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BAP says selling PDS to PSE hinges on ‘right conditions’

THE Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) said it is open to selling the Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS Group) to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) under the right conditions.

“We’re willing to sell at the right conditions,” BAP President Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing last week.

“(The PSE) has given us a letter saying that they are interested, but there’s no price,” said Mr. Limcaoco, who is also the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands.

He noted that the BAP had engaged an adviser to assess the value of the potential sale to the PSE.

“That’s where we are. There is no result yet,” he said.

The PSE is eyeing the acquisition of up to 100% of the PDS, the operator of the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), which caters to the fixed-income market, as part of merging the country’s capital market infrastructure.

The PSE has a 20.98% stake of the issued and outstanding capital stock of the PDS Group, while BAP members and institutions have a 21% stake.

Some of the other PDS shareholders include Singapore Exchange Ltd. (20% share), Whistler Technologies Services, Inc. (8% share), Tata Consultancy Services Asia (8% share), San Miguel Corp. (4% share), Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines Research and Development Foundation (3.08% share), and Social Security System (1.54% share).

PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said that the local bourse is hoping to finalize the planned takeover of PDS within the year.

He added that negotiations have not started because the power of attorney of the BAP has expired. The power of attorney allows BAP to decide on the merger on behalf of its member banks.

“I’m not sure if we’re waiting for a power of attorney,” Mr. Limcaoco said after being asked about the PSE’s recent statement.

He said that they want to understand the governance structure of the proposed merger.

“If we were to sell PDS, we wouldn’t understand how PDEx is governed. So we’re trying to understand how they are supposed to govern PDEx.”

In December last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the application of the PSE for exemptive relief, allowing it to exceed the mandatory ownership in PDS.

This move allows the PSE to exceed the mandatory limit of 20% on ownership and voting rights in an exchange, permitting it to own up to 100% of PDS, subject still to certain conditions.

The SEC’s move allows unified or integrated local bourses, referring to a financial market where assets like stocks and bonds are traded under a single entity as part of developing the country’s capital market.

Under the Securities Regulation Code, no industry or business group may beneficially own or control, directly or indirectly, more than 20% of the voting rights of the exchange.

In 2017, the PSE almost finished its takeover of PDS. However, the SEC blocked the transaction as it would breach the individual ownership limit under the law. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Bakeries bring bread to north Gaza but hunger persists

ASMAA AL-BELBASI walks an hour to her nearest bakery each day to fetch bread for her children and other relatives in the north Gaza districts where aid agencies say famine still looms despite rising supplies.

The route can be dangerous, along streets strewn with rubble from blown-up buildings that are impassable to cars and with fighting between Hamas militants and Israeli forces still sporadically raging. Her journey shows how desperately Gazans need bread to stave off deadly hunger.

“Before they opened up the bakeries we would get corn flour, which you couldn’t knead. It was like a log and would come out like a biscuit. After a day or two it’d be difficult to eat,” she said, talking about the flour people in Gaza made from animal feed and baked on open fires.

When the first bakery opened using flour and fuel provided by the World Food Programme (WFP), unruly queues of hundreds of people crammed into nearby streets between the ruins of houses. The bakers had to employ dozens of stewards to maintain order.

A few more bakeries have now opened, some of them operating 24 hours a day, but while the queues are now smaller, Ms. Belbasi still waits at least 20 minutes each day for the two bags of flat pitta bread she needs for her large family, she says. 

Restoring Gaza’s bakeries and ensuring a regular supply of flour, water and fuel will be crucial to stopping famine spreading across the tiny, crowded enclave nearly seven months into the conflict.

Israel’s ground and air campaign was triggered when Hamas stormed border defenses on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing 253 more as hostages according to Israeli tallies.

The offensive has left Gaza in ruins, killing more than 34,500 people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, and leaving nearly all the survivors homeless and destitute.

Bread has always been the main staple for people in Gaza, though before the war plenty of other food was available too, from locally grown vegetables, chickens and sheep, fresh fish from the sea and imported tinned and packaged food.

At the start of the war Israel announced a total blockade. Though it then started to let in some food, aid agencies including those run by the United Nations said it was not doing enough to facilitate supplies and their distribution.

Israel says it puts no limit on humanitarian supplies for civilians in Gaza and has blamed the United Nations for slow deliveries, saying its operations are inefficient.

