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Entertainment News (09/17/24)

Thai sci-fi epic in Philippine cinemas

DIRECTOR CHOOKIAT “Matthew” Sakveerakul’s ambitious project, Taklee Genesis x Worlds Collide, will have its premiere in the Philippines on Sept. 18. The sci-fi epic charts an interstellar journey that reflects on time. It is also an opportunity to broaden the scope of Thai films. “I’m all for it but I wouldn’t call it the acme of my career. I’d rather it be a door which opens opportunities for my more ambitious projects in the future and for those who love sci-fi and challenging film projects to further develop themselves,” said Mr. Sakveerakul in a statement. Taklee Genesis x Worlds Collide is distributed in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures.

2nd round sale of Olivia Rodrigo concert tickets

FANS of American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo have flocked online in the first stage of ticket selling for her upcoming concert in the Philippines as part of her GUTS World Tour. Scheduled for Oct. 5 at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, ticket prices for the concert were uniformly set at P1,500, inclusive of taxes and fees. Proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Fund 4 Good, a non-profit organization dedicated to “an equitable and just future for all women, girls, and people seeking reproductive health freedom.” Another round of ticket sales will open on Sept. 29 over the counter at SM Tickets outlets.

Martin Nievera holds 42nd anniversary concert

TO MARK his 42nd year in the music industry, Martin Nievera will once again stage a show, The King 4ever. With it, the singer who earned the moniker “Concert King” aims to bring his audience back in time through music. The concert is scheduled for Sept. 27, 8 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City. Tickets, which range in price from P840 to P11,200, are available via TicketNet.

ACEL announces album launch and farewell concert

FILIPINO pop-rock singer-songwriter ACEL has announced that she will be starting a new life in the Netherlands early next year. The former Moonstar88 lead vocalist made the announcement on her social media accounts and extended an invitation to her final performance in a major concert, co-produced by GNN Entertainment Productions. Being And Becoming serves as a farewell concert, album launch, and gift to friends, loved ones, fans, and colleagues. The show will also highlight the advocacies of her NGO, Right Start, which works with children in disadvantaged communities. The concert will take place at the Teatrino Promenade in Greenhills, San Juan, on Oct. 11, 7 p.m. onwards. Tickets are now available via bit.ly/acelconcert.

Kai Del Rio releases comeback single

KAI DEL RIO, formerly known as Kai Honasan, has dropped her new single “Ang Nag-iisa” via Underdog Music. The bluesy pop-rock anthem serves as the Filipino singer-songwriter’s comeback single. It looks at a woman coming to terms with her own anger, pain, and disappointments in life. The track is produced by musician Karel Honasan, with Ira Cruz on guitar, Nikko Rivera on keyboard, and Rickson Ruiz on drums, with the help of Tower of Doom sound engineer Macoy Manuel. Ms. Del Rio will also drop the piano ballad, “Storm Like Me,” in the coming week as part of her non-consecutive double single release. The stripped-down track will provide a stark contrast to “Ang Nag-iisa,” which is out now on all digital music platforms worldwide.

Korean action crime film set for PHL premiere

THE action crime thriller I, The Executioner, directed by Ryoo Seung-wan, will be coming to Philippine cinemas on Sept. 25. The film was among this year’s Festival de Cannes and Toronto International Film Festival official selections. The sequel to 2015 box office hit Veteran, this new film stars Hwang Jung-min and Jung Hae-in as detectives of a Major Crimes Investigation Division discovering a murder’s links to past cases and opening up a potential serial killer investigation. It is distributed in Philippines through Warner Bros. Pictures.

Tate McRae releases new song and video

MULTI-PLATINUM pop singer Tate McRae has released her new song, “It’s ok I’m ok,” alongside the official music video via RCA Records. Written and produced with hitmakers Ryan Tedder, ILYA, and Savan Kotecha, the pop-infused offering is accompanied by a dance visual directed by Hannah Lux Davis and choreographed by Sean Bankhead. The high-energy music video follows an unbothered Ms. McRae strutting through city streets. “It’s ok I’m ok” is the first taste of new music following her 2023 album. It is now available on all digital music streaming platforms worldwide.

Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 to stream on Disney+

THE highest-grossing animated movie of all time, Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2, will be making its streaming debut on Disney+ on Sept. 25. The film returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for new emotions. Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira), who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, are forced to welcome Anxiety (Maya Hawke) to the headquarters of the mind. Inside Out 2 is directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen.

Joker: Folie à Deux to hit theaters in October

THE SEQUEL to 2019’s Academy Award-winning film Joker will be coming to Philippine cinemas on Oct. 2. Joker: Folie à Deux finds Arthur Fleck (played by Joaquin Phoenix) institutionalized at Arkham Asylum awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, he stumbles upon true love and finds the music that’s always been inside him. Written, directed, and produced by Todd Phillips, the film also stars Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The film will come to Philippine theaters via Warner Bros. Pictures.

Kim Won-shik makes runway debut, teases single

ON SEPT. 1, South Korean actor and singer Kim Won-shik made his runway debut at BENCH Fashion Week Holiday 2024, donning an all-white ensemble that included a sleek tank top, a sheer cover-up, and knee-length shorts. Following a rising career as a fashion icon in the Philippines, he is also back with his second single, “Hello My Love,” a ballad that aims to capture the essence of unwavering love and commitment. Set to be released in October, the song blends English and Korean lyrics.

Max Original film Salem’s Lot to debut in October

NEW LINE Cinema’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 bestselling novel Salem’s Lot will debut on Oct. 3 on HBO GO. The film reunites the producing teams behind the record-breaking horror franchises The Conjuring universe and the It films. Gary Dauberman writes, directs, and executive produces the film, with producers James Wan and Michael Clear for Atomic Monster, Roy Lee for Vertigo, and Mark Wolper.

Bestseller The Wild Robot gets animated film

TO CELEBRATE a story that transcends pages, Peter Brown’s #1 New York Times bestseller has been adapted for the big screen by DreamWorks Animation. The Wild Robot follows the story of Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), a robot stranded on an uninhabited island, and how it navigates the harsh environment and forges new relationships with wildlife. Writer-director Chris Sanders, known for his work on How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods, is at the helm of the film. It also features the voices of Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, and Stephanie Hsu. The Wild Robot opens in Philippine cinemas on Oct. 9.

T-bill yields ease to 5% levels before Fed meet

BW FILE PHOTO

By Aaron Michael C. Sy, Reporter

THE GOVERNMENT fully awarded Treasury bills (T-bills) at an auction on Monday as rates declined to below 6% amid market expectations that the US Federal Reserve would start its easing cycle this week.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P20 billion from debt, with bids reaching P77.899 billion, or more than thrice the amount on offer.

The demand was higher than the P64.515 billion in tenders at the Sept. 10 auction, where the government raised the volume.

“Investors are growing confident that yields are on a downward path,” a trader said in a text message.

The BTr borrowed P6.5 billion in 91-day T-bills as tenders for the tenor reached P28.624 billion. The three-month debt was quoted at an average rate of 5.743%, 9.7 basis points (bps) lower than last week. Accepted yields were at 5.72% to 5.774%.

The government also fully awarded P6.5-billion in 182-day T-bills as bids for the tenor reached P24.71 billion. The average rate for the six-month debt was 5.94%, 4 bps lower than last week. Accepted rates were 5.9% to 5.965%

The Treasury likewise raised P7 billion from 364-day T-bills as demand for the tenor reached P24.565 billion. The average rate of the one-year debt fell by 5.6 bps to 5.973% from last week. Accepted rates were 5.95% to 5.975%.

At the secondary market before the auction, the 91-, 182- and 364-day T-bills were quoted at 5.8616%, 5.9899% and 6.0118%, respectively, based on PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service (BVAL) Reference Rates data provided by the Treasury.

The mostly lower T-bill yields were due to market expectations of a 50-bp rate cut by the Fed at its Sept. 17-18 meeting, Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said in a Viber message.

The Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by 25 bps at each of the US central bank’s three remaining policy meetings this year, according to most economists in a Reuters poll that found only nine of 101 expected a half-percentage-point cut next week.

