year notes based on PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates data as of April 15 published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website before the auction.

The BTr will continue to offer the notes to qualified dealers until April 24 at a minimum investment of P10 million and increments of P1 million after.

The issue date for the notes maturing in 2035 is scheduled for April 28.

“The extended offer period will allow for a larger volume than our regular auction. Thus, it will ensure liquidity,” National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza said in a Viber message.

The Treasury said the extended offer period is a first for a nonretail bond issuance, as it “seeks to establish a new avenue for building liquid benchmarks.”

“Demand was strong. Investors are looking to [buy] as inflation is low, which could lead to more rate cuts, so the rate was good to buy,” a trader said by phone.

The trader added that the coupon rate was within market expectations as it was at similar levels as secondary market rates.

The Monetary Board resumed its easing cycle last week, lowering the target reverse repurchase rate by 25 bps to 5.5%. Rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were also cut to 5% and 6%, respectively.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said expectations of easing inflation support the shift to a more accommodative monetary policy stance, adding that they are considering further rate cuts this year in “baby steps” of 25 bps at a time.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message that the coupon rate also matched the 10-year US Treasury yield which has been elevated lately due to the Trump administration’s tariff policies.

“I think the volume is good for BTr as it provides them cushion. We think this is close to their target volume. This puts less pressure on the shorter tenors, especially for five years and below,” another trader said in a text message.

The BTr could raise up to P200 billion from this offering to match the maturities this month at around P170 billion, and ahead of jumbo maturities in August, the trader added.

Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) are the joint lead issue managers, with BDO Capital & Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., and Security Bank Capital Investment Corp. as joint issue managers.

Qualified dealers for the new bonds include Asia United Bank, BDO Capital and Investment Corp., BDO Unibank, Inc., BPI Capital Corp., China Banking Corp., Citibank NA, CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp., DBP, Deutsche Bank AG, East West Banking Corp., The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., ING Bank NV, Maybank Philippines, Inc., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Bank of Commerce, Philippine National Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Standard Chartered Bank, Security Bank Corp., LANDBANK, and Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc.

The Treasury is looking to raise P245 billion from the domestic market this month — P125 billion via T-bills and P120 billion through T-bonds.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to help fund its budget deficit, which is capped at P1.54 trillion this year.

Cash remittances rise 2.7% in Feb.

A WOMAN looks for an overseas job at an agency in Manila in this file photo. Cash remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) coursed through banks increased by 2.7% to $2.72 billion in February. — PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

MONEY SENT HOME by migrant Filipinos rose by 2.7% year on year in February, the slowest in nine months, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Cash remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) coursed through banks increased to $2.72 billion from $2.65 billion in the same month in 2024.

The growth in February remittances was slower than the 2.9% rise in January, and the slowest since the 2.5% growth in June 2024.

Overseas Filipinos’ Cash Remittances

Cash remittances from land-based workers went up by 3% to $2.19 billion, while money sent home by sea-based workers inched up by 1.2% to $520 million

For the first two months of the year, cash remittances jumped by 2.8% to $5.63 billion, from $5.48 billion a year ago. The bulk came from land-based workers at $4.52 billion, up 3.2% from a year ago, while the rest came from sea-based workers at $1.11 billion, up 1% from a year ago.

“The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) mainly contributed to the increase in remittances in January-February 2025,” the BSP said.

The United States was the main source of cash remittances with a 40.9% share of the total so far this year. It was followed by Singapore (7.6%), Saudi Arabia (6%), Japan (5.2%), the United Kingdom (4.8%), the UAE (4%), Canada (3.2%), Taiwan (2.9%), Qatar (2.8%) and Hong Kong (2.6%).

Meanwhile, personal remittances, which include inflows in kind, rose by 2.6% to $3.02 billion in February from $2.95 billion a year ago.

Personal remittances from workers with contracts of one year or more increased by 2.8% to $2.37 billion in February, while those from workers with contracts of less than a year went up by 2% to $580 million.

In the January-February period, personal remittances grew by 2.7% to $6.27 billion from $6.1 billion a year earlier.

For the two-month period, personal remittances from workers with contracts of one year or more jumped by 2.9% to $4.89 billion, while those from workers with contracts of less than one year increased by 2.2% to $1.23 billion.