But with pockets of famine emerging in Gaza, with some children dying from malnutrition and dehydration, and with people across the enclave hungry, even Israel’s closest allies have increased pressure on it to do more to let in food.

Aid started to flow in higher volumes into northern Gaza this month after Israel opened a new crossing point, and the WFP has been supplying bakeries as part of the wider effort.

But aid agencies warn it is still nowhere near enough to end a humanitarian disaster there and the WFP said last week that northern Gaza is still heading towards famine.

AID SUPPLY
The first big bakery in northern Gaza that reopened, on April 13, was one of five run by Kamel Ajour Bakeries, which now makes pitta bread and puffy sandwich loaves to sell at a subsidized rate.

“We suffered heavy damage. We have five branches and there are other selling locations and most of them were either partially or completely damaged. Thank God we were able to re-operate this place so we can make bread for people again,” said Karam Ajour, a quality control administrator at the bakery.

To reopen, the bakery workers had to salvage machinery from different branches that had been destroyed or damaged by Israel’s military campaign, moving them to the single branch they decided to reopen with WFP support.

They knead the bread into balls and flatten it into pockets that puff up as they pass through the oven to be put into large bags for collection. They are sold through windows with grills to the crowd pressing outside.

As demand for bread among the hundreds of thousands of people still living in northern Gaza was so high the Ajour owners decided to run a 24-hour operation, installing a third production line there alongside the existing two.

A steady supply of both wheat flour and fuel to operate the bakery oven are vital. Aid deliveries into northern Gaza have been far more complex than those to southern parts of the enclave nearer the crossings with Egypt.

In March, more than 100 people were killed during a botched aid delivery in the north. Earlier this month an Israeli strike killed foreign aid workers in a convoy carrying food aid into northern Gaza. Some aid convoys have been mobbed by desperate, hungry people.

Karam Ajour bakeries has employed people to handle the WFP aid deliveries into two Gaza City roundabouts and bring them safely to the bakery.

When asked how he felt about the bakery reopening, Mr. Ajour said: “I’m part of the people and I share their feelings and their need for food.” — Reuters

Ramping up investments to boost digital economy

THE PHILIPPINES needs to tighten its cybersecurity laws and increase investments in infrastructure to strengthen the digital sector’s contribution to the economy, analysts said.

“Factors for the slower growth pace [of the digital economy] include the lack of access to affordable or reliable internet, low digital literacy, and cybersecurity concerns,” Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said in a Viber message.

“Low-hanging fruits include increasing investments in digital infrastructure, promoting digital literacy, encouraging tech adoption by more businesses, and establishing a favorable regulatory environment that can boost the digital economy’s GDP (gross domestic product) share,” Mr. Roces added.

The digital economy accounted for 8.4% to Philippine GDP last year, a tad lower than its 8.6% contribution in 2022, government data released last week showed.

The digital economy runs under transactions through digital-enabling infrastructure, e-commerce, digital media or content, and government digital services, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

Cybersecurity remains a key issue in the digital economy’s growth, John Paolo R. Rivera, president and chief economist of Oikonomia Advisory & Research, Inc., said in a Viber message, adding that laws like the SIM Registration Act and the Data Privacy Act have failed to protect consumers against scams.

“[The] slowdown in the digital economy may also stem from the lack of confidence of consumers for its facility as it has been used as a platform for scrupulous and fraudulent activities. This has resulted in slower demand,” he said.  The government must “penalize to the full extent of law those who will use the digital economy for fraud, regulate the digital economy through more stringent consumer protection,” Mr. Rivera added.

The Philippines saw the highest number of detected and blocked financial phishing attempts last year in Southeast Asia, global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky earlier said in a report.

A weaker peso increased importation costs and slowed down investments and growth in the digital economy last year, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.

Elevated inflation and interest rates also affected the sector, he added.

Despite this, the digital economy is expected “to grow with the new normal with more online or digital transactions even for the coming years… given the greater convenience, with more choices for consumers at lower prices and bigger market locally and internationally for sellers,” Mr. Ricafort said.

The Philippines’ digital economy is projected to be valued at $150 billion by 2030, according to a report by Google, Temasek Holdings, and Bain & Company. — B.M.D. Cruz

DBP may raise 20% of capital stock through planned listing

By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, Reporter

DEVELOPMENT Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is studying the possibility of raising 20% of its capital stock from its proposed initial public offering (IPO) under planned changes to its charter, its top official said.

“It’s something that’s being studied. But maybe no more than 20% (of our capital stock),” DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Michael O. de Jesus told BusinessWorld.

This would be equivalent to around P7 billion, which is 20% of the bank’s P35-billion capital stock, Mr. De Jesus said.

In March, DBP said it is looking to hike its capital stock to P300 billion to expand its products and services and support more development projects.

The Finance department is working on a proposal that seeks to amend the charters of both the DBP and Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) to increase their authorized capital stock and allow for their public listing.

“Initially, we’re looking at things like maybe just preferred shares. Maybe to make it more attractive, it should not just be preferred shares, but also common. All that is being studied,” Mr. De Jesus said.

He added that there is a “strong possibility” that the amendments to the banks’ charters will be finalized within the year.

The charter of DBP was last changed in 1998, which hiked its authorized capital stock to P35 billion from P5 billion previously.

Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc. Head of Sales Trading Toby Allan C. Arce said DBP’s initial plan for its listing is a “strategic move.”

“By limiting the amount of capital raised through the IPO, DBP can maintain a significant portion of ownership and control, which is crucial for a government-owned financial institution,” Mr. Arce said in a Viber message.

Issuing both preferred and common shares also “adds flexibility to their capital structure.”

“Preferred shares typically offer fixed dividends and priority over common shares in the event of liquidation, which can attract certain types of investors seeking stable income. On the other hand, common shares offer ownership rights and potential for capital appreciation, appealing to investors looking for growth opportunities,” Mr. Arce added.

Meanwhile, Aniceto K. Pangan, an equity trader at Diversified Securities, Inc. said the high interest rate environment may impact the bank’s public listing.

“The current market condition is illiquid with low valuation due to the elevated interest rates, and thus not conducive to fundraising,” Mr. Pangan said in a text message.

The Monetary Board has raised borrowing costs by 450 basis points (bps) from May 2022 to October 2023, bringing the policy rate to a near 17-year high of 6.5%.

Mercantile Securities Corp. Head Trader Jeff Radley C. See also said there are already many banks listed and most investors tend to prefer the bigger banks.

However, he said that an IPO is still viable for both DBP and LANDBANK.

“They should provide liquidity and volume for the stock so investors can buy and sell easily,” Mr. See said in a Viber message.

Both state banks should also ensure transparency throughout the listing process, Mr. Arce said.

“Clear communication about their financial health, growth prospects, and the intended use of proceeds can instill confidence in potential investors,” he said.

“Both should conduct thorough valuation exercises to determine the appropriate pricing for their shares. This involves analyzing financial statements, comparable companies, and market conditions to arrive at a fair valuation that attracts investors while not undervaluing the institutions,” he said.

Both banks should also make sure to showcase the investment opportunity of the IPO by highlighting “unique value propositions and growth potential” as well as strong corporate governance practices and risk management frameworks, Mr. Arce said.

What if Russia wins in Ukraine? Ask Georgia

FREEPIK

THERE’s been a lot of debate about what the future holds for Europe and its neighborhood if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine succeeds. We already know at least part of the answer, because it’s happening in Georgia.

This is the small Caucasus country where President Vladimir Putin first made clear he was willing to use force to reimpose a Russian sphere of control and influence. How that war began remains controversial, and I’ll get to the question later. What happened since shouldn’t have been.

On Monday evening, Bidzina Ivanishvili, a Georgian businessman who made his billions in Russia, gave a speech in which he accused a “global party of war” of trying to block his nation from asserting its freedom and sovereignty.

This is the same global party of war that used civil society non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, to foment Georgia’s 2003 Rose Revolution, according to Ivanishvili, who now runs his native country from an unelected position as chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party. The uprising brought to power what he described as a puppet government that steeped the nation in crime and repression, and then forced Georgia into war with Russia in 2008. Later, this ill-defined global conspiracy forced Ukraine into wars with Moscow in 2014 and 2022.

Now, Ivanishvili said in his speech, those same people were trying to unseat his government and impose foreign values such as LGBTQ+ rights, because he refuses to open a second front against Russia. The NGOs now need to be dealt with, according to Ivanishvili, while members of the former government of President Mikheil Saakashvili — already in jail on what his lawyers say were trumped up charges — should be prosecuted for unspecified crimes.