With inflation approaching the Fed’s 2% target and some signs of an economic slowdown, policy makers have made it clear “the time has come” to start reducing the federal fund rate, which has been held at 5.25%-5.5% since July 2023, Reuters reported.

After the release on Friday of a mixed job report for August, interest rate futures contracts briefly priced in more than a 50% chance of a half-percentage-point cut next week, but the chances have narrowed to about one in four. Rate markets are still pricing in more than 100 bps of cuts this year.

A strong majority of economists in the Sept. 6-10 poll, 92 of 101, expect a 25-bp cut when the US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concludes its two-day meeting next week.

Fifty-four of 71 economists polled said a 50-bp cut at any of the Fed’s remaining meetings this year was unlikely, including five who said it was very unlikely.

On Tuesday, the BTr will offer P30 billion in reissued 10-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) with a remaining life of nine years and four months.

The Treasury seeks to raise P195 billion from the domestic market this month — P80 billion through T-bills and P115 billion via T-bonds.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to help fund its budget deficit, which is capped at P1.48 trillion or 5.6% of economic output this year.

Netflix’s Squid Game is rip-off of 2009 film, lawsuit says

IMDB
IMDB

NETFLIX, INC. was accused by an Indian filmmaker of copying his 2009 movie for its popular Squid Game series as the company prepares to release the second season of the show later this year.

The filmmaker, Soham Shah, sued Netflix in federal court in New York on Friday, alleging that the show is a “blatant rip-off” of his Hindi-language film Luck, which tells the story of a “group of desperate, indebted people enticed to take part in a series of competitive games to win large sums of money” who later learn that losing the contests means death.

“The main plot, characters, themes, mood, setting, and sequence of events of Squid Game are strikingly similar to that of Luck, defying any likelihood that such similarities could be coincidence,” Mr. Shah said in the suit.

Squid Game made history in 2022 as the first foreign-language drama to win top honors at the Emmy Awards. The series was Netflix’s biggest launch ever, costing $21 million to produce, and viewers watched 1.65 billion hours of the show in just four weeks. It remained one of the service’s top shows for months and Netflix announced in July that the second season will be released on Dec. 26, with a third and final season coming in 2025.

“This claim has no merit,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “Squid Game was created by and written by Hwang Dong Hyuk and we intend to defend this matter vigorously.”

It’s not the first time Netflix has faced copyright claims over some of its most popular content. In August 2023, the Los Gatos, California-based company settled a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by a writer who claimed key elements of his earlier screenplay called Totem were used without his permission in Stranger Things.

Mr. Shah says that Netflix continues to infringe his copyrights for Luck with works derived from Squid Game, including a reality TV competition and an immersive experience set to launch in New York City next month. He says the show increased Netflix’s market value by more than $900 million.

Mr. Shah is seeking unspecified damages and an injunction preventing Netflix from infringing his copyrights by marketing and streaming Squid Game, profiting from the sale of merchandise and developing other shows and works that may infringe the copyrights in the future. — Bloomberg

Globe names new finance chief

GLOBE Telecom, Inc. has named a new chief financial officer (CFO) as Rizza Maniego-Eala prepares to retire from the position.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, the Ayala-led telecommunications company announced the appointment of Juan Carlo C. Puno as the new CFO, treasurer, and chief risk officer effective Oct. 16.

Mr. Puno currently serves as Globe’s corporate strategy officer and senior vice-president for corporate finance. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Business in five movements: A performance in leadership and legacy

FREEPIK

I have always been drawn to the arts, where storytelling comes alive through movement, music, and emotion — whether it’s a ballet, a play, or an experimental film. In my role on the Board of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), I’ve had the privilege of seeing many performances unfold on stages, each with its own rhythm and message. This year’s Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) International CEO Conference, with the theme “Business in Five Movements: Wisdom, Passion, and Inspiration Across Five Generations,” reminded me of those performances. Each generation, like a movement in a symphony, brings its own distinct contribution to the whole — shaping the future with wisdom from the past, passion in the present, and inspiration for what’s to come.

