IAN MCKELLEN in a scene from Player Kings. — PLAYERKINGSTHEPLAY.CO.UK
LONDON — British actor Ian McKellen, 85, will not return to the role of John Falstaff in a tour after he fell off a London stage mid-performance last month, the play’s producers said on Monday.
Mr. McKellen was starring in Player Kings, a production of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts One and Two, in the capital’s West End theater district, on June 17 when he lost his footing and fell off the front of the stage during a fight scene.
The actor, who is best known for playing Gandalf in the film versions of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and was also Magneto in the X-Men movies, was taken to hospital.
“Two weeks after my accident onstage, my injuries improve day by day,” he said in a statement.
“It’s with the greatest reluctance that I have accepted the medical advice to protect my full recovery by not working in the meantime.”
David Semark, Mr. McKellen’s understudy who completed the run in London, will play the role in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich, and Newcastle, producers said.
Mr. McKellen’s stage career stretches back to 1961, where his credits include playing Richard III, King Lear, and Macbeth. — Reuters
BSP South Luzon Regional Director Tomas D. Cariño, Jr. (fourth from left) and Legazpi City Mayor Carmen Geraldine B. Rosal (fifth from left) led the launching of Paleng-QR Ph Plus at the City of Legazpi’s public market on June 13. Also in photo are (from left) Councilor Alexander U. Jao, BSP Area Director Alvin L. Bermido, Vice-Mayor Oscar Robert H. Cristobal, market-goer Gloria Baynado, and DILG Regional Director Arnaldo E. Escober, Jr. — Photo from bsp.gov.ph
Leveraging emerging and innovative technologies is driving the Philippines towards a more digitalized economy, beginning with the banking and financing sectors.
Everything comes easy with digital banking; financial services are made more accessible, convenient, and perhaps most importantly, financially inclusive. The country’s successful digitalization has brought many benefits and a sizeable impact in consumer’s lives.
So much that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is pushing the banking sector to the forefront of digitalization, promoting banks and financial institutions as crucial enablers for digital transformation and financial inclusion.
“We want to make sure that this digitalization will result in better and more products that respond to the needs of clients, help them manage their finances, and enable them to seize economic opportunities,” Eli M. Remolona, Jr., BSP Governor said last year.
To better facilitate the digitalization of the banking system, the BSP introduced various initiatives on digital banking, such as open financing, a regulatory sandbox, and some measures on generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Open finance
(From left) Department of the Interior and Local Government Regional Director Leocadio T. Trovela, City of Mandaue Mayor Jonas C. Cortes, BSP Officer-in-Charge for Financial Inclusion and Consumer Empowerment Sub-Sector Atty. Charina B. De Vera-Yap, and market vendor Cristina Mosqueda at the Mandaue City Public Market — Photo from bsp.gov.ph
In a speech he made in March, Governor Remolona Jr. recently outlined the central bank’s strategy to digitalize the financial system, emphasizing four key initiatives. The first initiative, the Open Finance Framework, encourages established banks such as BPI, BDO, and Metrobank to participate in an open finance ecosystem, which will utilize application programming interfaces (APIs) to connect various financial services, ensuring that customer data is used with explicit permission, thereby respecting data ownership.
“We are advocating open finance, particularly in the area of financial health. Open finance facilitates consent-driven sharing of customer data among financial institutions and third-party providers. It also gives customers more access and more choices when it comes to financial services,” he said in a separate speech in June.
“We believe that open finance holds significant potential to extend the reach of financial inclusion. It will do by fostering innovations in financial services. At the center of open finance is the customer who must be served and protected at all times. This is why we, at the BSP, are implementing our financial consumer protection framework. This would ensure that the rights and needs of consumers always comes first and that their trust and confidence in the financial system is preserved.”
The second initiative focuses on digital banking, aiming to facilitate online deposit raising and loan issuance. While raising deposits online is relatively straightforward, the collection of loans presents challenges due to cultural preferences for personal interaction. Currently, the BSP has limited digital banking licenses to six but may consider expanding this to diversify business models and stimulate industry excitement.
Regulatory sandbox and digital payments
The BSP and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) formally sealed their partnership for the conduct of the country’s first Cashless Expo. BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto E. Tangonan (left) signed the Memorandum of Agreement on the Cashless Expo with DTI Assistant Secretary Mary Jean T. Pacheco (right) last October. The Cashless Expo was held from Nov. 17 to 19 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. — Photo from bsp.gov.ph
The central bank governor also highlighted the BSP’s regulatory sandbox, a controlled environment where fintech innovations can be tested with regulatory oversight. This sandbox aims to minimize regulatory uncertainty, providing innovators with guidance on potential regulatory implications. The BSP supports these innovators by helping them understand the regulatory landscape they will face if their innovations succeed.
Finally, the BSP is actively promoting digital payment systems to serve the unbanked population. Initiatives like e-wallets and simplified deposit accounts aim to integrate more people into the formal financial system, providing access to credit, financial services, and investment opportunities.
