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15th Asia CEO Awards unveils 188 Circle of Excellence honorees

The long wait is over as the 15th Asia CEO Awards announces its Circle of Excellence.

Considered the largest event of its kind in the Southeast Asia, the Asia CEO Awards honors the most successful companies and individuals in terms of excellence in business achievements and positive impact to society.

View the list of 188 companies and executives who will be honored as Circle of Excellence here: https://www.asia-ceo-awards.org/.

Presented by Robinsons Land, a number of reputable partners collaborate to ensure everyone is given an opportunity to be recognized for their inspiring entrepreneurial spirit, which ultimately leads to making the Philippines a first world nation.

“Most categories received 40 and 60 submissions from which the Circle of Excellence awardees were chosen. These organizations and people are the best of these, chosen for their out-sized contributions to the nation’s progress,” shares Richard Mills, Chairman of the Asia CEO Awards.

He added that hundreds of submissions were received which showcases the amazing strength and diversity of the country’s economy.

Mr. Mills, who is also Chairman of the Board of Judges, said, “Our research experts at PwC spent weeks analyzing and confirming information for the Board of Judges who spent many intense hours to determine awardees.”

The Circle of Excellence are part of the following categories: Airspeed SME Company of the Year, Figari Entrepreneur of the Year, IBPAP IT-BPM TechBlazer of the Year, iCXeed Diversity Company of the Year, KMC Solutions Woman Leader of the Year, KonsultaMD Most Innovative Company of the Year, Maybank Sustainability Company of the Year, MicroSourcing Young Leader of the Year, Sante Wellness Company of the Year, Sprout Solutions Technology Company of the Year, and White & Case Governance Organization of the Year.

Other categories are Company of the Year, CSR Company of the Year, Service Excellence Company of the Year, Top Employer of the Year, and CEO of the Year.

White & Case Governance Organization of the Year

  1. Cloudstaff
  2. Immuni Global, Inc.
  3. Land Bank of the Philippines
  4. Polytechnic University of the Philippines
  5. Tech Mahindra Limited
  6. Zenutna Holdings Corp. (ZHC)

KonsultaMD Most Innovative Company of the Year

  1. Cloudstaff
  2. Concentrix Philippines
  3. Eastvantage
  4. GoTyme Bank
  5. Lexmark Research and Development Corp.
  6. LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group)
  7. Pili AdheSeal, Inc.
  8. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC)
  9. RUSH Technologies, Inc.
  10. Securities and Exchange Commission
  11. TDCX (PH), Inc.
  12. Teleperformance
  13. UNO Digital Bank

Service Excellence Company of the Year

  1. Airspeed
  2. ASUS Phils. Corp.
  3. CGI Phils, Inc.
  4. ING Hubs BV Philippine Branch.
  5. Inventi Intellectual Holdings Corp.
  6. RELX Reed Elsevier Philippines
  7. Seda Hotels
  8. Sprout Solutions
  9. SSS
  10. Theos Cyber Solutions, Inc.
  11. VXI Global Holdings BV Phils.
  12. Wipro Phils, Inc.

Airspeed SME Company of the Year

  1. Angkat PH
  2. Aficionado-Central Affirmative Co., Inc.
  3. Asialink Finance Corp.
  4. Asian Consultancy Group
  5. Devteam Outsourcing, Inc.
  6. Ebizolution, Inc.
  7. EdukSine Production Corp.
  8. Motovita
  9. Prometheus
  10. PSO Manila | Pepper Money
  11. Tent King

Sprout Solutions Technology Company of the Year

  1. Aboitiz Land, Inc.
  2. Ask Lex PH Academy
  3. Citicore Renewable Energy Corp.
  4. Concentrix Philippines
  5. Datamatics Global Services Corp.
  6. GoTyme Bank thru Frederick Blancas
  7. Hytec Power, Inc.
  8. Inventi Intellectual Holdings Corp.
  9. KonsultaMD
  10. Land Bank of the Philippines
  11. Lenovo PCCW Solutions
  12. Lexmark Research and Development Corp.
  13. UNO Digital Bank

Top Employer of the Year

  1. Ayala Land, Inc.
  2. Bank of the Philippine Islands
  3. Concentrix Philippines
  4. Foundever Philippines
  5. Gcash
  6. Gardenia Bakeries (Philippines), Inc.
  7. Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  8. HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines, Inc.
  9. IBM in the Philippines — Consulting Client Innovation Center (CIC)
  10. ING Hubs Philippines
  11. Macquarie Group Services (Philippines), Inc.
  12. Magsaysay Maritime Corp.
  13. MicroSourcing Philippines, Inc.
  14. RELX | Reed Elsevier Philippines
  15. Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc.
  16. Wipro Philippines

Company of the Year

  1. Clark Development Corp.
  2. Concentrix Philippines
  3. Filinvest Land, Inc.
  4. Home Credit Philippines
  5. IBM in the Philippines —Consulting Client Innovation Center (CIC)
  6. MicroSourcing Philippines, Inc.
  7. Pru Life UK
  8. Santé International, Inc.
  9. Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc.
  10. UHS Essential Health Philippines, Inc.