As we gathered, I couldn’t help but reflect on the parallels between a well-executed performance and the intricate choreography required to navigate today’s multi-generational workforce. Much like the art I hold dear, business leadership demands we find harmony across diverse voices and experiences, bringing them together to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

LEARNING FROM RESILIENCE
Ricky Isla of AirAsia shared how the airline’s journey from the challenges of the pandemic exemplifies resilience. By focusing on data-driven decisions, people-centric management, and the adaptability required in a fast-changing market, AirAsia has become one of Asia’s leading airlines. Ricky’s story resonated with many of us — reminding us that businesses thrive when they remain anchored in their people, using technology not as a replacement but as a tool to connect with the world in more meaningful ways.

EMBRACING CHANGE WITH PURPOSE
Sandeep Uppal, HSBC Philippines’ President and CEO, drove home the point that “change without execution is merely vision.” His message was clear: we live in a time of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), but true leaders not only anticipate change — they execute it with purpose. It was a powerful reminder that adaptability, flexibility, and resilience are critical in navigating this fast-paced business landscape. As Sandeep pointed out, it’s not just about surviving change; it’s about leading with intention and foresight.

THE TECHNOLOGY OF TOMORROW, THE ETHICS OF TODAY
Scott Likens of PwC USA took us on a journey through the Eight Emerging Technologies, from AI to blockchain and augmented reality. His insights into how generative AI is already reshaping industries were both exciting and cautionary. AI is undoubtedly transformative, but it also brings risks — from cybersecurity threats to misinformation. Scott’s message was a call to arms for business leaders: we must adopt AI with responsibility, ensuring that it serves humanity ethically while driving innovation.

SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
Eugenio Lemos, founder of Permatil, brought us back to the earth — literally. His work in water restoration and permaculture in Timor Leste has benefited over 700 communities, demonstrating the profound impact that sustainability initiatives can have. His call for governments to prioritize environmental conservation resonated deeply, especially as we grapple with climate change’s effects on global economies. Sustainability is no longer an abstract concept; it’s an urgent mission that must be embraced by both public and private sectors.

THE GLOBAL SHIFTS IMPACTING THE PHILIPPINES
Gonzalo Varela, Lead Economist at the World Bank, shed light on the three global shifts that are reshaping our economy: technological disruptions, geopolitical changes, and climate change. His analysis of how AI will displace some jobs while creating new ones was especially relevant for the Philippines. Varela’s message was clear: to remain competitive, we must not only adapt to these shifts but anticipate and leverage them. Businesses that invest in their workforce’s ability to navigate technological and environmental challenges will be the ones that thrive in the years to come.

One intriguing insight that emerged was the relevance of AI’s dependence on natural language processing. For Filipinos, this opens an interesting advantage. A mastery of the liberal arts and communications becomes a key asset in the race to excel in prompt engineering, one of the rapidly emerging skills within AI-driven industries. By honing these skills, Filipinos can carve out a niche in this global landscape, turning what might seem like a technological disruption into an opportunity for empowerment and innovation.

AI AND THE AGE OF CONTENT
And then came Matty Lin of TikTok Southeast Asia who urged us to rethink AI. We’ve moved from the Age of Knowledge and the Age of Social into the Age of Content. AI, he explained, is not here to replace human creativity — it’s here to enhance it. But it requires boldness and imagination to harness AI’s potential in a way that creates meaningful, impactful content.

At EON, we’ve been navigating our own journey with AI, exploring how it can revolutionize our workflow while ensuring its responsible use. We’ve developed cardinal rules that guide us in using AI ethically — leveraging it to optimize our processes while maintaining the human-centric values that are central to everything we do. Like Matty, we believe that AI is not a substitute for creativity but a tool to expand its possibilities. The future belongs to those who can balance the efficiency of AI with the irreplaceable spark of human imagination.

A CALL TO DREAM BIGGER
As the conference drew to a close, Secretary Frederick Go delivered a message from President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. encouraging us to “dream bigger, soar higher, and bring out the best in people.” It was a fitting conclusion to a day filled with wisdom from across five generations. The President’s words reminded us that leadership is not just about managing the present; it’s about inspiring the future.