The BSP addressed the integration of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, into the financial system. While he acknowledges AI’s potential, Governor Remolona stressed the importance of human oversight to prevent issues like hallucinations and herding. He emphasized that AI should be used responsibly to ensure accurate and useful outputs.
“If you have used ChatGPT, you know how irresistible it is. So, we do not even have to encourage it. You guys will do it without any encouragement, but of course, we have to think of guard rails for generative AI,” he said, speaking to financial executives.
“As you know, generative AI leads to what we call hallucinations; it imagines things that never happened. It leads to herding; it gives the same answer to different questions. So, we think that, for now, at least, when using generative AI, a human being should work with it and look at the answers before you decide. Apparently, it is not so hard to tell whether the answers are wrong.”
Governor Remolona also discussed Project Nexus, a collaborative effort by ASEAN central banks to enable fast and cost-effective cross-border retail payments. Expected to be operational by 2026, Project Nexus aims to facilitate remittances at low costs, enhancing financial connectivity across the region.
“Empowered by a shared vision of efficient and reliable cross-border payments, the collaboration between the BIS and ASEAN central banks has been rather effective, and I’d like this to continue. Central banks have always played a role in payments as a public good. With Nexus, this role will be extended to cross-border payments, maximizing the network effects. Thus, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will continue to work with the Philippine payments industry, BIS and other interested countries towards its live implementation. We look forward to Nexus providing overseas Filipinos with a cheaper and faster means to send money to family back home, and facilitating the globalisation of Filipino small and medium scale enterprises,” Mr. Remolona said.
Through these initiatives, the BSP seeks to leverage technology to improve financial inclusion, ensure data privacy, foster innovation, and prepare for AI integration while maintaining regulatory oversight. The central bank’s comprehensive approach aims to create a more inclusive and efficient financial ecosystem, benefiting both consumers and financial institutions.
Prior to these initiatives, the BSP has developed innovations to promote a digital payment system that serves the unbanked, such as Paleng-QR PH Plus Program and Bills Pay PH.
Paleng-QR Ph Plus Program is a program that promotes the adoption of digital payments in public markets and other business establishments, particularly of small and medium enterprises.
Moreover, this program strives to facilitate smooth, convenient, and more accessible payment transactions between vendors and customers using digital devices. This initiative, which was done in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), aligns with its goal of promoting QR code technology, providing a secure and efficient way for payment transactions.
Bills Pay PH, meanwhile, is a payment system that allows their customers to pay their bills, giving users the option to pay their bills with or without an account of different payment service providers. Transactions can be made through QR code or non-QR code payment.
“We hope these will lead to people joining the formal financial system. They will have access to bank credit, other financial services, and eventually the whole financial ecosystem-access to investment instruments, access to the right kind of insurance, and so on,” Mr. Remolona said in a previous speech at the General Membership Meeting of the Financial Executives Institutes of the Philippines.
Digital literacy
Officials and staff from the BSP Visayas Regional Office replacing the public’s unfit banknotes from circulation by exchanging it with fresh bills or digital cash during the conduct of its Piso Caravan last year in SM Consolacion, Cebu and Robinsons Place, Tacloban City, Leyte — Photo from bsp.gov.ph
Committed to driving digital growth, BSP will continue its Digital Literacy program (DLP), which aims to promote financial education, increase adoption of financial services, and build more trust in the digital financial ecosystem. It further informs and educates consumers of digital banking and financing, protecting consumer welfare, and tips on avoiding frauds, scams, and minimizing risks.
BSP’s digital efforts is poised to shape the Philippines and its banking sector into a more digitalized economy. These initiatives are aligned with the central bank’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap, that aims to convert 50% of the country’s payment transactions to digital. This shows that the increasing demand and popularity of digital financial services and innovative solutions has created numerous market and economic opportunities that will continue to grow in the coming years.
“As the BSP continues to champion financial digitalization initiatives, everyone is called to join this journey of transformation. Let us work together in building an economy that is characterized by a robust, secure, and resilient digital financial infrastructure, with tech-savvy consumers and an innovation-embracing public sector,” BSP said in another statement.
THE Philippine Chamber of Telecommunications Operators (PCTO) said the country’s telecommunications companies should urgently implement stringent security measures against scam and spam messages, citing a surge in off-network scam messages that are evading telco networks.
“This new wave of scam messages is worrisome as fraudsters have resorted to methods that do not pass through telco networks, thus they are able to evade our already robust filters,” PCTO President and Globe General Counsel Froilan M. Castelo said in a statement on Tuesday.
For the first quarter, Globe reported blocking a total of 362.77 million scam/spam messages, a decrease from 1.1 billion in the same period last year.
Additionally, Globe noted a decline in bank-related spam and scam messages to a range of 1.04 million to 4.07 million during January to March.
Despite the reduction in scam and spam messages, the PCTO said there is an increasing threat of off-network scam/spam messages, which are malicious messages sent to mobile users outside of their telco provider.
Mr. Castelosaid there is a pressing need for enhanced collaboration among telco players to address this problem.
