Dining In/Out (04/13/23)

April 13, 2023 | 12:02 am

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New restaurant complex opens at Montemaria Shrine

ABACORE Capital Holdings, Inc., a holding company involved in real estate, finance, and mining, has opened a restaurant complex at the Montemaria Shrine, a pilgrimage center in Batangas dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Featuring a spectacular view of Batangas Bay, this dining spot features a coffee shop called JKh Cafe and an authentic Chinese restaurant currently in soft opening. Over the next few months, various restaurants will be added such as a Chinese hotpot outlet. “With Filipinos visiting the Montemaria Shrine every year during this time, we aim for the restaurant complex to be a destination where they can relax after a busy day,” Antonio VF Gregorio III, Vice Chairman of AbaCore, said during the launch. For more information on JKh Cafe, visit their Facebook page JKh Cafe, Instagram @jkhcafe_, and Tiktok @jkhcafe2022.

Seattle’s Best Coffee’s new Summer Milkshakes

SEATTLE’S Best Coffee now offers its Summer Milkshakes. Available in Seattle’s Best Coffee branches nationwide for a limited time only, the Summer Milkshakes come in four flavors: Choco Nut, Ube Cream Cheese, Sweet Corn, and Avocado. Choco Nut Milkshake combines vanilla ice cream, milk, dark chocolate sauce, and milk chocolate peanut butter. A twist to a Filipino classic, the Ube Cream Cheese Milkshake mixes milk, ube (purple yam) ice cream, cheese froth and grated cheese on top. The Sweet Corn Milkshake is a blend of sweet corn ice cream, milk with grated cheese, and whole corn kernel as garnish on top. Finally, Seattle’s Best Coffee offers its original classic Avocado Milkshake, a crowd favorite that blends milk and avocado ice cream. The Summer Milk Shakes are now available for dine-in, take-out, pick-up, and delivery through Facebook Messenger, Grabfood & foodpanda.

Sheraton Manila Bay considers the children

SHERATON Manila Bay creates magical family activities and moments for kids and families staying at the hotel. For starters, guests coming in with their little ones will enjoy complimentary gelato or chocolate chip cookies for kids at &More by Sheraton. Board games and Uno cards are also available at the Energy Zone for the whole family to play. The hotel is also cooking up an Interactive Kitchen Experience for Junior Chefs and a Towel Art Masterclass for kids aged 11 years and below. For reservations call 5318-0788 or e-mail reservations.manilabay@sheraton.com. Sheraton Manila Bay is located at M. Adriatico cor. Gen. Malvar Streets, Malate, Manila.

Mang Inasal holds National Halo-Halo Blowout on April 16

MANG INASAL will hold the National Halo-Halo Blowout on April 16 at over 500 Mang Inasal stores nationwide. As part of its year-long 20^th anniversary celebration, the Mang Inasal National Halo-Halo Blowout will offer a ₱20 discount for the Mang Inasal Extra Creamy Halo-Halo Small, bringing down the price to P49. The one-day promo will be available exclusively for dine-in and takeout. Aside from Extra Creamy Halo-Halo, Mang Inasal also offers Crema de Leche Halo-Halo.

Jollibee offers floats, sundae as Summer Coolers

TO counteract the summer’s energy-draining heat, Jollibee has launched its Summer Coolers — the Choco Float, Coffee Float, and Mango Graham Fudge Sundae. The floats are refreshing drinks topped with Jollibee’s signature vanilla soft-serve ice cream: the Choco Float is a rich chocolate drink topped with ice cream, and the Coffee Float is coffee drink topped with ice cream. The Mango Graham Fudge Sundae is vanilla soft-serve ice cream topped with sweet mango chunks and puree, crunchy graham bits, and chocolate syrup. Jollibee’s Summer Coolers are available nationwide for a limited time only, with the floats available for P55.00 and the sundae for P59.