Reflecting on the conference, I’m reminded of the performances I’ve witnessed at the CCP. Each movement in a performance builds on the one before, adding depth, complexity, and emotion. Business is no different. Each generation adds its own wisdom, passion, and energy to the movements of progress. As entrepreneurs, as leaders, as citizens of this dynamic world, we are tasked with conducting this symphony — creating harmony from the diverse voices around us and setting the stage for the generations to come.

The performance is ongoing. The next movement is ours to shape.

 

Junie S. Del Mundo is chair of the MAP International Relations Committee and chair and CEO of The EON Group.

junie.delmundo@eon.com.ph

map@map.org.ph

Resources of PHL financial system jump to P32 trillion

By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, Reporter

TOTAL RESOURCES of the Philippine financial system rose by 10.5% to P32.1 trillion at the end of July from a year earlier, central bank data showed, with enough cash, savings and credit lines available to people and organizations.

Banking resources alone climbed by 12.3% to P26.779 trillion year on year. Resources held by universal and commercial banks jumped by 12.4% to P25.101 trillion, while thrift banks’ resources rose by 10.1% to P1.114 trillion.

Month on month, financial system resources, which include funds and assets such as loans, deposits, capital and debt securities that can be converted into funds when needed, dipped by 0.7% from P32.332 trillion.

At end-July, the resources of digital banks surged by 29.3% year on year to P106 billion. The BSP only started collecting data from digital lenders in March 2023.

There were no updated data for rural and cooperative banks, as well as nonbank financial institutions.

Rural and cooperative lenders held P458 billion in resources at end-March, while the resources of nonbank financial institutions stood at P5.323 trillion. Nonbanks include investment houses, finance companies, security dealers, pawnshops and lending firms.

Institutions such as nonstock savings and loan associations, credit card companies, private insurance firms, the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System are also considered nonbank financial institutions.

The rise in financial system resources reflects the double-digit growth in bank lending amid easing inflation, said Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks rose by 10.4% year on year to P12.14 trillion. This was the fastest growth since 13.7% in December 2022.

“Further cuts in local policy rates, largely as a function of Fed rate cuts in the coming months, would lead to faster growth in loans, trading gains and other investment income of banks, all of which would lead to faster growth in banks’ total assets,” Mr. Ricafort said.

Fed fund futures showed traders are pricing in a 59% chance of a 50-basis-point (bp) cut at the September meeting, according to CME FedWatch. Futures priced a total of 125 bps in rate cuts in 2024, Reuters reported.

The US central bank is set to have its next meeting on Sept. 17-18.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. earlier signaled another 25-bp rate cut in the fourth quarter.

The Monetary Board cut rates by 25 bps at its meeting last month, bringing the benchmark rate to 6.25% from 6.5%.

“Continued growth in banks’ earnings — banks have been among the most profitable, if not the most profitable industry in the country for many years — also added to capitalization and total resources,” Mr. Ricafort added.

The Philippine banking industry’s combined net income rose by 4.1% year on year to P190.21 billion at end-June, data from the central bank showed.

‘You dig’: Spain lures film fans to sets of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Clint Eastwood in the cemetery scene in 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.) — IMDB

CARAZO, Spain — There are two types of people in the world, Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name tells a rival gunslinger who has no bullets. Those with a loaded gun, and those who dig. “You dig.”

Volunteers in northern Spain have taken his words to heart, painstakingly tending the freshly dug graves on sets featured in Sergio Leone’s classic 1966 spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to make the area a pilgrimage site for movie fans.

With its rolling hills of heather-strewn shrubland, the countryside near the town of Santo Domingo de Silos, some 200 km north of Madrid in Burgos province, stood in for the American Southwest in the epic set during the US Civil War.

The last instalment in the Dollar Trilogy that propelled actor Eastwood to international stardom is a fixture in most all-time best movie lists.

In 2015, a local cultural association launched a sponsorship drive to reconstruct the fictional Sad Hill Cemetery, site of a famed showdown between Eastwood’s Man with No Name and two rivals for a hoard of buried Confederate gold.

The cemetery now boasts more than 5,000 prop graves.

Kristine Guzman of the regional film commission said its refurbishment should sway fans to flock to what “will constitute a new place of pilgrimage.”

