Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube
Home Blog Page 2684

PT&T partners with Australian firm to advance broadband

PT&T Corp. (PTT) has formed a joint venture with Australian technology company Netlinkz Ltd. to expand satellite broadband services and introduce information technology solutions in the country, the listed telecommunications company said on Thursday.

“Our partnership with Netlinkz marks a significant milestone for PT&T. Together, we are poised to transform network security and connectivity across the Philippines, providing innovative technology solutions that will empower our clients to thrive in today’s fast-paced, digital-first environment,” PT&T President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) James G. Velasquez said in a statement.

The partnership aims to advance network security and connectivity for businesses in the country and serve those in far-flung areas, PTT said, adding that the tie-up will also allow Netlinkz to offer its products in the country.

“Additionally, it will leverage the availability of broadband connectivity provided by smaller, portable and mobile satellite dishes offering broadband internet to previously inaccessible regions,” the company said. 

The joint venture is also expected to introduce technology solutions in the country, advancing its cybersecurity services and overall security, it noted.

PTT stated that enterprises, particularly those in underserved areas, will benefit from high-speed, low-latency connectivity with enterprise-grade network security.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with PT&T to bring our advanced VSN+, satellite internet, and cybersecurity solutions to the Philippines. This joint venture combines our global expertise with PT&T’s local insights, delivering top-tier services that cater to the evolving needs of businesses in the region,” said Netlinkz CEO James Tsiolis.

Based in Australia, Netlinkz is the creator of virtual secure network, which provides users with both physical and virtual secure networks for enterprises. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Sweeping GOCC’s unused funds: Measure of first resort?

ORIGINAL PHOTO FROM JCOMP-FREEPIK

What seems to motivate the National Government to issue, through the Department of Finance (DoF), Memorandum Circular No. 003-2024 directing Government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), including the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), to remit their “unused” government subsidies to the Bureau of the Treasury?

For PhilHealth, as we cited in our column in another broadsheet, some health reform advocates had rejected the circular as violative of the Universal Health Care Law. Six former health secretaries exhorted Finance Secretary Ralph Recto “to be sensitive to public opinion and exercise prudence and caution by not transferring the next tranche of funds and succeeding transfers.”

Of course, the second tranche was remitted a few days ago.

The DoF maintains that “using idle funds of government corporations for projects in health, social services and infrastructure does not affect the viability of participating corporations, and does not impair their delivery of services.”

But we know better.

Due to PhilHealth’s failure to use its funds, whether members’ contributions or government subsidies, in order to increase health coverage or reduce members’ premium, the National Government (NG) is now sequestering what it calls PhilHealth’s idle funds. But they qualify as idle funds only if PhilHealth had already achieved universal and affordable healthcare in the Philippines. The problem is that we are far from that state of affairs. Many Filipinos remain powerless over their health issues, many are dying because their medical coverage is hardly sufficient to give them even a minute probability of survival. Out-of-pocket expenses remain substantial, invariably beyond the reach of ordinary mortals.

Instead, the NG will be using the proceeds for projects in infrastructure and social services as well as probably various shapes and sizes of pork barrel projects. Why not compel PhilHealth to deliver on its actual mandate, instead of pulling out public subsidies, emasculating the institution and preventing it altogether from even expanding what it can and should do today?

Health, like education, is an investment in human capital, a sure-fire formula for economic transformation.

But the NG is arguing that sweeping idle funds of government-owned and -controlled corporations like PhilHealth “is a more prudent fiscal option than borrowing more or imposing new taxes.”

This hypothesis is valid if the issue is how best to finance the fiscal deficit. If it is, then sweeping really unused funds of GOCCs, or privatizing idle assets, should be one good means of maximizing public resources to close the gap between revenues and expenditures. But it is not valid because the issue is how to go about empowering public agencies like PhilHealth to deliver on universal healthcare, or Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. to help stabilize the banking system.

In the first place, it is the business of the NG to ensure through its tax and borrowing authority or judicious spending that money is available to fund the national budget. GOCCs are created for specific public-goods purposes and hence, even subsidies are extended. If they make money, by law, they have to remit part of their earnings to the NG.

But sad to say, the NG brought upon itself this great urgency for raising funds for the national budget. It has opted to avoid imposing new taxes or higher tax rates even when the tax revenue effort has been stagnant at just over 14% in the last five years. Instead, the NG would rather rely on intensified tax administration. This has contributed to the decreasing fiscal space.

Before the pandemic, the fiscal deficit stood at only P660 billion or 3.4% of GDP. It rose to P1.7 trillion the following year or 8.6% of GDP. At the end of June 2024, revenues had already exceeded expenditures by P614 billion or 4.9%. That’s more than 10% of this year’s budget of P5.7 trillion.