Fraudsters exploit internet-based messaging platforms and other rich communication services for these activities, he noted.
“Industry players and key stakeholders must work closely together to combat this trend. Let’s focus on finding ways to defeat our common enemy: scammers,” Mr. Castelo said.
Separately, PLDT Inc. and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. said that they are intensifying their measures against scammers.
From January to May, Smart said it has blacklisted over 615,788 mobile numbers associated with illicit and fraudulent activities such as spamming and SMS phishing scams.
“We actively collaborate with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center and the NTC (National Telecommunications Commission), our peers in the telecom industry, and other allies from the private and public sectors, to have a comprehensive response to the menace of SMShing and phishing scammers,” PLDT and Smart Chief Information Security Officer Jojo G. Gendrano said in a statement.
CYBERSECURITY AS BOARDROOM PRIORITY Meanwhile, Chris Painter, president of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise Foundation, said Philippine businesses must prioritize cybersecurity to enhance resilience against the rising incidence of attacks like data breaches.
“The number one thing businesses have to do is make it a priority at the boardroom level. That is something that is not just the job of the chief invasion security officer and that means they need to invest a resource in it,” he said in an interview.
Mr. Painter said entities should develop protocols in collaboration with authorities to ensure they respond effectively to attacks.
“Hardening the targets is one thing, but that resilience and also doing the analysis afterward and cooperating with others to see what’s going on and with the government, I think, is critically important.”
He added that countries like the Philippines need to collaborate with partners and establish connections with other countries to address these issues.
He cited geopolitical issues and investments as reasons for the Philippines being targeted.
Recently, GCash reportedly experienced an alleged breach of data from its know-your-customer process, which is mandatory for identifying clients opening an account. However, the e-wallet service clarified that its initial findings showed no indications of a data breach in their system and assured that customer funds and accounts were not impacted.
Digital Pinoys national campaigner Ronald B. Gustilo said the organization welcomes GCash’s assurance that no accounts were compromised and encourages cooperation with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center’s investigation.
“We also encourage Gcash to continuously take measures to protect their database and their whole system so that their customers will have an assurance that their funds and the personal information entrusted to the e-wallet provider is safe,” he said.
Other similar cases confirmed by the National Privacy Commission involved Toyota Motors Philippines, Robinsons Malls, Maxicare Healthcare, and Jollibee Foods Corp.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Ashley Erika O. Jose andAubrey Rose A. Inosante
CONSUMER GROUP Power for People Coalition (P4P) has filed petitions with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) seeking to reject Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) power supply contracts with generation companies that procure from fuel plants.
“We are asking the ERC to reject these contracts as part of their responsibility of protecting the public. Otherwise, they will condemn a new generation of consumers to 15 years or more of expensive power,” P4P Convenor Gerry C. Arances said in a statement on Monday.
The consumer group filed petitions with the ERC against the power supply contracts secured by Meralco through competitive selection processes (CSPs) with generation companies including Excellent Energy Resources, Inc. (EERI), GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD), South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC), and Mariveles Power Generation Corp. (MPGC).
In January, Meralco announced that it had secured the lowest bids for the 1,800-megawatt (MW) supply from GNPD, MPGC, and EERI, with offers of P6.8580 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 300 MW, P6.9971 per kWh for 300 MW, and P7.1094 per kWh for 1,200 MW, respectively.
Meanwhile, SPPC was awarded the 1,200-MW baseload contract after submitting the lowest bid of P7.0718 per kWh.
EERI, SPPC, and MPGC are subsidiaries of San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp., while GNPD operates under the private limited partnership of Aboitiz Power Corp.’s Therma Power, Inc., AC Energy & Infrastructure Corp., and Power Partners Ltd. Co.
“The terms of these power contracts are unfavorable to consumers and small businesses. Everyone loses except big power players: Meralco, San Miguel, and Aboitiz, who are leaving consumers no choice but to pay for more expensive electricity while their profits are soaring,” Mr. Arances said.
P4P said that the contracts allow the power plants to “automatically” pass on fuel costs to consumers.
Sought for comment, Meralco Vice-President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said the company has committed to sourcing the least-cost available supply through, among others, the conduct of a transparent bidding process.
“We strictly observe and follow the requirements and standards set by the government, which includes securing prior approval from the Department of Energy of our Power Supply Procurement Plan and the corresponding Terms of Reference (TOR) of the CSPs,” he said.
Mr. Zaldarriaga said that the TORs considered suggestions from the ERC chairperson before they were published.
“The CSPs involve an open and competitive process with the ultimate goal to secure the lowest bid from qualified generation companies, with no preferential treatment. Thus, the allegations that contracts emanating from CSPs are anti-competitive have no basis,” he said.
“We would like to assure our customers that all power supply contracts resulting from our CSPs undergo a strict review and approval from the ERC before being implemented to ensure that rates are fair and reasonable,” Mr. Zaldarriaga said.
ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Monalisa C, Dimalanta said the commission is still evaluating the power contracts and “the points raised by consumer groups will all be taken into consideration.”
“We encourage consumers to also participate in the formal process — as intervenors or oppositors in the proceedings — so we can ventilate all issues,” she said in a Viber message.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by 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
ACTOR-director Manny Castañeda has passed away, according to his close friend, Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) director Jose “Joey” Javier Reyes, who announced it in a Facebook post on July 1. He passed away on June 30, according to a later announcement from the Castañeda family.
Mr. Castañeda is known for his part in the films Aliw (1979), Oro Plata Mata (1981), Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas (1986), and Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo (2007). He is also known for his roles on television series like Makiling and FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano. His final acting credit according to IMDb.com was in Makiling, where he was in 10 episodes this yar.
Among the movies he directed are Sa Kabilugan ng Buwan (1997), May Isang Pamilya (1999), and Shame (2000).
In a Facebook post, Mr. Reyes recalled how he and the late actor were childhood friends, especially since college.
“We were inseparable since that time, all throughout college … until we both ended up teaching then finding our place in the insane world of show business,” he said.
Mr. Castañeda’s wake is ongoing until July 5 at the Sanctuarium at Araneta Ave. in Quezon City. The innurment will be on July 6. — BH Lacsamana
THE Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has partially granted Ayala Corp. a tax credit certificate worth more than P308 million, covering excess and unused creditable withholding taxes (CWT) for 2018 and 2019.
In a decision publicized on June 19, the CTA Third Division ruled that Ayala Corp. had sufficiently demonstrated its entitlement to the tax credit certificate.
The amount represents the excess and unutilized CWT for the specified years.
“Accordingly, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is ordered to issue a tax credit certificate in favor of petitioner Ayala Corp. in the reduced amount of P308,235,301.61, representing excess and unutilized creditable withholding taxes for the calendar years 2018 and 2019,” a part of the 20-page ruling of Justice Marian Ivy F. Reyes-Fajardo read.
Ayala Corp. argued for the approval of its CWT claim based on several grounds. Firstly, it filed both administrative and judicial claims within the prescribed two-year period. Additionally, it substantiated its excess and unutilized CWT amounts with Certificates of Creditable Tax Withheld at Source.
Further, Ayala Corp. said it ensured that the income subject to CWT was accurately included as part of its gross income in the amended Annual Income Tax Returns for both 2018 and 2019.
Ayala Corp. also said it did not exercise the option to carry over its excess and unutilized CWTs to following years.
The respondent countered that the corporation is not entitled to claim issuance of the tax credit certificate for its excess and unutilized CWTs over the two-year period due to its failure to submit complete supporting documents. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
THE US Justice Department reached a deal with fugitive Low Taek Jho and his family to get back more than $100 million of assets including artworks by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol, the latest asset recovery linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal in Malaysia.
The department announced the agreement on Wednesday with the fugitive, better known as Jho Low, unnamed members of his family, and various trusts to resolve two civil forfeiture cases brought against assets purchased using funds allegedly from the 1Malaysia Development Fund.
“Under the agreement, the department will coordinate with foreign partners to facilitate the liquidation and return of these assets to Malaysia,” the Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement. Before this settlement, the US had helped return over $1.4 billion in assets associated with the $4.5-billion money laundering and bribery scheme.
Mr. Low has repeatedly declared his innocence in the past. The 1MDB scandal, which also dragged in Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Hollywood, created political upheaval in Malaysia with former Prime Minister Najib Razak losing elections in 2018. Najib was eventually sentenced to jail for crimes related to the fund.
Under the latest agreements with the US, Mr. Low agreed to return a luxury apartment in Paris and artwork in Switzerland by Warhol and Monet, which he bought for about $35 million. The other involves returning to Malaysia about $67 million in property and cash in bank accounts in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore.
In 2020, Mr. Low struck a deal with US prosecutors to recoup almost $700 million of assets, including a Beverly Hills hotel and real estate in New York and London. That was in addition to $260 million of assets, including a $126-million super yacht, seized earlier on Malaysia’s behalf.
Mr. Low still faces charges in New York for conspiring to launder billions of dollars taken from 1MDB and for paying bribes to various Malaysian and UAE officials. He also faces a case in a District of Columbia court for making and concealing foreign campaign contributions to the US presidential elections in 2012.
Malaysian authorities have been trying, with no success, to track and repatriate Low for years. He was spotted last year in Macau.
Mr. Low was charged in absentia in 2018 by a Malaysian court with eight counts of money laundering and issued a warrant of arrest for his role in 1MDB. A separate Malaysian court said in 2020 that he played a key role in transferring 42 million ringgit ($8.9 million) from a former 1MDB unit to Najib’s accounts. Najib has claimed innocence, and got his prison sentence halved under a royal pardon earlier this year. — Bloomberg
The final chapter of the encyclical Laudato Si focuses on the primordial importance of environmental education. Here, every single individual must be involved, especially the young. This education has to affect actions and daily habits, the reduction of water consumption, the sorting of waste, and even turning off unnecessary lights and, among the well-to-do, air-conditioning units.