Angel Sanchez, 63, from Toledo in central Spain, told Reuters he was weighing whether to have his own ashes scattered there.

To the east of the cemetery lies the Betterville prison camp, where the gunslingers played by Eastwood and Eli Wallach are held after being captured by Union soldiers.

Betterville was rebuilt using juniper trunks burnt when a fire ravaged the surrounding natural park in 2022. The project received €50,000 ($55,000) in funding from the park and involved professional construction crews.

Last Sunday, reenactors marked the project’s completion.

Garbed in a Union officer’s uniform, Sergio Garcia, a founding member of the Sad Hill Cultural Association, unveiled a plaque commemorating the hundreds of local extras who partook in the original production.

At the cemetery, a man stood in a ready-to-draw pose as his portable speaker blared Ennio Morricone’s “Ecstasy of Gold” earworm from the film’s unforgettable score. — Reuters

Sony in talks to buy Pink Floyd music rights for about $500 million, FT reports

SONY MUSIC is in advanced talks to buy the rights to music recorded by legendary English rock group Pink Floyd for about $500 million, the Financial Times (FT)reported on Friday.

Pink Floyd has been riven by personal differences between band members, notably Roger Waters and David Gilmour, that has made reaching an agreement difficult, the FT said, citing several people close to the matter. — Reuters

‘Build Better More’ to further stoke demand for South Luzon properties 

COLLIERS PHILIPPINES executives with Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr. — ALFRED VALENCIA

THE PHILIPPINE property is likely to benefit greatly from the government’s massive infrastructure push. The “sustained, strategic, and on schedule” infrastructure implementation is a plus for the property sector that is still recovering from the adverse impacts of the pandemic. Major projects are heading south of Luzon, that’s why we see the region benefiting from the national government’s “Build Better More” initiative. 

This pledge to improve infrastructure connectivity is one of the major growth drivers for the property market of the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas (CALABA) corridor which I highlighted during the Colliers Philippines’ South Luzon Property Market Briefing held at Brittany Hotel in Villar city on Aug. 27.  Colliers Philippines partnered with Brittany and Villar city for our first ever South Luzon-focused property briefing.

Colliers Philippines believes that sustained infrastructure implementation will play a crucial role in booting land and property values in South Luzon. The government’s commitment to accelerate decentralization and infrastructure implementation will be key in further raising the region’s attractiveness and competitiveness. This should also facilitate the inflow of more foreign investments, particularly those funneled into the property sector. 

METRO MANILA SUBWAY’S GARGANTUAN ECONOMIC BENEFITS
While the multibillion-peso project will only cover Metro Manila, we are optimistic that the subway will have tangential positive impact on South Luzon’s property market. The Department of Transportation (DoTr) recently announced that the project has made ‘significant progress’ in its construction. According to the DoTr, the project has reached nearly 15% of its target completion as of May 31, 2024. There is no doubt that the country’s first underground railway system holds a lot of promise for the improvement of mass transportation in Metro Manila and we see the positive impacts spilling over to neighboring regions including CALABA. 

NLEX-SLEX CONNECTOR TO FURTHER EASE CONNECTIVITY
The project is an eight-kilometer expressway that connects C3 Road in Caloocan to PUP Manila and Skyway Stage 3. With a budget of P23.3 billion, the project aims to improve access between Metro Manila and Northern and Southern Luzon provinces and benefit employees and residents in these regions. The remaining section up to Santa Mesa is under construction and is projected to be completed by the end of 2024. 

SOUTH COMMUTER RAILWAY TO BUOY PROPERTY DEMAND IN THE SOUTH
The South Commuter Railway is a 55-kilometer project connecting Metro Manila to Laguna. The project involves three civil contract packages consisting of railway viaduct structures and elevated stations at Alabang and Muntinlupa, San Pedro, Pacita, Biñan, and Santa Rosa, and Cabuyao, Banlic, and Calamba. About 600,000 passengers are expected to be served daily by the railway and will provide less than two hours of end-to-end travel time. According to government and private sector sources, the project is expected to be completed in 2028. 

