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Constitutional provision disallowing full foreign ownership of ad agencies a non-issue

FREEPIK

Resolution No. 6 of both Houses of Congress asks the House of Representatives and the Senate for the revision of Article XII, Section 11; Article XIV, Section 4, Paragraph 2; and Article XVI, Section 11, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution which all stipulate that public services should exclusively be owned by Filipinos.

This column addresses only the issue that is Article XVI, Section 11, Paragraph 2 which says:

“The advertising industry is impressed with public interest, and shall be regulated by law for the protection of consumers and the promotion of the general welfare.

“Only Filipino citizens or corporations or associations at least 70 per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens shall be allowed to engage in the advertising industry.”

In effect, Resolution No. 6 asks for the removal of the provision disallowing full foreign ownership of advertising entities, better known as advertising agencies, from the Constitution. The reason advanced by the proponents of the resolution is that the provision deters foreign direct investments, industry growth, and creation of more jobs.

Deliberations on the provision at issue would be a waste of time. No constitutional convention is necessary just to amend the provision. President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. can issue an executive order allowing full foreign ownership of advertising agencies as he did for companies in the telecommunication industry.

I would like to point out though that there was no restriction on full foreign ownership of advertising agencies from 1945 to 1972, yet there was no influx of foreign agencies in the country. J. Walter Thompson merely bought an existing agency, Philippine Advertising Services (PhilAds). Compton Advertising initially partnered with Ace Advertising, gradually taking control of it.

In 1945, Harry Lee, just discharged from the US Army, put up Philippine Advertising Services or PhilAds. Lee had worked for J. Walter Thompson (JWT) before the war. One of the agency’s first clients was Philippine Manufacturing Co. (PMC), the Philippine subsidiary of Procter & Gamble.

In the mid-1950s, the pressure from the worldwide clients of JWT to open an office in Manila was mounting. So, JWT offered to buy PhilAds, which Lee had styled after JWT. Lee grabbed the offer. PhilAds became J. Walter Thompson, the first Philippine advertising agency owned wholly by a foreign agency.

When JWT acquired PhilAds, its client PMC began to look for another agency as JWT is known to be Unilever’s agency worldwide. PMC feared that Unilever would eventually ask JWT Manila to service the Philippine Refining Co. (PRC), Unilever’s Philippine subsidiary.

PMC found Ace Advertising, which was originally the advertising department of the Araneta Group of Companies. All new brands PMC introduced from 1958 onwards were assigned to Ace.

What PMC feared happened in September 1963, by which time PMC had changed its name to Procter & Gamble (P&G). Unilever did ask JWT New York to tell JWT Manila to resign the P&G account and to take on its Philippine subsidiary, PRC.

Thus, Ace Advertising got the entire P&G business. One of P&G’s agencies in the US was Compton Advertising. In 1964, Compton bought 30% of Ace. It eventually took control of Ace.

Only McCann-Erickson of the many New York-based advertising agencies set up its wholly owned office in the country. The other foreign agencies — LINTAS, Foote Cone & Belding, Leo Burnett, Grey, Ted Bates, Publicis, Batten Barton Durstine & Osborn, Doyle Dane Bernbach — opted to be minority partners with local agencies instead of opening their wholly owned offices.

If McCann created new jobs, they were only of the rank-and-file category — accounting clerks, secretaries, and gofers. As for the account managers, copywriters, artists, and other creative people, McCann pirated them from other agencies. No university or college during that period offered courses in advertising crafts like copywriting, commercial production, etc. Those crafts were learned on the job or by apprenticeship. A new agency had to lure people from other agencies to be functional immediately. That is what McCann did in the beginning.

McCann-Erickson Philippines was established by Dick Guersey, who was originally brought into the country by Don Andres Soriano to head his newly formed agency, Philippine Advertising Counselors (PAC). One of the accounts of the new agency was Coca-Cola. When Don Andres sold the agency in 1961, Guersey resigned from PAC. He then flew to New York to persuade McCann-Erickson to open an office in Mania with him as president.

When McCann opened an office in Manila — actually in Makati — Guersey took the Coca-Cola account, as well as the whole team handling the account, away from PAC. He also took away Philippine Packing Corp. (a subsidiary of Del Monte California) and Carnation, both McCann worldwide clients, from small Filipino-owned agencies. The two agencies nearly closed shop due to the loss of their premier accounts.

McCann threatened to get Filipro (a subsidiary of Nestlé, another McCann aligned company) from one of the bigger Filipino-owned agencies. The Filipino owner was well connected with the powers that be and very influential in the advertising industry. He was a rabid nationalist, too. Less aggressive in the pursuit of Filipro, McCann got only a piece of the Filipro business.

