Home Blog Page 1476

Philex eyes fundraising for second phase of Silangan project

PHILEX Mining Corp. is eyeing further fundraising for the continued development of its Silangan mine project, its chairman said.

“Before we start commercial operations next year, we may consider starting phase two of the development, and who knows, we may do a follow-on in late 2025 or 2026,” Philex Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said on the sidelines of a stockholders’ meeting late Tuesday.

Mr. Pangilinan added that the company would focus on the first phase of the project before raising funds for the second phase.

“Once that is finished, then we will start with phase 2,” he said.

Phase one of Silangan covers the Boyongan deposit, which contains 81 million tons of mineable material. It is comprised of 0.67% copper and 1.13 grams of gold per ton, and it has a lifespan of 28 years.

The company said that once the Bayugo ore body is mined it could increase annual production to 6.5 million tons.

In February, the company said that it had completed its $170-million loan needed to begin operations of the company’s Silangan copper and gold mine in Surigao del Norte. It is expected to begin commercial operations by the first quarter of next year.

In 2021, the company placed the development cost at $224 million for an estimated 571 tons worth of mineral resources. The project will initially process 2,000 tons of ore per day until it reaches 12,000 tons, or four million tons annually, upon its completion.

The first phase of the Silangan mine is expected to start producing gold ore by December 2025 and copper ore during the first quarter of 2026.

Philex Mining is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and PLDT Inc.

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

Shares in Philex Mining closed at P2.65 apiece on Wednesday, down by 1.12%, or three centavos. — Adrian H. Halili

China leads the world in adoption of generative AI tools, survey shows

UNSPLASH

BEIJING — China is leading the world in adopting generative artificial intelligence (AI), a new survey shows, the latest sign the country is making strides in the technology that gained global attention after US-based OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched in late 2022.

In a survey of 1,600 decision-makers in industries worldwide by US AI and analytics software company SAS and Coleman Parkes Research, 83% of Chinese respondents said they used generative AI, the technology underpinning ChatGPT.

That was higher than the 16 other countries and regions in the survey, including the United States, where 65% of respondents said they had adopted GenAI.

The global average was 54%.

The industries surveyed included banking, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, and energy.

The results underscore China’s rapid progress in the generative AI field, which gained momentum after Microsoft-backed OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, prompting dozens of Chinese companies to launch their own versions.

Last week, a report by the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization showed China was leading the GenAI patent race, filing more than 38,000 between 2014 and 2023 against 6,276 filed by the United States in the same period.

While many leading international generative AI service providers, including OpenAI, face curbs in China, the country has developed a robust domestic industry, with offerings from tech giants such as ByteDance to startups such as Zhipu.

Enterprise adoption of generative AI in China is expected to accelerate as a price war is likely to further reduce the cost of large language model services for businesses.

The SAS report also said China led the world in continuous automated monitoring (CAM), which it described as “a controversial but widely-deployed use case for generative AI tools.”

This technology can collect and analyze vast amounts of data on users’ activities, behavior and communications, which can lead to privacy infringements as they are not aware of the extent of the data being collected or how it is used, said Udo Sglavo, vice-president of applied AI and modelling at SAS.

Mr. The algorithms and processes used in CAM are often proprietary and not transparent,” Mr. Sglavo added.

“This can make it difficult to hold the entities using CAM accountable for misuse or errors.”

He added, “China’s advancements in CAM contribute to its broader strategy of becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence and surveillance technologies.” — Reuters

Nuclear energy for economic growth

The Department of Energy (DoE) announced last Tuesday, July 9, that the “Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy” or the “123 Agreement” signed by the US and the Philippines in San Francisco on Nov. 16, 2023, came into force on July 2. It is a beautiful agreement because it provides for the safe and efficient use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes — in agriculture, healthcare, industry, and power generation applications.

On nuclear energy development in particular, DoE Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said that the Nuclear Energy Program-Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC) “is now finalizing the country’s nuclear energy program roadmap which outlines key targets that must be achieved for the successful use of nuclear energy for power generation. Under the 2023-2050 Philippine Energy Plan (PEP), the entry of nuclear power generation capacities is targeted in 2032 with at least 1,200 megawatts (MW), and additional 1,200 MW by 2035 and 2,400 MW by 2050.”