LRT-1 CAVITE EXTENSION PROJECT TO EXTEND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OUTSIDE METRO MANILA
The LRT-1 Cavite Extension is a 11.7-kilometer railway extension that can accommodate up to 800,000 passengers per day and reduce travel time from Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite in just 25 minutes.  According to government sources, the first phase of the railway has a progress rate of 98% as of April 2024 and will be completed by the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024. Phase 1 will span 6.7 kilometers and will connect the existing LRT-1 Baclaran Station to five new stations namely Redemptorist, MIA, Asiaworld, Ninoy Aquino, and Dr. Santos. Meanwhile, Phase 2 of the project includes the construction of Las Piñas and Zapote stations, while the final phase and the last stop of the Cavite Extension is the Niog Station. 

CAVITE-LAGUNA EXPRESSWAY TO EXPEDITE FOSTERING OF INCLUSIVE GROWTH
Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) is a four-lane expressway connecting CAVITEX and SLEX. The project will start from the CAVITEX in Kawit, Cavite and end at the SLEX-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna. The 3.9-kilometer Silang Interchange segment opened in November 2023. The interchange can cater to 5,000 motorists daily and offers a faster route to Silang town and Tagaytay City. In 2025, CALAX will further expand to a total of 45 kilometers and will connect to the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) in Kawit. 

MANUFACTURING A MAJOR PLANK OF SOUTH LUZON’S ECONOMY
A major driver of the region’s economic growth is its manufacturing sector. In fact, the industrial sector accounted for 50% of the region’s economy in 2023. This indicates that manufacturing is one of the South Luzon region’s major pillars and long-term growth will hinge on this subsegment.

The CALABA region continues to attract major investors that export electronic products and other high-value manufactured items to major Asian and western economies. Japanese firms continue to gravitate towards the south and this has been enticing property firms to expand residential and industrial footprint especially in the CALABA corridor. 

A more dynamic manufacturing sector should be beneficial to the Southern Luzon region as it houses expansive industrial parks. The region continues to attract global manufacturing players due to its skilled manpower.

TAPPING SOUTH LUZON’S MASSIVE UPSIDE POTENTIAL
Colliers believes that the CALABA region’s property market will only continue to expand in the years to come. Hopefully, a cargo rail will also be lined up in the near future as this will further boost the competitiveness and attractiveness of south Luzon’s property market, including its industrial subsegment. 

All these efforts should be complemented by the government’s push to ease business registration processes especially as this is an important step in raising the Philippines’ competitiveness as an industrial hub in Southeast Asia. An improving infrastructure connectivity supported by an aggressive push to decentralize and simplify business registration should be a plus for the south Luzon property market. 

Indeed, there’s a lot of property upside down south (Luzon)!

 

Joey Roi Bondoc is the director and head of Research of Colliers Philippines.

joey.bondoc@colliers.com

Breaking our plastics habit is easier said than done

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Naja Bertolt Jensen from Unsplash

COULD our unshakeable addiction to plastics be broken?

That’s certainly the hope of activists.

The US — birthplace of the modern polymers industry, and the biggest producer of its key feedstocks, oil and gas — has joined a bloc supporting a worldwide treaty capping plastics production. That could make a United Nations meeting in South Korea in November into a turning point in the material culture of humanity. The harder challenge will be ensuring that an agreement is workable.

Whichever way you look at it, a mountain of waste polymers is likely to be one of the most lasting monuments of the 21st century. We produce some 400 million metric tons of plastics year in, year out. Except for the roughly 9% that’s recycled and 12% that’s incinerated, all of it ends up somewhere in the environment, whether in a landfill or scattered through our streets, soil, and oceans. Do everything feasible to stop that runaway train and we might cut output by about 40% by 2040, according to one influential study. Even such an ambitious scenario would leave more than 10 billion tons of waste by mid-century. How you feel about that depends on how you weigh the contradictory evidence about the costs and benefits of plastics. It’s not enough to point at a large number and worry about it: Each year we manufacture four billion tons of cement, two billion tons of steel, pump 4.5 billion tons of oil from the ground, and release 35 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Whether you consider that a problem depends on whether you think the waste is damaging (like CO2) or largely harmless, like concrete.