When McCann started eyeing ESSO, Pete Teodoro started to talk about nationalizing the advertising industry. Teodoro, a former public relations officer of Elizalde y Cia, opened the Philippine Promotion Bureau (Philprom) in 1945, the first strictly Filipino advertising agency. As to be expected, its first client was Elizalde y Cia.

Philprom subsequently landed ESSO, the giant oil company. “Put a tiger in your tank” was its advertising tagline. Having been a public relations man, Teodoro had good connections with the press. He also got staunch support from Filipino owners of agencies who had been “robbed” of their principal clients by a foreign agency.

The call for nationalization grew so loud that in 1972, the Board of Investments succumbed to the pressure, handing down the rule that all advertising agencies be 70% Filipino owned. The rule didn’t apply to JWT, Ace Compton, and McCann because they were already foreign owned before the rule was set. Rules do not apply retroactively.

However, the rule was inserted into the 1987 Constitution. That is Paragraph 2 of Section 11 of Article XVI. It looks like the provision was sneaked in as Article XVI is third to the last article of the Constitution. And Article XVI is about general provisions.

A provision mandating advertising agencies to be at least 70% owned by Filipinos is very specific. It is therefore out of place under General Provisions. In fact, such a provision is out of place in the Constitution. Ours is the only Constitution in the world that has a provision on advertising agencies. As they say, “Only in da Pilipins!”

 

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. was an account group director at J. Walter Thompson, a consultant to J. Romero & Associates, and the founding executive director of the Philippine Board of Advertising.

OFWs spend about 1.2 months’ pay on recruiting fees, ILO says

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

THE International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Thursday that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) paid about P100 billion in fees to land overseas jobs between October 2016 and September 2019.

“Overseas Filipino workers spent on average just about 1.2 months of their salary to pay back or cover the recruitment costs paid to get their jobs abroad,” the ILO said in a study.

OFWs received an average of P45,000 during their first months of work overseas.

The study recommended that OFWs have better access to jobs overseas, targeting higher-skilled jobs reflecting their educational attainment, while reducing the financial burden of recruitment. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

Singapore’s Clime Capital invests in Mober’s green fleet expansion

LOGISTICS company Mober Technology Pte., Inc. (Mober) has secured $6 million from Singapore-based Clime Capital Management Pte. Ltd. to fund its green vehicle expansion.

“Not all funding is created equal. Having Clime Capital as an investor adds significant credibility to Mober and solidifies our commitment to sustainability. This partnership not only enhances our reputation but also accelerates our progress towards achieving our ambitious sustainability goals,” Mober Chief Executive Officer Dennis O. Ng said in a media release on Thursday. 

Mober secured the investment from the South East Asia Clean Energy Fund II (SEACEF II), which is being managed by Clime Capital.

The Singapore-based fund manager helps create investment opportunities for companies focusing on green projects.

“Clime Capital’s blended finance model enables clean-energy entrepreneurs to scale their businesses to achieve financial sustainability while also generating positive environmental impact,” said Clime Capital Chief Investment Officer Joshua Kramer.

Mober said the investment will help fast-track the rollout of its electric vehicle (EV) initiative in the Philippines.

“The SEACEF II investment will accelerate the transition of Mober’s delivery fleet to EVs by enabling the company to overcome obstacles to EV adoption, particularly high up-front costs and the current challenges to EV asset financing in the Philippines,” Mober said. 

Mober is targeting to transition all its vehicles to full EV by 2025. It is also working to phase out its internal combustion engine or ICE vehicles by 2027.

Mober is a Philippine-based company that offers delivery services by tapping green-energy solutions. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Vivant unit’s desalination plant starts production

ROPLANT/ FLICKR.COM

THE DESALINATION plant operated by a unit of Vivant Corp. has commenced production of five million liters per day (MLD) of water, the company said on Thursday.

Located in Cordova, Cebu, the plant’s first train or skid is now operational, capable of providing potable water to around 5,000 households within Metro Cebu, the company said in a statement.

Isla Mactan-Cordova Corp. (IMCC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivant Hydrocore Holdings, Inc. operating under the brand name Vivant Water, oversees this initiative.

Compared to ground and surface water, which are traditional water sources in the country, Vivant Water President Jess Anthony N. Garcia said that the seawater desalination can serve as a third source of water.

Once completed, the desalination plant can generate 20 MLD potable water in the first phase, which Mr. Garcia said is equivalent to the average daily consumption of 20,000 Filipino households.