Thank you, Secretary Lotilla for this clear timeline — although I wish that the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) could be refurbished soon and start operation before 2030. And that micro modular reactors (MMR) and small modular reactors (SMR) would be given the green light while the BNPP is being refurbished, then large nuclear power plants be commissioned in the next decade.

Several Asian countries embraced nuclear energy many decades ago. Japan produced at least 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) of nuclear energy in 1968 while India did the same in 1970. China is a late comer, producing at least 1 TWh only in 1993. The most surprising is the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an oil-gas producing and exporting giant, which started building huge nuclear power plants of 1,345 MW capacity yearly for four years from 2012 to 2015. So, now it has 5,380 MW of nuclear power capacity. They started producing a little electricity in 2020, rising in succeeding years to 32 TWh in 2023 alone. Our BNPP had a capacity of only 620 MW and could have generated about 4.6 TWh of electricity every year.

The US and UK started using nuclear power in the 1950s, Russia in the early 1960s. France remains the biggest nuclear-powered country in Europe and is now the third largest in the world behind the US and China (see the table).

The decline from the peak nuclear/total generation ratio to 2023’s ratio is notable in the following countries: the UK which, from a peak of 27.4%, went down to 14.3% in 2023; Germany which went from 29% to 1.4%; Sweden, from 51% to 29%; Belgium, from 55% to 40%; Switzerland, from 41% to 32%; Japan, from 31% to 7.6%; and Taiwan, from 16% to 6.3%.

In contrast, India, South Korea, China, Pakistan, and the UAE keep raising their nuclear generation capacity yearly.

In the Philippines, two energy companies have made explicit plans to develop nuclear energy — Aboitiz Power (AP) and Meralco. Both are looking at the role of manpower training and education in nuclear engineering.

AP’s Vice-President for Corporate Affairs Ronald “Suiee” Suarez — who was with us in Toronto during the Philippines Nuclear Trade Mission to Canada last March, organized by the Embassy of Canada in Manila — made a good observation. He said that “when we visited McMaster University and Ontario Tech, they showed that educators are at the forefront of cultivating the talent pipeline of engineers and industry professionals who will either operate the nuclear technologies, run the business, or regulate the industry. The academe has the tools and know-how to push the envelope and present society with options for a broader application of nuclear science. In the developed world, beyond the generation of electricity, nuclear has been instrumental in the development of isotopes used in medicine, materials engineering, particle research, and industry, which benefit the greater economy.”

On July 1, Meralco officially introduced the pilot batch of scholars under its Filipino Scholars and Interns on Nuclear Engineering (Fission) program. Five Meralco engineers will participate in the two-year nuclear engineering program abroad, at the University of Illinois Urbana in the US, and at Harbin University in China. After completion of the academic program, the Fission scholars will be sent to nuclear technology companies for their internships. When they return to the Philippines in 2028, they will be reintegrated into Meralco and be assigned to its nuclear power generation unit.

Meralco Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho is optimistic. He said that “Fission is a major step in accelerating the education and training of technical and regulatory talents in the highly specialized field of nuclear engineering. This manifests Meralco’s steadfast commitment in continuously developing the workforce in the energy sector.”

Meralco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan is more emphatic, saying that “This country — and Meralco — should be prepared for and committed to nuclear energy. Supporting aspiring energy professionals will help build a talent pipeline of nuclear energy experts, paving the way for a smarter and greener future for our country.”

Very good, gentlemen. We need fast growth, sustained fast growth, in the Philippines. Meaning that power demand will rise fast, and high energy-density nuclear power can easily fill the big supply gap. Intermittent renewables like wind-solar and bulky gas plants will have a hard time providing the huge baseload power needed for the fast-rising power demand.

 

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. Research Consultancy Services, and Minimal Government Thinkers. He is an international fellow of the Tholos Foundation.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Asialink secures P125-million credit line from Korean bank

ASIALINK FINANCE Corp. has secured a P125-million credit line from KEB Hana Bank Global to help boost its lending resources, it said on Wednesday.

The credit line will help fund loans to small businesses, Asialink said in a statement.

“This breakthrough collaboration with a South Korean bank marks a vital step towards strengthening further Asialink’s diversification of funding sources for relending to the largely unbanked business sector,” Asialink President and Chief Operating Officer Eillen B. Mangubat said.

“The credit agreement between Asialink and Hana Bank is a testament to our commitment to enhancing Filipino lives through increased funding and sustainable growth,” KEB Hana Bank Manila Site General Manager Francis Koo said.