An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation, and selfishness. As Pope Francis proposed in Evangelium Gaudium, sobriety, when lived freely and consciously, is liberating, just as happiness means knowing how to limit some needs which only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life can offer. In this way we must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it.
To put this into practice, each individual must add to his regular examination of conscience a new dimension. He or she must reflect seriously on how one has lived in communion, not only with God, with others, and with oneself, but also with all creatures and with nature. In this regard, the Japanese people are the foremost examples. Whether in taking public transport, going to theaters, shopping in a mall, watching football games in the World Cup, the typical Japanese individual is always considering how his or her individual behavior is impacting the welfare of his or her neighbor. I saw this with my own eyes in a recent trip I made to Tokyo. It was impressive how on the grounds of vast public parks and walking trails with which the city is endowed, I did not see a single piece of litter, despite hundreds of people exercising and jogging along the various paths.
When I returned to the Philippines, I was overjoyed to read in the papers that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had agreed with leaders of the mining industry of the Philippines to implement policy reforms that will make the local mining industry more sustainable, responsible, transparent, and investor friendly. Highlighted in the joint declaration are the commitment to sustainable mining practices, the protection of biodiversity, and the respect for the rights of the local communities in the mining areas. Echoing very much the guidelines found in the encyclicals of the Catholic Church, especially those of Pope Francis, the mining companies committed to use the most efficient technologies for judicious extraction and optimum utilization of mineral resources, uphold ecological integrity, and safeguard the common good.
Once again, we have to remind ourselves that the common good is defined in the Philippine Constitution of 1987 as a social or juridical order that enables every member of society to attain his or her fullest human development. Not only those individuals directly affected by the mining operations should benefit from them. The public at large can also share in the earnings of the mining enterprises. This can be made possible by the mining sector pledging to remit to the government the full and correct taxes, royalties, and fees required for the exploration, development, and use of the country’s mineral resources.
For its part, the DENR is committing to encourage investments in mineral processing by providing incentives and strategic support. One of the most serious complaints of those who want to invest in mining, especially foreigners, is the red tape involved in the process of evaluating and issuing mineral agreements. The DENR has pledged to streamline this process. Especially to be tackled are the inconsistencies of policies affecting the mining sector issued by different government agencies. The DENR has committed to develop parallel processing applications with other government agencies, and explore the possibility of honoring the free, prior, and informed consent initiated by indigenous people. The DENR also will take the initiative to craft mining project prospectus and guide investors on lands suitable for exploration.
Industry associations will play a major role in helping individual mining enterprises to engage in responsible mining. The two leading groups — the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines and the Philippine Nickel Industry Association — agreed to establish an ethics committee that will oversee the environmental, social, and governance performance of its players. In the spirit of cooperation, and not of confrontation, the DENR and the mining sector agreed to establish a joint monitoring and evaluation mechanism to determine the impact of mining operations on the environment and the socioeconomic conditions of affected communities.
In this regard, it would be necessary to accumulate and analyze data on the poverty incidence prevailing in specific mining communities instead of relying on the poverty data by province or region available from the Philippine Statistics Authority. The site-specific poverty incidence data should be monitored yearly to determine if the mining operations are actually contributing to reducing poverty in the immediate mining community. This will directly address the criticism of the anti-mining NGOs that the profits of mining enterprises just make the investors richer without lifting the mining communities from poverty.
There was also an agreement from the mining companies to the DENR’s proposal to assign personnel to every mining project who could help the firms comply with rules and regulations. Long-standing issues will be addressed by the DENR such as the levying of a fixed royalty rate for Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and inclusion of a mining representative in the Mining Industry Coordinating Council.
These measures, if properly and resolutely implemented, will go a long way to enable the Philippines, as well as the global economic community, to benefit from the country’s rich mineral resources whose exploitation are necessary for the fulfillment of the goals of Industrial Revolution 4.0. Such technologies as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoS), Robotization and Data Analytics are highly dependent on the availability of the products of the mining sector, especially of copper and nickel that are indispensable for all the hardware needed for digitalization as well as for such renewable energy as solar and wind.
If we are to cite another social doctrine that can be derived from the New Testament, our inability to make use of our very rich mineral resources — because of our failure to arrive at a reasonable consensus — will be tantamount to literally “burying our talents” as described in the Parable of the Talents.
Bernardo M. Villegas has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard, is professor emeritus at the University of Asia and the Pacific, and a visiting professor at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. He was a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission.
For more than 30 years, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been the stronghold of the Philippine economy. Established pursuant the New Central Bank Act of 1993, the BSP promotes price stability, a strong financial system, and a safe and efficient payment and settlement system for Filipinos.
Since its establishment, the Philippines’ central bank has weathered several economic challenges over the decades including the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, a global pandemic in 2020 and, in the past year, skyrocketing inflation rates. But with growing concerns and pressure to act on other looming problems such as climate change and growing social inequality, the BSP has started to embrace sustainable finance as a measure to ensure long-lasting progress.