“When fully operational, the water from the plant will be a sustainable source of drinking water and will ultimately help address the ongoing water crisis in Metro Cebu,” the company said.

IMCC was awarded a 25-year contract in 2021 to supply desalinated water to the Metropolitan Cebu Water District.

The project is being constructed by Watermatic Philippines, a joint venture company of Vivant and WaterMatic International of Israel, while the project site was provided through a partnership with the municipal government of Cordova.

Vivant Hydrocore holds the Vivant group’s water infrastructure investment portfolio as a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivant Infracore Holdings, Inc., which in turn is wholly owned by Vivant.

Vivant has investments in various companies engaged in electric power generation and distribution and retail electricity business. It recently entered the water industry arm, “with a diversified portfolio in the areas of bulk water supply, wastewater treatment and water distribution,” the company said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

The power of neuromarketing in digital marketing

Neuromarketing, an interdisciplinary field that combines neuroscience with marketing, delves into the subconscious mind to understand consumer behavior and decision-making processes. By employing advanced tools such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), neuromarketers uncover insights that traditional methods like surveys and focus groups often fail to capture. These insights provide a deeper understanding of consumer preferences, motivations, and responses to marketing stimuli. Neuromarketing is not only about understanding what consumers say they want, but also about deciphering what truly influences their actions and choices, making it an invaluable tool for businesses striving to create more effective marketing strategies.

Today, the practical applications of neuromarketing have been expanded and made more accessible by marketing technology platforms, revolutionizing digital marketing strategies and making sophisticated marketing techniques affordable for a broader range of companies.

One of the primary practical applications of neuromarketing is enhancing user experience (UX) design for digital platforms. Through technologies like eye-tracking and EEG, researchers can understand how users interact with websites and apps. Platforms like Contentsquare, a digital experience analytics platform, offer detailed user behavior analytics, providing data on mouse movements, clicks, and scrolling behavior to optimize digital interfaces. This data-driven approach allows businesses to create more intuitive and engaging digital experiences, thereby enhancing user satisfaction and retention.

Neuromarketing has also proven instrumental in optimizing digital advertising strategies. Traditional methods often fail to capture the subconscious impact of advertisements on viewers. Neuromarketing techniques measure real-time brain activity and emotional responses to ads, revealing which ones are most effective. Platforms like Adjust, a mobile measurement partner (MMP) excel in this area by providing robust attribution tracking and analytics, allowing marketers to determine which ads drive specific user actions. This helps in making data-informed decisions to enhance emotional engagement and recall, ultimately leading to more effective ad placements and content optimizations.

Transitioning from advertising to content marketing, neuromarketing plays a crucial role in content creation. By understanding how different types of content affect the brain, marketers can produce material that resonates more deeply with their audience. Platforms like Insider, a customer data and experience platform (CDxP), enable highly personalized and contextually relevant messaging, allowing marketers to craft compelling stories tailored to individual preferences. This enhances engagement and shareability, as the content is designed to align with the emotional triggers and interests of the audience.

Neuromarketing offers valuable insights for optimizing social media marketing strategies as well. Social media platforms are saturated with visual and textual content vying for user attention. Platforms like Contentsquare provide insights by tracking user interactions and identifying which types of content generate the most engagement. This allows marketers to create more captivating social media content that effectively captures user attention, utilizing neuromarketing principles to drive higher engagement and interaction rates.

Moreover, neuromarketing enhances personalization in digital marketing. Traditional personalization strategies rely on demographic or behavioral data, but neuromarketing segments consumers based on their neural and emotional responses. Platforms like Adjust and Insider advance this approach by offering advanced segmentation and targeting capabilities. By using these insights, marketers can deliver tailored campaigns that resonate on a deeper emotional level, improving conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

In addition to content and advertising, neuromarketing provides valuable insights for e-commerce. Understanding how consumers make online purchasing decisions is critical for e-commerce success. E-commerce platforms leveraging Adjust’s analytics can optimize product displays and descriptions to enhance the online shopping experience and boost sales. Adjust’s comprehensive attribution data helps businesses understand the entire customer journey, identifying which touchpoints are most influential in the decision-making process.

The real-time analytics provided by these platforms are another critical aspect of their value proposition. Adjust, Insider, and Contentsquare offer real-time data that allow marketers to monitor user behavior as it happens, making immediate adjustments to improve user experience. This capability is crucial for resolving issues quickly and ensuring a positive user experience, much like neuromarketing’s emphasis on measuring and responding to immediate consumer reactions.