Asialink released over P12 billion in loans to new borrowers last year, it said.

It aims to disburse a combined amount of more than P40 billion in loans this year to small- and medium-sized businesses.

Micro, small and medium enterprises accounted for 99% of business establishments in the Philippines in 2022, government data showed.

Asialink is aiming to conduct an initial public offering by 2028 and expects its total capital to reach P30 billion by then.

As of April, its capital stood at P12 billion.

The company also aims to double its active customer base next year from the 100,000 recorded as of April. — A.M.C. Sy

Jailing of theater duo sends shockwaves through Russia’s artistic community

LONDON — Leading figures in Russian artistic and intellectual circles have expressed shock and dismay after a theater director and playwright were jailed for six years on charges of “justifying terrorism.”

Monday’s verdict by a Moscow court against director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, who maintained their innocence, had been all but certain as acquittal rates for serious crimes are near zero in Russia.

The pair were arrested in May last year for staging Finist, the Brave Falcon, a play that borrowed elements from a classic fairy tale to tell the story of Russian women who are lured to Syria and marry Islamic State (ISIS) fighters.

Their conviction is widely seen as the first occasion in modern Russia that artists have gone to jail solely for their art rather than for an explicitly political stance.

Russian opposition figures said the court ruling represents a widening of a Kremlin crackdown on free expression and shows no one is safe from criminal prosecution.

“The criminal case against Yevgenia Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk will go down in Russian history as one of the most shameful and disgraceful,” opposition politician Lev Shlosberg wrote on Telegram.

The pair’s conviction, he said, was “a reminder of the complete defenselessness of art in a state without rights.”

Asked by reporters about the court ruling, the Kremlin declined to comment.

Defense lawyer Kseniya Karpinskaya said she would appeal the guilty verdict and sentence following a six-week trial, but that she had “little hope.”

CULTURAL FIGURES FLEE ABROAD
Russian arts have been drained of much of their creative talent since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after which many top writers, musicians, and directors fled abroad.

Artists and human rights defenders inside and outside Russia have organized an open letter in support of Ms. Berkovich, 39, and Ms. Petriychuk, 44, that has garnered more than 16,000 signatures.

Supporters point out the irony that a play that won two of Russia’s top theater prizes at a festival supported, in part, by the culture ministry, is under fire from its justice system.

“They didn’t do anything wrong,” exiled Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov said at the Cannes Film festival in May. “They just staged a play that won a national theater award.”

Prosecutor Yekaterina Denisova argued that the women displayed positive opinions of ISIS and that the play did not sufficiently denounce radical Islamist ideologies.

Ms. Berkovich and Ms. Petriychuk said that while they had nothing against Islam, they were not Muslims and the play, whose main character is jailed for terrorism on her return to Russia, clearly condemned extremism.

“I staged the performance to prevent terrorism,” Ms. Berkovich told the court at the start of the trial. She said she had “nothing but condemnation and disgust” for terrorists.

Weeks before the trial, Ms. Berkovich and Ms. Petriychuk were added to Russia’s official list of “terrorists and extremists,” joining thousands of people and entities similarly designated in a crackdown on perceived subversive activity that intensified after the invasion of Ukraine.

Authorities launched the case after a pro-Kremlin theater actor — later a witness for the prosecution — denounced a staging of Finist, the Brave Falcon in his home city, Nizhny Novgorod, in social media posts.

The man, Vladimir Karpuk, said it was inappropriate to put on a play by an anti-war playwright following a Ukrainian attack on a bridge linking Russia and annexed Crimea.

Prominent journalist Ksenia Sobchak said it was a “disgrace” to Russia’s justice system to jail artists whose work “in fact exposes this terrorism rather than justifies it.”

“I am simply speechless,” she said. — Reuters

Philippine Merchandise Trade Performance (May 2024)

THE PHILIPPINES’ trade gap widened slightly in May, as exports and imports contracted on an annual basis, the statistics agency said on Wednesday. Read the full story.

Philippine Merchandise Trade Performance (May 2024)

PLDT completes VITRO data center structure

BW FILE PHOTO

PLDT Inc., through its unit ePLDT, Inc., has completed the structure of its 50-megawatt (MW) hyperscale VITRO Sta. Rosa, its biggest data center to date, the company announced on Wednesday. 