This was, as the lifelong scholar of the Caucasus region Thomas de Waal put it on Tuesday, “an extremely dangerous speech that will chill anyone who cares about Georgia to the bone.”

It also amounted to a public declaration by Ivanishvili that he has sided with Moscow in its confrontation with the West, using the same paranoiac, unhinged language and gaslighting that Russian leaders spout daily. “It is completely clear that Bidzina Ivanishvili and ‘Georgian Dream’ have changed the foreign policy course from the West to Russia,” a group of 67 current and former Georgian diplomats wrote in a joint letter responding to the speech.

Twice now, Ivanishvili has persuaded the government to propose a law on foreign agents that’s very similar to the one Russia uses to suppress any nonprofit that receives grants from outside the country and doesn’t toe the Kremlin line. Such laws, aimed at suppressing civil society, are the gateway drugs of would-be autocrats, as they look to remove all institutions that could pose a risk to their hold on power.

Georgian Dream dominates the Parliament, but backed down from the attempt in March last year, after the bill triggered mass street protests. Russia, not coincidentally, was on the back foot in Ukraine at the time, recovering from two major battlefield defeats and looking stretched as even a regional superpower.

Now the government in Tbilisi is trying again, triggering mass protests, as well as formal criticism from Georgia’s Western allies. The European Union (EU) has said the law would be incompatible with membership, which opinion polls show some 80% of Georgians want. A bipartisan group of US senators expressed their disappointment in a letter, warning that the shift in policy could force the US to impose sanctions.

So what actually happened in Georgia? Saakashvili, a US-educated lawyer, had indeed worked for an NGO and led the Rose Revolution to power in 2003. The country was at the time a failed state, much of it controlled by criminal gangs and with three enclaves carved away by pro-Russia separatists; Ivanishvili, recently returned from Russia, gave no sign of opposing the uprising and even bankrolled some of Saakashvili’s reforms. The young new leader, for all his failings, quickly retrieved one lost territory, radically reduced corruption, collected taxes and left behind a functioning, investible state.

It wasn’t until 2008 that the two men became enemies. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had just said “no” to membership plans for Georgia and Ukraine, but offered a long-term promise that trespassed on what Putin saw as his backyard.  The Russian military began to prepare fuel depots and rail infrastructure in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, its two remaining Georgian enclaves. When it started feeding unmarked tanks and soldiers into South Ossetia, in August, Saakashvili attempted a disastrous preemptive strike.

Saakashvili became the first Georgian leader to step down and allow a peaceful transfer of power when he lost elections in 2012. And for a while, it seemed Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream might offer a less impetuous path to the EU and NATO integration that the vast majority of the country wanted, as well as more protections for the rule of law.

But the country has instead been slipping on indices for corruption and freedom. Opponents of the government have been beaten or shot at. And this time, when Ivanishvili pushed for the repressive NGO law, Russia was on the offensive in Ukraine, taking territory as Kyiv ran out of ammunition for the front. Rather than back down again in the face of widespread demonstrations, Ivanishvili has now stepped out of the shadows to claim the foreign agent law as his own and the West as his enemy.

In doing so, Georgia’s strongman is flying in the face of what most of the population want, while obscuring the fact with appeals to conservative Georgians over gay rights. He’ll also doubtless enjoy backing from Moscow, which keeps troops in Abkhazia as well as South Ossetia, about a two-hour tank drive from the capital. The result is I have no idea how this will play out, but the impact of Putin’s military success in Ukraine is already clear; it’s turning the dreams of Russia’s neighboring populations into nightmares.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Meralco proceeds with feasibility study on micro modular reactor

PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) said it has started conducting a full feasibility study with US-based company Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC) for the installation of micro modular reactors (MMR) in the Philippines.

“On the formal feasibility study, we will need to deep dive more on the financial safety and other very important parameters as well as on the site-specific study like where do we install these micro modular reactors,” Meralco Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho said during a recent briefing.

He noted that the company had decided to proceed with the formal feasibility study following the presentation of the pre-feasibility results.

The full-scale feasibility study would take approximately six months, and they are already making progress, he added.

Meralco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said that the pre-feasibility study identified five areas that are subject to a geological study.

The study is to ensure that the locations are safe places to build micro modular reactors, which would likely be completed before 2028.