The BSP refers to this process as “any form of financial product or service which integrates environmental, social, and governance criteria into business decisions that support economic growth” which may lead to long-term economic projects.
These considerations might include climate change mitigation and adaptation, issues of inequality and inclusiveness as well as management structures of public and private institutions that play a fundamental role in the decision-making process.
In this regard, the BSP has made a few steps to integrate sustainable finance into its policies and practices. A circular released in 2020 states that the BSP’s monetary board had approved a sustainable finance policy framework that set out the central bank’s expectations for financial institutions to embed these principles in their operations.
Circular 1085, Series of 2020, required banks in the country to disclose sustainability strategic objectives and risk appetites, overviews of environmental and social risk systems, products and services aligned with internationally recognized sustainability standards including the issuance of green, social, and sustainability bonds, and other initiatives that promote adherence to sustainable finance in their annual reports. Aside from the items above, the circular also mandates banks to report the progress of these initiatives to the BSP yearly.
In 2021, the BSP, along with other central banks, pledged to facilitate sustainable regulations that will respond to climate change through the collective declaration of the Central Banks and Supervisors’ Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) in their commitment to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26).
“Central banks and financial institutions should recognize their important role in contributing to the transition to a low-carbon economy. As stewards of the financial sector, we should all commit to act with urgency in achieving the desired emissions reduction targets and in promoting the sustainability agenda,” former BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said in a statement.
A year later, the central bank released the Philippine Sustainable Finance Roadmap and Sustainable Finance Guiding Principles. Developed by the BSP’s “Green Force” in 2021, the road map and guiding principles aim to facilitate the mainstreaming of sustainable finance in the country and establish an understanding among stakeholders of economic activities considered “sustainable.”
The document laid out the BSP’s strategic plans to develop sustainable finance in the country. These initiatives seek to establish three pillars in the Philippine financial system that aim to create a conducive environment, mainstream sustainable finance, and develop a sustainable pipeline.
The BSP also launched its 11-point Sustainable Central Banking (SCB) Strategy in 2022. The points are: to conduct a comprehensive vulnerability assessment of the economy and financial system accounting for environmental risks; enhance mandatory disclosures of climate-related financial risks by all banks; issue guidance on mandatory climate stress testing for banks; explore the integration of environmental and social risk into prudential practices.
The 11-point SCB Strategy also includes for BSP to: incorporate macroeconomic effects of climate change into monetary policy analysis; consider incentive schemes for the promotion of green lending by banks; include sustainability considerations in its portfolio and risk management and sign the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI); develop a task force for inclusive green finance; to include climate-related financial disclosures in its annual report; adopt sustainable practices for its facilities and operations; and to roll out a capacity-building program for all staff in relevant areas.
“Climate change and other environmental hazards impact the prices of goods and change the risk profile of financial institutions. We are doing what we have to do in line with our mandates of promoting price and financial stability,” then-Governor Felipe M. Medalla said in a press release.
Last year, in an effort to foster the transition toward a sustainable economy, the BSP approved additional incentives for financial institutions in the form of additional single borrower’s limit (SBL) for financing eligible projects and zero reserve requirement rates on sustainable bonds.
The introduction of this set of measures is part of the initiative under the BSP’s 11-point SCB Strategy to mainstream sustainable finance as well as support the achievement of the country’s climate commitments and sustainable development goals.
Recently, the BSP’s monetary board approved the adoption of the Philippines’ Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Guidelines (SFTG) for banks which aims to direct, accelerate, and increase capital flows to economic activities that promote sustainability objectives. The SFTG will use a “traffic light system” to classify bank activity: “Green” for an SFTG-aligned activity, “Amber” for partially aligned, and “Red” for not aligned.
This version of the SFTG focuses on climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation with future interactions expected to emphasize biodiversity and circular economy. The taxonomy provides a simplified approach to assessing the economic activities of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“The issuance of a taxonomy is a crucial step in our sustainability journey. It provides high level guidance in determining the greenness of an investment. But this is just the first step to what I expect will be a long iterative process of calibrating the document to fully capture the conditions of the Philippine economy,” BSP Governor and Monetary Board Chairman Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said in a statement.
Throughout the years, the central bank has shown its commitment to the Filipino people by proactively responding to the financial crisis that they have faced. By adopting sustainable finance and integrating environmental, social, and governance criteria into its policies and practices, the BSP has paved the way to a more sustainable economy and future for the Philippines. — Jomarc Angelo M. Corpuz
FUJIYOSHIDA, Japan — Park rangers on Japan’s sacred Mount Fuji officially started this year’s climbing season about 90 minutes before sunrise on Monday, levying new trail fees and limiting hiker numbers to curb overcrowding.
At 3 a.m., officials opened a newly installed gate at a station placed just over halfway up the 3,776-meter (12,388-ft) peak that is a symbol of Japan and a magnet for tourists, now swarming into the country at a record pace.