“VITRO Sta. Rosa is a landmark achievement for the PLDT Group and the Philippines. A lot of hyperscalers have already expressed their interest in co-locating in our facility,” ePLDT and VITRO, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Victor S. Genuino said in a statement. 

The structural completion of VITRO Sta. Rosa will pave the way for power integration and energization, ePLDT said. 

“With its structural completion, VITRO Sta. Rosa is completing another cornerstone in its development as it energizes the facility soon to welcome telcos, enterprises, and hyperscalers,” it added.

VITRO Sta. Rosa is said to be the country’s largest data center campus in the country, sitting on a five-hectare lot in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. According to its website, Vitro Sta. Rosa will have an initial capacity of 14 MW this year, which can be expanded to 50 MW once fully operational.

The Laguna data center is ePLDT’s 11th data center.

VITRO Sta. Rosa is designed to use less energy while also using the latest innovation in cooling and power redundancy — the highest network level with at least three fiber routes from PLDT and other telecommunication providers.

Earlier this year, PLDT said it was planning to scale up the capacity of its data centers.

The company said that its planned 12th data center may double the capacity of VITRO Sta. Rosa, while it is still in the site selection process for its 13th and 14th data centers. 

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

Evolution to drive Philippine digital economy’s growth

SNOWING-FREEPIK

THE PHILIPPINE digital economy is poised for further growth as platforms continue to evolve, driven by a young population and growing demand for online solutions, industry executives said.

“With the average age for Filipinos at 25, the growth of online payments, and consumer behavior wanting more convenience and more speed, we value time more,” Prosperna Chief Executive Office and Founder Dennis Velasco said during a panel discussion at KPMG’s Innovation Summit 2024 held on July 4.

“People are hungry to find more ways — not just via e-commerce — to save time and money,” he said.

Prosperna is an e-commerce platform that allows businesses to set up online stores to sell their products, accept payments, and book shipping.

Merchants and brands are embracing multi-channel commerce rapidly, Mr. Velasco added.

“Brands and products need to be everywhere — Facebook, Instagram, Lazada, Shopee, TikTok, — you name it,” he said. “Just like in traditional retail, instead of them having to input a lot of money on expensive rent, they can access more customers in multiple channels online.”

Payment gateway Dragonpay, for its part, found ways to integrate several payment methods into its platform and then offer a single application programming interface to merchants or the seller.

This is meant to help serve customers who do not have credit cards, Dragonpay CEO Dick Chiang said during the same discussion.

“We tried to solve the problem of financial inclusion by looking out there and figuring out what is everybody doing. Are they going to an LBC counter, Cebuana counter? Are they paying cash over the counter?,” Mr. Chang said.

Electronic platform GCash is built around problem-solving and providing consumers easier access to financial services, Mynt Chief Finance Officer Tek Olaño said. Mynt or Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc. is the parent firm of GCash.

“We always put the purpose of the company at the center of the project. We want financial innovation. We want financial health. We want to provide financial access to the Filipinos,” Mr. Olaño said.

“A lot of companies talk about artificial intelligence (AI) or wanting to be data-driven and customer-centric, but leadership makes a difference in embracing digital transformation,” Security Bank Corp. Senior Vice-President and Head of Data Science & AI Center of Excellence Criselda Q. De Sagun-Madrid said. — A.R.A. Inosante

New cardholders drive growth in credit cards

FREEPIK

THE PHILIPPINE credit card market continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2023, mainly driven by new cardholders, a study by TransUnion showed.

Total outstanding credit card volumes in the Philippines increased to 11.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 9.3 million in the same period in 2022, TransUnion said in a statement on Wednesday.

Credit card penetration, or the percentage of adults holding at least one credit card, reached over 15% of Filipino adults in the same period.

“Together, these trends represent a growth of around 20% in both overall volume and penetration rate in the last year,” it said.

TransUnion said its study’s findings were consistent with data from the Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP). CCAP data showed credit card spending increased by 39% to P853 billion in the first half of 2023, faster than the 29% increase in the comparable year-ago period.

“The trends in card originations, total volume, penetration, and spending all indicate a promising growth trajectory for the credit card market in the country,” TransUnion said.

“The credit card market in the Philippines will continue to experience growth as demand remains high, especially amongst younger consumers. Data from TransUnion clearly shows that the younger generation of Filipinos, particularly Gen Z, are quickly emerging as a cornerstone for future market growth. This generation places a higher importance on accessing credit and lending products to achieve their financial goals. As more Gen Z consumers reach adulthood, we expect their share of the credit market to continue increasing,” TransUnion Asia Pacific Principal of Research and Consulting Weihan Sun said.