“The continued single-digit growth (in remittances) nevertheless is still a good signal/bright spot for the overall economy as an important growth driver, especially in terms of consumer spending, which accounts for nearly 75% of the Philippine economy,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.

“The net increase in the US dollar versus the peso by about 12% over the past three years would require the sending of lower amount of remittances to pay for the amount of expenses in pesos but higher prices since 2022,” he added.

The peso strengthened by 37 centavos to close at P57.995 per dollar on Feb. 28 from its P58.365 finish on Jan. 31.

“The modest remittance growth reflects a mix of seasonal normalization after the holiday surge and the impact of forex dynamics, particularly the stronger PHP in that period, which may have affected remittance behavior,” Philippine Institute for Development Studies Senior Research Fellow John Paolo R. Rivera said in a Viber message.

Mr. Rivera said slower global growth and “labor market adjustments” tempered the rise in remittances in February.

“Moving forward, remittances are likely to remain resilient, supported by stable overseas employment and the continued demand for OFWs. However, geopolitical risks, currency volatility, and potential slowdowns in advanced economies may keep growth moderate in the coming months,” he added.

The US government’s protectionist policies, as well as stricter immigration rules, may also weigh on remittances from US-based OFWs, Mr. Ricafort said.

“The Trump administration could tighten immigration rules in the US in an effort to create and protect more jobs for US citizens, thereby potentially slowing down OFW remittances from the US,” he said.

“Trump’s threats of higher tariffs/reciprocal tariffs and other America-first policies could also slow down global trade, investments, employment including some OFW jobs, and overall world economic/GDP growth, thereby also indirectly slowing down the growth in OFW remittances from other countries around the world.” — AMCS

Meralco franchise renewed for 25 years

THE FRANCHISE of Manila Electric Co. has been renewed for another 25 years. — PHILIPPINE STAR/RYAN BALDEMOR

By Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter

POWER distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has committed to delivering “stable, reliable, and affordable electricity” to its customers after its franchise was extended for another 25 years.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on April 11 signed into law the measure extending Meralco’s franchise for another 25 years, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Clarissa A. Castro said on Tuesday.

“We thank President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. for his invaluable support. We are grateful to the Senate and the House of Representatives for enacting this important measure,” Meralco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement.

“The renewal reflects a shared effort to ensure that Meralco continues to meet the evolving needs of consumers through innovation, operational excellence, and dependable service,” he added.

Mr. Pangilinan said the new franchise enables the company to implement “long-term energy infrastructure projects that will further improve the delivery of electricity to homes, businesses, and industries that fuel the country’s development.”

Meralco’s current franchise is set to expire in 2028.

With the extension, the company will have the authority to distribute power to Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and select areas in Batangas, Laguna, Quezon and Pampanga until 2053.

It has around eight million customers in 39 cities and 72 municipalities.

The House of Representatives approved the measure in November, while the Senate approved its version on final reading in February.

“With the continued trust of our leaders and stakeholders, we remain committed to transparency, regulatory compliance, and corporate social responsibility,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

“Meralco stands firm in its mission to support the government’s nation-building agenda, drive economic progress, and improve the lives and economic well-being of our people,” he added.

Asked to comment, Juan Paolo E. Colet, managing director of China Bank Capital Corp., said the passage of the law will allow Meralco to push ahead with its large capital expenditure (capex) plans to sustain profit growth.

“We are optimistic that the company will use the franchise extension as an opportunity to improve its services and lower the cost of electricity,” he said in a Viber message.

Based on its filing with the Energy Regulatory Commission, Meralco has proposed a capex of approximately P215.36 billion for its regulatory period spanning 2026 to 2029.

The power distributor said it aims to augment the capacity of its network, relocate assets required for the implementation of government infrastructure and third party-initiated projects, purchase nonnetwork assets necessary for the efficient operation of the electric distribution system, and deploy automation and technology projects.

“Although Meralco rates are relatively cheaper compared with the rest of the country, the distribution utility should be able to make electricity more competitive compared with our neighboring countries in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to attract more energy-intensive manufacturing businesses,” Peter Louise D.C. Garnace, an equity research analyst at Unicapital Securities, Inc., said via Viber.

Mr. Garnace said the company should continue investing in “indigenous and cleaner energy sources” to limit the country’s exposure to the volatility of fossil fuels.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by 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.

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