With the enormous public spending during the pandemic with little scope for new taxes, the NG relied almost exclusively on borrowings. Public debt ballooned from P7.7 trillion in 2019 to P15.5 trillion at end-June 2024. In terms of GDP, public debt exploded from 39.6% to 60.9%, higher than the usual norm of debt sustainability. Further heavy borrowing could put at risk the Philippines’ credit rating and its cost of borrowing, both sovereign and corporate.

We should not be surprised that during the same period, interest payments also escalated, from P361 billion or 1.8% to P628 billion or 2.6% of GDP in 2023. As of June, interest payments had already hit P377 billion or 3% of GDP.

This is where the fiscal authorities are coming from in their current drive to mop up unused, idle, or sleeping funds from GOCCs. But come to think of it, there is some circularity of funding here.

For 2024, the national budget programmed P226.8 billion to support GOCCs. With the Finance circular, the NG expects to sweep the idle funds of GOCCs which, in its computation, could be as much as P89.9 billion for PhilHealth alone.

Dividend-wise, Finance expects to collect about P100 billion. As of May 6, some P88.6 billion had been received by the Treasury from top contributors such as LANDBANK and PDIC.

Budgetary support actually helps the GOCCs fulfill their respective mandates that the NG cannot by itself perform. Thus, underperforming GOCCs should be compelled to deliver on their mandates by, among others, fully utilizing their budget proper and the NG subsidies; capacitate them if necessary. It is not intuitive to sweep their “sleeping” funds and collect dividends from them. If they are able to perform as expected, accumulating on their equities, these GOCCs — if properly governed — should be able to reduce their reliance on annual subsidies.

But the challenge also lies in the budget process.

Between 2023 and 2024, Congress jacked up the national budget from P5.268 trillion to P5.767 trillion, an increase of nearly P500 billion or close to 10%. Abstracting from the aggregates, programmed appropriations rose by P348 billion or nearly 10%. It is not too wild to think that some non-priority expenditure items could have been retained as programmed to receive funding with greater certainty.

On the other hand, unprogrammed appropriations amounting to P731.4 billion look deceptively lower compared to last year’s appropriation of P807.2 billion. In reality, this amount is actually P449.5 billion higher than the P281.9 billion proposed by the Executive. With allocation higher than the original amount, the NG is hard pressed to produce the financing.

When expenditure items are reclassified as unprogrammed, the idea is that they are not priority projects and therefore, unless funding is available, they cannot be financed.

These are the kind of projects which were classified as unprogrammed appropriations:

1. Foreign assisted projects, P233.5 billion

2. Government infrastructure and social programs, P225.4 billion

3. Priority social programs for health under the Department of Health, social welfare and development under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, higher education under the Commission on Higher Education, and technical and vocational education under TESDA, P59 billion

4. Payment of personnel benefits, P59 billion

5. Pension and gratuity, P40.3 billion

Wow, these line items are supposed to be integral parts of various departments’ budget allocation! If less critical infrastructure and social expenditure items were retained under programmed appropriations, this means they get automatic funding.

What would our foreign creditors say when the local counterpart fund is conditional to availability of funds?

There are others elbowed out from the priority list: budgetary support for GOCCs (think of health), the AFP modernization program (think of the West Philippine Sea), the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (think of housing), and even routine maintenance of national roads (think of pot holes), and solar home system for rural electrification (think of power outages).

There is also a portion of the national budget called Special Purpose Funds which are released to public agencies when the specific purposes have been identified during budget execution within the fiscal year. With the operation of the Mandanas law, we are also seeing a higher allocation for local government units by over P60 billion. Due to the failure of Congress to address the pension fund of the military and uniformed personnel, we will incur a cost of P143 billion this year including those of veterans and civilian personnel.

With unprogrammed appropriations this year tipping the scale at P731.4 billion and with the estimated P100 billion from GOCCs’ dividends and whatever can be cornered from the “idle” funds of the GOCCs, the NG has no other option but to increase its borrowings both from the local and foreign capital markets, or consider new tax measures.

Leveraging on sleeping funds can help minimize the programmed amount of borrowing but only to a limited extent. It is hardly the fiscal measure of first resort. The end would hardly justify the means especially when it is a question of life and death for health, or the financial stability for our government financial institutions.

 

Diwa C. Guinigundo is the former deputy governor for the Monetary and Economics Sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He served the BSP for 41 years. In 2001-2003, he was alternate executive director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. He is the senior pastor of the Fullness of Christ International Ministries in Mandaluyong.