The firm’s study showed that Gen Z Filipinos contributed significantly to the increase in credit card originations.

“The percentage share of overall originations among Gen Z Filipinos has more than doubled over the past five years — up from just under one in 10 (9%) in Q3 2019 to more than one in five (22%) in Q3 2023. This share will likely increase as more Gen Z consumers reach adulthood,” it said. “Gen Z Filipinos also comprised a greater share of the new-to-card segment of borrowers — they made up one-third (33%) of all new-to-card borrowers in 2023.”

Overall, new-to-card consumers accounted for 30% of all outstanding credit card balances during the first nine months of 2023, up from just 19% in 2019 or before the coronavirus pandemic.

Lenders can tap this market through value-added services such as reward points, installment payment facilities, and discounts associated with their card products, TransUnion said.

“While it’s an important factor for potential growth opportunities among lenders, bringing new-to-card consumers into the formal financial system can also drive greater financial inclusion by catering to a larger demographic of borrowers. To that end, TransUnion Philippines remains committed to finding innovative ways to use alternative data to help more consumers access the credit they need,” Mr. Sun said. 

“We are focused on helping Filipinos who were previously deemed invisible by the formal financial system to access the credit they need to broaden their horizons, build wealth and attain greater flexibility, contributing to the development of the country as a whole,” he added.

By gender, male borrowers accounted for 60% of credit card originations while females comprised the remaining 40%.

The number of active credit card accounts was likewise dominated by men with a 61% share.

“This ratio has remained relatively consistent over the past five years, highlighting a strong need to focus more on extending financial inclusion among female consumers,” TransUnion said.

“As TransUnion continues its pursuit of financial inclusion in the Philippines, closing the gender gap among credit card borrowers also emerges as a promising avenue for growth,” Mr. Sun said. “Lenders should consider offerings specifically tailored to female consumers to foster a more financially inclusive credit market, which at the same time would help them to further capitalize on the growth potential of an expanding market.” — A.M.C. Sy

On the sidelines

PRESSFOTO-FREEPIK

AT THIS TIME of the NBA season already ended in the US, the search for coaches seems frenzied. It seems the decision to fire an existing coach is an easy decision for teams not making the playoffs or exiting too early in them. Why blame the marquee players when you can dump the coach?

While the coach doesn’t score any points, he’s the easiest to blame for any loss. It’s not just sports that require coaches. Corporate organizations too need help from the sidelines with the use of management consultants. Then there is the little-known niche in business advice which is “executive coaching.”

This special consultant has for a client not a company but only its CEO for “one-on-one” evaluation and guidance. In a period of four to six weeks, this corporate trainer watches his CEO from the sidelines. Much like a coach for basketball, he observes how the CEO undergoes fitness training, dribbles the ball through midcourt in time, makes foul shots, assists, trash talks, plays under pressure (down 15 points in Q4), and accept defeats — next season will be better, this is a learning experience.

CEOs are used to giving orders. Can they also sit still and listen to a coach evaluating their plays? When is the best time to recruit an executive coach? Probably not during a corporate crisis when the phone can’t stop ringing and there’s hardly time to sit still and listen to leadership principles. A quiet first quarter when the previous year’s numbers are being finalized (or massaged) may offer the right break.

The coach should not be part of a CEO’s management team. Being on the inside may affect the advice he offers when he may have his own agenda to promote. The ideal coach is retired from his corporate job, had a good and successful career behind him, preferably even residing in another country, making him an objective observer. A stranger with no professional ties to his client is ideal.

The CEO is deemed too close to the game, and so needs the perspective of someone on the sidelines who has also played this game. Like a retreat master, the coach raises basic questions which the CEO can meditate on. The counseling sessions can take the form of Ignatian spiritual exercises — is there a corporate after-life?

What role should the CEO play? This goes beyond a job description. It’s about the added value a particular CEO brings to his organization. Is he a foreman who gives instructions to the team on how to build the edifice? Does he write the play and cast the actors in particular roles and direct their performance? (Bring your voice down a little.) What are his priorities? Does the in-box dictate his schedule? Does he have an exit strategy for himself? Is he a good mentor?