Furthermore, fraud prevention features in platforms like Adjust ensure the accuracy and integrity of marketing data by detecting and preventing fraudulent activities. Accurate data is essential for understanding genuine user behavior, which is a foundational aspect of neuromarketing. By eliminating fraudulent data, marketers can make more informed decisions based on true user responses and engagement.

In essence, while MMP platforms like Adjust, customer engagement platforms like Insider, and digital experience analytics platforms like Contentsquare, may not explicitly position themselves as neuromarketing tools, they incorporate many underlying principles of neuromarketing. Through detailed behavioral data collection, user segmentation, attribution tracking, A/B testing, retention analysis, fraud prevention, personalization, and comprehensive analytics, these platforms help marketers understand and influence user behavior in ways that closely align with the goals of neuromarketing. Thus, businesses using these platforms are effectively leveraging neuromarketing principles to enhance their digital marketing strategies, drive user engagement, and achieve better business outcomes.

The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FINEX and these institutions.

 

Reynaldo C. Lugtu, Jr. is the founder and CEO of Hungry Workhorse, a digital, culture, and customer experience transformation consulting firm. He is a fellow at the US-based Institute for Digital Transformation. He is the chair of the Digital Transformation IT Governance Committee of FINEX Academy. He teaches strategic management and digital transformation in the MBA Program of De La Salle University. The author may be e-mailed at rey.lugtu@hungryworkhorse.com

Star Wars show Acolyte merges murder mystery with family drama

IMDB

LOS ANGELES — For Amandla Stenberg, the Star Wars franchise is about how trauma affects everyone and how the inability to accept and process it makes people more vulnerable to corruption.

The Hunger Games actress stars in the new eight-episode Star Wars series The Acolyte on Disney+ as Mae, a character with complicated family problems and a strong connection to the Force.

There is “a lot of family drama,” Ms. Stenberg said in an interview.

The Acolyte takes place at the end of the fictional High Republic era, about 100 years before the events of the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace.

Things take a turn when Mae is accused of murder and a Jedi master named Sol, played by Lee Jung-jae, is sent to investigate — but finds out there are greater powers at work.

Mae becomes allies with the former smuggler Qimir, played by Manny Jacinto, and together they embark on a journey.

“Well, the show is anchored in a murder mystery, for one, and you layer that with the action of the lightsaber fights, you layer that with the practicality of the sets, I think all of these elements combine to just offer something different for the fans,” Mr. Jacinto said in an interview at the show’s premiere.

The Acolyte is now streaming on Disney+.

Series creator Leslye Headland praised George Lucas for doing a brilliant job of telling the story of the fall of the Jedi, which set the groundwork for this science-fiction series.

The show reveals a different iteration of the Force than that which the Jedi use, a form used by a coven of witches from the planet Brendock, who raised Mae.

“As far as the witches of Brendock are concerned, the Jedi don’t necessarily feel that they should be using The Force, right?” said Jodie Turner-Smith, who plays Mae’s mother, Aniseya, who is known for the movie Queen & Slim.

“So, they represent people that exist outside what is supposed to be allowed or OK, right? And so that presents its own conversations, so then what does that mean and what does that say about the world? And what does that say about the Jedi?” she added. — Reuters

Empowering Girls: A holistic approach to residential care management

CHARLEIN GRACIA-UNSPLASH

Every girl has the right to an identity. Every girl merits a family. Every girl needs an education. Every girl deserves a safe space. Every girl is entitled to dream and achieve her aspirations. Identity, family, education, security, and opportunity set the stage for a girl to mature into a stable, responsible worker, citizen, leader, wife, and mother.

The Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 promotes gender equality and women empowerment. SDG 5 seeks to end to all forms of discrimination against women and girls. Unfortunately, at least 17,600 girls suffered child violence and abuse in 2023, according to the Philippine Council for the Welfare of Children.

Ending violence against children requires a cross-sectoral resolution and execution. Inasmuch as prevention is paramount, the protection of girls in residential care facilities is vital. Residential care homes for children offer 24-hour service protection to neglected, abandoned, abused, or exploited children who cannot be taken care of by their families. The culture that the girls absorb in these homes profoundly shapes their personalities and readiness for the future.

Girls enter the residential care homes stripped of peace, happiness, and self-esteem. How can the residential care managers mend brokenness? How can they effectively lead the girls towards autonomy? I summarize my findings as follows:

1. Recognize girls’ inherent dignity. Children have the capacity to think and feel deeply. Their circumstances do not make them less of a person. Thus, they deserve the respect owed to any human being. Managers should communicate, listen, and value each girl’s individuality.

2. Love them. Children sense the managers’ honest concern for them. For example, the children in a Bahay Tuluyan center spark joy, for the love of their houseparents’ shows. Similarly, the girls in the Laura Vicuña Foundation (LVF) home rejoice in being well-fed, receiving vitamins, and having good support. In both organizations, the children know they are loved like family.

3. Build mutual trust. Children trust adults whom they perceive as trustworthy.

In Filipino psychology, Santiago and Enriquez referred to pakikipagpalagayang-loob as developing mutual rapport and trust. Trust unfolds when one openly shares sentiments and feels no shame for their actions.

Pakikipagpalagayang-loob defines the relationship between LVF managers and the girls. From the onset, the managers trust in the girls’ capacity to overcome difficulties and in their integrity to do good. When the children misbehave, the managers prioritize teaching over sanctions. In the process, the girls reciprocate their managers’ trust in them. The girls who had initially lost trust in adults begin to speak up and confide in the managers.

4. Empower them with knowledge and skills. As the adage goes, “Education is key to success in life.” Managers ensure girls continue their education, whether in the classroom, through distance learning, or through the Alternative Learning System. Simultaneously, they equip the girls to be self-reliant. ACAY Mission Philippines educates girls in cooking, bill payment, and agency transactions, among other skills. Bahay Tuluyan conducts an independent living skills program that includes money management.

5. Engage the girls in meaningful participation. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child promotes children’s protection and participation rights. However, balancing protection and participation faces challenges due to adult-centric views that children lack maturity.

Notwithstanding, LVF and Bahay Tuluyan engage girls in a way that aligns with Boumo et al.’s concept of meaningful participation. This model includes informing, hearing, and involving children. The managers inform children of their right to participate and grow up without violence by teaching the UN Children’s Rights. They hear the girls in child-friendly dialogues and meetings. They encourage each one to voice their opinions and ensure that their insights are valued. Finally, they involve the children in decision-making. They animate the girls to organize in-house and outbound projects that benefit children in communities. These initiatives build the girls’ self-confidence and ownership of activities.

6. Nurture faith. A worldview that embraces the transcendent being offers answers to life’s most profound questions. LVF managers, for instance, cultivate piety and guide the girls to live honestly as God’s children. The girls enjoy discovering God’s love and finding hope and refuge in talking with Him.

The experiences of residential care managers underscore the necessity for attitude and skills that surpass mere program administration. A holistic approach to residential care management heals the girls and empowers them to be active members of society.

 

Dr. Maria Adiel H. Aguiling is an assistant professor at the Department of Management and Organization, Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University.

maria.adiel.aguiling@dlsu.edu.ph

A humbled Modi needs answers to India’s jobless, inflation issues while juggling coalition interests

REUTERS

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to win a rare third term in office, but a smaller-than-expected mandate means he will have to lean more on his allies for support, and that means urgently addressing issues like unemployment, inflation and economic disparities in the world’s most populous nation.

Unlike the last two elections, Mr. Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will need its alliance partners to cross the 272 majority mark in the 543-seat lower house of parliament, according to the running vote count on Tuesday.

Mr. Modi had set a target of more than 400 seats for his National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but it is currently leading in only about 290, according to Election Commission data about three-quarters of the way through the count.

The BJP itself was leading in 239 seats, compared with 303 at the last election in 2019. Final results are expected to come later on Tuesday or early Wednesday.

“The BJP’s reliance on allies to form the government is a slap in the face,” said Milan Vaishnav at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank in Washington. “At this stage, NDA allies will extract their pound of flesh, which will have an impact not just in terms of policymaking but also in terms of the composition of the cabinet. (Earlier) the BJP could dictate terms with very little regard for its coalition partners.”

Mr. Modi, a strong leader, has not had to rely on alliance partners in the past and it was not clear how easily he would cope. “Modi is not known as a consensual figure,” said New Delhi-based political commentator Arathi Jerath. “So, it’ll be very interesting to see how he manages the pulls and pressures of a coalition government.”

Populism and welfare policies will “gain currency” as Mr. Modi will have to depend on regional leaders like N. Chandrababu Naidu in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and Nitish Kumar in Bihar in the east, who support such policies, said political analyst Rasheed Kidwai.

Mr. Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party and Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) said they would endorse Mr. Modi for prime minister.

Mr. Modi called the win for his alliance historic and said that “we will continue the good work done in the last decade to keep fulfilling the aspirations of people.”

The BJP, which had campaigned on India’s spectacular economic expansion, its growing international stature and the party’s Hindu-first agenda, has acknowledged unemployment was a factor in the election.

“Employment is a challenge that we also accept and whatever best can be done is being done,” spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said.

The unemployment rate in India rose to 8.1% in April from 7.4% in March, according to the private think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, compared with around 6% before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Modi first came to power in 2014 on the promise of creating 20 million jobs a year, but has fallen far short of that. Government estimates for the latest January-March quarter show that the urban unemployment rate in the 15-29 age group ticked higher to 17%, from 16.5% in the prior quarter.

Despite India’s impressive economic growth of more than 8%, rural distress has increased as incomes have fallen amid rising food prices. Such economic growth has meant wealth is concentrated in the richest 1% of India’s population.

While headline inflation hovering around 5% is relatively low, food inflation of above 8% since November 2023 has hit the poor hard. Prices of vegetables and cereals have risen by double digits for most of the last year.

Mr. Modi was seeking one of India’s biggest mandates in the six-week-long election after most opinion polls conducted before voting began had predicted a big victory for him, driven by his personal popularity, free cereal for the poor, new roads and bridges, and his courting of majority Hindus.

But a fall in voter turnout in the first stage of the seven-phase election worried the BJP, several party officials said. A pollster, who declined to be named citing private conversations, said he got calls from “panicked” BJP officials asking if “something was going wrong. Why aren’t people coming?”

At the same time, some analysts told TV debates that opposition attempts to woo the masses with promises of affirmative action, bigger handouts and more jobs were gaining traction.

That is when Mr. Modi changed tack. Having earlier focused on economic development, India’s image and such issues, he switched back to accusing the opposition of favoring minority Muslims at the cost of Hindus.

“I believe that the polarizing campaign that the prime minister ran this time, the kind of, you know, hyped-up media outreach that he did, I think these were all signs that he was worried,” political commentator Arati Jerath said.

The BJP said Mr. Modi was their best bet to put their message across. “We discussed internally how our work, economic development, India’s global image and such things sometimes do not set the narrative,” spokesperson Mr. Agarwal said. “The politics is such that other things dictate the narrative, and the BJP must also respond accordingly. For our narrative to work, the prime minister is the best communicator.”

However, with the BJP falling short of a majority on its own, its promises like a uniform civil code for all religions, opposed by some Muslims, and simultaneous state and national elections, will likely be put on the back burner. They could be replaced by policies aimed at more bread-and-butter issues as its allies could demand.

“Modi has seemingly lost his aura of electoral invincibility,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the Washington-based Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute. “He remains highly popular, and his party likely would have done even worse if he weren’t leading it. This is a leader who has repeatedly bounced back from political and policy setbacks and retained large public mandates. With the results we’re seeing today, that narrative of resilience has been dealt a big blow.” — Reuters

Maynilad completes 1st phase of P4.6-B Valenzuela sewerage project

MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. announced on Thursday the completion of the first phase of its P4.6-billion Valenzuela sewerage project.

“Even as we facilitate projects to enhance water supply availability, we remain steadfast in our commitment to safeguarding public health and the environment through continued investments in wastewater management projects,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez said.

The west zone concessionaire said it has completed the laying of an initial 11.6 kilometers of new sewer lines in the city. 

The sewer lines along Mac-Arthur Highway in Valenzuela enables the company to catch the wastewater generated by some 190,000 customers in Karuhatan, Malinta, Marulas, and parts of Maysan, the company said.

This first phase is part of the planned 28-kilometer sewerage system project of Maynilad in Valenzuela, which will catch wastewater and convey it to its recently commissioned 60-million-liters-per-day Valenzuela Water Reclamation Facility for treatment.

Maynilad serves Manila, except portions of San Andres and Sta. Ana. It also operates in Quezon City, Makati, Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon.

It also supplies the cities of Cavite, Bacoor, and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario, all in Cavite province.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has a majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and 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. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Security Bank to offer retail products via LazMall store

BW FILE PHOTO

SECURITY Bank Corp. (Security Bank) has partnered with Lazada to launch Security Bank’s LazMall Flagship Store where it will offer its retail banking products.

“We’re excited to launch this partnership with Lazada to reach more customers and provide them with innovative and convenient banking solutions. Through the Security Bank LazMall Flagship Store, we hope to make our products more accessible and appealing to the growing online market, especially the younger and tech-savvy segments,” Security Bank Executive Vice-President and Retail Banking Segment Head Rahul Rasal said in a statement on Thursday.

Online shoppers may avail of Security Bank’s Auto Loan, Home Loan, Credit Cards, and Deposit products through the lender’s LazMall Flagship Store.

After buying a product online, Security Bank will send the borrower instructions via e-mail and SMS to proceed with their application.

The bank will also offer customers perks and rewards for availing these products from its online store.

Security Bank said the partnership will allow the lender to tap a growing online customer base without compromising quality or performance.

“At Lazada, we are dedicated to building a trusted and engaging ecosystem to deliver the best online shopping experience for Filipinos. Security Bank is one of our valued financial partners and as we welcome them to LazMall, we look forward to giving more consumers access to quality retail banking products,” Lazada Philippines Commercial Director Sheryll Nito said.

The Security Bank LazMall Flagship Store is now live via the Lazada app or website. Customers can follow the store to receive updates and notifications on the latest offers and promotions from the bank.

Security Bank’s net income rose by 11.4% year on year to P2.63 billion in the first quarter amid growth in its retail and micro, small, and medium enterprises businesses.

Its shares closed at P70 apiece on Thursday, down by 40 centavos or 0.57% from the previous day. — A.M.C. Sy

The two parent advantage (or why a divorce law is a dumb idea)

FREEPIK

Last February, Esquire Philippines came out with a rather curious article, declaring that the “Philippines Has the Most Number of Singles in Southeast Asia” and that the country is “practically the capital of singleville in the region.”

Culling “data from the UN Population Division for 2021 posted on SeaAsia Stats Facebook page shows that the Philippines tops the list of Southeast Asian countries with the most number of single people (49%) — almost half its population. The definition adopted for ‘single’ encompasses individuals who are unmarried, divorced, separated, or widowed.”

It’s curious because the matter is truly not something to celebrate about. And yet, despite Esquire’s decision to cheerfully quote a Miley Cyrus song within the article, it still managed to fail to mention the context of such rising singlehood and its price:

• The Philippines has “58% female” Pornhub viewers, the only country in the world where female porn viewers outnumber males.

• 58.1% or 844,909 of newborn Filipino babies are illegitimate.

• 20% of marriages in the Philippines will be broken, with 82% of such broken marriages involving children.

• A World Health Organization study finds that there are 15 million solo parents in the Philippines, with 95% (or more than 14 million) of whom are women.

• The Philippines registers among highest in Southeast Asia for teenage pregnancies, with births by girls 14 years old and below having increased by 7% in 2019 compared to the previous year, which also represents a nearly 300% rise from 2000.

• The total fertility rate (TFR) of Filipino women aged 15 to 49 years dropped from 2.7 children per woman in 2017 to 1.9 in 2022. With the lower TFR, the country is already below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman.

The Philippines is now reaping the fruits of universities and media ramming progressive policies on our children. And then there’s the divorce bill to make matters worse. If we insist on being a society where “anything goes,” it won’t be long before our society itself is gone.

Gratifyingly, Melissa Kearney, the University of Maryland’s Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics, recently came out with the highly relevant and quite commonsensical book, The Two Parent Privilege. Here, she presents a data-driven defense of marriage and declares that to depreciate it leads to economic problems, fractures society, and badly hinders children’s development.

Presenting no religious arguments and based on more than a decade of economic research, the Two Parent Privilege demonstrates that “marriage, for all its challenges and faults, may be our best path to a more equitable future” and that when two adults marry, such immensely and comprehensively benefits not only the married couple but their children as well.

Indeed, “two parents combined have more resources than one. Two parents in a home bring in the earnings — or at least the earnings capacity — of two adults. And so, in a very straightforward way, we see that kids growing up in single-mother homes are five times more likely to live in poverty than kids growing up in married parent homes. (Kids in single-father homes are three times as likely to live in poverty.)

“Some of that reflects the fact that people with lower levels of education or income are more likely to become single parents. But even if you compare moms of the same education group, you see that kids who grow up in a household with two parents have household incomes that are about twice as high. That means that those parents are paying for things like a nicer house in a safe neighborhood with good school districts. But they also spend more time with their kids.

“We see that kids who grow up with married parents have more parental time invested in them: reading to your kid, talking to your kid, driving your kids to activities. If there are two parents in the household, there’s just more time capacity.” (“Why Two Parents Are the Ultimate Privilege,” Bari Weiss interviewing Melissa Kearney, Free Press, December 2023)

This lines up with previous findings that broken marriages affect society as a whole. Practically every school shooter (for example) was bereft of a father, “whether due to divorce, death, or imprisonment” (“When Will We Have the Guts to Link Fatherlessness to School Shootings?,” Susan Goldberg, PJ Media, February 2018).

Then there’s this: “72% of adolescent murderers grew up without fathers; the same for 60% of all rapists. 70% of juveniles in state institutions grew up in single- or no-parent situations. The number of single-parent households is a good predictor of violent crime in a community, while poverty rate is not,” wrote Goldberg in an article in Medium from 2018.

The advantage of a society reared by two parent (i.e., biological parents) homes, is clear, undeniable, and conclusive. To insist on a divorce law despite every fact, logic, and experience is not only to exhibit blatantly gross hubris, it’s also patently unwise, ignorant, and borders on irresponsibility.

The views expressed here are his own and not necessarily those of the institutions to which he belongs.

 

Jemy Gatdula is the dean of the Institute of Law of the University of Asia and the Pacific and is a Philippine Judicial Academy lecturer for constitutional philosophy and jurisprudence. He read international law at the University of Cambridge.

https://www.facebook.com/jigatdula/

Twitter  @jemygatdula

Entertainment News (06/07/24)

Manila Film Festival showcases student films

THE MANILA Film Festival has returned this year and will screen eight student films and four short films by experienced filmmakers. The films are currently being screened until June 11 at Robinsons Manila in Ermita, Manila and Robinsons Magnolia in Quezon City. Tickets cost P200. The eight student films are An Kuan by Joyce Ramos of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Bahay, Baboy, Bagyo by Miko Biong of the University of the Philippines Film Institute, Ballad of a Blind Man by Charlie Garcia Vitug of De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde, Ditas Pinamalas by Adrian Renz Espino of Adamson University, Happy (M)others Day! by Ronnie Ramos of the University of the Philippines Film Institute, Pinalakang Tabingi by John Pistol Carmen of Bicol University, Una’t Huling Sakay by Vhan Marco Molacruz of Colegio San Juan de Letran – Manila, and threefor100: o ang tamang porma ng pag uukay at iba pang mga bagay-bagay, i think! by Cedrick Labadia of iACADEMY. They will be accompanied by the featured films Lumang Tugtugin by Pepe Diokno, Nananahan by Dwein Baltazar, Shortest Day, Longest Night by JP Habac, and May at Nila by Sigrid Bernardo.

Circuit Makati celebrates Pride Month through theater

CIRCUIT Makati celebrates Pride Month with two captivating theater productions that illuminate the beauty of love in all its forms: Bawat Bonggang Bagay featuring Jon Santos at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater, and Anton Juan’s Choosing (Not A Straight Play) featuring Ice Seguerra at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater. Bawat Bonggang Bagay is a Filipino translation of Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s Every Brilliant Thing. It’s an emotionally raw and moving piece about mental health and finding the beauty in the little things. The play serves as an important reminder that despite experiencing hardships, life is still worth living. It will be on stage from June 22 to 30. Meanwhile, Choosing (Not A Straight Play) is a conscious retelling of a woman and a transman’s journey of finding each other. It sheds light on their relationship obstacles, their sexual consciousness, their individuality, and their commitment to the choices they make in order to find true happiness. Choosing is a groundbreaking and powerful play that focuses on a love that goes against all odds. It will be on stage from June 29-30, and July 6-7. Bawat Bonggang Bagay ticketsare available at Ticketworld while Choosing (Not A Straight Play) tickets are available through Ticket2Me.

SB19’s Josh Cullen drops emotional R&B track

AFTER announcing his participation at this year’s Round Festival in South Korea, Josh Cullen keeps the ball rolling with the release of his new single, “Sumaya,” under Sony Music Entertainment. The track blends R&B, trap, pop, and bedroom hip-hop and expresses the truths of a relationship aftermath. “It’s a song that delves into the pain and sadness of moving on while still cherishing the good times you had together,” Mr. Cullen said in a statement. “Sumaya” is out now on all digital music streaming platforms.

Talk to Me now streaming on Lionsgate Play

THE 2022 Australian supernatural horror film Talk to Me follows a group of teenagers who discover a thrilling and horrifying way to contact the dead — through a severed, embalmed hand. After enjoying the novelty of contacting the spirit world for thrills, one person goes too far, unleashing supernatural forces. The thriller, currently A24’s highest-grossing horror film, is now streaming on Lionsgate Play.

Dhruv announces release of debut album

BREAKOUT vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dhruv, is set to release Private Blizzard via Little Worry/RCA Records in August. Recorded in Nashville with Grammy-nominated producer JT Daly, it will reflect the full range of emotions Dhruv felt as he set out to make his debut album from a place of creative honesty. “I started in a place of numbness, and I didn’t really understand why I felt that way. The songs that I started out with were trying to help me unpack that feeling,” he said in a statement.

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