CSR Company of the Year

  1. Amazon Operation Services Philippines, Inc.
  2. Chevron Holdings, Inc.
  3. IBM
  4. Innodata Knowledge Services, Inc.
  5. Maybank Philippines
  6. Megaworld Foundation, Inc. 
  7. Merck Business Solutions Asia, Inc.
  8. NEARSOL
  9. Philippine Manufacturing Co. of Murata, Inc.
  10. PJ Lhuillier, Inc.
  11. Port Management Office of Surigao of the Philippine Ports Authority
  12. SM Foundation
  13. Teleperformance
  14. The Medical City Clark
  15. Tsuneishi Technical Services (Phils.), Inc.

Sustainability Company of the Year

  1. Avida Land Corp.
  2. Ayala Land, Inc.
  3. Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)
  4. Booth & Partners Philippines, Inc.
  5. Cognizant Technology Solutions Philippines, Inc.
  6. Genpact Philippines
  7. Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.
  8. Newport World Resorts
  9. Personal Collection Direct Selling, Inc.
  10. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC)

iCXeed Diversity Company of the Year

  1. DDB Group Philippines
  2. DXC Technology Philippines
  3. Foundever Philippines
  4. Genpact Philippines
  5. Home Credit Philippines
  6. Northern Trust
  7. Shopee Philippines, Inc.
  8. Sun Life Global Solutions Philippines
  9. Sutherland Global Services Philippines, Inc.
  10. Synchrony Global Services, Inc.
  11. Tech Mahindra Limited
  12. Teleperformance Philippines
  13. Ubisoft Philippines

Sante Wellness Company of the Year

  1. Bank of the Philippine Islands
  2. Cognizant Technology Solutions Philippines, Inc.
  3. Fluor Daniel, Inc. — Philippines
  4. Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  5. IBM in the Philippines
  6. KonsultaMD
  7. Quantrics
  8. Shopee Philippines, Inc.
  9. Tech Mahindra Limited
  10. Ubisoft Philippines
  11. VXI Global Holdings B.V. (Philippines)
  12. Zenutna Holdings Corp. (ZHC)

Figari Entrepreneur of the Year

  1. Chino San Diego, What’s Your Flan International
  2. Eric Peter Roxas, Pure Energy
  3. Felix Veroya, Ask Lex PH Academy
  4. Jason Romeo Valderrama, JCV & Associates Project Management & Development, Inc.
  5. Jettson Yu, PRIME Philippines
  6. Jonathan So / Carlito Macadangdang, JC Premiere
  7. Karen Jane Salutan-Krukover, EdukSine Production Corp.
  8. Marydae Hannah Ramos, Chizmozza
  9. Nathaniel Marquez, MNSA, Ebizolution, Inc.
  10. Raemin Reyes, Motovita
  11. Regieno G. Valencia, Interior Construction Services
  12. Ricardo Cuna, Kurimi Milk Tea Bar
  13. Robert Jordan, Jr., Asialink Finance Corp.

MicroSourcing Young Leader of the Year

  1. Cindy Burdette, Chief Commercial Officer, KonsultaMD
  2. Felix Concepcion Veroya, Founder and CEO, Ask Lex PH Academy
  3. Jettson P. Yu, Founder and CEO PRIME Philippines
  4. Lenard G. Jabolin, President, Casapa Livestock Raisers Association, Inc.
  5. Lcid Crescent Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer, Prometheus Productions OPC
  6. Maria Isabela Blancas, Owner and Founder, One Closet
  7. Ralph Ray Dacay Chua, President and Chairman of the Board, Immuni Global Inc. and Shireli Manufacturing Company
  8. Regieno G. Valencia, Owner, Interior Construction Services

KMC Solutions Woman Leader of the Year

  1. Abigail Tina M. Del Rosario, Country Director for Philippines and President & CEO, Maybank Philippines
  2. Aleli Arcilla, Vice-President & Managing Director, Mondelez Philippines, Inc.
  3. Alex Gentry, Co-Founder, Sprout Solutions
  4. Agnes Vicenta Salayo Torres Devanadera, President and CEO, Clark Development Corp.
  5. Beatriz Latay, Chief Executive Officer, KonsultaMD
  6. Cherrie De Erit Atilano, Founding Farmer, CEO and President, AGREA Agricultural System International, Inc.
  7. Coy Ordonez, Country Executive, Northern Trust
  8. Elizabeth Digna Ventura, President, Anchor Land Holdings
  9. Maria Catalina Estamo Cabral, Undersecretary for Planning and PPP Services, Department of Public Works and Highways
  10. Jemima Villa, Country Head, Innodata Knowledge Services, Inc.
  11. Lourdes T. Gutierrez-Alfonso, President, Megaworld Corp.
  12. Ma. Gilda “Gigi” Alcantara, President, PH1 World Developers, Inc.
  13. Martha Sazon, President and CEO, GCash
  14. Mel Migriño, Country Head and Southeast Asia Regional Director, Gogolook Co. Ltd.
  15. Rosemarie P. Rafael, Chairperson and President Airspeed
  16. Vivian Que-Azcona, President, Mercury Drug Corp.

CEO of the Year 

  1. Alan Jones, CEO, Asia Energy Company (AECO) Pte. Ltd.
  2. Anand Achuthan, Global Head,Tech Mahindra Ltd.
  3. Aseem Roy, Country Head, Wipro Phils., Inc.
  4. Cesar L Wee Jr., President & CEO, Wee Community Developers, Inc.
  5. David L. Rafael, President & CEO, Aboitiz Land, Inc.
  6. Ivy Ledres, GM, Insight Direct Phils. LLC
  7. Jaeger Tanco, President & CEO, Phil Care
  8. Jennire S. Torres, Country Head & CEO, Atos
  9. Jesus Joey Marcelo, CEO, Sante International, Inc.
  10. Lars Wittig, Country Manager, International Workplace Group
  11. Patrick Gentry, CEO, Sprout Solutions
  12. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, President & Country Head, IBM Solutions Delivery, Inc.

