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Typhoon Carina donations

PRIVATE and public organizations are currently collecting donations for those affected by the heavy rains brought by Typhoon Carina and the monsoon.

Celebrity chef Myke “Tatung” Sarthou is calling for donations of rice, bottled water, and canned goods; as well as manpower to prepare hot meals. Donations can be dropped off at Azadore Restaurant, at 111 Sct. Fernandez cor. Sct. Torillo, Quezon City

Also in Quezon City, the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) of Barangay UP Campus is calling for donations for families already evacuated to the Pook Dagohoy court. One may call the SK contact number 0985-246-8346 for more details.

Meanwhile, Kadamay is collecting in-kind donations at 12-A Kasiyahan St. at Don Antonio Heights, Brgy. Holy Spirit, Quezon City, with contact number 0907-839-9840. — JLG

Training, grants needed to help small businesses leverage online platforms

STOCK PHOTO | Image by our team from Freepik

By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

TRAINING and financial assistance are needed to help small businesses leverage new digital platforms for growth, TikTok agency partner Huskee Digital said.

Platforms like TikTok have their own sets of features, algorithms, and user behaviors that many businesses struggle to deal with, Huskee Digital said.

“Many businesses lack the internal expertise to navigate these complexities effectively,” the company said in an e-mail to BusinessWorld.

“Without a deep understanding of how TikTok operates, brands may struggle to create content that resonates with their target audience,” it added.

Small businesses are also being challenged to put in financial investment to capacitate themselves to make use and take advantage of the features offered by digital platforms, it said.

These investments are necessary in purchasing tools and software for content creation and analytics, as well as for hiring new talent or agencies that specialize in TikTok marketing, Huskee Digital said.

“For many businesses, particularly smaller ones, these costs can be prohibitive, and because they already don’t know how the platform works, these investments don’t make a lot of sense to them,” it added.

To address these challenges, both the public and private sectors need to make training and education programs, financial support and grants, and mentorship and consulting services available to small businesses, Huskee Digital said. 

“Both the government and private companies can offer training and workshops to educate small businesses on effective TikTok strategies,” it said.

These workshops should include courses on content creation, managing an online storefront, and understanding the required financial investments.

Financial assistance and grants for small businesses will help them invest in the necessary tools and resources to succeed on platforms like TikTok, Huskee Digital added.

“Public sector initiatives can focus on offering subsidies or low-interest loans for digital transformation projects,” it said.

For the private sector, companies can offer consulting services tailored towards small businesses’ needs, it added.

Huskee Digital is a creator commerce marketing agency that specializes in transforming stories into sales through platforms like TikTok.

Last month, it launched its official training arm called TRENDS, which offers workshops designed to enhance marketing strategies and drive business success on TikTok.

TikTok is now the second largest social media platform in the Philippines is predicted to become the country’s leading marketplace in the next three to four years, Huskee Digital said.

DigiPlus says it’s not subject to POGO, IGL ban after share drop

LISTED digital gaming company DigiPlus Interactive Corp. said it is not covered by the government ban on Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and internet gaming licensees (IGLs).

The company issued the statement late Tuesday after its shares fell to as low as P13.80 each before closing unchanged at P14.82 per share.

“DigiPlus is not a POGO or an IGL as defined under Philippine laws,” DigiPlus President Andy Tsui said.

 “As such, local gaming enthusiasts need not worry. Fans of DigiPlus’ products will be glad to know that their top-of-the-line platforms will continue running without interruption, unaffected by the recent presidential announcement,” he added.

 President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced the ban on all POGOs during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, saying that they have been linked to money laundering and financial scams.

DigiPlus maintained that it is a localized digital gaming company, serving customers based in the Philippines and operating physical branches across the country.

“Local gaming operators like DigiPlus are required to have physical gaming sites within the country before they could set up their digital gaming platforms so all of its clients within the Philippine territory can access their services,” the company said.

The company’s platforms include BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, Perya Game, and BingoPlus Poker.

“DigiPlus is held to a different legal standard not only as a publicly listed company, but also because it had to secure different licenses to be able to operate the traditional bingo, electronic bingo games, electronic gaming services, sports betting, specialty games, and poker. It also must secure gaming system service provider accreditations, and more,” it said.