“What’s important is that given the circumstances around this nuclear in this country, it is important that we start today with a fairly modest proof-of-concept plan, and they’re prepared to do that, whatever the size might be, 5, 10 megawatts (MW) and located in a safe place,” he said.

In November last year, Meralco and USNC signed a cooperative agreement to study the potential deployment of one or more micro modular reactor energy systems in the country.

Under the deal, USNC conducted a pre-feasibility study for four months.

“Our goal is to be able to start an operational plant perhaps in one of the island provinces to produce power and demonstrate that it’s a safe mode of producing power,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

An MMR unit or “nuclear battery” can “safely and reliably” provide up to 45 megawatt thermal of high-quality heat, delivered into a centralized heat storage unit, according to Meralco.

“One or more MMR nuclear batteries combine their heat in the heat storage unit, from where electric power or superheated steam can be extracted through conventional means to meet a wide range of power requirements, from tens to hundreds of MW,” the power distributor has said.

 Meralco is sending five engineers to a two-year graduate program abroad this year to develop skilled professionals and help the country develop local nuclear energy experts.

The scholarship is part of the company’s Filipino Scholars and Interns on Nuclear Engineering program that was launched in September last year.

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

HSBC must prioritize Asian expertise in surprise CEO search

LONDON/SYDNEY/HONG KONG — Under Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Noel Quinn, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) navigated a global pandemic and a push by rebel investors to break up the 160-year bank. His surprise departure is an opportunity to accelerate its strategic pivot to Asia, investors say.

Top of Chairman Mark Tucker’s CEO wishlist for replacing Mr. Quinn, who gave notice of his departure on Tuesday, should be someone who can galvanize the bank’s 220,000-strong workforce to meet those goals in an uncertain global economy and amid rising tensions between East and West.

“I’d expect the candidate would be someone with vast experience in Asian and Middle East markets, who is open minded on the bank’s strategy and could re-consider the option of re-domicile HSBC’s headquarters to Asia,” said Simon Yuen, Hong Kong-based founder of Surich Asset Management.

HSBC, Europe’s largest lender by assets with a balance sheet of $3 trillion, is increasingly betting on its historic Asian ties to raise profits, as competition crimps revenue growth in other regions.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, HSBC has already shrunk its global footprint by around a quarter, exiting low-growth markets to plough capital and resources into Asia.

Nevertheless, pressure is mounting on HSBC to reassert its position before ambitious Chinese rivals steal more of its customers and slowly erode its Hong Kong dominance.

Mr. Quinn, 62, will relinquish his role by April 2025, handing Mr. Tucker his third search for an HSBC CEO, a role several industry commentators have branded the toughest job in banking.

“A lot of the world’s wealthy and high net worth individuals are based in Asia which means HSBC should put their first priority and major business focus in Asia, particularly China markets,” said Mr. Yuen, who did not disclose his firm’s holdings.

India and Dubai should be next in its focus, he added.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters there was no live discussion on the location of HSBC’s global headquarters and the issue had not been on the board’s radar for some time.

Although Mr. Quinn was head of Commercial Banking for Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong between 2011 and 2015, some sources said he was short of the broad Asian experience believed necessary to fulfil the bank’s potential in the region, and appease its increasingly vocal investor base.

Ken Lui, a Hong Kong-based activist shareholder, who backed a recent campaign by HSBC’s largest shareholder Ping An Insurance Co to spin off its Asia business, is also looking for a leader more familiar with Asia.

“The group should consider candidates in Asia or Hong Kong, who have better experience doing business in the region…For our small shareholders, HSBC is a Hong Kong company,” he said.

Reuters was unable to verify if Mr. Lui still held shares.

HSBC has several contenders to succeed Mr. Quinn, analysts, investors and industry sources told Reuters, with Chief Financial Officer Georges Elhedery and Global Banking & Markets boss Greg Guyett seen as front-runners.

Its leading Asia-based executives, Surendra Rosha and David Liao, are currently seen as unlikely to make Mr. Tucker’s final shortlist. Nor are the only four women on HSBC’s senior management team.

HSBC has historically only ever appointed a CEO from within but analysts at Citi on Tuesday flagged several potential senior external candidates with HSBC experience including Singapore based-OCBC CEO Helen Wong, Lloyds Banking Group CEO Charlie Nunn, and former Standard Chartered investment bank chief Simon Cooper.

A spokesperson for Nunn declined to comment. Mr. Cooper and Ms. Wong could not immediately be reached for comment outside normal Asian office hours.

TUCKER’S TASK
HSBC’s new CEO will have several other business challenges to overcome, not least peaking interest rates and unrealized ambitions in wealth and asset management, where banks worldwide are chasing recurring fee income to offset volatile investment banking earnings.

Meanwhile, Asia continues to lurch between HSBC’s biggest prize and its biggest worry. In February, it reported a shock $3-billion charge on its stake in a Chinese bank, after a surge in the volume of troubled loans across the country.

Even as its European turnaround begins to bear fruit, Asia remains the bank’s most promising engine for profit, and where it hopes a real estate market slump is already in reverse, laying the foundations for lending and investment banking growth.

Mr. Quinn’s replacement will also need the ability to reunite senior executives overlooked for the role and forge an even-closer relationship with Mr. Tucker, who some British analysts have described as “HSBC’s only boss.”

“(They need) someone who can work well with Mark Tucker,” said Stanley Tsai, founder of investment advisory firm Antler Capital.

“A large cross section of shareholders would probably want someone with deep Asia background. Now that they’ve made it clear there’s no way they’ll spin that off, that may at least placate some dissenting voices,” Ms. Tsai added. — Reuters

MPIC’s CDO water unit seeks quick resolution with water district over unsettled accounts

Metro Pacific Water unit Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water, Inc. (COBI) said it is seeking immediate resolution with the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) over the latter’s unsettled accounts.

“Efforts to reach an amicable solution with Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) over outstanding payments and water pricing have been impeded by a lack of COWD representation,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

It said that a meeting took place on April 30 with COWD, which included representatives from LWUA, Metro Pacific Water, Congressman’s office, and COBI.

“However, only one COWD director was present, thereby not reaching a quorum to provide a needed resolution, which is the outstanding balance of COWD to COBI,” the company said.

“This absence of representation from COWD raises concerns about their commitment to resolving the issue and compromising water supply for their consumers,” it added.

The company noted that LWUA has already intervened to mediate and prevent service disruptions, particularly during the El Niño season.

“They requested a 30-day extension to facilitate discussions between Metro Pacific Water and COWD. Unfortunately, despite multiple negotiation meetings, an agreement could not be reached,” it said.

“At this point, we are still open for an immediate and swift resolution of unsettled accounts.  We encourage COWD to work with us to ensure a secure water supply for all Cagayanons,” the company added.

Metro Pacific Water is a wholly owned water infrastructure investment subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).

MPIC is one of the three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific, the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.

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

Not just for the natives

KARE-KARE: Filipino ox tripe stew with a rich and thick peanut sauce. — GWENNVIENN - WIKIPEDIA

HAS Filipino cuisine gained global acceptance? Or does the local fare appeal only to the natives?

There is an effort by local chefs, including those working abroad, to put local cuisine on the world’s culinary map. Other Asian offerings are already international favorites, including Thai and Vietnamese niches. This is on top of the Chinese and Japanese dominance already entrenched — in the culinary sense, of course.

Without losing their native allure, favorites like oxtail in peanut sauce, chicken and pork cutlets in vinegar and soy sauce and native sausages can be repurposed to remove the imagined perils that untried ingredients (like entrails and intestinal linings) can elicit. Let’s set aside for now the truly off-putting offerings like dinuguan, roughly translated as “bloodied,” featuring the innards of a pig cooked in its own blood, or the partially formed duck fetus with feathers and beak, swimming in amniotic fluids — a culinary challenge offered to hardy-looking foreigners (Indeed, they turn pale).

Can there be a nouvelle cuisine version for our traditional dishes? What are some culinary tweaks to our traditional fare that can be introduced to appeal to a broader market? Presentation is the key to giving native cuisine a new look and a broader appeal.

A culinary rebranding should exile the 30-viand offering showcased in 30 stainless steel bedpans (yes, like hospital equipment) behind a steamy glass; please point at the dish you want. To be avoided as well is the buffet table presentation with little candles burning under the chafing dish to prevent sauces from coagulating before they make their way to your arteries.

The traditional way of serving oneself from a buffet table results in a plate heaped with predominantly earth-colored odds and ends covering a mound of rice for later hunting, with the likelihood of flicked food stains on the diner’s shirt and an unsightly plate even after the meal.

Why not emulate the degustation method of small servings intended for solo consumption. These can be artfully presented, with sauces (like tiny, salted shrimps) merely daubed on the side, featuring designs seen in Rorschach testing.

Familiar dishes in novel settings are often categorized as “fusion.” The deconstruction of grandma’s traditional family recipe allows the substitution of ingredients, say caviar or anchovies for shrimp paste. What about fish belly or corned beef (not the one from a can) for chunky pork in the popular sour soup.

In keeping with these new versions, meats should be tender with minimal fat, already cut into bite-sized pieces to do away with the necessity of using hands to tear the meat from the clingy bone, for lupine chumping. You can use a steak knife, sir.

It is perhaps the rise of culinary schools that has driven graduates to experiment with small restaurants to offer such acquired skills as “plating”— serving a meal aesthetically, even using different shaped dishes. Newly minted chefs introduce elements of edibility, freshness and New Age eating options, enshrined by those striving for wellness.

The combination of new chefs (with more coming out of the pipeline) and smaller restaurants (like the one in the mezzanine of a luxury car dealership) try to make local cuisine at par with other global favorites like Italian and Spanish. The prices also try to catch up.

Thrown out too with this new approach is the old paradigm applied to Filipino restaurants that equates appeal with quantity. A stuffed stomach is no longer the only gauge for good food. No, this is no longer the home-cooking alternative where the argument against eating out in a fancy place is that it’s cheaper to cook this viand at home (This needs more salt).

Only when the aesthetics of gastronomy are honored can we join the ranks of international cuisines. Our food must look nonthreatening even if the taste will be surprising (think binagoongan and ox tripe). While eating light is hardly a characteristic of our food culture, it is the only way our cooking can travel abroad to appeal to compatriots taking their local friends there to “try our cuisine.”

Of course, we can still go native and heap our plates full of sauces competing for attention in the plate and palate. This is an option we will always have. That’s what home cooking is all about; of course, you need a second serving.

 

Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

HONOR to launch Magic6 Pro phone in PHL next week

HONOR Philippines is set to launch next week the HONOR Magic6 Pro smartphone, which has a camera powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, it said on Tuesday.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to unveil the HONOR Magic6 Pro, especially at a time when the demand for AI-driven solutions is soaring. This smartphone isn’t just about keeping up; it’s about setting the bar higher. With its award-winning features, it’s tailor-made for Filipinos who crave the latest in technology,” Stephen Cheng, Vice-President of HONOR Philippines, said in a statement.

The new 5G-enabled smartphone will be launched in the Philippines on May 8, the company said.

The HONOR Magic6 Pro features the HONOR Falcon Camera system at its rear, it said. It has a 50-megapixel (MP) wide camera, a 50-MP ultrawide lens, and a 180-MP periscope telephoto camera. It also has a 50-MP front camera.

“[This] device harnesses the power of AI to deliver unparalleled imaging experiences. With the ability to support up to 100x digital zoom, coupled with automatic detection of facial expressions and body movements, users can seize every moment with remarkable precision and clarity,” HONOR said.

Based on the brand’s website, the HONOR Magic6 Pro has a 6.8-inch quad-curved floating screen with an FHD+ 1280×2800 resolution, HDR peak brightness of 5,000 nits and global peak brightness of 6,000 nits.

It runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14. 

The phone has 12GB RAM and 512GB of storage.

The new phone also has the Magic Capsule feature, which allows users to quickly access their notifications.

“Seamlessly integrated into the touch screen interface, the Magic Capsule enhances user experience by providing quick access to relevant information related to notifications. No more navigating through multiple apps — with a simple tap, users can expand the Magic Capsule to delve deeper into their notifications, making interaction more intuitive and efficient,” the brand said.

The HONOR Magic 6 Pro has a silicon-carbon battery that supports up to 66 watts of wireless fast charging.

“Integrated with the Power Enhanced Chip HONOR E1, this device ensures extended battery endurance even in extreme weather conditions. With a massive 5,600mAh capacity, users can enjoy uninterrupted usage, showcasing exceptional low-temperature performance that defies expectations. To illustrate its capabilities, users can play the YouTube video for 81 minutes at -20 °C with just 10% battery level remaining,” HONOR added.

The phone also has an AI Privacy Call feature and was made via a double-sided 3D Carving process with premium materials.

The HONOR Magic6 Pro is available in Black and Epi Green color options. — BVR

US Justice Department takes step to make marijuana use a less serious crime

THE US Justice Department on Tuesday moved to make marijuana use a less serious federal crime, taking a step to remove the drug from a category that includes heroin in a shift that could shake up cannabis policy nationwide.

Shares of cannabis firms including Tilray, Trulieve Cannabis Corp., and Green Thumb Industries surged.

The Justice Department, which oversees the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Attorney General Merrick Garland recommended that cannabis be classified as a so-called schedule three drug, with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence, instead of schedule one, which is reserved for drugs with a high potential for abuse.

Penalties for possession and use of schedule three drugs can be less severe under federal law.

The proposal goes from the Justice Department to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review and finalization. A public comment period will follow. President Joseph R. Biden, a Democrat who is running for re-election in November, initiated a review of the drug’s classification in 2022, fulfilling a campaign promise that was important to left-leaning members of his political base.

Currently, the drug falls under the DEA’s class that includes heroin and LSD. It would be moved to a group that contains ketamine and Tylenol with codeine.

GAP BETWEEN STATE, FEDERAL LAWS
Reclassifying marijuana represents a first step toward narrowing the chasm between state and federal cannabis laws. The drug is legal in some form in nearly 40 states.

While rescheduling the drug does not make it legal, it would open up the doors to more research and medical use, lighter criminal penalties and increased private investment in the cannabis sector.

The Justice Department’s move came after the Health and Human Services Department in August recommended rescheduling cannabis as part of Mr. Biden’s ordered review.

Public support for marijuana legalization has risen from 25% of US adults in 1995 to 70% in 2023, according to polling group Gallup.

Colorado and Washington became the first states to allow recreational marijuana in 2012. Owen Bennett, an analyst at Jefferies investment banking group, said reclassification would increase the chances of full federal legalization within five years.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis said in a statement that he was “thrilled” that the Biden administration would be “correcting decades of outdated federal policy.”

Black Americans and communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by marijuana drug enforcement for decades. Black people are 3.6 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite similar usage rates, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

According to the Pew Research Center, Black and white Americans used marijuana at roughly comparable rates in 2020. Yet Black people accounted for 39% of all marijuana possession arrests despite being only 12% of the US population then.

Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are seeking to bolster support from Black voters for their re-election bid against former President Donald Trump, a Republican.

The change would also enable more medical research under the US Food and Drug Administration, which supports the reclassification. Cannabis has been successfully used to treat pain, spasticity and epilepsy, among other conditions.

Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group against the “commercialization and normalization” of marijuana, said it would mount a legal challenge if the proposal is finalized. It said investors in the marijuana industry would be the biggest beneficiaries of the change.

“This industry, which has lobbied heavily to sell demonstrably harmful products, will now use this announcement to drive even more deliberate misinformation about these high-potency drugs to expand use and addiction,” Kevin Sabet, the group’s president, said in a statement.

While states have set a minimum age of 21 for legal recreational marijuana use, concerns are likely to be raised about whether the proposed change could affect youth.

Research has shown marijuana use in the teen years puts individuals at higher risk of not finishing high school, harm to brain development and later mental health disorders such as schizophrenia, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

A study published in March said there was no compelling evidence that legalizing marijuana sales to US adults increased consumption among young teens.

BOON TO CANNABIS BUSINESS
If marijuana’s classification were to ease at the federal level, cannabis companies could reap significant benefits.

Their shares could be eligible for listing on major stock exchanges, and the companies could receive more generous tax deductions.

Moreover, they could face fewer restrictions from banks. With marijuana illegal federally, most US banks do not lend to or serve cannabis companies, prompting many to rely on cash transactions. This has made some vulnerable to violent crime.

The National Cannabis Roundtable, which represents cannabis companies, said the move “is critical for state legal cannabis businesses to be treated with fairness … and to survive the threat the illicit market poses to the regulated market and public safety,” said Executive Director Saphira Galoob.

The Associated Press first reported the DEA’s reclassification recommendation on Tuesday. — Reuters

Manila lags in safety index list

The Philippine capital placed 152nd out of 181 cities in the Safety Index by Global Residence Index. Manila got a safety index score of 0.41 out of possible 1, the lowest in East and Southeast Asia. The index measures the overall safety of cities based on various risk factors such as homicide rates, political stability, personal security, and natural disasters.

 

Manila lags in Safety Index list

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