Climbers must pay 2,000 yen ($12) and their numbers will be limited to 4,000 a day after complaints of litter, pollution, and dangerously crowded trails flowed in last year.
“I think Mount Fuji will be very happy if everyone is more conscious about the environment and things like taking rubbish home with them,” said Sachiko Kan, 61, who was one of about 1,200 hikers gathered on the first day of the new measures.
The yen’s slide to a 38-year low has made Japan an irresistible bargain for overseas visitors.
They are injecting record sums into national coffers but are also putting strains on facilities for travel and hospitality, not to mention the patience of locals.
Hordes of tourists became a traffic hazard at a nearby photography spot where Mount Fuji appeared to float over a convenience store, driving officials to put up a barrier of black mesh to obstruct the view that had gone viral online.
The climbing season this year on Mount Fuji, which straddles the prefectures of Yamanashi and Shizuoka about 136 km from Tokyo, runs until Sept. 10, after which the weather gets too cold and snowy.
A still active stratovolcano whose last eruption was in 1707, Mount Fuji has been a site of Shinto and Buddhist worship for centuries.
The number of climbers recovered to pre-pandemic levels last year, with about 300,000 annually, the environment ministry says. Hikers typically start in the wee hours to make it to the top in time for sunrise.
For their money, climbers receive a wristband giving access to the trail between 3 a.m. and 4 p.m., excluding those with reservations for mountain huts closer to the peak, to whom the daily limit on visitors will not apply, authorities say.
The new trail curbs were necessary to prevent accidents and incidents of altitude sickness, particularly among foreign “bullet climbers,” or those racing to the top, Yamanashi governor Kotaro Nagasaki said last month.
Japan should focus on attracting “higher spending visitors” over sheer numbers of people, he told a press conference.
Geoffrey Kula, one overseas climber waiting to scale Mount Fuji on opening day, took the restrictions in stride.
“This is not Disneyland,” said Mr. Kula, a visitor from Boston. “Having some sort of access control system to limit the amount of potential chaos is good.” — Reuters
THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of the reissued Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday at an average rate slightly below secondary market levels after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) signaled that it could start its easing cycle as early as next month.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P30 billion as planned via the reissued seven-year bonds it auctioned off on Tuesday as total bids reached P72.954 billion.
The bonds, which have a remaining life of four years and 10 months, were awarded at an average rate of 6.406%. Accepted yields ranged from 6.39% to 6.44%.
The average rate of the reissued seven-year bonds rose by 30.9 basis points (bps) from the 6.097% fetched for the series’ last award on June 20, 2023, but was 9.4 bps lower than the 6.5% coupon for the issue.
This was also 1.2 bps lower than 6.418% quoted for the five-year bond — the tenor closest to the remaining life of the papers on offer — and 1 bp below the 6.416% seen for the same bond series at the secondary market before Wednesday’s auction, based on PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates data provided by the BTr.
The Treasury made a full award of the reissued papers as they fetched an average yield below secondary market levels and as the offered volume was oversubscribed, it said in a statement after the auction.
Tuesday’s award brought the total outstanding volume for the series to P159.7 billion, it added.
The government fully awarded the bonds as it saw strong demand for its offer, a trader said in a text message.
“Looks like investors, especially end-users, are getting comfortable extending duration following the dovish BSP outlook,” the trader said. “They are now comfortable buying longer bonds for yield pickup, from the usual bills to one-year papers and now to four- to seven-year tenors.”
The average yield fetched for the reissued bonds was slightly below secondary market ratesafter the BSP signaled it could cut rates as early as August, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort likewise said in a Viber message.
BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. on Thursday said the Monetary Board is “on track” and “somewhat more likely than before” to slash rates at its Aug. 15 policy meeting, well ahead of the US Federal Reserve, which has signaled it could begin easing by December.
The BSP could cut rates by 25 bps in the third quarter and by another 25 bps in the fourth quarter, he added.
The Monetary Board’s Aug. 15 review is its only meeting in the third quarter. Meanwhile, its last two reviews for the year will be held in the fourth quarter and are scheduled on Oct. 17 and Dec. 19.
An August rate cut would be the first for the BSP in over three years, which last slashed borrowing costs by 25 bps in November 2020 to bring the policy rate to a record low of 2% during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
The BSP last week left its policy rate unchanged at a 17-year of 6.5%, as expected by all 15 analysts in a BusinessWorld poll. Interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were also maintained at 6% and 7%, respectively.
The Monetary Board hiked rates by a cumulative 450 bps from May 2022 to October 2023 to help bring down elevated inflation.
Expectations of easing inflation in the coming months also caused bond yields to go down, Mr. Ricafort added.
Mr. Remolona last week said he expects the consumer price index (CPI) to further ease this semester with the implementation of lower tariffs on rice.
The BSP lowered its average baseline inflation forecasts for 2024 and 2025 to 3.3% and 3.1%, respectively, from 3.5% and 3.3% previously. It also slashed its risk-adjusted inflation forecasts for this year and next to 3.1% from 3.8% and 3.7%, respectively.