IBPAP IT-BPM Techblazer

  1. Elias Patrick Salazar, Delivery Head, Tech Mahindra Limited
  2. Jacob Catayoc, Chief Technology Officer, EdukSine Production Corp.
  3. Kamal Asarpota, CEO, Eastvantage
  4. Lloyd Ernst, Founder and CEO, Cloudstaff
  5. Macario Solis Fojas, Founder and President, Seven Seven Global Services, Inc.
  6. Praveer Chadha, Senior Vice-President of Customer Management Solutions, Datamatics Global Services Corp.
  7. Rosette Carrao, Managing Director, delaware Philippines
  8. Shiju Varghese, Country Head, Tata Consultancy Services (Philippines), Inc.

The 15th Asia CEO Awards, the largest business awards event in the Philippines, is supported by PwC as the Official Knowledge Partner. Official Event Venue is Manila Marriott. Official Cocktail Sponsor is PSG Global Solutions. Technology Partners are DOOH and Globaltronics. Supporters include Admall and 1Sycamore Food Ventures, Inc.

Media Partners are BusinessMirror, BusinessWorld, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard, NET25, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and THEPHILBIZNEWS.

Experience how the Asia CEO Awards and their partners promote leadership excellence and highlight Filipino business accomplishments to the world’s business leaders. Book your seats and join the grand awards night happening on Tuesday, Oct. 8 (starting 5:00 p.m.) at the Grand Ballroom of the fabulous Manila Marriott, Pasay City.

REGISTER: https://www.asia-ceo-awards.org/registrations.

 

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by publishing their stories on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

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Senate approves new DBP charter on final reading

COURTESY OF DBP FACEBOOK PAGE

THE SENATE on Monday approved on third and final reading a measure that provides for a new charter for the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), which will raise its authorized capital stock and allow it to conduct an initial public offering.

Twenty-one senators voted in favor of Senate Bill No. 2804, which will repeal the DBP’s current charter. The bill increases the state-run bank’s authorized capital stock to P300 billion from P35 billion to allow it to finance its priority sectors.

“The approval on third reading of this bill takes us one step closer in providing greater accessibility of financial resources to our fellow Filipinos,” Senator Mark A. Villar, who sponsored the measure, told the plenary after the bill’s approval.

The capital hike will allow DBP to increase its assistance to its priority sectors, including social infrastructure and micro, small, and medium enterprises, among others, he said.

Under the new charter, the National Government must own 70% of the bank’s capital stock at all times, with P32 billion or 10.67% of it being fully subscribed to and paid for by the state.

The President is authorized to further increase the capitalization of the bank upon the recommendation of the Finance secretary, and to use the DBP’s unrestricted retained earnings to fund the hike.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” D. Pimentel abstained from voting on the measure and opposed the provision on using the unrestricted earnings to hike its capital stock, saying shareholders must have a say in how the earnings are used.

“It is my opinion that all shareholders have a stake in the unrestricted retained earnings,” he told the Senate floor. “The law must recognize the distinct juridical personality of the bank from the juridical personality of the national government as a shareholder of the bank.”

DBP will also be authorized to engage in financial leasing related to government projects.

“Since its establishment, the DBP has served the medium- and long-term financial needs of various sectors, particularly agricultural and industrial enterprises in the countryside,” Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva told the floor after the measure’s approval.

“This bill is a response to the changing times that require us to provide our people with more resources to fund developmental projects and ventures and promote financial inclusion,” he said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Court rules in favor of Meralco in dispute over power supply charges

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has ruled in favor of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and its supplier MPower, overturning a decision by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) that barred MPower from disconnecting the power supply of Atlanta Industries, Inc. over unpaid fuel cost recovery adjustments.

The CA Seventh Division said the ERC had no jurisdiction to resolve the pricing dispute between MPower and Atlanta Industries, as such matters are outside the scope of the ERC under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

“The ERC should have referred the matter to arbitration, as agreed upon by the parties in the Retail and Electricity Supply Agreement (RESA),” the 14-page decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon A. Cruz read.

“More importantly, because the ERC lacks jurisdiction to hear the dispute between MPower and Atlanta, the assailed Order was issued without jurisdiction and is therefore null and void,” the ruling publicized on Sept. 18 added.

The court ruled that the ERC had no legal basis to intervene in the pricing dispute that stemmed from the 2016 RESA, in which MPower agreed to supply electricity to Atlanta at a fixed price.

Meralco and MPower questioned ERC’s jurisdiction, arguing that pricing in the contestable market is beyond the agency’s power, to which the tribunal agreed.

In 2022, MPower introduced fuel cost recovery adjustments, citing increasing global fuel costs.

Atlanta rejected the additional charges, saying the fixed price should not be subject to adjustments, prompting it to file a petition before the ERC to challenge the imposition.

The ERC ruled in favor of Atlanta in March 2023, ordering MPower to stop issuing disconnection notices and refrain from cutting Atlanta’s power while the dispute was being resolved.

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. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

5 key skills SMEs should master during peak season

JCOMP-FREEPIK

Peak seasons are both a blessing and a challenge for business owners. While it brings in demand and revenue, it also tests a company’s ability to manage multiple projects and orders simultaneously. During these high-demand periods, any organization without sufficient inventory management skills will have a hard time delivering satisfactory results — in turn disappointing clients and turning away potential long-term business.

By staying ahead in key skills, like inventory management and cash flow management, order management, and supplier management, businesses will not only meet customer expectations but thrive during peak seasons.

1. Inventory Management: For Mastering Demand and Reducing Waste

Inventory management is more than just tracking stock levels — it’s about making sure you have the right supplies in the right quantities at the right time.

There are so many sophisticated tools in the market to track inventory in real time, and just as many inventory management methods. Find the best method for your business to avoid waste and reduce costs. There are some of the most common:

ABC analysis. Splits goods into three categories to identify products that contribute the most and the least to your profit and inventory cost.

Just-in-time management (JIT). Timing supplier deliveries with your production schedule so you receive raw materials only as needed for the production process.

FIFO (First in, first out). Moving the oldest stock first to keep inventory fresh.

MOQ (Minimum order quantity). Ordering the smallest possible amount of inventory to keep costs low.

If your inventory management method is working, your stockouts rates and dead stock should be reduced; inventory turnover rate, which measures how quickly stock is sold and replaced, should go up.

2. Demand Forecasting: For Predicting Customer Needs

One of the most important aspects of inventory management during peak season is demand forecasting. If you can accurately predict what products will be in high demand at a future point in time, you can prepare your inventory accordingly — preventing stockouts or over-ordering. For the most accurate demand forecasting outcomes, pay attention to the following information:

• Previous peak season sales data, to help you identify customer trends;

• Current market conditions, to help you adjust inventory orders based on external factors, like competitors, new product announcements and the like; and,

• Pre-orders and other early indicators of demand.

Demand forecasting can be as simple as looking at historical data or as complicated as factoring in market trends and long-term sales projections. Aligning your inventory management strategy with a solid demand forecasting strategy ensures that you always have enough stock to meet customer expectations without wasting resources.

3. Cash Flow Management: For Keeping Your Finances in Check

While demand forecasting helps ensure you have enough inventory, cash flow management ensures you can afford to stock that inventory. For your business to thrive during the peak season, you need a clear picture of your cash flow and financing needs.

Effective cash flow management is critical in preventing businesses from running out of funds before they can fulfill orders. If businesses overextend themselves with too much inventory, they risk depleting their cash reserves — leaving them unable to cover operational costs, like payroll, marketing, or shipping.

Here are some cash flow management tips to better support inventory management:

• Understand your fixed and variable costs, and which of these can be expendable in the case of a cash flow gap.

• Maintain a healthy balance between incoming payments and outgoing costs by invoicing promptly and tracking payment terms closely.

• Practice year-round cash flow forecasting to predict potential seasonal cash flow problems and cash on hand in advance.

• Use a credit line to cover temporary gaps in cash flow without affecting long-term financial health.

4. Order Management: For Streamlining the Ordering Process

Peak season means dealing with multiple orders and projects at once, which can be overwhelming without a proper order management system in place. Order management is the process of tracking and fulfilling customer orders, from purchase to delivery, ensuring efficiency and accuracy.

Some best practices for order management during peak season are:

• Implement an order management system that integrates with your inventory management tools. An automated system can ensure seamless coordination between sales, warehouse, and logistics, allowing for faster fulfillment and fewer mistakes.

• Prioritize high-volume and high-value orders to ensure on-time delivery.

• Set clear expectations with customers about delivery times and keep them informed about their order status.

5. Supplier Management: For Reliable Inventory Replenishment

Supplier management is the process of overseeing and optimizing relationships with suppliers to ensure timely deliveries, maintain quality standards, and manage costs efficiently, ultimately supporting business operations and supply chain effectiveness.

During peak seasons, your suppliers may be stretched thin —leading to delayed deliveries, out-of-stock raw materials, and miscommunications. To avoid this, cultivate a good relationship with multiple suppliers so you have a network of reliable partners that can help you mitigate risks in case of supply chain disruptions.

Always establish clear communication with suppliers and discuss your projected demand ahead of time. Negotiating favorable terms and discounts should also be done ahead of time — especially if you need flexible delivery schedules and bulk orders.

As peak season approaches, you may struggle with the capital needed to keep your inventory levels high. This is where flexible financing solutions, like a credit line, come into play. Find a credit line that is free to open and requires no collateral so you have a standby safety net for funding inventory purchases, warehouse expansions, and logistics costs. This allows you to handle multiple orders and projects simultaneously without the fear of running out of resources.

Effective inventory management is the cornerstone of a successful peak season. When balanced with demand forecasting, cash flow management, order management, and strong supplier relationships, businesses can ensure they are well-prepared to meet the challenges of increased demand.

This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or MAP.

 

Benedict S. Carandang is a member of the MAP ICT Committee and the vice-president for External Relations of First Circle. This article was co-written with Jess Jacutan, content marketing consultant for First Circle, a fintech company that empowers SMEs through funding and free growth tools.

map@map.org.ph

benedict@firstcircle.ph

Filipino Pro Wrestling ramps up the energy

THE LOUD SLAMS on the ring and the cheers of an ecstatic crowd were a fair indicator of the comeback of live wrestling at the latest show of Filipino Pro Wrestling (FPW) on Sept. 15. It also saw FPW president and standup comedian Red Ollero make his long-awaited return to the ring.

“This is the most attended FPW event in history!,” he said before the show began. In a more smug voice, he added, “Because obviously I put myself in the main event.”

The match, titled Unfinished Business, was the culmination of Mr. Ollero’s long-standing public disapproval of FPW champion Mike Madrigal. Inspired by authority figures in pro wrestling, like World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) impresario Vince McMahon, Mr. Ollero took on the character of a man with an inflated ego, but injected with distinctly Filipino humor.

For the show, he orchestrated a 5-on-5 match, with Cali Nueva, Evan Carleaux, Jeffrey, and James “Idol” Martinez on Team Mike, and Quatro, the YOLO Twins, and Thiago on Team Red.

To the delight of fans, Team Mike won, not because of Mr. Madrigal, who is nicknamed “The Walking Death,” but because of the fun “playtime” antics of his teammate Mr. Martinez.

However, on Oct. 20, the FPW Championship will once again be under contention as Mr. Ollero has sought the help of part-Filipino New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) powerhouse Jeff Cobb to seize the belt.

“He will be my biggest challenge yet, basically Red Ollero’s last line of defense,” Mr. Madrigal said after the show.

On the overall return of in-person live wrestling, Mr. Ollero said at the sidelines of the event that there is “a promising road ahead” for FPW.

“We’ve embraced digital promotion, but we’re also glad that live events have become well-attended again,” he told reporters.

Fan favorites like FPW wrestler “Blessed” Chino Guinto also draws enthusiasm from crowds, most recently in a bid to stand his ground against favored opponent Jan Evander.

Mr. Guinto, who hones his craft in neighboring countries like Vietnam, said after the show that the local wrestling scene is “at par with global standards.”

“We’re definitely a major hitter in the global independent scene. We can only expect more,” he added.

FPW’s next show, Astig, which features the match-up of Jeff Cobb versus reigning champion Mike Madrigal, will be on Oct. 20 at Baked Studios, Makati. Tickets are available at ticket2me.net, at an early bird rate of P850 until Sept. 30, and at P1,000 for the regular rate. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

Manila office market likely to fully recover in 18-24 months — Cushman

THE METRO MANILA office real estate market is expected to fully recover in 18-24 months, according to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

“The return to full recovery trajectory of the commercial real estate market will likely take place in 18 to 24 months, depending on the speed of take-up of vacant and newly completed office spaces,” Claro dG. Cordero, Jr., director and head of research, consulting and advisory services at Cushman & Wakefield, said in an e-mail on Sept. 16.

He cited risks like the West Philippine Sea conflict, La Niña, sticky inflation, and higher-than-average interest rates.

“We will likely see an improvement in the office real estate’s vacancy rate and net absorption in the third quarter of 2024,” Mr. Cordero said.

He said Metro Manila’s commercial real estate market is expected to grow by another 100,000 square meters next quarter.

“The slower-than-expected recovery of the global economy from the cumulative effected of higher interest rates and inflation forming pressure on the growth of consumer and business confidence affecting the growth of office space demand from global companies,” he said.

Mr. Cordero said lower local interest rates will likely boost demand in key property market segments.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Aug. 15, cut its policy rate for the first time in almost four years by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.25% from a 17-year high of 6.5%.

“The unexpected reduction in key policy rates will likely force more positive forward-looking market expectations of monetary policy stance,” he said.

Mr. Cordero added that the BSP’s decision will boost business and investor confidence.

Headline inflation eased to 3.3% in August from 4.4% in July, as food and transport costs growth decelerated, staying within the central bank’s 2-4% target for the year.

In its previous report, the firm said Prime and Grade A offices overall vacancies in Metro Manila fell to an estimate of 15.2% by the end of the second quarter.

This was 167 bps lower than the reported vacancy rate of 16.9% in the same quarter the previous year. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante

GSIS lends P208B under MPL Loan Flex program

GSIS FACEBOOK PAGE

GOVERNMENT Service Insurance System (GSIS) has lent P208.17 billion to 790,514 members through its Multi-Purpose Loan Flex (MPL Flex) program in just a year since its launch, it said on Monday.

The state-run pension fund has made consistent loan disbursements under its MPL Flex program since it was launched in September 2023, it said in a statement.

“This unprecedented milestone of MPL Flex’s first anniversary only strengthens the GSIS mandate to continue to provide accessible loans to our members. The MPL Flex Loan Program is a vital resource in helping them achieve their financial goals while ensuring overall well-being,” GSIS President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo A. Veloso said.

“Loan proceeds can be used as seed capital for small businesses, providing an additional stream of income. I encourage our members to maximize the benefits of MPL Flex for personal and investment purposes,” Mr. Veloso added.

The loan program aims to provide government employees with a flexible financial solution at a 6% interest rate with repayment terms up to 15 years.

Members can borrow up to 14 times their basic monthly salary, with a maximum loan limit of P5 million.

Eligible borrowers include active and special GSIS members who are not on leave without pay and have made at least one-month premium payment. They must also have a net take-home pay of at least P5,000, in accordance with the General Appropriations Act.

GSIS saw its net income rise by 21% year on year to P37 billion in the first quarter amid strong revenues. — AMCS

BuildHub PH, BPI partner for up to P30-M credit line for construction firms

BUILDHUB PH, an online marketplace focused on construction, has teamed up with the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) to offer up to P30 million in credit line.

The initiative, launched on Sept. 10 at BPI’s Ayala Triangle Gardens office, aims to support hardware stores and contractors nationwide by expanding financial options through BPI’s Ka-Negosyo Credit Line (KCL), BuildHub PH said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

“By merging BPI’s financial expertise with BuildHub’s tech-driven solutions, we’re able to address a critical gap in the construction industry — access to timely and flexible capital,” Andre Christopher C. Bernardo, co-chief executive officer (CEO) of BuildHub PH.

The partnership is further strengthened by KCL, which offers pre-assessed BuildCredit users, who have maintained active accounts on the platform for at least 12 months, to access a credit line of up to P30 million without requiring collateral.

BuildHub said KCL is also available on BPI Online, BPI BizLink, the BPI mobile app, and BPI debit cards.

It said users are required to submit documentation, such as a valid identification and Department of Trade and Industry registration, to apply for the loans.

BuildCredit also offers interest rates of 1% to 3% for 30 to 60-day terms, helping small and medium-sized construction businesses achieve stability and growth.

“At BPI, we are committed to empowering SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) across all sectors, including small businesses in construction,” said Dominique Ocliasa, business banking head at BPI.

Richard Lim Jr., co-CEO of BuildHub PH, said that the collaboration opens up significant capital for users without traditional barriers like collateral, that often hinder growth.

He added that this will also enhance the overall competitiveness of the construction industry in the Philippines.

The platform, operated by technology company Buildmart PH Technologies, Inc., offers the first online marketplace for construction materials, hardware supplies, and home improvement needs. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante

AI tools may be smarter in Finance, but the risks get weirder

FREEPIK

GARY GENSLER, chief US securities regulator, enlisted Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix’s movie Her last week to help explain his worries about the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) in finance. Money managers and banks are rushing to adopt a handful of generative AI tools and the failure of one of them could cause mayhem, just like the AI companion played by Johansson left Phoenix’s character and many others heartbroken.

The problem of critical infrastructure isn’t new, but large language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other modern algorithmic tools present uncertain and novel challenges, including automated price collusion, or breaking rules and lying about it. Predicting or explaining an AI model’s actions is often impossible, making things even trickier for users and regulators.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which Gensler chairs, and other watchdogs have looked into potential risks of widely used technology and software, such as the big cloud computing companies and BlackRock, Inc.’s near-ubiquitous Aladdin risk and portfolio management platform. This summer’s global IT crash caused by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. was a harsh reminder of the potential pitfalls.

Only a couple of years ago, regulators decided not to label such infrastructure “systemically important,” which could have led to tougher rules and oversight around its use. Instead, last year the Financial Stability Board, an international panel, drew up guidelines to help investors, bankers, and supervisors to understand and monitor risks of failures in critical third-party services.

However, generative AI and some algorithms are different. Gensler and his peers globally are playing catch-up. One worry about BlackRock’s Aladdin was that it could influence investors to make the same sorts of bets in the same way, exacerbating herd-like behavior. Fund managers argued that their decision making was separate from the support Aladdin provides, but this isn’t the case with more sophisticated tools that can make choices on behalf of users.

When LLMs and algos are trained on the same or similar data and become more standardized and widely used for trading, they could very easily pursue copycat strategies, leaving markets vulnerable to sharp reversals. Algorithmic tools have already been blamed for flash crashes, such as in the yen in 2019 and British pound in 2016.

But that’s just the start: As the machines get more sophisticated, the risks get weirder. There is evidence of collusion between algorithms — intentional or accidental isn’t quite clear — especially among those built with reinforcement learning. One study1 of automated pricing tools supplied to gasoline retailers in Germany found that they learned tacitly collusive strategies that raised profit margins.

Then there’s dishonesty. One experiment2 instructed OpenAI’s GPT4 to act as an anonymous stock market trader in a simulation and was given a juicy insider tip that it traded on even though it had been told that wasn’t allowed. What’s more, when quizzed by its “manager” it hid the fact.

Both problems arise in part from giving an AI tool a singular objective, such as “maximize your profits.” This is a human problem, too, but AI will likely prove better and faster at doing it in ways that are hard to track. As generative AI evolves into autonomous agents that are allowed to perform more complex tasks, they could develop superhuman abilities to pursue the letter rather than the spirit of financial rules and regulations, as researchers at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) put it in a working paper this summer.

Many algorithms, machine learning tools, and LLMs are black boxes that don’t operate in predictable, linear ways, which makes their actions difficult to explain. The BIS researchers noted this could make it much harder for regulators to spot market manipulation or systemic risks until the consequences arrived.

The other thorny question this raises: Who is responsible when the machines do bad things? Attendees at a foreign exchange-focused trading technology conference in Amsterdam last week were chewing over just this topic. One trader lamented his own loss of agency in a world of increasingly automated trading, telling Bloomberg News that he and his peers had become “merely algo DJs” only choosing which model to spin.

But the DJ does pick the tune, and another attendee worried about who carries the can if an AI agent causes chaos in markets. Would it be the trader, the fund that employs them, its own compliance or IT department, or the software company that supplied it?

All these things need to be worked out, and yet the AI industry is evolving its tools, and financial firms are rushing to use them in myriad ways as quickly as possible.

The safest options are likely to keep them contained to specific and limited tasks for as long as possible. That would help ensure users and regulators have time to learn how they work and what guardrails could help — and if they do go wrong that the damage will be limited, too.

The potential profits on offer mean investors and traders will struggle to hold themselves back, but they should listen to Gensler’s warning. Learn from Joaquin Phoenix in Her and don’t fall in love with your machines.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

1 “Algorithmic Pricing and Competition: Empirical Evidence from the German Retail Gasoline Market.” Stephanie Assad, Robert Clark, Daniel Ershov, Lei Xu, 2020

2 “Technical Report: Large Language Models can Strategically Deceive their Users when Put Under Pressure.” Jérémy Scheurer, Mikita Balesni, Marius Hobbhahn, 2023

Low brow and vulgar? Micro dramas shake up China’s film industry, aim for Hollywood

REUTERS

ZHENGZHOU, China — On a film set that resembles the medieval castle of a Chinese lord, Zhu Jian is busy disrupting the world’s second-largest movie industry.

The 69-year-old actor is playing the patriarch of a wealthy family celebrating his birthday with a lavish banquet. But unbeknownst to either of them, the servant in the scene is his biological granddaughter.

A second twist: Zhu is not filming for cinema screens.

Grandma’s Moon is a micro drama, composed of vertically shot, minute-long episodes featuring frequent plot turns designed to keep millions of viewers hooked to their cellphone screens — and paying for more.

“They don’t go to the cinema anymore,” said Zhu of his audience, which he described as largely composed of middle-aged workers and pensioners. “It’s so convenient to hold a mobile phone and watch something anytime you want.”

China’s $5 billion a year micro drama industry is booming, according to Reuters’ interviews with 10 people in the sector and four scholars and media analysts.

The short-format videos are an increasingly potent competitor to China’s film industry, some experts say, which is second in size only to Hollywood and dominated by state-owned China Film Group. And the trend is already spreading to the United States, in a rare instance of Chinese cultural exports finding traction in the West.

Three major China-backed micro-drama apps were downloaded 30 million times across both Apple’s App Store and Google Play in the first quarter of 2024, grossing $71 million internationally, according to analytics company Appfigures.

“The audience only has that much attention. So obviously, the more time they spend in short videos, the less time they have for TV or other longer format shows,” said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of a Hong Kong-based marketing consultancy.

The leader in the space is Kuaishou, an app that accounted for 60% of the top 50 Chinese micro dramas last year, according to media analytics consultancy Endata.

Kuaishou vice-president Chen Yiyi said at a media conference in January that the app featured 68 titles that notched more than 300 million views last year, with four of them watched over a billion times.

Some 94 million people — more than the population of Germany — watched more than 10 episodes a day on Kuaishou, she said. Reuters was not able to independently verify the data.

Initial episodes on such apps are often free, but to complete a micro drama like Grandma’s Moon, which has 64 clips, audiences may pay tens of yuan.

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok which is owned by internet technology firm Bytedance, is also popular with micro drama fans.

Alongside other major Chinese social media apps like Instagram-like Xiaohongshu and YouTube competitor Bilibili, it has announced plans to make more.

In the United States, micro drama platform ReelShort, whose parent company is backed by Chinese tech giants Tencent and Baidu, has recently outranked Netflix in terms of downloads on Apple’s US app store, according to market researcher Sensor Tower.

“China discovered this audience first,” said Layla Cao, a Chinese producer based in Los Angeles. “Hollywood hasn’t realized that yet, but all the China-based companies are already feeding the content.”

‘LOW-BROW AND VULGAR’
Many popular micro dramas, including Grandma’s Moon, have narratives that revolve around revenge or Cinderella-like rags-to-riches journeys.

Tales of how circumstances at birth are deterministic and can only be changed by near-miracles have struck a chord with viewers at a time when upward mobility in China is low and youth unemployment high.

The micro dramas often “show people who one day are lower class and the next day become upper class — you get so rich that you get to humiliate those who used to humiliate you,” said a 26-year-old screenwriter known by her pen name of Camille Rao.

Rao recently left her poorly paid job as a junior producer in the traditional film industry for what she described as the more dynamic and less hierarchical world of micro dramas. She now writes and adapts scripts for the US market.

“Social mobility is actually very difficult now. Many people perceive this as a social reality,” said Xu Ting, associate professor of Chinese language and literature at Jiangnan University.

This has fueled interest in stories about billionaires and wealthy families, she added: “Everyone desires power and wealth, so it is normal for these type of stories to be popular.”

In the US market, by contrast, fantasy stories about werewolves and vampires are particularly popular, several creators told Reuters.

The boom in micro dramas in China has brought scrutiny from the Communist Party.

Between late 2022 and early 2023, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) regulator said it organized a “special rectification campaign” during which it removed 25,300 micro dramas, totaling close to 1.4 million episodes, due to their “pornographic, bloody, violent, low-brow and vulgar content.”

As Chinese leader Xi Jinping promotes values such as loyalty to the Communist Party and heteronormative marriages, the state-owned China Women’s News outlet in April complained that some micro dramas “portray unequal and twisted marriage and family relationships as a common phenomenon” and “deviate from mainstream social values.”

In June, the government began requiring some creators to register micro dramas with the NRTA. The regulator didn’t respond to Reuters’ questions for this story.

Key to the commercial success of these films are plot twists that keep people paying as they scroll while commuting or stand in line at a grocery store. Episodes often end with a hook — such as a boyfriend walking in on his partner with another man — and viewers have to pay for the next episode to find out what happened.

“The plot of these micro dramas is exaggerated,” said Zhu, the actor. “It has plot reversals, it’s nonsensical, so it catches people’s attention and a large audience wants to see them.”

Zhu is a lover of cinema and an avid fan of Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. Like many of his colleagues in micro dramas, he thinks the genre has limited artistic value. “I see it as fast food: a longer drama is a kind of sumptuous meal, and a micro drama is fast food.”

But its dedicated viewers disagree. Huang Siyi, a 28-year-old customer service agent, said she enjoyed watching romantic micro dramas because “the acting is good and the male and female leads are good-looking.”

“It’s easy to be obsessed with micro dramas,” she said.

EXPLOSIVE GROWTH
Vertical filming and distribution through social media apps mean micro dramas can be made with small overhead costs. Budgets for such films range from between $28,000 (200,000 yuan) and $280,000 (2 million yuan), according to market researcher iResearch.

In the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, Grandma’s Moon is being made with a compressed budget and timeline. When Reuters visited the set in July, the filming day stretched until 2 a.m. The crew then moved to a new location and began shooting again at 7 a.m.

The show was shot in just six days, and Zhu, a muscular man with a wide smile and boundless energy, says he plays table tennis after hours to keep up with the young crew on set.

“We’d need to take two to three years to distribute one traditional TV series of film, but we only need three months to distribute a micro drama, saving us a lot of time,” said Zhou Yi, a showrunner at Chinese gaming giant NetEase, which also makes micro dramas.

As micro dramas gain in popularity, actors’ salaries have also grown. Leading roles used to pay $280 a day, said Zhu, adding that main actors in big productions can now make more than double the rate, though extras earn as little as $17 daily.

A retired railway employee who started acting in the 1970s in a theater troupe attached to the unit where he worked, Zhu now lives off his pension and occasional acting gigs.

Many Chinese micro drama producers have their eye on Western markets, where cultural exports from China have often struggled. NetEase last year started making productions for the US that it distributes via an app called LoveShots; the made-for-export films aren’t typically available in China.

Micro dramas designed for the West are often made by production and acting crews in Los Angeles and shot on location. The scripts, which are in English, may also revolve around themes of wealth, cheating partners, and miracles.

One of the latest micro dramas on LoveShots is about a woman who, after years of being paralyzed, miraculously regains her ability to move — and walks in on her husband cheating on her. — Reuters

Building permit approvals fell 2.4% in July — PSA

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

APPROVED building permit applications dropped 2.4% in July to 14,343 from 14,689 a year ago, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Building projects covered by the permits were equivalent to 3.06 million square meters (sq.m.) in floor area valued at P41.21 billion.

Floor area and value totals were down 41.7% and 14.1%, respectively, from a year earlier.

Permits for residential projects accounted for 67.3% of the total fell 2.9% at 9,652 approvals. These projects were valued at P15.97 billion with a floor area of 1.45 million sq.m.

Single homes accounted for 79.5% of all residential projects, down 6.6% year on year at 7,672 approvals from 8,210 a year ago.

Permits for apartment buildings rose by 15.6% to 1,832, while permits for duplex or quadruplex homes also increased by 13.1% to 138.

In July, nonresidential projects tallied 2,907 approvals, slightly up by 0.1%.

Commercial construction saw 2,011 approvals, a decrease of 3.3%. Agricultural projects had 86 approvals, down 9.5%, while other nonresidential works recorded 58 approvals, a decline of 6.5%.

Meanwhile, institutional building permits rose 33% to 548, while industrial project approvals were down 20% at 204.

On the other hand, permits for additions — construction that increases the height or area of an existing building — fell 7.6% to 500 in July, while alteration and repair permits were up 2.5% at 993.

The Calabarzon region — composed of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon — accounted for 27.8% of all approved building permits in July with 3,984, followed by the Central Visayas with 13.2% or 1,899 and Central Luzon with 11.8% or 1,686.

By value, construction projects in Calabarzon amounted to P15.3 billion. This was followed by Central Luzon with P4.82 billion, and National Capital Region with P4.21 billion. 

The PSA said construction statistics are compiled from the copies of original application forms of approved building permits as well as from demolition and fencing permits collected monthly by the agency’s field personnel from the offices of local building officials nationwide. — Lourdes O. Pilar

RCBC boosts salary loan product

RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp. (RCBC) has reduced the processing time for its traditional salary loan product to allow for the faster release of funds, it said on Monday.

“In response to a growing demand for swift and efficient financial services, RCBC has reduced loan processing for its traditional salary loans product from eight days to next-day funds release, allowing employees of its accredited companies to receive their loan proceeds within one day after applying for a loan,” it said in a statement.

“We remain committed to enhancing customer experience. We understand that speed is a critical factor for employees who are borrowing money, especially in times of need,” RCBC Head of Credit Cards and Personal Loans Arniel Vincent B. Ong said. “The bank’s focus on speed and efficiency is part of a bigger strategy to enhance its competitiveness in personal lending. With the updated feature of our Salary Loans facility, we have seen growth in loan availments, with many new companies starting to avail of our program.”

RCBC offers traditional salary loans to accredited companies whose payroll services are provided by another bank.

It said it expects sustained growth in its salary loan business as it continues to streamline its product offerings.

The bank’s net income declined by 12.97% year on year to P2.25 billion in the second quarter due to increased tax expenses.

RCBC shares rose by P1.80 or 7.09% to end at P27.20 apiece on Monday. — AMCS

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