Plastics, furthermore, have real advantages over the alternatives. They’re light, largely inert, and in many cases do less environmental damage than metal and glass (whose carbon footprint tends to be higher) and even paper (whose effluent pollutes fresh water). Packaging, the main bogeyman for consumers, only comprises about 31% of the plastics we consume. The rest is split between a dizzying array of uses, from water pipes to car dashboards, domestic appliances, clothing, and medical devices. Our reflexive dislike of polymers blinds us to the countless ways modern life would be impossible without them.

All that said, with each passing year we see more studies showing how plastics are accumulating in the natural environment and the tissues of humans, animals, and plants. Hard evidence of the harm this causes is scant, but the pathways are well understood — from toxic additives that can be leached out over time, to pollutants absorbed in the environment the way static picks up dust, and then released deep inside the body. Few regret the precautionary approach that previous generations took in the face of early evidence about the harmful effects from tobacco, ozone-depleting chemicals, or greenhouse gases. Given the immense difficulty we will have reining in our polymer habit, a similarly proactive policy makes sense.

What would a global cap on plastics production look like? It’s unlikely to be the most important part of any upcoming treaty. The setting of international standards to eliminate toxic additives like BPA and phthalates (used to make polymers, respectively, more rigid and more flexible) will likely make the biggest difference to human and animal health. Efforts to standardize production processes to ease recycling will have more of an impact on the environment. Support for waste management in fast-growing emerging economies will have the largest bearing on marine pollution. A hard cap, however, could be the sort of difficult-to-achieve target that concentrates minds and unlocks human ingenuity.

Those reductions shouldn’t be impossible to achieve. Most would argue that Japan and South Korea have comparable living standards to the US, but the latter consumes two-and-a-half times as much plastics per capita. If the world as a whole could reduce our usage to roughly the level China sees today and increase reuse toward the rates at which the European Union recycles polymer packaging, we might hold production of new plastics below 500 million tons a year.

That might not sound like much, but it would still be a phenomenal achievement, especially when put against forecasts by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development that we might be heading to more than double those levels.

If you think it’s been hard dethroning fossil fuels’ centrality to our energy system, be prepared for many decades of struggle. Electricity from wind, solar, batteries, and nuclear power provides a compelling alternative to coal, gas, and oil. There are few substitutes waiting in the wings that could repeat that trick with polymers. Plastics are woven through the fabric of modern life quite as intricately as their waste materials are scattered through the natural environment. It won’t be easy to replace them, but the first step is to try.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Analysts expect better second half for SMIC

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) is expected to have a better second half as its retail business is projected to benefit from higher consumer spending, the conglomerate said on Monday, citing reports from analysts.

“There was notable recovery in consumer spending in discretionary items such as fashion and home in the second quarter,” Philippine Equity Partners, Inc. Research Analyst Russ Vasilius Toribio was quoted as saying in the press statement e-mailed by SMIC.

During the second quarter, SMIC said that sales in the fashion segment rose by 10.5% year on year, led by back-to-school shopping, while home segment sales grew by 4.6% annually due to warmer weather.

“Moderating inflation increases the purchasing power of consumers, which will drive growth in retail and leisure business,” Mr. Toribio said.

Gilbert Y. Lopez, Macquarie Capital Securities (Philippines) research head, said SMIC’s key businesses “typically have a seasonally stronger second half.”

He added that SMIC’s first-half net profit, which rose by 10% to P40.2 billion, was ahead of the brokerage firm’s forecast but in line with available full-year consensus.

Mr. Lopez noted the sequential improvement in earnings across all of SMIC’s major businesses in retail, banking, and property.

He also mentioned the improvement in retail sales, which reflected consumption recovery. The standout was the health & beauty segment of SM Retail, which grew 16% year on year for both the second quarter and the first half.

SMIC’s retail operations consist of grocery stores, department stores, and specialty retail stores. It also has a presence in the property sector via SM Prime Holdings, Inc., which has interests in malls, residences, offices, hotels, and convention centers, as well as tourism-related property developments.

The conglomerate is also in the banking segment via BDO Unibank, Inc. and China Banking Corp.

On Monday, SMIC shares rose by 0.9% or P8.50 to end at P948.50 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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