PANA, AIM team up to offer marketing course

May 3, 2024 | 12:01 am

THE Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) said it hopes to equip young marketers with skills in brand-building trends amid an evolving business landscape through its seminars.

Brand Academy is a four-Friday seminar on brand building, industry-specific knowledge, and skills essential for excelling in the competitive marketing arena.

“We’re already having to be full-time marketers, so not just having to build awareness and generate demand, but close that sale digitally, whether it’s TikTok shops, Lazada, etc.,” Colgate-Palmolive Marketing Director Bea Atienza said during a roundtable discussion on Thursday.

Marketers must thoroughly understand brand building and converting consumers across various channels, according to Ms. Atienza.

Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Business Development Senior Manager Jay Clement L. Coson supported this, highlighting e-commerce growth surpassing physical stores during the pandemic.

The seminars will cover TikTok strategies, brand trust, digital brand resonance, creative disruption, music marketing, and other relevant topics.

The classes take place face-to-face over four consecutive Fridays, beginning on June 7 and ending on June 28.

In its second year, PANA collaborated with the Asian Institute of Management to offer the course to the advertising industry, extending beyond its members.

“We started with an exclusive partnership with PANA two years ago… to PANA members who wanted to pursue postgraduate study but this time, it’s more specific and we made it very inclusive to non-members,” PANA Executive Director Robert Simborio said.

It costs P65,000 to enroll and attend the four sessions, as well as two additional courses that credit as five units.

“Upon completion, students can earn postgraduate units, a diploma, or a certificate,” said Ayala Land Corporate and Estates Group Head of Marketing and Communications Christine Roa.

PANA aims to double the 65 graduates from last year. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante

How PSEi member stocks performed — May 2, 2024

May 3, 2024 | 12:00 am

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Shares drop further on rate, inflation concerns

May 2, 2024 | 9:00 pm

SHARES fell on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve remained hawkish and amid expectations of faster Philippine inflation last month.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 0.8% or 53.94 points to end at 6,646.55 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index dropped by 0.6% or 21.36 points to close at 3,504.58.

“This Thursday, the local market dropped by 53.94 points (-0.8%) to 6,646.55 as investors worry that inflation for April may grow faster than March’s 3.7% and even exceed the upper end of the government’s target range based on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) latest forecast,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research and Engagement Officer Mikhail Philippe Q. Plopenio said in a Viber message.

“Adding to the woes was the Fed’s statement, which expressed the lack of greater confidence on the US’ inflation. The statement further tempered early rate-cut hopes from the Fed and consequently the BSP. It also caused concerns towards the local currency, which has an effect on the local bourse,” he added.

The BSP’s month-ahead forecast showed that inflation likely settled within the 3.5%-to-4.3% range in April. This is slower than the 6.6% print in April 2023.

The upper end of the forecast would exceed the 2-4% target band for the first time in four months. On the other hand, the lower end would be slower than the 3.7% inflation recorded in March.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and signaled it is still leaning towards eventual reductions in borrowing costs, but put a red flag on recent disappointing inflation readings that could make those rate cuts a while in coming, Reuters reported.

Indeed, Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell said that after starting 2024 with three months of faster-than-expected price increases, it “will take longer than previously expected” for policy makers to become comfortable that inflation will resume the decline towards 2% that had cheered them through much of last year.

“Local shares declined for the second consecutive day as investors processed news of resumed talks on a minimum wage hike, which could potentially impact companies’ financial performance,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan added in a Viber message.

Holding firms dropped by 2.05% or 127.10 points to 6,062.67; industrials retreated by 1.76% or 158.95 points to 8,855.39; property went down by 1.28% or 32.11 points to 2,477.38; mining and oil declined by 0.95% or 83.42 points to 8,701.16; and financials inched down by 0.33% or 7.1 points to 2,087.10.

Meanwhile, services rose by 2.11% or 39.28 points to 1,896.18.

Value turnover dropped to P4.77 billion on Thursday with 501.32 million issues switching hands from the P22.31 billion with 1.5 billion shares traded on Tuesday.