In 2023, DigiPlus paid P13.1 billion in taxes to the Philippine government, according to the company said. It also reported employing over 2,000 workers and allocating more than P100 million to its corporate social responsibility projects through the BingoPlus Foundation. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Sustainable sake: Tokyo brewer uses music, modern methods to counter climate impact

INSTAGRAM.COM/TOKYOPORTBREWERY

TOKYO — The gentle lilt of a flute fills a cramped second-story space in Tokyo that houses a burbling vat of fermenting sake.

The bacteria in the 670-liter tank will take more than two weeks to turn its contents of rice and water into Japan’s traditional alcoholic drink.

But they are not only alive, they are listening too, said brewer Yoshimi Terasawa, and the type of music coming from a loudspeaker below the tank determines how the spirit will taste.

“The micro-organisms inside are activated by the vibrations, and the taste changes,” said the 63-year-old chief brewer of Tokyo Port Brewing.

Music is among the unconventional techniques Mr. Terasawa is using at the only sake factory in the heart of the capital.

Crammed into a narrow four-story building, the small-batch operation employs methods that promise to help the industry resist the fallout of climate change.

It uses modified machinery and ergonomic processes that consume less energy and labor than a traditional open-air brewery in the countryside.

“Making sake on this kind of smaller scale makes it easier to keep the production environment constant,” said 45-year industry veteran Mr. Terasawa.

The company turns out about 30 kiloliters of sake each year, or enough to fill almost 42,000 720-ml (24-fl-oz) bottles.

But changing consumer tastes and Japan’s ageing population have hit demand, and the government says the number of sake breweries has shrunk two-thirds from its 1970s peak to just over 1,100 now, more than half operating in the red.

Other challenges are a shortage of labor as brewers retire, surging fuel costs, and disruption in rice supply because of global warming.

Mr. Terasawa said his compact brewery offered a model to meet those challenges.

The process starts on a fourth-floor balcony, where he and an employee steam the rice for 70 minutes.

Then they rely on gravity to funnel the rice through apertures in floors and ceilings to a mold-application room on the third floor, before fermentation on the second, using tap water, and finally bottling the sake at ground level.

“In the future, small breweries like this will have a great deal of merit,” Mr. Terasawa added. — Reuters

Will we ever learn to avoid bubbles?

BLOOMBERG

WHEN he took his first space walk, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman had a revelation.  “I used to think I was scared of heights,” he said. “Now I know I was just scared of gravity.” This summer might be a good time for investors to think about this a little: Gravity has a tendency to work on equity bubbles rather as it does on astronauts before they escape the Earth’s atmosphere. They all come back to earth. From the niche (think the Beanie Baby bubble of the 1990s) to the mainstream (the US housing bubble), the same thing happens over and over again. There’s a great story. Everyone loves the story. Everyone buys. The reality doesn’t quite match the story. The asset class collapses. Up a lot. Down a lot.

It isn’t hard to spot a bubble forming. But experienced investors will know it’s very very hard to spot when it might finally come a cropper. That’s partly because it doesn’t really need a catalyst; it doesn’t require political disruption, financial scandal or shifts in monetary policy (although there is plenty of that about, of course). The end, as Societe Generale AG’s Albert Edwards points out, is often remarkably simple: “A reversal in price momentum in an asset class that has risen sharply for a number of years (sucking in huge quantities of loose money) is often sufficient in itself to cause prices to crash.”

When there is no one left to buy or when a few of those who might have already bought become a little nervous, it all comes crashing down. In that sense, you could think of all bubbles as a type of (legal) Ponzi scheme: As new investors become thin on the ground and a few of those already in look to get their money out, the whole thing collapses pretty fast. Gravity can be brutal.

So here we are again. Back in 2022, it rather looked like the US tech bubble had been dealt with in the normal way: Following a sharp rise in interest rates, the Nasdaq 100 was 35% off its highs, for example. Then came ChatGPT and a wave of optimism that brushed rate worries to the side in a rush to embrace the idea that a new world is just around a very close corner.

Since the beginning of 2023, the US tech sector is up over 100% and the S&P by 50%. You can argue that this makes sense. Artificial intelligence (AI) could transform our world (finally some productivity gains and some real growth) and tech earnings really have risen strongly since 2022. But, it’s also true that we have been here before. Those who recall the 1990s will also remember, says Edwards, that the last big tech bubble was fueled by investment in what turned out to be excess capacity. Sure, the story was exciting and, sure, earnings rose. But the story took much longer to play out than expected. and earnings never rose quite enough to justify valuations.

Is that happening again? Of course. You can see the bubble in the concentration of the US market: The tech sector now makes up 35% of the S&P 500. You can see it in valuations: The US market is trading on an end-of-2025 forward price-earnings multiple of 19.8 times, well above historical averages, says SocGen quantitative strategist Andrew Lapthorne. That means  “there is little wiggle room” for any downgrades. And you can see it in expectations. Look at it in terms of the 1990s Information technology revolution and you will get the idea. That revolution “boosted real potential growth by roughly a percentage point for a few years,” say the analysts at BCA, an investment-research firm. Model something similar for AI over a 10-to-20-year time horizon and you see that it is worth somewhere between $3 trillion and $10 trillion to the corporate sector (this isn’t an exact science).

But US growth stocks have already seen a $4.3-trillion rise in market capitalization since 2022 and the market has a whole a rise of $7 trillion. This suggests that “the US equity market is significantly overvalued” — unless we do really see evidence of a huge productivity surge accompanied by “persistently high margins,” says BCA. That might still happen (and those of us wishing to maintain our living standards must hope it does). But even if it does, will it be clear in time to make sure new money keeps pouring into this market this year — and will it really justify the excitable valuations?

There isn’t much short-term certainty in markets — and there is little on the immediate direction of the AI bubble. But there is some long-term clarity: Value stocks underperformed firmly from 2007 to 2020, but over the long term, cheap stocks do win. As the authors of this year’s UBS Global Investment Returns Yearbook say: “We have seen that over the long run companies selling at a low stock price relative to fundamentals — value stocks — have beaten stocks selling at a high stock price relative to fundamentals — growth stocks.”

From 1926 to the end of 2023, the outperformance of value overgrowth was 2.6 percentage points, annualized (12.7% vs. 9.8%) — and that’s despite underperformance pretty much every year in the 21st century. Look to the UK and, albeit with a shorter time frame (1955 to 2023), you see much the same (14.8% vs 9.8%); value investing has paid off. The important thing for investors to remember is that, while it makes long-term sense to always participate in stock markets, you don’t actually need to participate in the bubbles (however tempting). You can simply note them and buy something else: Should the productivity revolution appear, all sectors will benefit. Think of it as Wiseman might: The less far you have to fall, the less frightened you need be of gravity.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Under water

Residents wade through the flood caused by Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon on July 24, 2024. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

A typhoon in Northern Luzon along with monsoon rains resulted in flooding in many parts of the country yesterday. The National Capital Region was at a standstill, yet again. People had to stay home. By now, flooding is a common occurrence during heavy rains. Along with all the problems that go with it.

In the last 50 years, numerous flood control projects have been initiated. To date, however, nothing seems to work in the long term. Flooding is seasonal, but the same goes for the success of these projects. And with climate change seemingly bringing on more rain than usual nowadays, there is great urgency for cities to initiate more effective projects for flood control.

Success is not impossible. I believe there are many lessons to be learned from the Netherlands, China, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, and our very own Bonifacio Global City (BGC). And presenting great potential are the ongoing rehabilitation of the Philippine National Railways as well as the construction of the Metro Manila subway.

The Netherlands is tops, in my opinion, when it comes to flood mitigation. But success required decades as well as massive investments in public infrastructure that included a system of dams, sluices, locks, dikes, and storm surge barriers. Metro Manila can adopt a similar integrated approach by constructing a series of flood barriers like dikes along coastlines and key waterways such as the Pasig River.

The US Mississippi River and Tributaries Project made use of levees, floodways, reservoirs, and channel improvements. Something can also be considered for the Pasig and Marikina rivers. Channel improvements, if still feasible, can be considered, and the construction of reservoirs or water impounding systems in strategic locations.

And similar to China’s Three Gorges project on the Yangtze River, smaller-scale dams and retention basins can be constructed upstream in the river systems feeding into the metropolis. These structures can help control water flow and reduce downstream flooding during heavy rainfall.

As for water impounding, the Tokyo Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel (G-Cans) is said to be the world’s largest underground floodwater diversion facility. And this is where the Metro Manila subway project comes in. The 33-kilometer, 17-station subway, which will stretch from Valenzuela City to Parañaque City, is receiving Japan development assistance.

The subway project presents an opportunity to also transform the city’s drainage infrastructure and mitigate flooding. Subway construction can be integrated with flood control measures to create a dual-purpose system like Tokyo’s G-Cans. As subway tunnels are built, perhaps there is a way to add underground tunnels and storage tanks that can temporarily hold excess rainwater to prevent surface flooding. Flood waters can be released into rivers once the flood risk subsides.

Anyway, subway stations and tunnels will surely be equipped with flood control gates and pumping systems. These can be activated during heavy rain to prevent water from entering the subway and surrounding areas. Perhaps the same system can also help divert surface rainwater into underground impounding tunnels, and to pump them out when floods subside.

In Italy, mobile gates were built to protect Venice from flooding during high tides. We have something similar in place along the coast facing Manila Bay as well as parts of the Pasig River. But perhaps we need more of these so-called flood gates, against storm surges and high tide, as well as more drainage exit points into the river that can be closed and opened as necessary.

The United Kingdom has something similar called the Thames Barrier, which protects London from flooding. Of course, other than construction, regular maintenance and operational readiness will be crucial for these systems’ success. Maintenance and control may be centralized or localized but coordinated.

It goes without saying that any of these initiatives will be practically useless unless there is comprehensive work done to rehabilitate and improve drainage systems, considering present and future needs. Longer-term strategies are needed for sustainable drainage management, and this will necessarily require increasing the capacity of upgraded drainage systems.

On the part of local governments and the private sector, new construction should require green infrastructure solutions such as permeable pavements, green roofs, and rain gardens. These can help absorb rainwater, reduce runoff, and mitigate flooding. Homes and businesses should be encouraged to properly harvest rainwater and use it for non-potable purposes.

In a way, Bonifacio Global City (BGC) helped show the way by putting in place a drainage system designed to handle heavy rainfall. The system includes large underground drainage pipes and retention basins that can store excess rainwater temporarily. BGC’s Burgos Circle, I believe, has a big retention basin underneath. BGC also provided for green spaces that absorb rainwater and reduce surface runoff.

And, while the government is rehabilitating the national railroad, perhaps it can also consider using railroad rights of way as water impounding areas for flood management. This strategy leverages existing infrastructure to create additional flood control measures without requiring extensive land acquisition. Areas alongside tracks can be dug and converted into covered canals as water impounding areas.

Anyway, railroad rights of way often include buffer zones. For areas already lost to urban migration, they need to be reclaimed and cleared of illegal settlers. These areas are typically linear and can be engineered to hold significant volumes of water during heavy rain. The challenge, however, is ensuring the stability of the railroad tracks and building drainage systems that can overflow without disrupting train operations.

Bottomline, by repurposing existing railroad rights of way, Metro Manila can create additional water storage capacity without the need for extensive land acquisition, which is often challenging in densely populated urban areas. Water impoundments along railroad tracks can capture and store excess rainwater during heavy downpours, reducing the risk of flooding in adjacent areas. Building drainage canals alongside railroad tracks may also be easier to do than digging up existing roads.

 

Marvin Tort is a former managing editor of BusinessWorld, and a former chairman of the Philippine Press Council

matort@yahoo.com

Google parent Alphabet beats Q2 revenue, profit estimates

Googleplex, home to Alphabet Inc., in Mountain View, California. — WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

ALPHABET beat second-quarter revenue and profit estimates on Tuesday, driven by a rise in digital advertising sales and healthy demand for its cloud computing services, but flagged that capital expenses would remain high for the year.

Alphabet’s results underscore the robust demand for digital ads, driven by events like the Paris Olympics and elections in several countries including the US, while a recovery in enterprise spending is boosting its software business.

Strong adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology drove its cloud business.

Advertising sales, Alphabet’s chief revenue source, rose by 11% to $64.6 billion. The company sells ads in its search product using customer data to better target them.

Net income in the quarter ended June 30 rose 28.6% to $23.6 billion, besting the average estimate of $22.9 billion.

Investor reaction was mixed, with the shares initially rising about 2% before dipping by a similar percentage. They had gained more than 30% this year, outperforming a 20% rise in tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index.

“This was another stellar quarter from Google with beats across the board,” said Ido Caspi a research analyst with Global X, citing ad sales and artificial intelligence offerings as drivers.

Total revenue grew 14% to $84.74 billion, compared with analysts’ consensus estimate of $84.19 billion according to LSEG data. Ad sales in its YouTube division rose 13% to $8.67 billion.

Revenue from cloud computing services, a widely watched barometer for the health of enterprise technology spending, rose by 28.8% to $10.35 billion. Analysts had expected $10.16 billion.

Alphabet reported capital expenditures of $13 billion in the June quarter. Ruth Porat, in her last conference call as Alphabet’s chief financial officer, told investors that quarterly capital expenditures for the rest of 2024 would be at or above $12 billion.

In the January-March period, the company’s capital expenditure had jumped 91% to $12 billion, spooking investors.

Like its competitors, Alphabet is racing to roll out AI offerings as investors continue to pour billions into the technology.

But its AI searches have produced a series of embarrassing results, such as the widely ridiculed suggestion to put glue on pizza to better hold cheese. Google pulled back on the technology in May to work out kinks.

The technology will be rolled out to more countries, Alphabet Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai told investors on a call on Tuesday. “You’ll see us expand the use cases around it.” Mr. Pichai, without providing a timeline, said AI products could soon drive revenue rather than just help companies through cost-cutting and greater efficiency.

Despite heightened regulatory scrutiny, Google had been pursuing its largest acquisition ever, a roughly $23-billion buyout of cybersecurity firm Wiz. But Wiz told employees on Monday it was walking away from the deal and would instead pursue going public.

Google also held talks to acquire customer relationship management firm HubSpot before walking away from it earlier this month. The deal would have turned Alphabet into a rival of Salesforce, Oracle and others in that market.

Google said on Monday it is planning to keep third-party cookies in its Chrome browser backtracking function after years of pledging to phase out the tiny packets of code used to track internet searches.

It marked a major reversal after advertisers expressed concerns that the loss of cookies would limit their ability to collect and parse information for personalizing ads, making them dependent on Google’s user databases.

Sales for the Mountain View, California company’s so-called “other bets,” including experimental projects and its self-driving car unit Waymo, rose 28% to $365 million. Ms. Porat said the company is planning a multi-year $5-billion investment in Waymo, as rival Cruise slowly maps a course back to US roads after a highly publicized accident in October. — Reuters

BDO raises P55.7 billion from sustainability bonds

BW FILE PHOTO

BDO Unibank Inc. raised P55.7 billion from its third offering of peso ASEAN Sustainability Bonds, it said on Wednesday.

The bank’s offering of 1.5-year peso-denominated bonds was more than 11 times oversubscribed versus the initial P5-billion program, it said in a statement.

“The issuance was supported by strong demand from both retail and institutional investors that also prompted the early closing of the offer period on July 16,” BDO said.

“The net proceeds of the issuance are intended to finance and/or refinance eligible assets as defined in the bank’s Sustainable Finance Framework and diversify the bank’s funding sources,” the listed lender added.

The bonds are priced at a coupon rate of 6.325% per annum.

The offer period began on July 9 and was originally set to run until July 19. The papers were set to be issued, settled, and listed on Wednesday.

BDO sold the bonds at a minimum investment amount of P500,000 and in increments of P100,000 thereafter.

ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch was tapped as the sole arranger and sustainability coordinator for the issuance. ING Bank was also a selling agent along with BDO.

Meanwhile, BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was the financial advisor for the transaction.

The Securities and Exchange Commission earlier confirmed that the issuance complies with requirements under the ASEAN Sustainability Bond Standards and the SEC ASEAN Sustainability Bond Circular.

BDO last issued ASEAN Sustainability Bonds in January, where the bank raised P63.3 billion, also above the P5-billion target for that offer. The 1.5-year notes have a coupon of 6.025% per annum.

It also borrowed P52.7 billion through its first ASEAN Sustainability Bond issue in January 2022. Proceeds of its first issuance funded 28 projects related to renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, and water conservation, it earlier said. These also helped finance loans for 488,450 micro, small and medium enterprises and programs that generated employment.

BDO was the country’s largest bank in terms of total assets, with P4.38 trillion as of March, central bank data showed.

It has over 1,700 consolidated operating branches and more than 5,500 teller machines nationwide.

BDO’s net income grew by 12.12% year on year to P18.5 billion in the first quarter.

On Tuesday, BDO shares ended at P145.60 each. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

Radisson expands PHL reach with 3 new Park Inn locations

MULTINATIONAL hospitality company Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) said it is expanding its Philippine portfolio by adding three new hotels through a partnership with SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC).

The three new hotels, located in Cauayan City, Isabela; Olongapo; and Dasmariñas City, Cavite, add over 450 keys to the group’s portfolio, RHG said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday.

RHG also said that the expansion will reinforce the position of its Park Inn by Radisson upper-midscale brand, which caters to business and leisure travelers.

“These three hotels will be an outstanding addition to the SMHCC portfolio as it forays into newly emerging important destinations in the country.  The anticipated opening of these properties underscores the expansion of our hotel group and will be an added boost for the Philippine hospitality industry,” SMHCC Executive Vice-President Peggy E. Angeles said.

Park Inn by Radisson Cauayan Isabela will have 151 rooms and is expected to open in the second quarter of 2027. It will be an upper-midscale property and the first internationally branded hotel in Cauayan City.

The property is situated atop SM City Cauayan Mall and will feature a lobby bar, a breakfast restaurant, a private dining room, a gym, a swimming pool, a pool deck, a lounge, a kids’ pool, three meeting rooms, and a pre-function area.

Scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2028, Park Inn by Radisson Olongapo Central will offer 151 rooms and will be located next to SM Olongapo Central Mall. Its amenities will include a lobby bar, a convertible breakfast area, a private dining room, a swimming pool, a pool deck, a lounge, and a kids’ pool.

This hotel marks the group’s entry into Olongapo and is expected to attract leisure travelers seeking beachfront relaxation, diving, and water sports.

Park Inn by Radisson Dasmariñas will have 151 rooms and is set to open in the fourth quarter of 2027. It will be an extension of SM City Dasmariñas, located about a 50-minute drive from Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The property will offer a lobby bar, a convertible breakfast area, a private dining room, a grab-and-go kiosk, a swimming pool, a pool deck, a lounge, and a kids’ pool.

“We are delighted to reveal these three new properties in the Philippines, where we are rapidly becoming the country’s most popular international hotel group. Our success in this important market is underpinned by the strength of our local partnerships, and I would like to thank SMHCC for their trust in our brands,” Radisson Hotel Group Chief Development Officer for Asia Pacific Ramzy Fenianos said.

Radisson Hotel Group operates six hotels in the country, including five Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Davao City, Clark, Iloilo City, Quezon City, and Bacolod City, as well as one Radisson Blu hotel in Cebu City.

The group’s pipeline includes Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson, and Radisson RED hotels in Cebu City, a Radisson Collection hotel in Boracay, and a Radisson Individuals member in Bohol.

SMHCC is a unit of Sy-led property developer SM Prime Holdings, Inc.

RHG operates over 1,360 hotels in 95 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Its brand portfolio includes Radisson Collection, art’otel, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, and prizeotel. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Blast at Jose Cuervo plant in Mexico kills at least five people

MEXICO CITY — An explosion at a Jose Cuervo tequila plant in central Mexico killed at least five company workers and forced the evacuation of tourists from the area in the spirit’s hometown of Tequila, the head of the state’s emergency services said on Tuesday.

Victor Hugo Roldan, the chief of emergency services and firefighters in Jalisco state, told Reuters the blast occurred in a 500,000-liter tank at the plant, and the resulting fire was put out by company personnel.

At least two other tanks at the facility, operated by the world’s largest tequila maker Becle, also collapsed, he said.

In a statement, the company confirmed the death toll from the accident at its Rojeña plant, adding that several other workers were injured.

The explosion in one tank triggered a fire in three others, according to a statement from emergency services released later on Tuesday. The cause of the blast remains unknown.

A photo of the aftermath of the explosion released by emergency services showed a large metal tank emblazoned with the Cuervo logo collapsed on its side.

The town of Tequila, home to several distilleries of the agave spirit, is a popular tourist destination about an hour’s drive northwest of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city. — Reuters

SONA 2024 and the nuclear power roadmap

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. delivered his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday at the Batasan Pambansa. Some energy topics that he mentioned in all his SONAs — 2022, 2023, and 2024 — were the push for more renewable energy, the role of Malampaya gas, and power transmission development towards a “Unified Philippine Grid.” See his statements below:

From SONA 2022: “Furthermore, we must examine the entire system of transmission and distribution for the purpose of finding ways to lower the price of energy to the consumer.

“We must expand the network of our transmission lines while examining schemes to improve the operation of our electrical cooperatives.”

From SONA 2023: “We finally have a Unified National Grid, with the interconnection of the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids. The ‘One Grid, One Market’ will enable more efficient transfers and more competitive pricing of electricity throughout the country.

“However, 68 grid connections are much delayed, according to the ERC’s count. We are conducting a performance review of our private concessionaire, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). We look to NGCP to complete all of its deliverables, starting with the vital Mindanao-Visayas and Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnections.”

From SONA 2024: “Running through Bataan, Pampanga, and Bulacan, the newly inaugurated Mariveles-Hermosa-San Jose transmission line will further strengthen the reliability of the Luzon power grid.

“In the Visayas, all stages of the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project have likewise been completed… And just last week, the Dumanjug-Corella Line of the Cebu-Bohol Interconnection Project was energized, enabling the transfer of power between Cebu and Bohol.

“The energization of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection is a defining moment not only for the power sector but for the entire country. Finally, we have connected the power grids of all three major island groups.”

The NGCP has finally delivered all three important interconnection projects. Thank you, NGCP. Please keep expanding and strengthening the transmission system to accommodate more big baseload plants, secondarily, the intermittent renewables.

Emmanuel V. Rubio — the new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), and also immediate past President and CEO of Aboitiz Power (AP) — praised the President for his SONA, saying that, “It is notable that the government is closely working with NGCP in completing the critical transmission lines to ensure that major baseload plants and areas where we have surplus supply like Mindanao, can evacuate needed power to areas where the supply often is critical.

“I am also in support of the President’s endorsement of amending EPIRA for the purpose of updating certain provisions to ensure that they are aligned with current trends in terms of technology and energy mix. Certain issues, like how grid limits are calculated and capped, should be revisited given the influx of solar capacities and the need for scale in developing LNG to Power facilities and eventually, nuclear.”

Last week the Department of Energy (DoE) released a draft of the “Philippine Nuclear Energy Program (PNEP) 2024-2050: A Roadmap Towards Clean Energy.”

President Marcos Jr. advocated nuclear energy development early on. In his 2022 SONA he said, “I believe also it is time to re-examine our strategy towards building nuclear power plants in the Philippines. We will comply of course with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations for nuclear power plants as they have been strengthened after Fukushima. In the area of nuclear power, there have been new technologies developed that allow smaller scale modular nuclear plants and other derivations thereof.”

In the draft PNEP, the DoE said that, “The use of nuclear energy for power generation is in support of meeting the electricity requirements for the forecasted economic growth under the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2023-2050, consistent with the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017–2040.”

The PNEP actually showed that the main target of the DoE and PEP is wind and solar power generation. The power generation targets by 2050 are: wind 144 terawatt-hours (TWh), solar 89 TWh, natural gas (including LNG) 68 TWh. The percentage share of coal will decline from 62% of total generation in 2023 to only 11% by 2050 while the share of wind will jump from 1% in 2023 to 33% of the total in 2050. Nuclear and others are to rise from zero to 9% by 2050 (see Table 1).

 

I am not enthusiastic over having intermittent solar and wind as the dominant energy source – it is projected that they will provide 53% of the Philippines’ total power generation by 2050. The experience of rich countries showed that when they jumped fast into solar-wind, plus reduced their coal and nuclear capacity, this led to a significant slowdown in growth, even degrowth, as is currently experienced by Germany, the UK, and Japan.

In one decade — from 2013 to 2023 — there was a big decline in coal generation in the US, Canada, Germany, the UK, France and Japan. And a big jump in their solar and wind generation (see Table 2).

The average gross domestic product growth from 2016-2023 in these countries were: US 2.2%, Canada 1.7%, the UK 1.3%, France 1.2%, Germany 1%, and Japan 0.5%. These were not the growth rates of these countries in earlier decades when they were not preoccupied with decarbonization and net zero.

Also last week, on July 18, two NGOs — Sanlakas and Power for People Coalition (P4P) — said they filed a case against DoE Secretary Raphael Lotilla before the Ombudsman for “violating” the coal moratorium and favoring AP where he was once a member of the board.” This is in relation to AP’s expansion of Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) coal Unit 3 in Toledo City, Cebu.

The DoE released a statement that same day clarifying that the “Coal Moratorium Policy issued in December 2020 is not a total ban, does not cover existing and operational coal-fired power generation facilities as well as any coal-fired power considered committed power projects; existing power plant complexes which already have firm expansion plans and existing land site provisions; and indicative power projects with substantial accomplishments, particularly with signed and notarized land acquisition or lease agreement for the projects, and with approved permits or resolution from local government units and the Regional Development Council where the power plants will be located.”

Secretary Lotilla is correct in saying that, “Diversification of energy sources is critical to energy security. Unfortunately, we get pilloried for favoring solar and wind over coal and get charged for favoring coal over renewable energy. This leaves us with a reassuring feeling that we are getting the damn thing right.”

I concur with the clarifications by the DoE and the statement by Secretary Lotilla.

 

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

Tayabas City rolls out digitalized civil registration system

THE CITY of Tayabas expects faster gathering of the records of its residents with the implementation of the Integrated Barangay Civil Registration and Information System (iBCRIS), which provides analytical reports that can be used for decision making.

iBCRIS is a local civil registration system that assists with demographic surveys inside barangays, serves as a centralized storage, and lessens errors.

“In 2022, they did a survey in January and after half of the year, the encoding was not yet finished. But with iBCRIS, they can encode it on the tablet itself. They took a month before — now it could take only a week,” iBCRIS Project Leader Raymond S. Bermudez told BusinessWorld on July 17.

The process of surveys conducted by the Tayabas City Civil Registrar’s Office would be long, “but the encoding and generating of the report will be instant,” said Mr. Bermudez, who is also the Tayabas Office of the City Mayor’s ICT Section head.

Mr. Bermudez said the server will automate the previously paper-based surveys for the city’s 112,000 population from 66 barangays, which were manually encoded via Excel.

Tayabas City Civil Registrar Maide O. Jader said the aggregated data will help the government in planning new programs and create comparative figures to track migration trends between barangays.

“What is their purpose? Why are they moving to that barangay? Is there a problem with the service of health, education, or infrastructure?” she said.

Ms. Jader added that the system is expected to ease the burden on barangay secretaries in terms of logging information and the process of computing the requested data.

During the celebration of Tayabas’ 17th Cityhood Anniversary last week, Mayor Lovely Reynoso-Pontioso said the launch of iBCRIS supports Tayabas’ move towards becoming a smarter city.

The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DoST-PCIEERD) invested P996,000 in creating the iBCRIS under its Good Governance through Data Science and Decision Support System (GODDESS) program.

The GODDESS program has completed 20 projects with P35.764 million in total investments in different sectors, DoST-PCIEERD Chief Science Research Specialist Ruby Raterta said.

This program uses data science to address various national government agencies and local government units, academic or research institutions, and micro-, small, and medium enterprises.

DoST-PCIEERD Executive Director Enrico C. Paringit said this aligns with the agency’s Smart Cities Roadmap and vision of data-driven, information-based, and science-oriented governance among local governments. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante

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