Headline inflation averaged 3.5% for the first five months, well within the central bank’s 2-4% goal for the year.
The Philippine Statistics Authority will release June CPI data on Friday (July 5). A BusinessWorld poll of 14 analysts yielded a median estimate of 3.9% for June inflation, within the BSP’s 3.4-4.2% forecast for the month.
The BTr wants to raise P215 billion from the domestic market this month, or P100 billion from Treasury bills and P115 billion via T-bonds.
The government borrows from local and foreign sources to help fund its budget deficit, which is capped at P1.48 trillion or 5.6% of gross domestic product for this year. — A.M.C. Sy
When Filipinos talk about putting food on the table, they often consider the cost of bringing food, from the source, through various channels, and finally to the family home for the consumption and nourishment of its members. Food security is knowing that there will always be food available not only for the day but in the foreseeable future, and that the members of the family, while they have had something to eat today, will also not go hungry tomorrow or the days after that.
Many factors affect food security in the Philippines. Climate change is one. The Philippines ranked first in the World Risk Report 2023 for high disaster risk. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and disrupted supply chains contribute to food shortages and inflation.
Aside from the immediate damage done by rain, flooding, and destruction, climate change also has longer-term consequences in terms of compromising harvests, destroying crops, thus driving up demand and prices. In a survey commissioned by the Stratbase Institute for Pulse Asia Research, Inc. in September 2023, it was revealed that 95% of Filipinos claimed that they have seen and felt the price increase with food, with rice prices particularly affected. Inflation rate rose to 3.7% in March 2024. A survey by the Social Weather Stations in December 2023 showed that around 72% of Filipinos consider themselves to be hungry, with 35% of them saying that they are experiencing food poverty.
There is another factor that compounds the cost of food: logistics, or how food is brought from source to destination.
The Stratbase Institute published a paper entitled “Analysis of logistics costs for imported and domestic containers in the Philippines” written by Pablo Corralo Llorente of Bluefocus Infrastructure Advisors. The study shows that maritime transportation is costlier in the Philippines than in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, with destination charges having more weight. Logistics costs for an average imported container are about $5,300, representing slightly over 10% of final stock value.
Given all these, we at the Institute partnered with PHINMA Corp. and the Makati Business Club in holding a forum on June 24 entitled Achieving Food Security: Advancing Investments for Agricultural Sustainability. The event aimed to encourage insightful and collaborative discussions to cultivate a resilient and sustainable food security environment within the country.
Our takeaway was that prioritizing investments and implementing target measures can overcome food insecurity challenges, improve the standard of living for citizens, and pave the way for a resilient and prosperous future.
During the event, Eduardo Sahagun, PHINMA Corp. Director and Executive Vice-President, Construction Materials, emphasized collaboration among the public and private sectors in improving the lives of Filipinos. He also shared his aspirations for sustainability particularly supporting the cold chain industry for food security and safety, having sufficient cold storages to help the health sector, and, overall, having infrastructure resilient to climate change.
Mr. Sahagun also shared figures from a United Nations report that said that last year, nearly 51 million Filipinos faced moderate or severe food insecurity, the highest in Southeast Asia. He also referred to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Laurel, Jr.’s statement that 30% of the country’s agricultural produce is wasted because of poor logistics systems.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, and Regulations Asis G. Perez enumerated several sector goals: achieving food security for the Filipino people through boosting local agricultural production to ensure accessibility to affordable and nutritious food, developing the agriculture and fisheries sector as a profitable industry for farmers, fisherfolk, and all stakeholders involved in the value chain, expanding and improving available agri-fishery areas for increased production, mechanizing and modernizing agro-fishery and production systems, developing and improving post-harvest systems and infrastructure, developing efficient logistics systems for both input and production output, and improving and expanding local and international market access.
The Department of Agriculture’s Official Spokesperson Arnel V. de Mesa, who is the Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns and for Official Development Assistance (ODA) – Foreign Aid / Grant, emphasized the department’s core function, to construct and establish infrastructure to support agri-fishery industrialization and modernization even as great inefficiencies in the supply chain must be addressed.
Danielle Del Rosario, Chief Operating Officer of Union Insulated Panel Corp., enumerated the social benefits of investments in agricultural infrastructure including cold storage and the cold chain industry.
The discussions last week brought me back to pronouncements made by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.: “Food security remains the forefront of our national agenda,” he said on one occasion. “We must invest in facilities, logistics, and systems that bring nutritious food to our people.” Finally, “we must also cooperate to develop technologies that increase the nutritional value of our food and content and prolong their shelf life.”
The executive guidance showing that our government leaders are acutely aware of the food security issue, as well as the unwavering support and commitment offered by the private sector, gives me hope that despite the difficulties we are facing, food security remains a reachable goal. Let us not take our eyes off this aim, because it affects each Filipino and seeps into each aspect of our nation’s life.
Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.
Paleng-QR Ph Plus Program is a program that promotes the adoption of digital payments in public markets and other business establishments, particularly of small and medium enterprises.