Decliners beat advancers, 110 to 76, while 54 issues closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling fell to P87.84 million on Thursday from P16.58 billion on Tuesday. — R.M.D. Ochave with Reuters

Peso strengthens vs dollar after Fed policy decision

May 2, 2024 | 9:00 pm

THE PESO appreciated against the dollar on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged at its policy meeting.

The local unit closed at P57.535 per dollar on Thursday, strengthening by 22.5 centavos from its P57.76 finish on Tuesday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.

The peso opened Thursday’s session stronger at P57.70 against the dollar. Its intraday best was at P57.435, while its weakest showing was at P57.74 versus the greenback.

Dollars exchanged went down to $1.54 billion on Thursday from $1.89 billion on Tuesday.

“Following the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday, which was perceived as dovish by investors, most Asian currencies, including the Philippine peso, strengthened against the dollar. This came after Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell dismissed the possibility of further rate hikes,” Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said in a Viber message.

The dollar was weaker across the board due to Mr. Powell’s comments after the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting, Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion likewise said in a Viber message.

The dollar fell on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve signaled it is still leaning toward eventual reductions in borrowing costs, but repeated that it wants to gain “greater confidence” that inflation will continue to fall before cutting rates, Reuters reported.

“In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress towards the Committee’s 2% inflation objective,” the Fed said in its statement.

The statement was largely as expected while Mr. Powell also said at a press conference that it is unlikely that the US central bank’s next move will be a hike, easing some concerns about the Fed potentially pivoting to a more hawkish stance.

The dollar index fell 0.44% to 105.85, after earlier reaching 106.49, the highest since April 16. A break above 106.51 would be the highest since early November.

For Friday, Mr. Asuncion said the market could continue to digest the Fed’s latest policy statement. He sees the peso moving from P57.20 to P57.80 per dollar, while Mr. Roces expects it to range from P57.40 to P57.80. A trader sees the peso moving between P57.35 and P57.70. — A.M.C. Sy with Reuters

Philippines again summons Chinese envoy over latest water cannon attack

May 2, 2024 | 8:41 pm

WPS-water canon incident1 — PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD PHOTO

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES on Thursday summoned China’s envoy to protest its coast guard’s use of water cannons that damaged two of Manila’s vessels in the South China Sea this week.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it had also protested the harassment, ramming, shadowing and other “dangerous maneuvers of the Chinese maritime vessels against the Philippine Coast Guard” near the Scarborough Shoal.

“The Philippines demanded that Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) and its vicinity immediately,” it said, citing the agency’s meeting with Zhou Zhiyong, deputy chief of mission of the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

Philippine officials have said a PCG ship and a fishery vessel were damaged when Chinese coast guard vessels fired water cannons at them while on their way to the disputed Scarborough Shoal to help Filipino fishermen.

“The DFA should not bend down in calling the attention of the Chinese envoy in Manila every time they practice maritime coercion and unjust behavior to our Filipino coast guardians,” Chester B. Cabalza, founding president of Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“The Chinese envoy should be reminded to stop their aggressive water cannons in our rotation and reprovisioning missions since this is a routinary practice of our maritime law enforcers. We need to hear the justification of China to maintain our sound and unbiased judgment,” he added.

The Philippines should also use diplomatic dialogue to “showcase to the world how it handles China’s unacceptable hostility in our exclusive economic zone, Mr. Cabalza said.

Manila’s coast guard on Tuesday said two China Coast Guard ships had used jet stream water cannons against its vessel sailing some 1,000 yards away from the Scarborough Shoal, resulting in damage to its railing and canopy.

A Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel’s electrical, navigation and radio systems were also damaged after being rammed thrice by Beijing’s coast guard vessels, it said.

On Tuesday, the PCG said its Chinese counterpart had installed a 380-meter floating barrier that “covers the entire entrance of the shoal.”

In March, Manila summoned the same envoy after the Chinese Coast Guard fired a water cannon at a Philippine resupply mission near Second Thomas Shoal, where Manila grounded a World War II-era ship in 1999 to assert its sovereignty.

The Philippines has filed 153 diplomatic protests against China under the Marcos administration, 20 in all this year, Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita C. Daza told reporters in a WhatsApp message.

The European Union, France, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada and Finland have expressed concern over the latest water cannon incident and other “dangerous maneuvers” by China in the waterway.

A spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Manila on Wednesday said Scarborough Shoal, which it calls Huangyan Dao, “has always been China’s territory” and urged the Philippines to “stop making infringement and provocations at once and not to challenge China’s resolve to defend our sovereignty.”

PCG spokesman Jay Tristan Tarriela told a news briefing on Wednesday that China has “elevated the tension and the level of their aggression” in the South China Sea after attacking Manila’s coast guard vessel.

“This is the first time that we can say that a coast guard vessel has been subjected to a direct water cannon with that kind of pressure that even resulted in structural damage,” he said, noting that “Goliath is becoming more Goliath.”

“They don’t hesitate to use brute force to violate international law,” he added.

Tensions between the two countries have worsened in the past year as China’s coast guard continues to block Philippine resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal.

In 2016, a United Nations-backed tribunal in the Hague voided China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. It also upheld the rights of small-scale Filipino and Chinese fishermen to fish at Scarborough Shoal.

The shoal is 240 kilometers west of the main Philippine island of Luzon and is nearly 900 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese landmass.

Marcos urged to certify wage hike bill as urgent

May 2, 2024 | 8:40 pm

infra-construction-workers — A worker arranges steel bars at a construction site in Manila, April 17, 2015. — REUTERS/ROMEO RANOCO

SENATE President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri on Thursday asked Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to consider certifying as urgent the P100 minimum wage hike bill for private sector workers, saying it would help workers cope with spiraling prices.

“I also urgently appeal to our President to consider Senate Bill No. 2534, or the [proposed] P100 Daily Minimum Wage Increase Act, which will be a massive step toward giving our hardworking laborers the living wages that they deserve,” he said in a statement.

“Perhaps it can even be certified as urgent, given the continued spike in the prices of goods owing to inflation.”

The Senate passed the bill on final reading in February, amid warnings that a hike that is too high could fan inflation. It has been sent to the House of Representatives for its consideration.

There are also separate House bills that seek to increase minimum wages by P150 to P750, and another that mandates a P33,000-a-month entry wage for government workers.

“All we need is the House counterpart measure, and this will be immediately felt across the sector,” Mr. Zubiri said.

Under the Constitution, a president can only certify a bill as urgent if there is a public emergency or calamity that requires its immediate passage.

Mr. Marcos on Wednesday ordered regional wage boards to review minimum wage rates amid rising costs of living.

He said the boards should consider inflation and other economic challenges when reviewing wages.

“The rise of involuntary hunger is truly concerning and disheartening,” Senate Majority Leader Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva said in a statement. “Two things that the government needs to address… are inflation and wages.”

Metro Manila’s daily minimum wage rose by P40 to P610 in June, much lower than the P570 increase sought by some labor groups.

The International Labour Organization has said the erosion of real wages and living standards by runaway inflation and housing costs globally is unlikely to be addressed or offset this year.

“It is essential to make timely adjustments to the minimum wage to safeguard the economic well-being of our labor force and promote social justice,” Senator Jose “Jinggoy” P. Estrada, who sponsored the Senate wage hike bill, said in a statement.

National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan has warned that proposals to legislate a P150 wage hike could stoke inflation.

Inflation quickened for the second straight month to 3.7% in March from 3.4% a month earlier.

“Our inflation rates are continuing to trend upward, at a rate that the wage boards have not yet been able to keep up with,” Mr. Zubiri said. “This bill will give a boost to the labor sector at this time of great need, as our people work to survive inflation.”

Meanwhile, the House is carefully studying legislated wage increases to prevent business closures, Isabela Rep. Faustino A. Dy told a news briefing.

Congressmen want to balance the interests of workers and businesses and ensure any wage hikes are sustainable, he added.

“It’s something that really needs to be studied thoroughly,” Mr. Dy said. “It really needs a proper balance because we don’t want to sacrifice businessmen.”

“At the end of the day, we want employment, and we want businesses to create more jobs,” he added.

Party-list Rep. Jude A. Acidre said Congress should rationalize wages per industry instead of legislating wage increases, which he said companies might not be able to absorb.

“I’m proposing that we study the possibility of rationalizing wage levels on the basis of industry and not on the basis of the regions,” he said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez and Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

DoH: 7 have died in Philippines due to record heat

May 2, 2024 | 8:39 pm

DANGEROUS HEAT INDEX — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

AT LEAST seven people in the Philippines have died from heat-related illnesses from Jan. 1 to April 29, according to the Department of Health (DoH).

There have been 77 heat-related illnesses recorded so far, Health Assistant Secretary Albert Francis E. Domingo told BusinessWorld in a Viber message on Thursday.

“The causes of death are still being verified, as deaths may be heat-related illnesses (including heat stroke) or heat-influenced, such as an underlying high risk for heart attack, precipitated by a hot environment that led to elevated blood pressure,” he said.

The state weather bureau said 40 areas in the country might experience “dangerous” heat indexes on Friday.

A heat index of 48°C might be experienced in Pili, Camarines Sur and 46°C in Tacloban City, Leyte and Dagupan City in Pangasinan, it said in a report.

Manila and Quezon City were expected to post a heat index of 43°C and 42°C, respectively, it said. In Puerto Princesa City and Aborlan in Palawan province, the heat index could hit 45°C.

Temperatures in Bacnotan in La Union, Roxas City in Capiz and Iloilo City and Dumangas in Iloilo province may hit 45°C.

The bureau defines the heat index as “a measure of the contribution that high humidity makes to abnormally high temperatures in reducing the body’s ability to cool itself.”

A heat index of 42°C to 51°C is considered dangerous because it increases the risk of heat cramps, exhaustion and stroke.

The DoH has said common symptoms of heat-related illnesses include loss of consciousness, confusion or disorientation and heart attack for heat stroke; fatigue, muscle cramps, dizziness, vomiting and headaches for heat cramps; and fatigue, weakness, headache, nausea for heat exhaustion.

People should stay hydrated, avoid sodas, iced tea, coffee and alcoholic drinks and wear loose and light clothes. They should also limit outdoor activities and protect themselves from the sun by wearing a cap, an umbrella and sunscreen.

Meanwhile, the government said it had given P541 million worth of aid to 10 regions affected by the El Niño weather event.

In a report, the country’s disaster agency said the aid consisted of family food packs, rice, fuel, roofing sheets, generators and hygiene kits for Cagayan Valley, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas.

Beneficiaries also included the Zamboanga Peninsula, Soccsksargen, Bangsamoro region and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

The country’s El Niño task force on Tuesday said at least 131 cities and municipalities have declared a state of calamity, with most areas experiencing drought.

DoTr urged to work with Landbank, DBP to help purchase modern PUVs

May 2, 2024 | 8:39 pm

Jeepney-modern-Iloilo2-BW-FILE — BW FILE PHOTO

A PHILIPPINE senator has urged the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to work with state-run lenders Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) to buy modern public utility vehicles (PUVs) to make up for the shortage in PUVs allowed to ply existing routes.

Under the PUV Modernization Program, traditional jeepneys are supposed to have their franchises consolidated into corporations or cooperatives and replaced with PUVs powered by at least a Euro-4 emission compliant engine.

But many operators and drivers of traditional jeepneys defied the consolidation order due to the prohibitive cost of replacing them with more environment-friendly vehicles.

“The DoTr must take the wheel and ensure that the modernization program doesn’t run over the livelihoods of PUV drivers and operators,” Senator Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said in a statement on Thursday.

“It must ask for help from the LANDBANK and DBP along with their asset management entities to make lease contracts out of the amortization contracts for transport cooperatives,” she added in Filipino.

The senator said the DoTr should also consider using its budget for subsidies this year to allow cooperatives to lease modern PUVs.

“After all, it is the government that can initially take on the risk of making the investment in modern fleets because it is more knowledgeable about what lies ahead and seems much less afraid of the risks of the modernization program,” Ms. Hontiveros-Baraquel said.

The consolidation deadline lapsed on Dec. 31, 2023, but lobbying from the transport sector prompted President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to grant public utility jeepneys a grace period twice, finally ending last April 30. Further calls to extend the deadline were denied.

Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares has urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to be transparent on whether or not the dialogues with transport groups had eased concerns about loans and other financial aspects of their consolidation. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

P3.74B released for free college

May 2, 2024 | 8:38 pm

THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Thursday it has released P3.74 billion to fund free college education for over 200,000 students in the country.

The DBM said it approved on April 15 the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) for a total of P3.744 billion to the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) Tulong Dunong Program, which benefits 247,135 scholars.

“This scholarship program is a huge help for our dear students, especially those who are having financial difficulty or simply cannot afford to go to college,” Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said in a statement.

The program is one of the components of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education – Tertiary Education Subsidy.

The fund would cover grantees enrolled CHED-recognized public and private higher education institutions for the second semester of the academic year (AY) 2023-2024 and the first semester of AY 2024-2025.

Under Republic Act No. 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, students enrolled in a bachelor’s degree, certificate degree, or any comparable undergraduate degree are exempted from paying tuition or other school fees. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

Births, deaths, marriages decline

May 2, 2024 | 8:36 pm

Cemetery — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

THE PHILIPPINES’ birth, death, and marriage rates declined by 22%, 16.5%, and 24.7%, respectively, in 2023 compared with the previous year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

Preliminary data from the Vital Statistics Report of the PSA showed that births in 2023 dropped to 1,135,639 from the 1,455,393 in 2022.

Deaths declined to 567,840 last year from the 679,766 the other year, while marriages also fell to 338,210 in 2023 from the 449,428 who tied the knot from January to December, 2022, according to the same report.

The figures reported by the PSA took into account registered births, deaths, and marriages as of the cut-off date of Feb. 29.

In a separate report, the Philippine Statistics Authority said ischemic heart disease remained the leading cause of death in the country in 2023 with 107,767 cases.

This is equivalent to 19% of the 567,840 total deaths listed last year.

Neoplasms diseases were the second-highest cause of death with 60,906 (10.7% share), followed by cerebrovascular diseases with 57,288 (10.1% share). — Abigail Marie P. Yraola

P48-M marijuana farm destroyed

May 2, 2024 | 8:36 pm

BAGUIO CITY — A marijuana plantation valued at P48 million was overran by police, military and anti-narcotics agents in a joint operation in the northern Luzon province of Kalinga on Wednesday.

The 8,000-square-meter plantation located in the village of Loccong in Tinglayan town yielded 240,000 fully grown marijuana plants, which were set on fire operating agents.

“This successful operation marks a significant milestone in the relentless efforts of law enforcement agencies to combat marijuana cultivation in the region… [and] underscores PRO Cordillera’s steadfast commitment to safeguarding communities and upholding the rule of law,” said Brig. Gen. David K. Peredo, Police Regional Office (PRO)-Cordillera director.

Meanwhile, two alleged drug traders trying to smuggle out over P3.7 million worth of dried marijuana leaves were cornered in a sting operation at an open parking lot at the Strawberry Farm in Barangay Betag, La Trinidad, Benguet at dawn on Thursday.

A total of 31 pieces of dried marijuana leaves with stalks and fruiting tops tape-rolled into cylinders were seized from two vegetable gardeners from Kibungan, Benguet, who sold the contraband to covert agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Cordillera. — Artemio A. Dumlao

EDSA-Kamuning rerouting set

May 2, 2024 | 8:35 pm

MMDA-trafficenforcer-PHILSTAR-RUSSEL-PALMA — PHILIPPINE STAR/ RUSSEL PALMA

TRAFFIC rerouting and other adjustments by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to aid some 47,000 vehicles affected by the closure of the southbound lanes of the EDSA-Kamuning flyover will be in place today.

To better manage the situation, MMDA Acting Chairman Romando S. Artes said motorcycles will be guided to alternate routes such as Scout Borromeo Street, Panay Avenue, Mother Igancia Avenue, and Scout Albano Street.

More traffic enforcers are being deployed in the area and personnel of the MMDA and the Quezon City government will continue clearing operations along Mabuhay Lanes for the use of four-wheeled vehicles, added Mr. Artes.

As the flyover undergoes retrofitting work until November, only the EDSA Carousel for exclusive use of commuter buses will be open.

The Traffic Engineering Center said 24,000 four-wheeled vehicles and 23,000 motorcycles will be affected by the closure. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana