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How Ascott leverages regional locations for growth

NEXT YEAR, Ascott will be opening two hotels — the Somerset Gorordo in Cebu City and Somerset Valero in Makati City. — SOMERSETGORORDO.COM-CEBU.COM

By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter

HOSPITALITY CHAIN The Ascott Limited is looking to add more than 2,700 rooms to its portfolio of hotels, resorts, and apartments in the next five years, a company official said.

“We have about 2,700 [rooms] in the pipeline,” Katrina S. Tordilla, senior manager for business development at The Ascott Limited, told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a Nov. 18 event.

“We’re still looking to add even more as we continuously look for partners and hotel owners who want to be part of our expanding portfolio here in the Philippines,” Ms. Tordilla said in a Viber message.

Ascott is keen on expanding in other “up-and-coming” destinations such as Siargao, Laguna, Cagayan de Oro, and Sto. Tomas, Batangas, she said.

“We’re expanding even in secondary cities nationwide. So, not just in Manila, Makati, or Cebu, but also in destinations that are really up-and-coming.”

The company is also seeking to bolster its food & beverage (F&B) and meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) capabilities to cater to regional locations such as Bacolod and Cebu, Ms. Tordilla said.

In Bacolod, many locals do staycations or walk-ins at Ascott’s F&B outlets, with the company having the largest hospitality property in the province, Ms. Tordilla noted.

Cebu is also a strong location for Ascott as it serves as a business hub for the entire Visayas, she added.

Visitors under the MICE segment often book for the weekdays, while tourists and staycationers fill up the rooms during weekends, according to Ms. Tordilla.

“Our product is very flexible for both short-stay and long-stay,” she said.

“So, we have long-stay clients who stay with us from two weeks to six months to a year, and then we also have clients who do day-to-day check-ins and check-outs.”

Next year, Ascott will be opening two hotels — the Somerset Gorordo in Cebu City and Somerset Valero in Makati City, Ms. Tordilla said.

In 2026, the hospitality chain plans to open four more serviced apartments: Ascott Double Dragon Meridian Park Manila in Pasay City, Citadines Greenhills Manila in San Juan City, Citadines Southwoods in Biñan, Laguna, and Citadines Paragon Davao.

The company has over 30 properties in the Philippines under its portfolio, both operational and in the pipeline.

Coin deposit machine collections hit P1.082B

BSP.GOV.PH

THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) coin deposit machines have collected P1.082 billion worth of coins as of Nov. 15.

This was 7.3% higher than the P1 billion worth of coins collected a month prior, the BSP said in a social media post.

There were 255,906 transactions made involving 280.2 million coins deposited in the machines, central bank data showed.

The BSP and its retail partners launched the deposit machines in June 2023 to help promote efficient coin recirculation.

The project aims to address artificial coin shortage in the financial system and help ensure that the public uses only fit and legal tender.

All denominations of the BSP Coin Series and New Generation Currency Coins Series are accepted by the machines. Unfit and demonetized coins, foreign currency and foreign objects get rejected.

The value of coins deposited in the machines may be credited to a person’s e-wallet or bank account or converted into shopping vouchers.

There are currently 25 deposit machines available in the Greater Manila Area. They can be found in select retail establishments of the SM Store, Robinsons Supermarket and Festival Mall.

The central bank last month said it will expand the coin deposit machine project by installing 25 more units nationwide in 2025 to boost accessibility. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

The world is a decade late and $2 trillion short

HAITHANH/FLICKR

WATCHING another chaotic United Nations climate confab end in disappointment brings to mind that old saw, incorrectly ascribed to Winston Churchill, about America always doing the right thing, but only after it has exhausted every alternative. Except in this case the world’s polluting nations are stuck in the “exhausting alternatives” phase and are quickly running out of time to do the right thing.

We can at least be glad that COP29 — this year’s conference for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Baku, Azerbaijan — didn’t end in complete disaster like 2009’s gathering in Copenhagen. After days of bare-knuckle brawling and the near-collapse of negotiations, the bloodied parties staggered away with a commitment from developed nations to triple the amount of money they spend to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to global heating, to $300 billion from $100 billion per year, by 2035. They also vowed to put together a decade-long “roadmap” for hitting the $1.3 trillion in annual financing that poorer countries had demanded. And they established a global carbon-credits market and paid vague homage to a pledge made last year to transition the global economy away from fossil fuels.

This outcome is, to put it mildly, insufficient. To put it not so mildly, it’s pathetic. Even the $1.3 trillion developing nations wanted would have fallen far short of the $2.4 trillion truly needed, according to an estimate by the UN’s Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance. The clean-energy transition alone could cost $215 trillion by 2050, according to BloombergNEF.

So countries that have emitted almost none of the greenhouse gases heating up the planet but will suffer the brunt of the consequences will end up at least $2 trillion per year short and a decade away from relief. Compared to the $7 trillion in estimated explicit and implicit subsidies the world pays fossil-fuel producers every year, that $300 billion looks even more insulting.

“The $300 billion so-called ‘deal’ that poorer countries have been bullied into accepting is unserious and dangerous — a soulless triumph for the rich, but a genuine disaster for our planet and communities who are being flooded, starved, and displaced today by climate breakdown,” Oxfam International’s climate change policy lead, Nafkote Dabi, said in a statement. “The destruction of our planet is avoidable, but not with this shabby and dishonorable deal.”

Almost as infuriating as the deal’s inadequate sums is its composition. Too much of that $300 billion will come in the form of loans, which will further burden countries already staggering under too much debt. Together, the poorest pay about $70 billion per year in debt servicing costs to richer countries, including the backers of multilateral development banks such as the World Bank, according to the Brookings Institution. That cancels out the bulk of the $100 billion climate-finance commitment that rich countries made in 2009 but have only belatedly begun to fulfill. Instead of piling on more debt, rich countries should be canceling it.

And much of what’s purchased with that $300 billion might be the equivalent of chicken wire and wet newspaper. The World Bank has failed to account for the real climate impact of between $24 billion and $41 billion of its financing over the past seven years, according to Oxfam. The bank registers projects at the time of approval rather than at the time of completion, meaning many works of dubious climate benefit — think gelato shops and coal plants — go on the books as “climate finance.”

Haggling over such relatively petty sums while the world burns is short-sighted and self-defeating. It betrays upside-down priorities that often favor the fossil-fuel producers and rich petrostates that increasingly dominate COP negotiations. The president of COP29’s host country called oil and gas “a gift of God,” and Saudi Arabia was described as a “wrecking ball” in negotiations.

It’s enough to make you wonder why we should keep holding COPs at all. Several climate leaders, including former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, published an open letter at the start of COP29 calling to overhaul the process. “It is now clear that the COP is no longer fit for purpose,” they wrote. “Its current structure simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale, which is essential to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity.”

Major polluters such as the US, China, and the European Commission didn’t bother to send leaders to Baku. COP30, in Brazil, will take place during the first year of the second term of once-and-future President Donald Trump, a climate-change denier who plans to pull the US out of the Paris accords (again). At a time when the goal of holding global warming to 1.5° Celsius of warming above pre-industrial averages is essentially dead, the political mood around the world seems to have soured on aggressive climate action.

And yet COPs, even in their present unfit state, are still essential. Requiring buy-in from everybody from the Marshall Islands to Exxon Mobil Corp. is a recipe for agonizingly slow progress, but it at least keeps the conversation going.

And as my Bloomberg Opinion colleague David Fickling has written, the commitments made in these talks still produce benchmarks that governments take seriously. Otherwise, why would there be so much ferocious haggling over them? Everybody could simply pledge to spend eleventy gazillion dollars and hit Net Zero by next Tuesday and call it a day. That they don’t is actually a cause for hope, if you look at it the right — or naive — way. But being hopeful isn’t the same as ignoring that COP29 makes clear the world is still not taking the climate threat seriously enough.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Actor Jonathan Bailey comes full circle with Wicked film

Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater in a scene from Wicked. — IMDB

LONDON — Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey says taking on the role of Fiyero, a dashing Winkie country prince, in musical movie Wicked allowed him to return to his roots. The British actor, who gained global fame with the hit Netflix Regency-era series, took ballet lessons as a youngster and began his career as a child actor in theater productions.

“(The role) reminded me of two things in the sort of purest version of who I am. I loved dancing and I loved singing. And to be able to return to that, it all sort of feels full circle,” he said in an interview.

Wicked is based on Stephen Schwartz’s musical of the same name, which itself is an adaptation of the 1995 book by Gregory Maguire. It tells the story of a green-skinned young woman Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) who goes on to become the Wicked Witch of the West from the classic children’s novel The Wizard of Oz.

Pop star Ariana Grande plays the privileged and popular Glinda who meets Elphaba at Shiz University, where they also befriend Mr. Bailey’s Fiyero.

Mr. Bailey was filming Fellow Travelers in Toronto and Bridgerton in London when rehearsals for Wicked begun and had to get creative to prepare for the film’s elaborate song-and-dance sequences. This meant practicing his steps on a long-haul flight and doing high leg kicks while eating his meals, the actor, 36, said.

Mr. Bailey said his Bridgerton experience helped him approach the highly anticipated production.

“I feel like I have had good training for it,” he said. “I think Bridgerton was an adaptation that was so successful, brilliant and genius and many people loved the books, but I feel the imagery in Wicked is so iconic, so it is slightly different,” said Mr. Bailey, adding “It’s exciting to share another fandom.”

The first chapter of the two-part Wicked film series is now out in Philippine theaters. — Reuters

Meralco awaits regulatory nod for Ultra Safe Nuclear’s reactors

MERALCO.COM.PH

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) is closely monitoring Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp.’s progress in securing US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for micromodular nuclear reactors, as it could significantly advance their partnership in the Philippines, its chief operating officer (COO) said.

“There have been delays in securing regulatory approval for Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp., and understandably so because this is a new technology,” Ronnie L. Aperocho, Meralco’s executive vice-president and COO, told BusinessWorld in mixed English and Filipino on the sidelines of a Public Services Committee hearing at the Senate on Monday.

“Hopefully by early next year, there will be clarity (to these delays).”

Meralco earlier signed a deal with the US-based Ultra Safe for a pre-feasibility study on micromodular reactors.

The power distributor last month inked a strategic partnership agreement with South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility Co., Ltd. to explore collaborations on developing low-carbon energy projects and the rehabilitation of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

The companies will also study the use of small modular reactors to help meet the country’s growing power demand and achieve long-term energy security.

At the hearing, Senator and Public Services chairperson Rafael T. Tulfo assigned bills seeking to extend Meralco’s franchise for another 25 years to technical working groups composed of officials from the Department of Energy and Meralco to refine the measures.

One of these bills was filed by Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, which seeks to allow Meralco to continue to construct, operate, and maintain its electric distribution systems in areas such as Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal.

The power distributor delivers electricity to at least 7.75 million Filipinos, making it the main electricity supplier to Metro Manila and nearby areas.

The House of Representatives earlier this month approved on final reading a bill seeking the same franchise renewal, including a provision that will allow Meralco’s franchise to be effective four years ahead of its initial concession’s expiry.

Mr. Aperocho said that Meralco is hoping to have its franchise extended by Congress by early next year to fast-track its plans for capital expenditure infusion for its digitalization efforts.

“We are heavy on capital expenditure infusion to digitalize the grid, undergrounding…” he said.

“Kung alam mo kasi franchise mo for the next 25 years, lahat ng investment mo buhos mo na (If you know that your franchise is secured for the next 25 years, you can pour in all your investments),” he added.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and South Korean president signed a deal to conduct a feasibility study on the rehabilitation of the mothballed BNPP. The Department of Energy and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. agreed to hold a comprehensive technical and economic feasibly study on the plant.

The Philippines is hard-pressed to find other sources of indigenous energy as the Malampaya gas field, which supplies a fifth of its power requirements, nears depletion.

The gas field is expected to run out of easily recoverable gas by 2027.

Manila plans to raise the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix to 35% by 2030 and to 50% by 2040 from 22% now.

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.

Cautious optimism in the post-POGO Metro Manila office market

THREE MONTHS since the pronouncement of the ban of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), Metro Manila’s office market recorded its first negative net take-up in a quarter since the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021. In Q3 2024, net take-up declined by -33,000 square meters (sq.m.), mainly attributed to lease terminations by POGO and non-renewal of leases that were closed before the pandemic. While this raises some concerns, especially for developers with significant vacancies, other indicators — such as demand — show signs of resilience, offering cautious optimism in a challenging office market.

POGOs HEADING FOR THE EXIT
As of the first nine months of 2024, Colliers has noted new and upcoming surrenders from POGO occupiers in 2024. For Q3 2024 alone, we recorded 57,000 sq.m. of newly vacated spaces and expect another 157,000 sq.m. of vacancies by end of year as some operators have already notified their landlords of their lease terminations and non-renewals. The current POGO occupied stock of 275,000 sq.m. only represents 1.9% of the total stock in Metro Manila. During its peak years, around 1.3 million sq.m. of office space was leased out by POGOs.

Without the POGO ban, the year-to-date net take-up would have reached 195,000 sq.m., surpassing half of 2023’s full-year total of 280,000 sq.m. However, given the expected surrenders, Colliers projects a flat or zero net take-up by year-end, indicating no change in overall occupied space from 2023 to 2024.

ROBUST DEMAND FROM IT-BPM AND TRADITIONAL OCCUPIERS
Even without POGOs, office demand in Q3 2024 performed better than the quarterly average of 174,000 sq.m., indicating a robust demand as traditional and outsourcing companies continue to take up space. This also signals that the POGO ban has not dampened demand from these two tenant classes and may even offer them greater flexibility and choice in meeting their office space requirements.

As of Q3 2024, a total of 651,000 sq.m. office transactions were recorded, with new transactions in Q3 2024 amounting to 192,000 sq.m. Deals in Q3 were 12% lower quarter on quarter (QoQ) and 2% lower year on year (YoY). Traditional firms, including government agencies, cornered 53% of the total transactions recorded, followed by third party outsourcing/3POs (29%), POGO (11%), and Shared Services (7%). It is also worth noting that 3POs and Shared Services saw significant increases in transactions volume for both YoY and QoQ.

Expansion remains the primary motivation for office space take-up, accounting for 57%, followed by relocations at 36% and new setups at 7%. Notably, expansions are concentrated in Makati CBD, Fort Bonifacio, Bay Area, Quezon City, and Alabang, where prominent IT-BPM companies have a significant presence. Among IT-BPM firms specifically, expansion drives a substantial 70% of space demand.

Across all submarkets, the Bay Area leads in leasing activity, capturing 26% of Metro Manila’s total transactions, followed by Fort Bonifacio at 18% and Quezon City at 16%. With the recent passage of a tax ordinance incentivizing office expansions and relocations, Quezon City is expected to see further demand growth from traditional occupiers.

The countryside continues its upside momentum as shown by the increase in deals recorded, which is mainly attributed to the expansion of outsourcing companies. Provincial transactions are now at 189,000 sq.m., up from 155,000 sq.m. posted in the same period of 2023. Cebu captured 32% or about 69,000 sq.m. of total provincial transactions and emerges as the only provincial market performing almost at par with primary Metro Manila CBDs such as Makati (88,000 sq.m.) and Ortigas (56,000 sq.m.). Interestingly, provincial transactions now comprise 29% of nationwide deals recorded as of Q3 2024, which was previously hovering between 20-25% in the past four years. Given this, we encourage landlords to ramp up developments in provincial areas to accommodate the demand from outsourcing companies.

HIGHER VACANCY RATES IN POGO-EXPOSED LOCATIONS
As of Q3 2024, overall Metro Manila vacancy marginally rose to 18.5% from 18.3% in Q2 2024. The increase in vacancy is mainly driven by POGO surrenders and non-renewal of leases. Primary CBDs such as Makati, Fort Bonifacio and Ortigas continue to experience below market vacancies and are likely to recover faster versus secondary markets. By end-2024, we project overall market vacancy to reach 20.5% given the expected surrenders from POGOs and non-renewals.

Meanwhile, locations with high POGO exposures such as the Bay Area and Makati Fringe are seen to experience higher vacancy rates by year end. Landlords with POGO exposures are encouraged to give additional concessions for previously vacated POGO spaces. It is important to note that occupiers will take advantage of vacated spaces by POGOs especially if these are workable for them. Landlords may consider providing tenant improvement allowances, reinstating spaces to suit traditional and outsourcing operations and offering flexible commercial terms.

‘SILVER LININGS’ IN A CHALLENGING MARKET
Despite concerns over the current state of Metro Manila’s office market, there are still positive indicators and opportunities for growth — especially when examining the market at a more granular level. Low vacancy markets may be indicative of an opportunity for landlords to enhance their office space offerings and ramp up projects already in the pipeline. Importantly, demand has remained resilient despite current headwinds. The worst-case scenario of zero demand has been avoided, with ongoing office deals from traditional businesses and outsourcing firms underscoring the market’s resiliency.

Given these, landlords are encouraged to provide high-quality office spaces that align with the latest demands for flexibility, wellness, and sustainability. By addressing these specific tenant expectations and remaining attentive to shifts in demand, landlords can capitalize on the existing market opportunities and create spaces that are better positioned to thrive even in a challenging landscape.

Looking ahead, the outcomes of the recent US elections and the resulting policy shifts may have significant implications for business activities, as well as opportunities that may arise for Metro Manila’s office market.

 

Kevin Jara is a director for Office Services-Tenant Representation while Kath Taburada is senior market analyst, Office Services-Tenant Representation at Colliers Philippines.

ECB policy should not remain restrictive for too long — Lane

PARIS — There is still some way to go before euro zone inflation is sustainably back at 2% but European Central Bank (ECB) policy should not remain restrictive for too long, otherwise price growth could fall below target, Philip Lane, the bank’s chief economist said in an interview.

Euro zone inflation has fallen rapidly in recent months, and policy maker are now debating when they could declare victory and whether the current pace of rate cuts is still appropriate.

“Monetary policy should not remain restrictive for too long,” French newspaper Les Echos quoted Mr. Lane as saying on Monday. “Otherwise, the economy will not grow sufficiently and inflation will, I believe, fall below the target.”

The ECB has cut rates three times already this year but investors now see a 50% chance it will cut by 50 basis points on Dec. 12 instead of the usual 25 given weak growth and rising recession risks.

However, Mr. Lane also appeared to temper expectations, warning that inflation was not yet back to where the ECB wanted it because services price growth is too high and most of the recent fall was due to moderating energy costs.

The ECB thus needed to see some rebalancing in the composition of price growth with a decline in services inflation, so it could still reach its 2% target, even if energy, food and goods prices come under upward pressure.

“There is still some distance to go in terms of adjustment for inflation to return to the desired level in a more sustainable way,” Lane said.

November data due this week is expected to show euro zone inflation accelerating to 2.4% from 2%. It could then rise further at the end of the year before easing back to 2% by mid-2025, economists say. — Reuters

BW’s Forecast 2025 forum and MUP pension reform

The BusinessWorld Economic Forum today has a theme “Forecast 2025” and among the keynote speakers is Department of Finance (DoF) Undersecretary and Chief Economist Domini S. Velasquez. I have high regard for DoF’s economists in terms of fiscal and macroeconomic forecasting.

So far, the Philippines has had an average growth of 5.8% in the first three quarters (Q1 to Q3) of 2024. This is third highest among the major economies of Asia after India and Vietnam, and much higher than the average growth of countries in North America and Europe. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) forecast for the Philippines in 2025 is 6.1% growth — fair enough (see Table 1).

I saw two pieces of good news last week that I think will help the Philippines attain a growth rate of 6% or higher next year. These reports in BusinessWorld (BW) were: “Canada sending 300-member biz delegation to PHL in December” and “PEZA approvals hit P186B as of mid-Nov.” (Both came out on Nov. 21.)

Senior Trade Commissioner Guy Boileau of the Canadian Embassy in Manila was quoted saying that: “This is the biggest Team Canada Trade Mission that we have done. It is bigger than the delegations sent to Japan and Korea.”

Mr. Boileau also mentioned that among the standout reforms and new laws that helped many Canadian investors to consider the Philippines were: the amendment to the Public Service Act, Public-Private Partnership Code, and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE).

DoF Secretary Ralph G. Recto used a lot of his political capital in pushing the CREATE MORE bill into a law, which was signed by the President on Nov. 11. The reduction in the corporate income tax rate from 25% to 20% is among the big reforms in the CREATE MORE law. I think it is a beautiful law because it responds to tax competition in East Asia, among other reasons.

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported that investment approvals in 2023 came to P140.88 billion, and now it is already P186 billion, and the year is not over yet. Cool.

MUP PENSION REFORM
Another piece of good news that was reported in BusinessWorld is this: “Military pension reform ‘not dead’ — DBM chief” (Nov. 25). It quoted Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman and Undersecretary and Principal Economist Joselito R. Basilio.

Ms. Pangandaman said that a different version is being worked out and it is “different from what Secretary Ben [Diokno] has intended from the very beginning.” Mr. Basilio said that “Discussions are still ongoing, there will be updating.”

The pension of the Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) in the government’s annual budget should be zero — that is if the MUPs had not been pampered by previous administrations, especially the Ramos administration. Instead, active personnel contribute nothing to their own personal pensions, plus the pensions of retired MUP are indexed to the salaries of active personnel.

The pension comes out to about P130 billion/year on average. The share of pension to basic pay is 68% to 72% (see Table 2).

There are bills to remedy this oddity, and compared to the House version, I like the provisions in the Senate version, SB 2501, better. It says members of the military should contribute 7% of their base monthly salary to a pension system and the National Government will contribute 14%; indexation is removed and the pension is limited to 50% of the base pay for the last position held by retired MUPs. The ideal, according to Mr. Basilio, is 9% and 11%.

If indexation is retained, as is being lobbied by the Defense department and other agencies, another option is that the pension should be subject to tax, around 25%. This way, pensioners who did not contribute to their pensions during their active days would now be helping contribute to their own pension.

Every year the DBM and DoF come under pressure from so many agencies wanting higher budgets while taxes and other revenues are not able to keep up, leading to a high annual budget deficit and high borrowings. It is time to reduce and cut the subsidies and freebies, both to the public and certain government personnel.

 

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. Research Consultancy Services, and Minimal Government Thinkers. He is an international fellow of the Tholos Foundation.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew series felt ‘like going home,’ Jude Law says

Jude Law in a scene from Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. — IMDB

LONDON — The latest addition to the Star Wars franchise introduces a new sense of playfulness into the universe by turning children into the protagonists, actor Jude Law says.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is an eight-episode live-action series following four youngsters who go on a thrilling and terrifying adventure after getting lost in a treacherous galaxy. Looking for a way back home, the foursome run into Mr. Law’s mysterious character Jod Na Nawood, who proposes a partnership.

“I love the concept. I loved the idea of making kids the protagonists because it sort of drew on the innocence and added a little bit of playfulness back into the experience,” said Mr. Law at a launch event in London’s Trafalgar Square on Thursday.

Stepping into the Star Wars world felt “oddly familiar,” the British actor, 51, said.

“It’s been in my life since I was an infant and so the galaxy, for all its vastness, was weirdly like going home. I was like ‘I know this place, I know these creatures,’” said Mr. Law.

Like their characters, the show’s young cast embarked on an exciting journey of their own, shooting the series on technologically advanced sets, including the Volume, a circular soundstage with LED panel screens.

“The sets were really realistic, especially the Volume. It felt like I was really in the Star Wars galaxy,” said Kyriana Kratter, who portrays KB. “It was an actor’s dream.”

The series’ creators, Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, drew inspiration from cult 1980s movies they grew up watching. Adding new elements to the Star Wars universe was both an honor and scary, they said.

“It’s a massive opportunity. I think what we were excited about was the ability to show the same Star Wars galaxy that we already know and love, but through a new perspective, which is through the eyes of four 10-year-old kids,” said Mr. Watts, director of three Spider-Man movies.

“It’s the perfect on-ramp for a new generation,” actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong, 14, added.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew starts streaming on Disney+ on Dec. 3. — Reuters

UnionBank says new financing packages to speed up Tesla buys

PHILIPPINE STAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

UNION BANK of the Philippines, Inc. (UnionBank) is set to offer financing packages to expedite the purchase of Tesla vehicles.

“As one of Tesla’s preferred financial providers in the Philippines, UnionBank is making it easier for more Filipinos to unlock the future of electric driving through tailored financing packages, competitive rates, and premium services,” the bank said in a statement on Monday.

UnionBank said it will offer a faster approval process to allow customers to easily secure financing.

“With competitive interest rates and a streamlined application process, UnionBank is dedicated to providing a seamless experience for those looking to make the move to electric driving.”

The first batch of deliveries is slated for the first quarter of 2025.

The bank will also offer a test drive to interested customers, it added.

Tesla’s electric mid-size SUV Model Y and sedan Model 3 are available for preview in Uptown Parade, Bonifacio Global City.

“UnionBank is honored to support Tesla’s mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, making the electric vehicle dream a reality for Filipinos who are eager to lead the change into a high-tech, eco-conscious future,” UnionBank Cards and Consumer Loans Head Mukul Sukhani said.

“Through our offerings, UnionBank believes that Tesla’s groundbreaking electric vehicles will become more accessible to those ready to embrace the future of driving,” he added. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

How PSEi member stocks performed — November 25, 2024

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Monday, November 25, 2024.

Tax Justice Network: Philippines’ annual tax losses hit 1.8% of GDP

The Philippines’ annual tax losses reached $6.99 billion, according to the latest estimates in the 2024 edition of the State of Tax Justice by advocacy group Tax Justice Network. This was equivalent of 1.8% of the county’s gross domestic product (GDP), the fourth-highest share in the region and even surpassing Asia’s 0.3% total share. The report monitors the amount of money lost per country in tax to multinational corporations and wealthy individuals who use tax havens to underpay tax.

Tax Justice Network: Philippines’ annual tax losses hit 1.8% of GDP

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