Some questions deal with the company. Where does the CEO want to bring his organization in the next three years? What does he need to accomplish as CEO to make this happen? Does he consider himself irreplaceable?

Since the client of an executive coach also has a social side, some questions relate to personal issues. How much time does the CEO devote to personal growth? Has he considered what to do when he retires? Does he have a consuming passion outside work, like singing operatic numbers?

The final report after the engagement may just be verbal. It highlights the client’s strengths (he doesn’t sleep) and areas for improvement (he is never fully awake).

An executive coach must be detached. Since he is not out to curry favor with his client, he can be brutally frank. (The client does not always listen, anyway.) After the wrap-up session, the coach will be taking a plane out, not expecting any job offer. His effectiveness lies in his being outside the loop with no intention of being in it. A CEO too needs someone to give unbiased pointers and raise questions subordinates do not care to bring up. Anyway, the coach does not give absolution.

Even young CEOs need to be coached. Sometimes, this is done by informal mentors who may be related, as in the dynastic appointments in family corporations.

Getting views from a sideline coach can give better perspectives on the corporate game… and what to do to when it’s over.

 

Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Alec Baldwin manslaughter trial revolves around Wild West gun

ACTOR Alec Baldwin in a scene from Rust. — IMDB

SANTA FE, New Mexico — The inner workings of a Colt .45 “Peacemaker” revolver, a symbol of the American Wild West, have become the focus of Alec Baldwin’s trial for the 2021 fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico movie set.

Jury selection was set to begin on Tuesday nearly three years after Mr. Baldwin was directed to point his gun at Ms. Hutchins as she set up a camera shot inside a movie-set church about 20 miles southwest of Santa Fe.

Ms. Hutchin’s 2021 death was Hollywood’s first on-set shooting fatality in three decades and momentarily sparked calls to end the widespread use of real firearms on movie sets.

Ms. Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial in a modern, brown-stucco courthouse in downtown Santa Fe is expected to last eight days and run to July 19.

It is remarkable in that there is little or no precedent in US history for an actor to face criminal prosecution for an on-set shooting death. The 30 Rock actor could be imprisoned for up to 18 months if found guilty.

In March, Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez, the set employee in charge of firearm safety, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a Santa Fe, New Mexico, jury for mistakenly loading a live round into Mr. Baldwin’s gun. Ms. Gutierrez received the maximum 18-month sentence.

Legal analysts and firearms specialists had long expected Mr. Baldwin’s case to hinge on whether he should have inspected the gun after he was told it was “cold,” an industry term meaning it was empty or contained inert, dummy rounds.

But in a pivotal interview in December 2021, Mr. Baldwin told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos he did not pull the trigger, sending prosecutors and defense lawyers into the world of forensic firearms testing.

Mr. Baldwin, 66, said he cocked the reproduction 1873 Single Action Army pistol before it fired a live round that killed the rising-star cinematographer and wounded director Joel Souza.

Santa Fe police set out to test Mr. Baldwin’s claims. An FBI examination found the gun was worked normally and would not fire at full cock without the trigger pulled. State prosecutors filed charges thereafter, alleging Mr. Baldwin was lying about the trigger.

Mr. Baldwin’s legal team last year countered with photographic evidence the Italian-made Pietta gun’s full-cock notch had been filed down, making it easier to fire. That allowed a mechanical failure or “accidental discharge” without a trigger pull, they said.

UPHILL BATTLE
Whether the revolver was modified or not, legal experts see an uphill battle for the prosecution to prove Mr. Baldwin knew he could kill Ms. Hutchins but showed willful disregard to the risk — a level of criminal negligence required for an involuntary manslaughter conviction.

“The gun is probably the best defense, because there is no way to definitively say what the condition of the firearm was,” said gun historian Ashley Hlebinsky who is executive director of the University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center.

Prosecutors last year dropped charges, convinced the gun was modified, only to have a grand jury reinstate them in January after independent firearms expert Lucien Haag confirmed findings of the FBI examination.

The FBI destroyed the gun during testing and the actor’s lawyers said they were left with no way to prove it was modified.

“The worst evidence against Baldwin is the FBI ballistics report that says he pulled the trigger, and his ABC interview where he said he didn’t,” said Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles trial attorney and former federal prosecutor.