Holy Month Retreat at The Oriental Hotels

HOLY Week may be over, but one can still have a relaxing, refreshing and reflective retreat with The Oriental Hotels and Resorts, one of the country’s fastest-growing home-grown hospitality chains. Dubbed the Holy Month ReTreat, the offerings run for the month of April to provide a respite from the long, hot summer. The Oriental Leyte, a four-star resort hotel in the Eastern Visayas, is offering a P3,999 promo which includes an overnight stay, breakfast for two, use of the pool and gym, and a 10% discount on ala carte and thematic dinner at Samsara Restaurant, as well as The Spa. Proxy Hotel in Legazpi City has a P3,000 room promo which includes breakfast for two, use of the recreational arcade, board games, and swimming pool. The Oriental Bataan beckons with a P3,900 offering which covers an overnight stay at a deluxe cellar room, breakfast for two, use of the facilities, and 10% off at all food and beverage outlets. Nestled at the foothills of Mt. Mariveles, the hotel is situated near the Death March Km 0 starting point and Mount Samat Dambana ng Kagitingan. The newly opened The Inns in Bacolod City, a boutique business hotel, has a P999 net room offer for two persons, which also goes with a 5% discount on ala carte orders. Lastly, the Thai-themed Oriental Luxury Suites at the Tagaytay Ridge has a 30% discount on all room categories on weekdays (Sundays to Thursdays) except holidays, with breakfast for two at the veranda overlooking the panoramic Taal Volcano and Lake. The hotel is pet friendly. Visit www.theorientalhotels.com for promo details or follow the social media accounts of the hotels on Facebook and Instagram.

A taste of Tropical Paradise at Newport World Resorts

ALL through April, guests at Newport World Resorts get to indulge in dishes that invoke the feel of the tropics and relax with refreshingly cold drinks and cocktails that bring that island vibe. At the Newport Garden Wing, there is Ube Bubble Milk Tea with tapioca pearls at the Victoria Harbour Cafe. Pair this creamy sweet drink with a set of buchi balls that come in mango, chocolate, and custard fillings. Grab a taste of the island’s treasures at Silogue with a plate of Buttered Seafood in Salted Egg. Pair it with Lemonade Cloud, a classic lemonade blended with Yakult. Happy 8 welcomes the summer with lapu-lapu partnered with preserved radish in a soy sauce. As the sun sets, live OPM performances, and La Roja, a fruity blend of vodka, Midori melon liqueur, cranberry juice, and maraschino cherry, can be had at El Calle Food and Music Hall. At the Newport Grand Wing, Casa Buenas offers Azul Tropical, a concoction of blue curaçao, pineapple and orange juice, Malibu rum, and squeezed lemon, topped with an orange slice. Settle down with a hearty pan fried chicken adobo and coconut rice, served in a coconut shell wrapped in pandan leaves. Take a breather at Holiday Inn Express and cap off the night with a Filipino Fun Float topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. For more information on dining offers for April, visit www.newportworldresorts.com and follow @newportworldresorts on Facebook and Instagram, and @nwresorts on Twitter.

Honeybon launches brown sugar drinks, promos

HONEYBON has a new perfect match for its sweet cakes and pastries. It is introducing a Brown Sugar Drink series which is now available at its SM Megamall branch. Honeybon’s Brown Sugar Latte is a creamy latte with a special kind of sweetness from brown sugar syrup and a chew of kanten jelly, bits of soft gelatin with slight sweetness from brown sugar. The Brown Sugar Americano is a cool, refreshing drink made of espresso topped with brown sugar syrup and kanten jelly. The Brown Sugar Milk is perfect for those who are avoiding caffeine. It’s made of fresh creamy milk, brown sugar syrup, and kanten jelly. As part of its launch promotions, customers can get any available cake slice for P100 when they purchase a brown sugar drink. Honeybon’s Brown Sugar Series is also available through delivery apps Grab Food and Food Panda.

Humanizing CX: Retaining the human touch in the digital age

April 13, 2023 | 12:02 am

By Irene Xu

DIGITAL has long become the main avenue for meeting customer expectations as it offers a more convenient and holistic way of interacting with the brand. As a result, customer expectations have skyrocketed to new heights. Banks today cannot afford to lag, and maximizing the data at their disposal is critical.

Despite the multitude of options banks have in pursuing digital transformation, many of today’s financial institutions still grapple with reimagining and elevating their customer experience (CX). Ad hoc approaches to tech-investment decisions may work adequately in the short-term, but in the long run, leads to a proliferation of systems that cannot communicate with each other, can be difficult or unable to integrate, scale or modify.

More critically, it is almost impossible for banks to make consistent, coordinated decisions over customer engagement or interaction due to silos and prolonged decision-making lead times that foil efforts to offer personalized customer experiences at scale.

With years of experience working with the banking industry, we believe the first step to creating relevant, moments-based CX is about deeply understanding customer journeys. When banks can understand the emotions and the ever-evolving needs of customers across each touchpoint, they can enhance and tailor their offerings accordingly. Consumers, too, will delight in a frictionless user experience that offers convenience, speed, greater choice and more informed decision-making about the financial decisions that they will make.

Without that key first building block, however, customer experience will be mired in irrelevant marketing campaigns with poorly articulated messages and frustrating customer service interactions. Customers and employees alike demand more transparency, fairness, and value from banks they do business with. It is incumbent on banks to meet these demands by continually refining their CX strategy to forge better connections with customers, especially through strategic partnerships with non-financial players or financial technology (fintech) firms. As CX continues to transform, it is no longer a linear movement. The customer journey is broken into numerous touch points where decisions must be made with high relevance at scale, and in real time.

Innovation is crucial for any business aiming to drive sustainable growth and ensure future success. But blending innovation with a human-first mentality provides the impetus for lasting impact. The surge of online engagements is not only an illustration of the rising need to humanize CX in the wake of the pandemic, but also provides new opportunities to reimagine the banking experience through insights that boost customer mapping. With customers increasingly dependent on technology, digitization that retains the human touch is essential to differentiation and gaining imperceptible insights that enable the customer journeys to be enriched via discovery of new trends and swifter forecasting.

This is achieved by powering CX with artificial intelligence (AI). Integrating AI to uphold customer centricity, by way of gathering information about the consumers and their personal feedback, humanizes CX and enables banks to deliver enhanced experiences that are genuinely caring. In addition, adaptive planning, journey activation, and a real-time decision engine enable banks to create customer experiences that increase customer loyalty and engagement, thus bolstering sales and overall profitability.

FEWER HUMAN INTERACTIONS WITHOUT LOSING THE HUMAN TOUCH
Humanizing the customer experience goes beyond just knowing and understanding what the customers need. Understanding the “why” and “what,” will equip banks to better embed their products and services to meet the needs of their customers, to create bespoke experiences throughout their banking engagements.

For many banks, human-to-human interaction has always been the norm. It was a given in the not-too-distant past that, upon entering a bank, a customer may go directly to a bank teller who would either provide assistance or offer opportunities for the customer’s benefit — be it opening a savings account, purchasing insurance, or applying for a loan. This created genuine connections with the customer.

Now that the majority have gone digital, whether they be mobile devices, internet banking, or call centers, human agents are now backed by digital solutions with automation. It is undeniable that the future of CX is digital. While human interactions remain important, incorporating AI into digital CX platforms will empower banks to offer a much more holistic and hyper-personalized experience, thus enhancing the overall experience of each individual customer.

A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH TO ADDRESSING CONSUMER NEEDS
According to a report by IDC, by 2024, 25% of brands in Asia-Pacific are expected to incentivize consumers to share personal data in exchange for cash rewards, more personalized treatment and exclusive experiences. However, data without context is just data. While many banks have already deployed AI or are working on it, AI isn’t just about crunching data and building models, it’s about enabling more personalized, frictionless and intimate experiences for customers.

For example, with greater knowledge about their customers, bank agents can now manage their customers more effectively, regardless of whether the interaction takes place face-to-face at a branch, or if a customer calls a hotline for assistance. At the same time, banks can also use the insights derived from these engagements to further develop their products and services, enhance their employee training programs and discover untapped opportunities to deliver more innovative offerings to their customers.

As digitalization continues apace, changing the way people interact with banks, customer expectations likewise grow. In tandem with a highly competitive financial services landscape, the urgency of effective digital transformation directly impacts banks’ ability to delight customers and, ultimately, improve the bottom line. With open banking development emerging as a new reality, enhancing business ecosystem strategies and hyper-personalization will be the cornerstone of rewiring customer-facing functions and driving banks to become customer-obsessed and to reignite growth.

Irene Xu is the Principal Industry Consultant, Banking at SAS.

TDF yields drop on bets of pause in rate hikes amid easing inflation

April 13, 2023 | 12:02 am

YIELDS on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) term deposits went down on Wednesday, with investors betting on a tightening pause amid easing inflation.

The central bank’s term deposit facility (TDF) attracted bids amounting to P409.621 billion on Wednesday, above the P300 billion on the auction block as well as the P364.717 billion seen a week ago for a P230-billion offer.

Broken down, tenders for the seven-day papers reached P251.915 billion, higher than the P170 billion auctioned off by the central bank and the P213.053 billion in bids for a P130-billion offer seen the previous week.

Banks asked for yields ranging from 6.375% to 6.64%, wider and lower than the 6.5% to 6.6655% band seen a week ago. This caused the average rate of the one-week deposits to decline by 4.20 basis points (bps) to 6.5939% from 6.6359% previously.

Meanwhile, bids for the 14-day term deposits amounted to P157.706 billion, higher than the P130-billion offering and the P151.664 billion in tenders for a P100-billion offer seen on April 5.

Accepted rates were from 6.5995% to 6.6566%, slightly lower and narrower than the 6.5% to 6.6772% margin recorded a week ago. With this, the average rate for the two-week deposits inched down by 1.03 bps to 6.6362% from the 6.6465% logged in the prior auction.

The BSP has not auctioned off 28-day term deposits for more than two years to give way to its weekly offerings of securities with the same tenor.

The term deposits and the 28-day bills are used by the central bank to mop up excess liquidity in the financial system and to better guide market rates.

“The BSP raised the volume offering for the TDF auction to P300 billion from P230 billion. Based on actual bids received last week, the total offer volume was reallocated between the 7-day and 14-day tenors at P170 billion (from P130 billion) and P130 billion (from P100 billion), respectively. Total tenders received reached P409.621 billion, which was well above the BSP’s expected volume range,” BSP Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila, Jr. said in a statement.

“The results of the TDF auction continued to reflect market participants’ high demand for both tenors. Moving forward, the BSP’s monetary operations will remain guided by its assessment of the latest liquidity conditions and market developments,” Mr. Dakila added.

TDF yields went down after recent signals of a possible pause in rate hikes after inflation eased to a six-month low in March, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

The central bank may consider pausing its monetary tightening next month if April inflation does not accelerate, BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said over the weekend.

He said a pause in interest rate increases was possible “if the April CPI (consumer price index) is not higher than the March CPI” or if there is “zero or negative month-on-month inflation.”

Headline inflation eased for a second consecutive month in March to 7.6% from 8.6% in February.

For the first quarter, inflation averaged 8.3%, higher than the BSP’s 6% forecast and 2-4% target for the year.

The Monetary Board last month hiked benchmark interest rates by 25 bps to help bring down elevated inflation.

This brought the yield on its overnight reverse repurchase facility or its key rate to 6.25%.

Since May 2022, the BSP has raised borrowing costs by a total of 425 bps.

Its next meeting will be held on May 18. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

PHL tour operators optimistic on sustaining growth

April 13, 2023 | 12:02 am

THE TRAVEL sector is bullish on sustaining its growth and taking environmental responsibility for the rest of 2023, as more tourists were seen going on trips during the Holy Week.

Fe Abling-Yu, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA), said that families flocked to various beach destinations like Palawan, Siargao, and Boracay, filling hotels and resorts to the brim over the extended holiday break.

“We’ve observed that tourism is simply back,” she said in a speech at the latest PHILTOA membership meeting on April 12.

She added that this has led to ecotourism and sustainable development being an important theme for many in the sector.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) previously said that 2023 will see the full recovery of domestic tourism. According to DoT Secretary Christina G. Frasco, “revenge travel” will spur enough growth to reach 122 million domestic trips, the industry’s pre-pandemic numbers.