Disillusioned Tim Burton finds himself again in Beetlejuice sequel

MICHAEL KEATON in a scene from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. — IMDB

VENICE — United States director Tim Burton acknowledged on Wednesday that he fell out of love with the film business in recent years, but rediscovered his mojo while shooting a sequel to his 1988 comedy horror Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens this year’s Venice Film Festival and reunites many of the original cast, including Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, while introducing an array of fresh faces such as Jenna Ortega of Wednesday fame.

Mr. Burton had not expected to revisit one of his earliest hits, but said he had been encouraged by making Wednesday for Netflix in 2022 and decided it was time to check in again with the anarchic demon Betelgeuse, played by Mr. Keaton.

“In the past couple of years, I got a bit disillusioned with the movie industry, you could say … this movie was re-energizing, kind of getting back to the things that I love doing,” Mr. Burton told reporters.

After a string of early successes, including Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood in the early 1990s, more recent outings have been less fruitful, including the 2019 live-action remake of Disney’s Dumbo, which was panned by critics.

“I’m not out to do like a big sequel for money or anything like that, I just wanted to make this for very personal reasons,” Mr. Burton said.

Thirty-six years after the original, Ms. Ryder returns in the role of Lydia, who has grown up from the Goth teenager she once was into an anxious mother of a disaffected daughter, played by Ms. Ortega, who needs saving from the underworld.

Whereas in the first film she had to fight off the lecherous Betelgeuse, this time Lydia needs his help to navigate the afterlife, where a soul-sucking monster, played by Monica Bellucci, is on the loose, chased by a deceased TV cop, Willem Dafoe.

Ms. Ortega, a global star thanks to Wednesday, said she had been overawed when she signed up to Mr. Burton’s new project.

“I was joining a team of giants and people who are so special. … I just kind of tried to mind my business in the corner,” she said, sitting alongside the rest of the cast.

“For me, I was just making sure that I wasn’t, you know, ripping off lovely Winona’s work back in the day, and you know, making something new,” she said.

Mr. Burton admitted that he never understood why his initial film was such a big hit, and said he had not watched it again when he set to work on a follow-up.

But he shot exteriors at the same white Victorian house in the US state of Vermont, and said the same playful energy of the original infused filming of the sequel.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is being shown out of competition at Venice and will open worldwide next week. — Reuters

Around 80% of Filipinos seen adopting mobile fintech services by end-2024, Digido says

PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

NEARLY 80% of Filipinos are expected to adopt financial technology (fintech) services through mobile applications by the end of year, according to consumer finance company Digido.

“The adoption rate of financial technology in the Philippines through mobile apps among the population aged 15 years old and above may increase to 79.5% or approximately 66.4 million unique users by the end of 2024,” it said in a statement on Thursday. Unique users are those that have used at least one application in the last 30 days.

Digital commerce platforms are expected to lead the increase in adoption rate and contribute 34%, followed by digital wallets (27.2%) and digital banking (8.6%).

Based on Digido’s latest analysis, in the first half of the year, the largest growth of downloads was seen in the digital lending sector with 25.4 million, followed by digital commerce (13.5 million) and digital wallets (12.2 million).

Digital payments and transfers, digital banking and digital personal finance applications also posted increases of 7.8 million, 6.2 million and four million, respectively.

The digital banking sector saw the fastest growth in downloads in the first semester at 22.34%. Downloads in digital payments and transfers rose by 17.72%, while digital lending recorded a 16.81% increase.

“The positive numbers seen in digital lending, digital wallets and digital commerce can be attributed to growing trust in these segments and its natural synergies with one another. As strong demand for fintech in the Philippines continues, so too Filipinos’ expectations of convenience, interoperability and improved user experience across these applications,” Digido Business Development Manager Rose Arreco was quoted as saying.

“We believe that the Philippines remains on course towards widespread digitalization, with its ‘fintech-ization’ far from weakening. Collaboration within and outside of the industry remains paramount for this growth to be realized at a faster rate,” Ms. Arreco added.

Digido added that the mobile adoption rate of fintech services among adults in the Philippines stood at 76.2% or 63.1 million unique users from September 2018 to June 2024, based on figures from the data.ai service.

The number of cumulative downloads of fintech mobile applications in the country in that period reached 617 million, it said.

“By sector, digital commerce led the way with 31.4% of downloads, followed by digital wallets at 21.7% and digital lending at 20.3%. Making up the rest were digital payments and transfers (11.6%), digital personal finance apps (8%) and digital banking (7%),” it said.

On average, the number of downloads grows by 10.26% every six months, Digido added. — B.M.D. Cruz

Drilling at Malampaya seen to yield positive returns

DRILLING new gas wells at the Malampaya gas field is projected to yield successful returns, with the chairperson of the Senate committee on energy confident that the expansion will enhance the field’s productivity and extend its lifespan.

“Drilling will start next year, (and this) hopefully will have immediate results. So (by) then we would be able to give more updates on how much can be extracted from those new sources,” Sen. Pilar Juliana “Pia” S. Cayetano, chair of the Senate committee on energy, was quoted as saying in a statement on Thursday. 

During the interpellation of Senate Bill No. 2793, the proposed Philippine Natural Gas Industry Act, on Wednesday, Ms. Cayetano, the bill sponsor, expressed optimism that drilling for two new wells by the Malampaya consortium, led by Prime Energy Resources Development B.V., will produce favorable outcomes.

“There’s already a confirmed source, so we already have that and that will extend the life (of Malampaya),” she said.

The project involves drilling two deepwater wells in the Camago and Malampaya East fields by 2025, with production expected to begin in 2026.

The Malampaya gas field, the country’s sole natural gas provider, is expected to be depleted by 2027.

Ms. Cayetano said that the immediate approval of the bill will encourage more energy companies to undertake exploration work for natural gas and energy projects, as the proposed law “seeks to create that environment which is open to investors, all kinds, everyone.”

“When we support this natural gas bill, this will ensure that we now have a steady supply that comes from our own country, hindi tayo vulnerable sa mga nangyayari sa ibang bansa (we will not be vulnerable to events in other countries),” she said, referring to international conflicts that cause price volatility. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Elon Musk’s free speech absolutism is supremely flawed

ALEXANDER-SHATOV-UNSPLASH

HARDLY A DAY goes by without Elon Musk trumpeting his belief in the absolute importance of free speech. He insists that “moderation is a propaganda word for censorship,” that posts should only be taken down if they break the law, and that a thousand flowers should be allowed to bloom, however ugly. If the social media site that he owns, X, is going to be a public square for the world, he declares, it has to be a free-speech platform.

Though Musk’s posts on free speech have increased in frequency since he got into a fight with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over X’s role in the country’s recent riots, there can be no doubt that they represent not only Musk’s core beliefs but also those of Silicon Valley elites. In 2019, fellow tech titan Mark Zuckerberg told an audience at Georgetown University that we should “fend off the urge to define speech,” and, only the other day, he said that he regretted surrendering to pressure from the Biden administration to “censor” content related to COVID-19.

The argument for free speech absolutism rests on a belief that has hitherto been at the core of liberalism but is being undermined by the very social media that Musk lords. This is the argument that the battle of ideas leads inexorably to the triumph of truth over falsehood, democracy over tyranny, and the powerless over the powerful.

Just listen to three of liberalism’s finest. John Milton asked, “who ever knew truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?” John Stuart Mill insisted that truth would inevitably emerge from “a struggle between combatants fighting under hostile banners.” Oliver Wendell Holmes reasoned that the best test of truth is its ability to triumph in the “free market in ideas.” The battle of ideas is good for democracy because it allows the best ones to win out in the public square. It is good for civil order because it allows everybody to express their disagreements before bowing to the democratic will. And it is good for the health of society in general because it allows the people to hold the powerful to account. “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy,” Musk declares simply.

Yet free speech as practiced on X and other social media platforms currently fails all these tests. Sensational tweets travel further and faster than sober ones. Polarizing figures attract more followers than judicious ones. The mechanisms available for debate — posting replies and correction — are weaker than the mechanisms for publicity.

In the physical world, most people are careful about the people with whom they associate. But in the virtual world they throw all caution to the wind. They listen to people they would refuse to be seen with in the pub, either because they follow them out of curiosity or, more likely, because the Twitter algorithm shoves them in their direction.

The traditional value of a social network is thus reversed: Rather than “cleaning” content and refining information, the system packages truth with falsehood and reputable sources with sleazy ones. Worse still: The user is no longer able to distinguish between real people and artificial voices. A study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University of 200 million tweets discussing coronavirus sent in the first few months of 2020 found that 45% of them were probably sent by robots rather than humans and were aimed at sowing division in America.

Twitter is therefore more likely to weaken democracy than to strengthen it. Britain’s recent riots were sparked when a user tweeted the falsehood that the man who had killed three girls in Southport was a Muslim refugee who came to Britain on a small boat. (Such rumors might have spread without X, of course, but the fact that the platform reaches so many people and puts unverified rumors next to respectable news sources in its feed ensured that it was even more lethal.) Foreign powers, particularly Russia, deliberately use misinformation, sometimes spread by malign actors and sometimes by bots, to magnify social tension, spread rumors, and encourage cynicism.

When it comes to power, the old liberal ideal is turned on its head completely. Freedom of speech was supposed to make powerful governments accountable to the people. This is why America’s founding fathers singled out the press in the First Amendment for particular mention. But today power lies with the platforms rather than the government. The platforms operate across most of the world (though China is now behind a “great firewall”) according to principles that are understood by a small elite of people in Silicon Valley. X has 368 million monthly active users and Facebook more than 3 billion. Musk might consider himself a latter-day George Washington, but in fact he is much closer to King George III.

The deepest problem with social media platforms is that they are not public squares designed to promote open discussion and democratic deliberation. They are business enterprises designed to seek attention and promote engagement. Their most important metric is not the advance of truth over falsehood; it is the number of clicks, likes, and retweets that posts get. And this number is not so much unrelated to truth-seeking and democratic deliberation as opposed to it: Polarizing and sensational material provides us with the dopamine rush that we crave and encourages us to keep scrolling and retweeting.

There is a vital debate to be had about how we balance freedom with responsibility. To make any progress in this debate we need to dispense with absolutes (freedom versus tyranny) and instead bear in mind two subtleties. The first is that there are lots of different types of speech, from political speech (which most people agree should be protected) to commercial speech to intimidation.

America’s commitment to the First Amendment has not prevented it from imposing restrictions on non-political speech on the basis of truth or accuracy. The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, controls what people may say when they sell financial products. The Food and Drug Administration lays down what must and must not be said about certain products. The Federal Trade Commission restricts “unfair and deceptive” speech relating to trade.

The second subtlety is that there are lots of different types of regulation, from the comprehensive to light touch. I would be tempted to apply the British model of broadcasting to news-related platforms. To get a license to operate, British broadcasters have to prove they are “fit and proper persons” and have to agree to report with “due impartiality” and “due accuracy.” But for those who think that is too draconian, there are more modest measures — for example, obliging X users with large followings to observe higher standards than regular users or blocking well-known troublemakers.

All sensible societies impose restrictions on people’s ability to shout “fire” in a crowded theater. Yet a worrying amount that goes on social media smacks of exactly this. The old presumption that these platforms should be allowed to do whatever they like under the banner of free speech can no longer pass muster when they wield so much power and their commercial incentives so obviously conflict with the pursuit of truth.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Oasis reunion drums up multi-million pound boost to UK hospitality industry

OASISINET.COM
OASISINET.COM

BRITAIN’S hospitality industry is gearing up for a multi-million pound boost from the Oasis concerts next summer after brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher announced plans to reunite for a series of gigs.

“The Oasis tour is likely to join the likes of Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Beyoncé in delivering record-setting shows in recent years,” said Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of trade body UKHospitality.

The band, whose debut album Definitely Maybe was released 30 years ago, split in 2009 when lead guitarist and main songwriter Noel said he could no longer work with frontman Liam after a number of public spats between the siblings.

Both brothers have enjoyed individual musical success and acclaim since Oasis split up, but always against the backdrop of calls from fans for the band to reunite and tour once again.

Oasis, one of the 1990s rock bands that defined Britpop who became responsible for a generation of haircuts, fashion, and swagger, have remained hugely popular, with Spotify saying they still have 21 million monthly listeners.

News that they would play nights in Cardiff, Wales, next July, followed by nights in Manchester — where the band was formed in 1991 — London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, prompted fans to fret online about whether they would be able to get tickets.

Cheap hotel rooms appeared to disappear from travel sites in places like Manchester, and the band’s website briefly crashed. Tickets go on sale on Saturday morning.

The concerts could also prompt a generational divide, with life-long Oasis fans vying for tickets with younger fans who only know a few songs.

“Imagine waiting 15 years for Oasis to reform only to lose out on tickets to Chloe, 21, from Stockport who just wants to hear Wonderwall live. #oasisreunion,” said one user on X, Billy Corcoran.

DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER
The Welsh government said concerts there would attract thousands of visitors to Cardiff, and provide a substantial economic boost to its hospitality, retail and transport businesses, bringing in millions of pounds.

“It’s great news that Oasis will be kickstarting their comeback in Cardiff,” a spokesperson said.

In Dublin, searches for hotels spiked within minutes of the announcement, Google data showed. Of 12 high-end Dublin hotels with rooms for the night of the first gig on Kayak.com, a third had doubled their prices from the previous week.

Whitbread, whose Premier Inn hotel chains are close to the British venues, is already seeing strong demand across all the planned dates and locations, it said.

“There’s no definitely ‘maybe’ about it, like music fans everywhere we’re mad for the news Oasis are to reunite and are expecting it to be one of our most popular events of all time,” the Whitbread spokesperson said.

A tour in 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of Oasis’ second album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, which included the singles “Don’t Look Back in Anger” and “Wonderwall.”

The band is set to release its Definitely Maybe — 30th Anniversary album on Friday, according to their Spotify page.

UKHospitality’s Nicholls said the industry expects to see huge demand from fans, both from the United Kingdom (UK) and from abroad, and the tour “will no doubt deliver a multi-million-pound” boost to the British hospitality sector next year. — Reuters

Peso slips before key US economic data

BW FILE PHOTO

THE PESO slipped against the dollar on Thursday ahead of the release of key US economic data that could affect the Federal Reserve’s policy decision next month.

The local unit closed at P56.283 per dollar on Thursday, down by less than a centavo from its near five-month high finish of P56.281 on Tuesday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.

The foreign exchange market was closed on Wednesday as the government suspended work and classes due to inclement weather in the capital.

The peso opened Thursday’s session slightly stronger than its Tuesday finish at P56.25 per dollar. Its weakest showing was at P56.34, while it climbed to as high as P56.22 versus the greenback.

Dollars traded inched down to $1.567 billion from $1.587 billion on Tuesday.

The peso “traded mostly sideways on cautious trading due to the release of gross domestic product (GDP) data later,” a trader said in a phone call.

“The peso marginally corrected higher ahead of the latest US GDP data on Aug. 29 and the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation, which is the preferred inflation metric of the Fed,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

The second estimate for second-quarter US GDP data was set to be released overnight. US GDP grew by 2.8% last quarter, based on the advance estimate released in July, picking up from the 1.4% expansion in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, July US PCE price index data will be released on Aug. 30 (Friday).

Investor bets for imminent US rate cuts were further cemented by Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell’s remarks at Jackson Hole last week that the “time has come” to cut rates, joining a chorus of Fed policy makers, Reuters reported.

Some analysts said that the dollar reaction to Mr. Powell was overdone as, while his explicit rate cut guidance had some significance, investors had already fully priced in around 100 basis points (bps) of monetary easing well before Jackson Hole.

Markets have fully priced in a 25-bp rate cut from the Fed next month, with a 34.5% chance of an outsized 50-bp reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The dollar index was last 0.28% higher at 101.29, having fallen to a 13-month low of 100.51 on Tuesday.

For Friday, the trader expects the peso to move between P56.10 and P56.50 per dollar, while Mr. Ricafort sees it ranging from P56.20 to P56.40. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson with Reuters

Petron secures PSE nod for P17-B share offering

PETRON Corp. has obtained approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for the second tranche of its P17-billion follow-on offering, consisting of up to 17 million preferred shares.

The offering includes 13 million Series 4 preferred shares and an oversubscription option of up to four million additional shares, subject to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the PSE said on Thursday.

The offer price is set at P1,000 per share.

Petron has appointed BDO Capital & Investment Corp. as the sole issue manager. Bank of Commerce, BDO Capital, Chinabank Capital Corp., Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., and SB Capital Investment Corp. have been designated as joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners.

“The Exchange’s approval of the listing of the second tranche shares is subject to the company’s compliance with any and all of the post-approval conditions and requirements of the Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other relevant regulatory bodies,” PSE said.

“The same is without prejudice to any subsequent action that the Exchange may take in relation to the Company’s compliance with applicable rules of the Exchange,” it added.

The offer period will run from Sept. 5 to Sept. 13, with a tentative listing date on the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Main Board set for Sept. 23.

This offering represents the second tranche of Petron’s shelf registration for up to 50 million preferred shares. In the first tranche, the company offered up to 22.5 million preferred shares. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Past the era of just ‘win the customer and beat the competition’

YANALYA-FREEPIK

In his bestselling book In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies, based on a study of 43 companies in the US from a diverse array of business sectors, Thomas Peters states that virtually all firms with exceptional results have a set of shared corporate values that clearly set expected norms and behaviors for all employees. The company culture embodies and puts into action these corporate values. It determines how values manifest in daily interactions, decision-making processes, and workplace behaviors.

Look back on your careers — did all the successful companies you worked for have a strong set of Corporate Values?

In my case, I only fully grasped the importance and power of values and culture later in my career as a C-level executive searching for a solution to the challenge of leading large cross-functional teams. Like many others, earlier in my career I was part of a small team with values and acceptable behaviors set by my supervisor. We didn’t have corporate values that were posted on walls, much less formally cascaded by the organization or even spoken about. We came into work with a mindset of winning the customer and obliterating competition. We were a high performing team with a very clear, albeit unwritten, set of values. So where did the set of acceptable behaviors emerge from? As they always do, whether defined or not, they came from the top.

I reported to a department head who reported to a highly competitive, hardworking Chief Commercial Officer whose value was winning at all costs and putting work before any personal passion. Even if there were no clearly defined or cascaded corporate values, we were all hired, promoted, or fired based on our ability to deliver results, our tenacity, and commitment to the organization’s success above our own personal passions. It was definitely a corporate culture that was not for everyone — the one married person in our marketing team lasted three months because we all worked 12-to-16-hour days and there was no room for anything else but work, much less family time.

Were these values and culture critical for the business to thrive? They definitely helped us achieve our goals. It was 2002 and I was working in the telecommunications industry, which was growing at breakneck speeds. Only 19% of the Philippine population had cellphones then and every Filipino wanted one, so it was a daily race between two companies to be the first to put a cellphone in every Filipino’s hands.

Just like a brand for everyone is a brand for no one, a sign that a strong corporate culture exists is that it attracts a specific type of individual with values that allow their business to thrive. This means that the values are so specific that they would be averse to anyone with opposing values. A popular example of this is the movie Wolf of Wall Street. Stratton Oakmont, Inc., the company featured in the movie, had a very unique set of unwritten corporate values and culture. People were hired, promoted, and fired primarily based on whether or not they fit the culture of the business. Personally, I would not work for a company with a Stratton kind of culture, but whether we agree with it or not, this is a perfect example of a firm with a solid set of values that everyone implicitly understood.

My experience early in my career and the Stratton case show that even with unwritten values, companies can thrive. Why then should we write them down? Corporate values should be put into writing because they are a critical component of the strategy of the business. Therefore, corporate values should not only be written down, they should be well thought out and deliberated on by leadership just as intensely as any element of an organization’s strategy. If corporate values are not formally documented and cascaded, there is too much room for interpretation on what behaviors are expected from employees, leaving most companies with multiple sets of values across functions. This creates silos in the organization, increases challenges for cross-functional collaboration, and significantly impairs the ability of teams to work towards the common goals of the business.

As a C-level executive later in my career, I learned how to leverage corporate values to create a collaborative culture that focused on trust, tore down communications barriers, and harnessed the collective intelligence of the individuals on my team. They became the guiding principle of how talent was selected, and how each member of the team was expected to interact not just with each other but with potential employees, customers, partners, and vendors. They helped form a unified perception of the business in the community, also known as a unified brand. We have to remember that our customers, more often than not, live in the community our business interacts with. Nowadays, customers and, equally importantly, potential talent, partners, and vendors, choose businesses not just for the product they offer but for the values they embody.

An organization’s values, whether written or unwritten, are driven by the leader. However, this does not mean that the creation of corporate values rests on the leader alone. Strategy consultants with decades of work experience in multiple companies and who have known both winning and losing cultures can help leadership teams appreciate the impact of corporate values and facilitate sessions on value creation specific to their business. Every company’s set of values are unique as these need to be very specific to its business strategy and based on rigorous internal and external data, including but not limited to the state of the industry and the economic conditions the business is operating in.

How do we ensure that corporate values are lived throughout the organization? I can tell you from decades of experience that the CEO has to live them. Without this critical element, no corporate value or culture has a chance of spreading throughout the organization. Behaviors need to be defined to illustrate what each value specifically means.

As an example, at Acumen, one of the defined behaviors of our corporate value of “Teamwork and Collaboration” is that we are committed to treating our client’s business like ours, with the same concern and determination to see them succeed, and every member of Acumen supports each other to ensure we deliver on this commitment. When individuals do not exhibit this behavior, they need to be called out, not just by supervisors but by colleagues. In businesses that have a particularly strong sense of protecting their culture, subordinates are invited by supervisors to call them out when their behaviors are not aligned with corporate values. Further, corporate values should be part of performance evaluations and customer satisfaction surveys.

Defining, living up to, and sustaining corporate values are easier said than done, but not impossible. Leaders should not give up on properly leveraging this powerful and vital strategic driver, otherwise values become nothing more than beautiful words for a website and posters on corporate hallways.

 

Tom Valderrama is the client director at Acumen Strategy Consultants. He worked in the telecommunications industry in the Philippines and abroad for two decades, with the last 12 years in various C-level executive positions.

www.acumen.com.ph

FoA code toughens rules vs worker harassment

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has launched revised guidelines on freedom of association (FoA), which it hopes will deter worker harassment and so-called “red-tagging.”