Another possible hurdle for the prosecution is persuading jurors Mr. Baldwin is guilty of criminal negligence after Ms. Gutierrez and first assistant director Dave Halls were convicted for the shooting. Halls accepted blame in a plea deal, acknowledging he did not check rounds in Mr. Baldwin’s gun. He was convicted on a misdemeanor charge and given a six-month suspended sentence.

“Juries have difficulty with the idea that people can share guilt,” said University of New Mexico law professor Joshua Kastenburg, a former lawyer and judge in the US Air Force.

Still, jurors may not buy Mr. Baldwin’s argument that, as an actor, he was not responsible for firearms safety and relied on set experts like Ms. Gutierrez and Mr. Halls.

Gun ownership is common in the Southwest United States where there is a cultural norm to check a weapon and never point it at someone and pull the trigger, according to Hlebinsky.

Then there is Mr. Baldwin’s on-set behavior.

Using videos and photos from Rust filming, state prosecutor Morrissey will try to show Mr. Baldwin was a man with “no control of his emotions,” whose “off script” firing of guns and pointing them at crew contributed to a collapse in firearms safety, according to court filings.

The two other most powerful people on the set, Souza and Halls, are likely to defend the actor. Both have been called as witnesses by the defense and prosecution, respectively.

During Ms. Gutierrez’s trial, Mr. Souza and Mr. Halls dismissed Mr. Baldwin’s on-set antics as typical of high-powered actors.

Mr. Baldwin’s best defense may be doubts his lawyers can sow about the workings of the pistol, according to Hlebinsky.

“I don’t think anyone can say 100% what happened,” said the firearms historian, who has acted as an expert in court cases on single action Colt. 45 type revolvers similar to Mr. Baldwin’s. — Reuters

MORE Power eyes P1-B investment to boost Bohol services

By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

ILOILO CITY — Razon-led power distributor MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) is looking to invest P1 billion in Bohol to enhance services in the area, its top official said.

On the sidelines of the company’s facility tour on Monday, MORE Power President and Chief Executive Officer Roel Z. Castro said that an investment of one billion pesos over the next four years would be “doable” to improve services in the area.

“Bohol is not as big as Iloilo, and when I was looking at the system, it’s not totally damaged, but it definitely needs improvement, so I am looking at about a billion (in investment),” said Mr. Castro in a mix of English and Filipino.

Mr. Castro said that the investment will cover the installation of automatic circuit reclosers (ACRs), which will ensure continuity of electric service to customers.

“Most of them (electricity distribution infrastructure) do not have ACRs, and ACRs can avert 98–99% of outages. So, the installation of those will immediately bring improvement,” he added.

A part of the investment, he said, will go to establishing a 24/7 helpline in Bohol that will address customer concerns promptly.

 “Their helpline is not that responsive yet. Here in Iloilo, if there is one thing that we really made sure of from the first day, it is our response rate, and you will see that even now,” he added.

 In April, SPC Power Corp. announced that its board of directors had cleared the sale of the company’s share in Bohol Light Co. to MORE Power’s subsidiary Primelectric Holdings, Inc.

 SPC Power holds 29.93 million shares in the power distribution utility in Tagbilaran City, which it sold at P6.67 apiece, totaling P199.5 million. 

 For Negros Occidental, Mr. Castro said that they are ready to start operating but are still waiting for their franchise to be signed.

 “The bill is in Malacañang, and I think if the president doesn’t sign it, it will lapse into law by the end of July,” he said.

 MORE Power, through Primelectric, entered a joint venture with Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) last year to address power issues in the province.

 Meanwhile, MORE Power’s affiliate, Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC), is seeking the passage of House Bill 9805, which will grant it a congressional franchise to provide services in the area.

NEPC is structured as a 70-30 joint venture between Primelectric and Ceneco, respectively.

 The bill outlines the transfer of the franchise from Ceneco to NEPC, which will be effected via a Primelectric investment in Ceneco.

 Ceneco distributes electricity to households and establishments in the cities of Bacolod, Talisay, Silay, and Bago and the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto.

Once granted the franchise, Mr. Castro said MORE Power will apply for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN).

“I don’t know how long the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) will take to approve the CPCN, but we will do an early application so that they are able to go through the requirements already,” he said.

“But internally, we are ready now. We made sure that the systems, people, form, permits, and logistics were ready,” he added.

 MORE Power’s initial investment to buy the Negros Occidental distribution system was P2 billion, said Mr. Castro.

 “And then we are readying another P2.1-2.5 billion for the next five years for the improvement,” he added.