“We realize that tourism can no longer just be about the numbers or quantity but rather quality,” she said at an ecotourism event in March.

The DoT is currently working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Interior and Local Government to establish a National Sustainable Tourism Council.

Geoff Andres, property president at City of Dreams Manila, said that luxury hotels and resorts must also bear the responsibility of reducing their carbon footprint.

“Luxury and sustainability can go hand-in-hand. We’ve found that eco-luxury resonates with our customers,” he said at the PHILTOA event. “City of Dreams aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.”

He added that they have eliminated 99% of their plastic water bottles and replaced them with glass bottles, effectively diverting 12-million single-use plastics away from landfills in a year

POTENTIAL IN QUIRINO
Quirino Province, located in the Cagayan Valley in Region II, is seen as a viable tourist destination due to its mountain, river, and waterfall spots perfect for adventure lovers like campers, bikers, and motorists. However, only ecotourism can keep this mostly untouched treasure from being destroyed.

The province has 25 waterfalls, 36 cave systems, and thousands of hectares of forest cover, largely undiscovered compared to the Baguios, Tagaytays, and Sagadas of the country, said Dakila Carlo E. Cua, governor of Quirino Province, in an interview with BusinessWorld.

“This will only remain viable if we protect it. That’s why we promote ecotourism as a major pillar in the development of Quirino,” he added.

In a presentation to PHILTOA, he proposed familiarization tours so that the travel sector can better utilize the province’s strengths and draft plans for more tours. He also said a memorandum of agreement involving DoT, PHILTOA, and LGUs can better facilitate ecotourism efforts.

PHILTOA’s Ms. Abling-Yu agreed that partnerships with provinces like Quirino are integral in ensuring the tourism sector is on the same page in developing the Philippines’ high-potential places.

Mr. Cua also said that Quirino aims to be the first province to achieve a net-zero carbon rating, which they began by banning single-use plastics and implementing tree-planting projects.

“We host part of the Sierra Madre mountain range, which represents 40% of the country’s forest cover, and the longest river system in the Philippines, Cagayan River,” he said.

“With this at stake, we believe that investing in planet earth is every citizen’s responsibility.” — Brontë H. Lacsamana

BPI targets record profit this year

April 13, 2023 | 12:01 am

BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) targets to post another record-high net income this year as it sees strong loan demand despite high interest rates, its top official said.

“That’s the plan. There are good tailwinds. Loan demand continues to be resilient,” BPI President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the bank’s new mobile application when asked if the bank can beat 2022’s record net profit.

He said BPI’s first-quarter financial performance was “good,” which bodes well for their earnings this year.

BPI booked an all-time high net income of P39.6 billion in 2022, 66% higher from the previous year’s level, driven by strong loan growth, higher net interest margins, and lower loan loss provisions.

Mr. Limcaoco said demand for credit remains strong, even as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has continued to hike benchmark interest rates amid elevated inflation, with loan growth expected to be at around 10% this year.

The BSP has raised borrowing costs by a total of 425 basis points since May 2022, with its key rate now at 6.25%, up from the all-time low of 2% seen during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

The economy’s reopening will continue to drive loan demand for the first half of the year, but base effects are expected to fade by the second semester, Mr. Limcaoco said.

“You have to remember that Philippine businesses have always been used historically to high rates. It was only during the pandemic when rates really came down. During the pandemic, a few companies took advantage of the low rates,” he said.

“Affordability is still there… The only one where rates have really gone up is I think really credit cards… Even that, we have not seen a rise in NPLs (non-performing loans). People are very judicious about their use of credit, which is good,” Mr. Limcaoco added.

He said the bank’s NPL level is steady and is expected to “settle down, but really driven by the better performance of existing loans and new loans.”

“Since the pandemic ended, our [NPL] cover has continued to rise because we continued to provision without the underperformance,” he said.

NEW APP
Meanwhile, BPI on Wednesday launched its new mobile banking application as it aims to phase out its old app by the second semester.

“We’re proud of the new BPI app, and we know there’s room to continue improving. While we look at the best technology and digital solutions to ensure that we deliver excellent service, we anchor the designed experiences to what our customers need,” Mr. Limcaoco said in a statement.

The new app introduces features such as artificial intelligence-powered insights on spending and saving, BPI Head of Consumer Banking and Executive Vice-President Maria Cristina “Ginbee” L. Go said during the launch event.

It will also allow clients to pre-book branch visits, she added.

“We are likewise transforming our branches into financial advisory centers in new branch formats,” Ms. Go said.

BPI’s shares climbed by P1.65 or 1.65% to close at P101.50 apiece on Wednesday. — A.M.C. Sy

Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. to hold annual stockholders’ meeting on May 5

April 13, 2023 | 12:01 am

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Video gamers renew legal challenge to Microsoft’s Activision bid after setback

April 13, 2023 | 12:01 am

A GROUP of video gamers on Monday filed a new legal challenge to Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion bid to buy Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, Inc., after a US judge last month rejected an earlier version of the antitrust lawsuit.

US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley dismissed the plaintiffs’ first complaint in March after finding it failed to present enough information to back claims the acquisition would harm industry competition.

The judge said at the time the plaintiffs could refile a new suit, which challenges the largest-ever video game industry deal. Amended lawsuits are still subject to court scrutiny and also can be dismissed. The new 73-page lawsuit contained redacted assertions derived from Microsoft internal documents, including a strategy memo and other business reports that were “provided directly to the board of directors.” The complaint also contained information from rival Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

Microsoft has denied the gamers’ claims that the proposed transaction, which faces regulatory scrutiny in venues including the US, Europe, and Japan, would curb competition.

A spokesperson for Microsoft in a statement on Tuesday said the amended complaint contained “unsupported and implausible claims about the deal’s effect on competition.” Microsoft said it will “bring more games to more people” through its proposed deal with Activision.

An attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

US antitrust laws allow private consumers to sue over deals apart from regulatory and enforcement agencies.

Lawyers for Microsoft said in a court filing last week that the gamers’ original case “relied largely on flawed legal arguments based on outdated Supreme Court cases.”

Microsoft’s lawyers also said the plaintiffs “waited 11 months after the transaction was announced to file their lawsuit, and then wasted several additional months filing an implausible complaint.”

The plaintiffs’ lawyers have served subpoenas on companies including Activision and rivals including Nintendo of America, Inc. and Sony.

Ms. Corley is scheduled to meet with the lawyers on Wednesday for a status conference. — Reuters

realme to launch C55 in the Philippines next week

April 13, 2023 | 12:01 am

REALME Philippines is set to launch the latest addition to its C-Series lineup, the realme C55, in the country on April 18.

“Here at realme, we make it a priority to stay committed with our mission to deliver segment-leading features in camera, storage, charging and design. The realme C55’s Mini Capsule is a testament that an elevated yet holistic mobile experience is possible even at an entry-level price point,” Jane Yan, realme Philippines vice-president for Marketing, was quoted as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

“By introducing the realme C55, the brand once again disrupts the entry-level smartphone market with fresh-looking unique designs made available to Filipinos,” the smartphone brand said.

The realme C55 features upgrades to the brand’s C-Series smartphone lineup to improve user experience, it said.

It introduces the Mini Capsule feature, which realme said will make this the first globally mass-produced Android smartphone to have this capability.

“This feature is wrapped around the punch hole of the selfie camera cutout, expanding animation formed into a capsule to help track Charging and Battery Status, Data Cap Usage as well as Step Tracking,” the company said.

The C55 will be the thinnest C-Series phone to date, coming in a 7.89-mm Ultra Slim Design.

“The latest smartphone also features a squared off, boxier design as compared to the realme C33 and realme C35. This enables a comfortable grip and in-hand feeling,” the brand said.

The new phone has a 6.72-inch display, the largest in the C-Series lineup, with an FHD+ resolution. The C55 will also be the first to have a 90Hz refresh rate among realme’s C-Series smartphones.

It features a 64-megapixel (MP) main camera and a 2-MP depth lens, as well as an 8-MP selfie camera.

It is powered by a Mediatek Helio G88 chipset and has a 5,000mAh battery.

The realme C55 comes in three colors: Sunshower, Rainy Night, and Rainforest.

It will be available in two variants: a 6GB memory + 128GB storage model and a 8GB+256GB version.

realme Philippines will hold an exclusive viewing of the C55 at the Clark Aurora Music Festival on April 15-16.

The phone will be launched via livestream on realme’s official TikTok and Facebook accounts on April 18, 6 pm.

The realme C55 is now available for blind pre-order at the brand’s offline stores until April 18.

“To make things more thrilling, the realme C55 blind pre-order customers automatically gets an entry for the freebie giveaway wherein they can win any of the following prizes: realme Pocket Bluetooth Speaker, realme Cobble Bluetooth Speaker, realme Smart TV Stick, realme Hair Dryer, and realme M2 Sonic Electric Toothbrush,” the company said. — Bettina V. Roc

Prime Infra sees 140-MW solar plants in Cavite, Batangas operational by yearend

April 13, 2023 | 12:01 am

PRIME Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) said its 140-megawatt solar power plants in Tanauan, Batangas and Marogondon, Cavite are expected to start operations by yearend.

“Prime Infra continues to address the need for dependable power supply as it aggressively supports the transition to clean energy and a low-carbon economy through our portfolio of renewable energy projects,” Guillaume Lucci, president and chief executive officer of Prime Infra, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Prime Infra, through its unit Solar Tanauan Corp., has started the construction of the 140-MW solar power plants.

The Tanauan and Maragondon solar power plants will have an installed gross capacity of 140-GW, Prime Infra said.

It added that the solar plants yearly generation capacity is at 202 gigawatt-hours, which can provide power to about 84,000 households and reduce 100,000 tons of coal per year.

“Our project here at Solar Tanauan Corporation embodies the values that we, as a company, and I personally align with. We have a strong ESG (environmental, social, and governance) commitment and sustainability focus and as such, our goal is to develop and operate our assets in a socially relevant manner,” said Katrina S. Razon, chairperson of Solar Tanauan Corp.

Prime Infra has a pipeline of renewable energy projects under development with a gross installed capacity of about 5,700-MW of solar power generation, and 4,000-megawatt-hours of energy storage system. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Griner working on memoir about her ‘unfathomable’ Russian detainment

April 13, 2023 | 12:00 am

AMERICAN basketball star Brittney Griner, who was freed from a Russian penal colony in a high-profile prisoner exchange last year, will share her “harrowing experience” in a memoir to be released next year, publisher said on Tuesday.

Ms. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and eight-time Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star, was arrested in Feb. 2022 at an airport outside Moscow for carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

She was subsequently convicted of drug smuggling and later transferred to one of Russia’s most notorious penal colonies, where former inmates have described torture, harsh beatings, and slave labor conditions. Mr. Griner was released last December in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, a deal that was arranged after months of talks during a time of high tension between the two countries after Russia’s Feb. 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“That day (in February) was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share,” Ms. Griner said in a news release.

The memoir will also address the issue of pay inequity for women athletes in the United States, which led Ms. Griner to play basketball in Russia during the WNBA off-season.

“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud. After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home,” she said.

“Readers will hear my story and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world.”

Ms. Griner said she hopes the memoir, which will have a co-writer, can help raise awareness surrounding other Americans wrongfully detained abroad. Ms. Griner signed a one-year contract in February to resume playing for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, who are schedule to open their 2023 season on May 19 in Los Angeles against the Sparks.

At the Mercury home opener on May 21, the team plans to honor her return ahead of the game against the Chicago Sky.

The 32-year-old Ms. Griner last played for the Mercury in the 2021 WNBA season, when she had one of the best years of her career, averaging 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists over 30 games. — Reuters

Philippines’ progress toward low-carbon future improves

April 13, 2023 | 12:00 am

The Philippines garnered an overall score of 4.56 out of possible 10, inching up by 0.19 point from 4.37 recorded in 2022, in the third edition of Green Future Index (GFI) by MIT Technology Review Insights. However, this was below the global average score of 4.79. Despite this, the Philippines’ overall rank rose nine notches to 44th place out of 76 countries in the index.

How PSEi member stocks performed — April 12, 2023

April 13, 2023 | 12:00 am

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.