The new measure includes “remedies for violations of guidelines, prevention of red-tagging and harassment, and reporting of arrests to DoLE within 24 hours,” Federation of Free Workers President Jose G. Matula told BusinessWorld via Viber.

“Red-tagging” is the practice of associating labor organizers and other types of activists with subversive activity and leftist movements.

“FoA is a right not only guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution but also stated in the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 87 and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he said in a speech at the launch event in Quezon City.

Section 13 of the revised guidelines allows affected individuals, employers, or labor groups, to report violations to the proper DoLE Regional Office.

Meanwhile, affected individuals or labor groups may also file complaints with the Philippine National Police (PNP).

In the conduct and exercise of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) internal peace and security operations, workers’ rights and civil liberties must be respected, protected, and advanced at all times, according to the guidelines.

Specifically, the new guidelines bar the AFP from inviting workers, organizers, or union officials to extract information on their alleged links or support for armed groups, except during criminal investigations.

It also bars the AFP from forcing workers to renounce membership in their trade unions.

Section X of the new guidelines also governs the conduct of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in relation to recognizing FoA for workers.

NTF-ELCAC also recognizes DoLE’s exclusive mandate over policies, laws, and regulations regarding trade unionism.

Apart from DoLE, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the PNP will also participate in implementing the FoA guidelines.

The revised guidelines stipulate that the DILG, local government units, and PNP must refrain from direct involvement in trade union activities and indirect engagement with trade unions on civilian matters.

The guidelines have been in effect since April 24, but the agencies and groups unveiled them to the public on Thursday.

The 2024 version supersedes the 2011 Guidelines on the Conduct of the DoLE, DILG, Department of National Defense, Department of Justice, AFP, and PNP Relative to the Exercise of Workers’ Rights and Activities.

The conduct of the authorities is also governed by the 2012 Joint DoLE-PNP-Philippine Economic Zone Authority Guidelines on the Conduct of PNP Personnel, Economic Zone, Police, Private Security Guards, and Company Guard Forces During Strikes, Lockouts, and Labor Disputes in General.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Legislative Officer Carlos Miguel S. Oñate said labor groups continue to urge President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to issue an executive order (EO) to give the rules more teeth.

An EO strengthens accountability and reporting mechanisms, he told BusinessWorld via Viber. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

Lego to replace oil in its bricks with pricier renewable plastic

LEGO.COM

COPENHAGEN — Toymaker Lego said on Wednesday it was on track to replace the fossil fuels used in making its signature bricks with more expensive renewable and recycled plastic by 2032 after signing deals with producers to secure long-term supply.

Lego, which sells billions of plastic bricks annually, has tested over 600 different materials to develop a new material that would completely replace its oil-based brick by 2030, but with limited success.

Now, Lego is aiming to gradually bring down the oil content in its bricks by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin, the raw plastic used to manufacture the bricks, in an attempt to encourage manufacturers to boost production.

“This means a significant increase in the cost of producing a Lego brick,” Chief Executive Officer Niels Christiansen told Reuters.

He said the company is on track to ensure that more than half of the resin it needs in 2026 is certified according to the mass balance method, an auditable way to trace sustainable materials through the supply chain, up from 30% in the first half of 2024.

“With a family-owner committed to sustainability, it’s a privilege that we can pay extra for the raw materials without having to charge customers extra,” Mr. Christiansen said.

The move comes amid a surplus of cheap virgin plastic, driven by major oil companies’ investments in petrochemicals. Plastics are projected to drive new oil demand in the next few decades.

Lego’s suppliers are using bio-waste such as cooking oil or food industry waste fat as well as recycled materials to replace virgin fossil fuels in plastic production.

The market for recycled or renewable plastic is still in its infancy, partly because most available feedstock is used for subsidized biodiesel, which is mixed into transportation fuels.

According to Neste, the world’s largest producer of renewable feedstocks, fossil-based plastic is about half or a third of the price of sustainable options.

“We sense more activity and willingness to invest in this now than we did just a year ago,” said Mr. Christiansen. He declined to say which suppliers or give details about price or volumes.

Rival toymaker Hasbro has started including plant-based or recycled materials in some toys, but without setting firm targets on plastic use. Mattel plans to use only recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastics in all products by 2030.

Around 90% of all plastic is made from virgin fossil fuels, according to lobby group PlasticsEurope. — Reuters

1...2,6832,6842,685...14,169Page 2,684 of 14,169
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube