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The personalization versus privacy dilemma

The ubiquity of digital platforms and channels such as websites and mobile apps has significantly transformed the landscape of customer interactions. These platforms strive to offer personalized experiences that cater to individual preferences, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement. However, this personalization often comes at the cost of user privacy, creating a complex dilemma: how to balance the need for personalization with the imperative of ensuring customer data security. This personalization versus privacy dilemma is real, particularly in the context of financial services, where the stakes are exceptionally high due to the sensitive nature of the data involved.

Personalization in digital platforms is driven by the need to provide users with relevant and tailored experiences. This is achieved by collecting and analyzing vast amounts of data, including user behavior, preferences, and demographic information. For instance, online banking apps and financial websites use data analytics to offer personalized financial advice, tailored product recommendations, and customized alerts. These personalized services are designed to enhance user experience, foster customer loyalty, and drive business growth. However, the very data that enables this personalization also raises significant privacy concerns.

The collection and use of personal data inherently involve risks. Unauthorized access, data breaches, and misuse of information are prevalent threats in the digital age. In the financial sector, where data include sensitive information such as account numbers, transaction histories, and personal identification details, the implications of a privacy breach are severe. Such breaches can lead to financial loss, identity theft, and a loss of trust in financial institutions.

One prominent example of this dilemma is the 2017 Equifax data breach. Equifax, a leading credit reporting agency, suffered a massive data breach that compromised the personal information of more than 147 million consumers. The breach included sensitive data such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers. This incident underscored the vulnerability of even the most secure systems and highlighted the devastating consequences of inadequate data protection measures.

In response to such incidents, regulatory bodies have implemented stringent data protection laws to safeguard consumer privacy. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States are two prominent examples. These regulations mandate that organizations must ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of personal data. They also grant consumers greater control over their data, including the right to access, delete, and restrict the processing of their information.

While these regulations are a step in the right direction, they also present challenges for financial institutions striving to offer personalized services. Compliance with data protection laws requires significant investments in cybersecurity infrastructure, data encryption, and secure data storage solutions. Additionally, organizations must implement robust data governance frameworks to manage consent and ensure transparency in data processing activities. These measures, while essential for protecting privacy, can hinder the seamless delivery of personalized experiences.

One way financial institutions are navigating this dilemma is through the adoption of privacy-enhancing technologies. For example, differential privacy techniques enable organizations to glean insights from data without exposing individual identities. By adding statistical noise to datasets, differential privacy ensures that the privacy of individual users is maintained while still allowing for meaningful analysis. Similarly, federated learning allows for the training of machine learning models on decentralized data, reducing the need to centralize sensitive information.

Another approach is the use of tokenization, which replaces sensitive data elements with unique identification symbols (tokens) that retain the essential information without compromising security. In the context of financial services, tokenization can be used to secure payment information during transactions, ensuring that even if data is intercepted, it cannot be misused.

The financial industry is also leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to enhance both personalization and privacy. AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data to detect patterns and anomalies, helping to identify fraudulent activities in real-time. At the same time, these technologies can be designed to prioritize data minimization, ensuring that only the necessary information is collected and processed.

For instance, some banks are using AI-driven chatbots to provide personalized customer support while adhering to strict privacy standards. These chatbots can handle routine inquiries and transactions without accessing sensitive information, thereby minimizing the risk of data exposure. Additionally, advanced encryption techniques ensure that any data exchanged during these interactions is secure.

Despite these technological advancements, the human element remains crucial in balancing personalization and privacy. Financial institutions must foster a culture of data protection, where employees are trained to handle data responsibly and ethically. Regular audits, risk assessments, and continuous monitoring are essential to ensure that privacy measures keep pace with evolving threats.

In the end, the personalization versus privacy dilemma is a significant challenge in the digital age, particularly for financial services that handle sensitive customer data. While personalized experiences can enhance customer satisfaction and drive business growth, they must not come at the expense of data security. By leveraging privacy-enhancing technologies, complying with regulatory requirements, and fostering a culture of data protection, financial institutions can navigate this dilemma effectively. The ultimate goal is to strike a balance where customers enjoy tailored experiences while their privacy and data security are uncompromised.

The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FINEX.

 

Reynaldo C. Lugtu, Jr. is the founder and CEO of Hungry Workhorse, a digital, culture, and customer experience transformation consulting firm. He is a fellow at the US-based Institute for Digital Transformation. He is the chair of the Digital Transformation IT Governance Committee of FINEX Academy. He teaches strategic management and digital transformation in the MBA program of De La Salle University. The author may be e-mailed at rey.lugtu@hungryworkhorse.com

Chelsea reports narrowed losses for Q1, cites sector recovery

CHELSEA Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. narrowed its first-quarter (Q1) net loss to P148.17 million from a loss of P324.04 million last year, buoyed by a rebound in maritime and logistics operations.

Gross revenue for the three months to March reached P1.78 billion, climbing by 4.1% from P1.71 billion a year ago, the company’s financial statement showed.

Its Q1 gross expense declined to P1.67 billion, lower by 3.5% from P1.73 billion in 2023.

The company attributed the improvement to the resurgence in the passage, chartering, tugboats, and logistics businesses, as well as the increasing vessel activities.

Gross profit for the first quarter reached P304 million, up by 13.9% from P267 million previously.

Cost of sales and services also went up to P1.47 billion from last year’s P1.44 billion.

“The quarter saw a strategic focus on optimizing the fleet through increased availability of vessels, supporting the recovery in passenger volumes and enhancing service capacity across all segments,” Chelsea Logistics said.

The company said it will continue to invest in digital transformation efforts to help improve its service delivery.

“We are confident in our ability to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities in the logistics sector,” Chelsea Logistics Chief Financial Officer Ignacia S. Braga IV said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

BTS member Suga apologizes for drunk driving on e-scooter

COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG

SEOUL — K-pop star Suga, a member of the boy band supergroup BTS, apologized on Wednesday after police in Seoul, the South Korean capital, fined him and revoked his license for drunk driving while on an electric scooter.

The songwriter and rapper had ridden the scooter for about 500 meters before he tripped when parking on Tuesday night, his label Big Hit Music, which is part of K-pop firm HYBE, said.

Suga failed a breathalyzer test conducted by nearby police and was fined, and his scooter license taken away, the label said, adding that the incident caused no harm to anyone else or property damage.

“I violated the road traffic law because I was comfortable with the idea of being close (to home) and was not aware that you could not use an electric scooter when you are drunk,” Suga wrote in a post on Weverse, a fan platform owned by HYBE.

“I apologize to everyone who has been hurt by my careless and wrong behavior,” added Suga, whose birth name is Min Yoon-gi.

South Korea, which requires a license for use of an electric scooter, can levy penalties for driving while drunk or injuring others.

Police accompanied the singer to his home, Big Hit Music said.

The incident is the latest example of K-pop performers sometimes falling short of their squeaky-clean image.

Since announcing a break from group projects in June 2022, BTS members pursued solo activities before starting military service.

The 31-year-old Suga has been engaged in social service work in order to meet his military duty commitment.

All able-bodied South Korean men aged 18 to 28 must serve for about two years in the military, though some are allowed to work as social service agents as an alternative form of duty. — Reuters

A US judge just called Google the ‘highest quality search engine.’ But how do we determine ‘quality’?

In his landmark ruling against Google earlier this week, United States district judge Amit Mehta said the tech giant has built “the industry’s highest quality search engine.”

Judge Mehta made clear this was partly because Google had an illegal monopoly over the market. Nonetheless, Google was keen to promote the praise it received for its flagship product. Its president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said: “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.”

But is the Google search engine as good as the company (and Judge Mehta) says it is? And by what metric do we measure whether Google has the “best” search engine in the world?

To answer these thorny questions, it’s important to think about the broader context of the internet — and, in particular, the powerful place of advertising.

SEARCH ENGINES ARE AN EXPENSIVE BUSINESS
On Sept. 4, 1998, computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched Google. In the 26 years since, the company has radically transformed our ability to find information.

Its search engine currently processes 8.5 billion queries per day — 15% of which have never been made before.

People expect the search engine to rapidly deliver accurate answers to every one of those queries. To fulfil this expectation, Google must keep the index up to date by regularly scanning and re-scanning the internet.

This huge task requires thousands of staff — and is therefore very expensive.

One edge Google has over its competitors when it comes to delivering relevant results is its large customer base. They can tune their algorithms based on customer clicks to be more accurate and cover a broader range of queries.

Crucially, however, they wouldn’t have as large a customer base were it not for them having an illegal monopoly over the market.

ADVERTISING IS KEY
A good way to measure the quality of Google’s search engine is by tracking the presence of advertisements to see how much they affect peoples’ ability to find the information they are looking for.

Advertising has long been a key part of Google.

The company doesn’t appear to keep copies of its search result pages. However with some sleuthing, examples of how ads in search have changed over the years can be found on the Internet Archive’s WaybackMachine. The picture that emerges indicates the line between high-quality search results and sponsored content is increasingly blurred.

The first page captured in the year 2000 shows only two adverts at the very top of the page. These are clearly identified by different colored boxes and the prominently displayed message “sponsored link.”

The next example, taken from 2013, shows many more ads. But they are clearly labeled in a colored box and in a separate column on the right.

In 2016, the column has disappeared and the ads at the top lose their distinctiveness from Google’s main result list, for which Google receives no money.

Finally, the capture of the Google result today shows sponsored links occupying much screen space before the main results can be seen at the bottom of the page.

There are other problems impacting the quality of Google’s search engine — as well as its competitors’. In a study published earlier this year, German researchers found that spam and other low quality content is very prevalent among the top results for product review searches on Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.

They concluded: “We find that search engines do intervene and that ranking updates, especially from Google, have a temporary positive effect, though search engines seem to lose the cat-and-mouse game that is [search engine optimization] spam.”

SO, WHAT’S THE FIX?
The impact of forcing Google to give up some of its market share might increase competition, which could push Google to improve the experience search engine users have by reducing the volume and display of advertising.

However, reducing the search engine’s customer base too much might impact on the search engine’s ability to deliver high quality results, because the number of customer clicks that help tune the search engine algorithm would drop.

Apart from breaking up a monopoly, are there other ways to improve search quality?

The most promising approach at the moment is to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) behind the scenes.

A recent leak of how the Google algorithm works found that a generative AI system was being used to judge the quality of web pages.

Microsoft has also applied an “AI model to our core Bing search ranking engine, which led to the largest jump in relevance in two decades.”

Hopefully this works. Because with multiple disruptions from the courts and AI innovations including Chatbots, the sedate changes in the quality of search results are about to accelerate.

THE CONVERSATION VIA REUTERS CONNECT

 

Mark Sanderson is the dean of Research and a professor of Information Retrieval at RMIT University. He received funding from Microsoft Research in 2018.

Long-term career plan for new workers

I’m a fresh college graduate, now in my first month with a medium-sized corporation. It’s my dream to work in this industry. What’s your advice for a new employee like me? — Time Travel.

Don’t waste time. Study the company’s policies and programs, including its performance appraisal system. Exceed the job expectations and in due time, you’ll get many favorable opportunities that could increase your motivation and pave the way for a fast-track promotion.

That is, if you don’t mind working your way up from the lowest level in the organization. Ordinarily, that means spending three years showcasing what you can do best. But first, your concern is to meet the terms and conditions of your six-month probationary employment contract.

If you can prove your worth, there’s a good chance you can be a regular employee in four months. That is if your employer has a strategic human resources (HR) program that could improve your chances of getting high marks in your performance appraisal after the first three months.

Don’t be distracted by external noise like applying for jobs elsewhere. Focus on your current job. Don’t engage in office gossip or other non-productive activity. Aspire for a perfect attendance award, even if there is none.

Don’t be sidetracked by comfort zones, which would be disastrous, and could delay your confirmation as a regular employee, or complicate your work relationships.

PROMOTION SYSTEM
Have a long-term career plan in that organization, not elsewhere. Job-hoppers, especially for a fresh graduate like you, are frowned upon by many employers. Therefore, the best approach is to understand the current expectations of your employer and achieve them all with flying colors.

Understand the system and use it to your advantage. Many companies believe in meritocracy rather than seniority or length of service, which is used only when breaking a tie between and among several internal candidates. There’s no other way but to work your way up with due deference to your boss, colleagues, and top management.

Here is a step-by-step guide that you can explore:

One, understand the performance appraisal system. Internalize their specific requirements. What kind of system is in use? Is it the 360-degree appraisal that requires peer assessment from your work colleagues and team members? Does it allow self-assessment based on attitude, behavior, and actual job performance? A simple Management-by-objectives system?

Two, study the promotion policy in great detail. It goes hand-in-hand with appraisal. There’s no use meeting the minimum requirements of the appraisal system if you just wait for an internal job vacancy to happen. You have to seize the day and create your own luck.

Seek out experienced people who were there before you. Don’t be disappointed if their experiences are negative. Your situation could be different from others.

 Prepare a personal promotion chart. Observe fast-trackers who were promoted recently. Befriend them. Know their secrets. Then draft a promotion roadmap starting from your current job up to the most likely senior position open to you.

Make a Point A to Point B goal that includes all requirements of the job, such as a post-graduate degree, performance milestones, awards, and other skill requirements. Now, plot all the steps in between. Then, mark your current place. Cross off each step as soon as you accomplish every stage of the process.

You can also include other skills that you may find unique to your situation, especially if they are difficult to acquire.

RELATIONSHIP
Developing a long-term career plan is like being a movie actor, choosing the role, memorizing a script, and maintaining a good reputation. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s your mission statement. Whatever you do, be the best person that you can be to your boss and work colleagues.

It may seem simple, but having positive work relationships is equally important, or even more important than the roadmap you’re following. You may be the ideal candidate for a promotion, but if you are perceived to be a horrible person at dealing with people, then you may not be able to get what you want.

 

Bring Rey Elbo’s popular problem-solving and decision-making workshop called “Kaizen Blitz” to your organization. Save millions of pesos from operational invisible wastes. Contact him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X or e-mail elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com

How PSEi member stocks performed — August 8, 2024

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, August 8, 2024.

PHL stocks rise on faster Q2 economic growth

BW FILE PHOTO

STOCKS continued to climb on Thursday as sentiment got a boost from data showing that Philippine economic growth picked up in the second quarter (Q2).

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up by 0.21% or 14.10 points to end at 6,549.27 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index rose by 0.23% or 8.20 points to finish at 3,572.14.

“The local market rose as investors digested the second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data which posted an expansion of 6.3%, with strong growth numbers seen in government spending and investment,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research and Engagement Officer Mikhail Philippe Q. Plopenio said in a Viber message.

“Many cheered the data as it is faster than the first quarter’s 5.8%. It also brought the average GDP growth in the first half to 6%, which is the government’s target for the year,” Mr. Plopenio added.

The government is targeting 6%-7% GDP growth this year. The economy will need to grow by at least 6% again this semester to meet this goal.

The PSEi extended its climb on continued bargain hunting, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

“Philippine shares bucked the trend of the US… US equities dipped on Wednesday as economic concerns, geopolitical conflicts, and the looming November elections kept investors on edge,” Mr. Limlingan said.

Wall Street equity indexes closed lower after Wednesday’s choppy session while a bond auction pushed Treasury yields higher and the dollar rose against the yen after cautious central banker comments, Reuters reported.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 234.21 points or 0.6% to 38,763.45; the S&P 500 lost 40.53 points or 0.77% to 5,199.50; and the Nasdaq Composite lost 171.05 points or 1.05% to 16,195.81.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 0.35 points or 0.05% to 770.64 after earlier rising to a session high of 783.83.

At home, sectoral indices ended mixed on Thursday. Services rose by 0.89% or 17.99 points to 2,039.23; industrials went up by 0.82% or 73.39 points to 8,984.68; and holding firms climbed by 0.42% or 23.82 points to 5,681.54.

Meanwhile, property dropped by 0.59% or 15.50 points to 2,574.61; financials declined by 0.39% or 7.79 points to 1,972.91; and mining and oil fell by 0.27% or 22.25 points to 8,131.56.

“Among the index members, ACEN Corp. was at the top, rising 8.06% to P5.50. Bank of the Philippine Islands was at the bottom, dropping 2.17% to P117.20,” Mr. Plopenio said.

Value turnover dropped to P4.11 billion on Thursday with 748.38 million shares changing hands from the P4.91 billion with 543.36 million issues traded on Wednesday.

Advancers beat decliners, 106 versus 81, while 41 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign buying stood at P7.72 million on Thursday, a turnaround from the P511.99 million in net foreign outflows recorded on Wednesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave with Reuters

Peso surges to three-month high

PHILIPPINE STAR/WALTER BOLLOZOS

THE PESO climbed against the dollar for a seventh straight session on Thursday and hit a three-month high following stronger-than-expected Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter.

The local unit closed at P57.316 per dollar on Thursday, strengthening by 19.9 centavos from its P57.515 finish on Wednesday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.

This was the peso’s strongest finish in more than three months or since its P57.221 close on May 7.

The peso opened Thursday’s session weaker at P57.68 against the dollar, which was also its worst showing for the day. Its intraday best was at P57.25 versus the greenback.

Dollars traded went down to $1.61 billion on Thursday from $1.76 billion on Wednesday.

The peso’s climb against the dollar on Thursday was driven by data showing economic growth picked up in the second quarter, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

Philippine GDP expanded by 6.3% in the second quarter, the government reported on Thursday. This was faster than the revised 5.8% growth in the first quarter and the 4.3% clip a year ago.

This was also above the 6% median estimate in a BusinessWorld poll of 19 economists.

In the first semester, economic growth averaged 6%. The government is targeting 6-7% GDP growth this year.

For Friday, Mr. Ricafort sees the peso moving between P57.20 and P57.40 per dollar.

Meanwhile, the yen hit choppy trading on Thursday after a sharp drop the day before in a volatile week in which investors have had to digest the unwinding of popular carry trades and how Japanese monetary policy might evolve, Reuters reported.

The yen swung between losses of 0.14% and a gain of 0.85%, having slid 1.6% on Wednesday, after the Bank of Japan’s Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida played down the chance of a near-term hike in interest rates that would typically boost the currency.

The yen started the week by scaling a seven-month high of 141.675 per dollar, a far cry from the 38-year lows where it traded in early July, after soft US jobs data last week stoked recession worries and roiled investors.

The sharp moves in the yen have pushed the dollar index, which measures the US currency against six others including the yen, down 0.14% to 102.97, near Monday’s seven-month low of 102.15.

Investor focus will now be on the US consumer price inflation report for July due next week. — AMCS with Reuters

StanChart sees up to 75 basis points worth of Bangko Sentral cuts this year

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas main office in Manila. — BW FILE PHOTO

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) could cut rates by up to 75 basis points (bps) this year, Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) said.

“We do think that the BSP can actually start to cut rates. I’m looking at 75 bps in rate cuts this year with the BSP cutting by 25 bps starting in August,” Standard Chartered economist and FX analyst Jonathan Koh said in a webinar on Thursday.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said this week that the central bank is a “little bit less likely” to cut rates at its rate-setting meeting on Aug. 15 amid “slightly worse than expected” inflation in July.

Headline inflation accelerated to 4.4% in July from 3.7% in June. This was the strongest inflation reading in nine months and also ended seven straight months of inflation settling within the central bank’s 2-4% target range.

However, Mr. Koh said he still expects the BSP to cut rates despite the spike in July inflation, which was likely “driven by supply side issues and base effects rather than demand inflation.”

“I think the risk is that they delay the cut by one meeting or one month, given that they basically alluded that they could even do an off-cycle. But I think I’m still keeping to my view that the BSP will cut next week,” he said.

“If you really look at the underlying details of the second-quarter GDP growth, and if you look at what core inflation is suggesting as well, it’s really suggesting that growth momentum is soft and that the pass-through to core inflation from higher supply is also not there.”

The economy grew 6.3% in the second quarter, gaining momentum from the revised 5.8% growth posted in the first quarter and the year-earlier 4.3%, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Thursday.

The second-quarter reading was the strongest since the 6.4% growth logged in the first quarter of 2023.

“That seems strong but underlying details actually suggest that the growth momentum may actually be softer than what headline is actually suggesting,” Mr. Koh said.

Standard Chartered expects GDP to average 6% this year, at the low end of the government’s 6-7% growth target for the full year.

Mr. Koh said that growth should continue to improve in the remainder of the year, with an expected policy easing set to support the economy.

“That should help in terms of the investment front… and we are already seeing, for example, loan growth kind of bottoming as well. That’s a bit of a positive signal. Rate cuts will help to fuel that loan growth a bit more on the business front.”

Mr. Koh said improving labor market conditions will also boost growth.

“Even as consumer spending has slowed, the labor market is actually resilient. What we are seeing is also a pick-up in high-quality employment,” he said. “Those factors should kind of mean that growth in the second half of the year should actually improve.”

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered revised its inflation forecast to 3.1% for 2024 from 3.5% previously.

In the first seven months, headline inflation averaged 3.7%, above the central bank’s 3.3% full-year forecast.

Mr. Koh said this was mainly due to expectations of lower rice prices after tariffs were cut on rice imports.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in June signed an executive order which slashed tariffs on rice imports to 15% from 35% previously, until 2028.

However, Mr. Koh cited upside risks to the inflation outlook from elevated food prices due to supply shocks and geopolitical risks that could push oil prices higher. 

“Those could have a bit of upside risk to inflation, but I think at the end of the year we are still looking at inflation moderating significantly,” he added. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

Stronger security of tenure seen as key after job quality worsens

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

CONGRESS must promote higher-value work in response to the deterioration of the main job-quality indicator, while also strengthening security of tenure, labor advocates said.

“The government should seriously consider the passage of security of tenure bills pending before Congress in order to arrest widespread contractualization of labor that resulted in the proliferation of short-term employment contracts and precarious jobs,” Partido Manggagawa Chairman and former legislator Renato B. Magtubo said via Viber.

The underemployment rate, which measures the share of jobholders seeking more work or longer hours, increased to 12.1% in June from 9.9% in May, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Wednesday.

“Current efforts of government related to jobs generation would amount to nothing unless we develop a comprehensive industrial policy backed by substantial public investment and by a state willing to actively intervene in the market,” Josua T. Mata, Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa secretary-general, said via Viber.

The unemployment rate fell to 3.1% in June from 4.1% a month earlier and 4.5% a year earlier. The June reading was the lowest since April 2005.

In a statement, Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva said the underemployment indicator highlights the need to address the gap between worker skills and employer needs, and proposed fast-tracking a bill promoting enterprise-based learning.

The Senate approved the measure on second reading on Tuesday.

“The Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act will complement the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act, which we also principally authored and sponsored, in synergizing the government’s efforts in solving employment issues,” Mr. Villanueva said.

Last year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act, which sets up an inter-agency council to draft an employment roadmap to improve the quality of jobs available.

He said his government aims to create at least three million new jobs through upskilling and reskilling programs.

In a July 2023 report, the Asian Development Bank said the Philippines should use education technology to bridge the skills gap or risk job losses due to rapid technological advances.

“The issue extends beyond merely having a skills gap; it involves our economy’s inability to advance beyond producing low-value added products,” Mr. Mata said, commenting on the enterprise-based learning bill.

“We need a comprehensive plan that would allow us to leapfrog to an economy producing higher value-added products.”

PHL tourist arrivals hit 3.62M as of Aug. 7

REUTERS

THE Department of Tourism (DoT) said visitor arrivals totaled 3.62 million as of Aug. 7, indicating that the department is behind the pace on its target of 7.7 million international visitors this year.

The DoT described the 7.7 million goal as a “moving target,” noting the difficulties encountered by the Philippines in attracting visitors from China.

“We recognize the challenges that persist, especially from the arrivals from the Chinese market, so it is a moving target, I would say, taking into account the realities that we face,” Tourism Secretary Christina G. Frasco said in a statement.

“Even so, we are working as hard as we can to make sure that, not only the (target) arrivals but, more important, the visitor receipts target is achieved,” she said.

The DoT said inbound visitors as of Aug. 7 consisted of 92.1% foreigners, and 7.9% overseas Filipinos.

The Aug. 7 total was 47% of the target set for the year.

South Korea was still the top source market for visitors, accounting for 960,809 or 26.3% of the total, followed by the US with 590,81 or 16.2%, and China 223,954 or 6.2%.

Rounding out the top five were Japan, which accounted for 221,430 or 6.1%, of the visitors, and Australia, with 152,835 or 4.2%.

The other top source markets are Taiwan, Canada, the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In the first seven months, the Philippines booked P323.68 billion in visitor receipts, up 13.2% a year earlier.

  “We continue our very heavy promotions in terms of our top source markets so that we will be able to increase tourist arrivals from these areas, and as I have mentioned, these include South Korea, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and including Europe,” Ms. Frasco added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

Energy regulator urges quick action on its request for expanded powers

THE GOVERNMENT should act expeditiously on strengthening the powers of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), via amendments to the law that liberalized the power industry if it wants power prices to fall, the ERC said.

ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Monalisa C. Dimalanta said President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and Congress must act with urgency on the ERC’s request. It said the new powers will help it better police the power market and bring prices down.

“With the support of the executive certifying as urgent the amendment of EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) to support… reforms in the ERC, we (are) also urging Congress to support us in implementing these urgent structural reforms so that we can be more effective in our regulatory functions,” she said at a budget briefing in the House of Representatives.

A measure amending the power law is among the priority bills set by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council for the 19th Congress. House bills seeking to amend the EPIRA remain pending with the House energy committee.

Congress needs to look into expanding the offices responsible for handling regulatory concerns, Ms. Dimalanta told BusinessWorld. “We only have one service that deals with CAPEX (Capital Expenditures), PSAs (Power Service Agreements), Rate Resets, Over-Under, and UCME (universal charge for missionary electrification).”

“Our structure really needs to be addressed,” she said. “Most of our backlog is really in regulatory operations.”

The government needs to segregate the regulatory scope of ERC’s operations to help it better perform its mandate, she added.

Ms. Dimalanta also recommended streamlining the process to allow freer entry of electric supply. “It’s really about streamlining the process so that more supply can come in,” she said, thereby making power cheaper. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

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