What to See This Week (03/03/23)

March 3, 2023 | 12:04 am

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Creed III

AFTER dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damien Anderson, resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. Directed by and starring Michael B. Jordan, the film also stars Tessa Thompson and Jonathan Majors. Associated Press’ Lindsey Bahr writes, “Jordan and his filmmaking team craft two particularly stunning matches full of suspense, drama and slow motion sweat beads flying through the air. These are only lessened by the cheesy, unhelpful announcers spouting cliches and no actually helpful exposition or explanation outside the ring. And ultimately, it’s a promising debut for the 36-year-old, who shows here that he’ll never let his own star ego get in the way of a film: Majors steals the show, and Jordan is there to capture it.” Review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 90%.
MTRCB Rating: PG

Oras de Peligro

AS the EDSA Revolution unfolds, a mother, son, and daughter who live in a slum near Malacañang Palace grapple with the murder of their patriarch by corrupt policemen. These encounters change them from passive victims of social injustice into active participants in the final hours of the revolution. Directed by Joel Lamangan, the film stars Cherry Pie Picache, Allen Dizon, Mae Paner, Nanding Josef, and Therese Malvar.
MTRCB Rating: R-13

Martyr or Murderer

SET three years before the events of Daryll Yap’s Maid in Malacañang which tackled the final days of the Marcos Sr. Administration, the movie follows events leading to the assassination of Marcos opponent Senator Ninoy Aquino, and how the Marcoses were accused of being responsible for killing him. Again, directed by Daryll Yap, the film stars Ruffa Guiterrez, Isko Moreno, Cesar Montano, Cristine Reyes, Diego Loyzaga, and Ella Cruz.
MTRCB Rating: PG

Napocor to defer plan to cut SPUG operations

March 3, 2023 | 12:04 am

napocor-mindoro-power-philstar — PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

NATIONAL Power Corp. (Napocor) said it will postpone its plan to reduce the operating hours of its small power utilities group or SPUG power plants.

“We at [Napocor] are pleased to convey our decision to defer the implementation of the earlier proposed reduction of operating hours in our SPUG plants, following a series of consultations with our customers and stakeholders,” the state-led company said in an advisory.

In January, the Department of Energy (DoE) proposed a higher universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME) to fund the operations of Napocor as diesel prices continue to increase.

The DoE and Napocor are proposing a UCME increase of about 15 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 authorizes the collection of UCME to fund Napocor’s operations, including those of its SPUG, which serves remote areas not connected to the grid.

Napocor said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) had committed to speed up the review of its UCME petitions.

ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Monalisa C. Dimalanta said that the commission is scheduled to review the UCME application this month.

Napocor’s board is also planning to borrow P5 billion from government financial institutions to fund SPUG operations.

“For our pending loan application with the Land Bank of the Philippines, we are awaiting Sovereign Guarantee from the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. Once the Guarantee is released, the amount shall be ready for disbursement to fund our SPUG operons and missionary electrification functions,” Napocor said in its recent statement.

Napocor said that if it failed to secure the needed funds to sustain its operation, it will need to reduce the operations of SPUG operating hours starting March 1.

Meanwhile, Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, DoE undersecretary, maintained the department’s position of ruling out any possibility of a power outage this summer.

“Possible yellow alerts in Luzon and Visayas but not brownouts,” Ms. Guevara said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

TikTok to develop parental control tool to block certain videos

March 3, 2023 | 12:03 am

TikTok said on Wednesday it is developing a tool that will allow parents to prevent their teens from viewing content containing certain words or hashtags on the short-form video app, as the embattled company looks to shore up its public image.

TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is facing renewed scrutiny worldwide over its proximity to the Chinese government and protection of user data.

The app, wildly popular among younger users, has been banned from government-owned phones in the United States, Canada and other countries due to security concerns.

Like other social media apps, TikTok has also faced criticism for not doing enough to shield teens from inappropriate content.

Development of the parental control feature is in the early stages and the app will consult with parenting, youth, and civil society organizations to design the tool, TikTok said.

It also announced new features to help users limit the amount of time they spend on the app. Accounts belonging to users under 18 will automatically have a time limit of one hour per day, and teens will need to enter a passcode to continue using the app, TikTok said in a blog post.

If teens choose to remove the daily limit and scroll TikTok for more than 100 minutes per day, the app will display a prompt encouraging them to set time limits.

Parents will now also be able to set custom time limits for their teens’ TikTok usage depending on the day of the week, the company said. — Reuters

Third of PHL workforce in active job search — study

March 3, 2023 | 12:03 am

ABOUT a third of employees in the Philippines are looking for new employment with higher salary potential, according to the online job portal JobStreet.

In its Unlocking the Future of Recruitment study released on March 1, JobStreet said 34% of 97,324 respondents from the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand are actively looking for new jobs with higher salaries.

“Filipinos are more optimistic about judging their position in the labor market as 78% feel positive and confident about their negotiating positions,” it said. “The figure is slightly higher than the global average of 68%.”

About 46% in the Philippines said they prefer hybrid work, 28% are looking for fully remote work, and 26% said they wanted to work on-site.

Peter Bithos, chief executive officer of SEEK Asia, JobStreet’s parent company, said employers should know how to attract new talent as the world recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

“There are people on both sides of the equation and employers need to know how to find more talent to continue generating revenue,” he told a press conference on Wednesday.

He said employers continue to prioritize digital and technology skills to cater to their changing needs.

Philip A. Gioca, country manager for JobStreet Philippines, said Filipinos now look for workplaces that allow a work-life balance.

“If the workplace is toxic, even if the job pays well, they will not take it,” he said at the event. “Filipino workers now value a balanced life to eliminate mental health issues.”

In September, Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma adjusted the implementing rules and regulations of the Telecommuting Law to strengthen protections for work-from-home (WFH) employees should they opt not to work in the office.

Workers in a WFH scheme are not classified as field personnel, except when their hours of work “cannot be determined with reasonable clarity,” according to the revised rules.

Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the law in 2018, establishing the legal basis for all WFH arrangements.

The jobless rate eased to 5.4% last year, the lowest since the 5.1% recorded in 2019 or before the coronavirus pandemic.

Job quality hit a three-year low as underemployment, a measure of workers looking for more work, hit 14.2%, against the 14% recorded in 2019.

“While hiring growth may slow down during times of uncertainty, there is no doubt that it is still a jobseekers’ market right now,” Mr. Bithos said. “It is important for employers to know how to attract, recruit and retain talent.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Alternergy secures height clearance for 100-MW Tanay wind power project

March 3, 2023 | 12:03 am

ALTERNERGY Holdings Corp. said its subsidiary Alternergy Tanay Wind Corp. will now proceed with the development of its 100-megawatt (MW) Tanay wind power after securing height clearance for the project.

“This is a major permitting clearance for our Tanay Wind Power Project. With the height clearance from CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines), the project development can proceed,” Gerry P. Magbanua, president of Alternergy, said in a media release.

The renewable energy company placed the elevations of its wind power project in Rizal’s Tanay town at 300 to 600 meters above sea level.

Alternergy said the project site is adjacent to its 54-MW Pililla, Rizal wind farm, which started operations in 2015.

“We are very pleased that finally we have the go signal that all the wind turbines generators to be installed by our Tanay Wind Power Project will not in any way create interference with the aviation navigational path and will ensure safety operations,” Knud Hedeager, director and co-founder of Alternergy, said.

He said the clearance “went through a painstaking and thorough process of technical studies and consultations with government aviation authorities with inputs from international and local aviation experts.”

Alternergy is targeting to develop up to 1,370 MW of renewable energy sources such as onshore and offshore wind, solar, and run-of-river hydropower projects. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

YouTube child data gathering faces UK scrutiny after complaint

March 3, 2023 | 12:02 am

LONDON — Britain’s information regulator said on Wednesday it would look into an official complaint accusing Alphabet, Inc.’s YouTube of illegally collecting data from millions of children.

The complaint lodged by father-of-three Duncan McCann, who is leading the campaign and supported by his employer the advocacy group 5Rights, said the video-streaming platform had broken the newly implemented law by gathering “the location, viewing habits and preferences” of up to 5 million children. Countries have been wrestling to strike the right balance with legislation that protects social media users, particularly children, from harmful content without damaging free speech.

Mr. McCann said in a statement that YouTube should change the design of its platform and delete data it had been gathering.

“It is a massive, unlicensed, social experiment on our children with uncertain consequences,” Mr. McCann said.

A spokesperson for YouTube said it had taken steps to bolster child privacy with more protective default settings, and made investments to protect children and families by launching a dedicated kids app and introducing new data practices.

“We remain committed to continuing our engagement with the ICO on this priority work, and with other key stakeholders including children, parents and child protection experts,” the YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it would consider the complaint carefully.

“The Children’s code makes clear that children are not like adults online, and their data needs meaningful protections,” the ICO’s Deputy Commissioner, Regulatory Supervision, Stephen Bonner said in a statement.

Britain’s Children’s code requires providers to meet 15 design and privacy standards to protect children, including limiting collection of their location and other personal data. In 2019, YouTube was fined $170 million by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle allegations that it broke federal law by collecting personal information about children. — Reuters

Caterpillar reaches tentative deal with union, averting possible strike

March 3, 2023 | 12:02 am

CATERPILLAR, INC. said on Wednesday it had reached a tentative agreement with a union that represents workers at four of its facilities, dodging a possible walkout at a time when companies across the US are dealing with widespread labor shortages.

The construction equipment maker’s new six-year agreement, which needs to be put to a vote by employees, comes after some union workers had threatened a strike as they negotiated wage increases, improved safety measures and better healthcare benefits.

Caterpillar, which has been struggling with margin pressures as input costs keep rising, has more than 100,000 employees around the world. Labor unions in the United States have, in the meanwhile, stepped up efforts to ensure cost-of-living adjustments keep pace with inflation.

“Members at four locals in Illinois and Pennsylvania will review the tentative agreement and vote at upcoming ratification meetings,” United Auto Workers (UAW) said in a statement.

The UAW will schedule a ratification vote soon, Caterpillar said in a statement, adding that the current agreement would be extended until the voting was complete.

The contract covers roughly 7,000 union employees represented by the UAW at three manufacturing plants in central Illinois and a parts and distribution center in York, Pennsylvania.

In January, union workers at the four Caterpillar facilities voted almost unanimously to authorize a strike, according to one local union’s Facebook page.

Contract negotiations between the UAW and the Irving, Texas-based manufacturer began on Jan. 5, the company said. — Reuters

Enstack raises $3M to help digitize SMEs

March 3, 2023 | 12:02 am

BUSINESS superapp Enstack has raised $3 million after the completion of a funding round to support its goal of digitizing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia.

In a statement on Thursday, the startup said it was able to raise the amount after a funding round led by Mangrove Capital Partners, which marked its first investment in Southeast Asia. The other participants include payments startup Xendit and Shinsegae International Chief Executive Officer William Kim.

Mangrove Capital has previously backed tech firms such as communications application Skype and website builder Wix.

Enstack came out of beta in October last year and recorded a growth of five times in the last quarter of 2022. It is projected to grow by 10 times by 2023.

Enstack Chief Executive Officer Macy Castillo said the start-up’s mission is to empower underserved SMEs with integrated tools that grant flexibility in a business landscape that is shaping up to be a combination of both online and offline commerce.

“The all-in-one superapp makes it simple for businesses to digitize regardless of what business they own and where they are in their entrepreneurial journey,” she said.

According to Ms. Castillo, the startup has seen the digital transition of small businesses, saying that Enstack is looking forward to helping more SMEs in the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia to be “future-ready”.

“Southeast Asia is seeing the rise of its own ‘Commerce 3.0’ where merchants are demanding more tailored solutions to their growing businesses online and offline. Armed with expertise and experience from the last decade in Southeast Asia e-commerce, our team created Enstack as a response to barriers to SME digitization,” Ms. Castillo said.

Enstack helps SMEs to sell across online and offline platforms and to grow their business with its superapp.

“The right combination of timing, innovation, and an experienced team sparks confidence in this venture. Our investment in Enstack’s game-changing product reminds us of when we’ve made winning bets on early commerce disruptors that have successfully helped SMEs create and expand their digital footprints,” Mangrove Capital Chief Executive Officer Mark Tluszcz said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

BPI-RBC merger may take effect this year

March 3, 2023 | 12:02 am

BANK of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) merger with Robinsons Bank Corp. (RBC) could take effect earlier than estimated as both parties expect to get all the necessary regulatory approvals within the year.

The listed lender’s merger with Robinsons Bank could be finalized as early as Oct. 1, earlier than the original estimate of Jan. 1, 2024, BPI President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Teodoro “TG” K. Limcaoco told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a central bank event last week.

“We’ve given ourselves, optimistically, six months. So if that’s the case, we’ll look at Oct. 1,” he said.

Mr. Limcaoco said though unlikely, the merger could even take effect as early as July 1 if the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) approve it within the first semester.

“If we get the approval in July, August, or September, then it will be Oct. 1. If we get the approval in April or May, which I don’t think we will get, then it could be July 1,” he said.

Both banks are only waiting for the approvals from these regulators as all in-company processes have been completed, Mr. Limcaoco added.

“We’ve done everything on our side for the approvals from our shareholders. So now we’re just waiting for regulatory approval. It takes a while — we need to go to PCC, we need to go to BSP, we need to go to SEC,” he said.

“We have filed all the regulatory licenses with the Philippine Competition Commission, the SEC, BSP, so we expect to hopefully get the approval within the year,” Robinsons Bank Chief Executive Officer Elfren Antonio S. Sarte also told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the same event last week.

Under the merger, which was announced in October 2022, BPI will be the surviving entity. Upon its closing, RBC’s shareholders will hold approximately 6% of the resulting outstanding capital stock of BPI.

Through the merger, BPI will also be taking over Robinsons Bank’s 20% stake in digital lender GoTyme Bank, a joint venture between the Gokongwei Group and Tyme. GoTyme Bank was one of the six entities granted an online banking license by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Shareholders of BPI owning 79.69% of total outstanding stocks already approved the planned merger at a special stockholders’ meeting on Jan. 17.

BPI earlier said it expects its net income to climb by 5-6% and its revenues to rise by around 7% once the deal with RBC takes effect.

The Ayala-led bank booked an attributable net profit of P39.605 billion in 2022, 65.85% higher than the P23.88 billion posted the previous year, driven by strong loan growth, higher net interest margins and lower provisions.

BPI’s shares rose by 10 centavos or 0.1% to end at P104.10 apiece on Thursday. — A.M.C. Sy

GNPD, Meralco negotiating price for power supply deal

March 3, 2023 | 12:01 am

GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD) said on Thursday that it is still negotiating the final contract price of its emergency power supply agreement (EPSA) with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

“Negotiations are still underway between GNPD and Meralco on a new emergency power supply agreement, and that currently, we have stopped serving the EPSA which expired last February 25,” GNPD President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Jordan, said in a media release.

GNPD, a power generation company, is a partnership between Aboitiz Power Corp.’s Therma Power Inc.; AC Energy Holdings, Inc.; and Power Partners Ltd. Co.

Meralco forged an EPSA with GNPD after its 670-megawatt (MW) power supply deal with South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC), the administrator of the gas-fired power plant in Ilijan, Batangas, was subjected to a writ of preliminary injunction issued by the Court of Appeals (CA).

Its most recent EPSA with Meralco ended on Feb. 25 and covers 300 MW and had a full fuel pass-through structure.

“The expiration of this second EPSA led to dialogues for a new contract to continue the partial replacing of 670 MW that is the subject of an ongoing legal proceeding,” GNPD said.

Meralco said its second EPSA with GNPD has an implemented rate of P8.53 per kWh. GNPD said this rate already includes line rental costs and value-added tax (VAT).

“While GNPD made an initial offer of 300-MW fixed rate for a new EPSA with [Meralco], it was rejected by the distribution company,” GNPD said.

GNPD’s first 300-MW EPSA with Meralco covered the Dec. 15 to Jan. 25 period for P5.96 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Meralco’s move to secure an EPSA aims to partially cover the 670 MW of capacity it lost after the CA indefinitely suspended its power supply deal with SPPC, a unit of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. The 670-MW with SPPC was agreed upon in 2019 for a period of 10 years at P4.2455 per kWh.

Last year, SMC Global Power sought a temporary rate increase, jointly filed with Meralco, saying that SPPC and another unit San Miguel Energy Corp. incurred a combined loss of P15 billion. The rate increase was meant to recover part or P5 billion of the units’ losses.

The company cited a “change in circumstance” when surging fuel costs breached the price range contemplated during the execution of the contracts with Meralco. However, the Energy Regulatory Commission denied the petition, saying this had no basis as the PSA is a fixed-rate contract. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Well-regarded worker’s mistake cost company millions

March 3, 2023 | 12:01 am

I’m the human resource manager of a medium-sized factory. Normandy (not his real name) is a consistent, hardworking person who has been in my department for the past seven years. He received five employee awards in the last five years and became a hall of famer last year. He was due for promotion to a supervisory post until he committed a grave mistake that cost the company millions of pesos. How do we manage his case? — Rainbow Connection.

My short answer is — it’s a judgment call. But first, you must decide based on Normandy’s total personal circumstances. Be prudent. Don’t let this single incident color your judgment regardless of the cost. Most people don’t deliberately cause damage. Therefore, the millions in losses that your company incurred could be the result of an accident that was not necessarily attributable to Normandy.

It’s human nature to do good. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) believed “that human nature is essentially good,” which I consider to be the basis for the legal presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.

Normandy has an excellent work reputation. It’s unlikely that he made that mistake deliberately. It could be the result of a bad system perpetuated by management and followed by the workers, including Normandy, who has no authority to change it to something better.

He may have reported the issue and made suggestions to correct the situation but his boss could have dragged his feet in making a decision.

It could be the result of a complex procedure that was followed to the letter. Things like this can happen, especially when an organization does not have a pokayoke or an error-proofing system that minimizes or eliminates mistakes.

Normandy may also have been given excessive work assignments beyond his capacity to accomplish. If not, he could have been burdened with unreasonably tight deadlines. Or, he may have personal or family issues that distracted him from his tasks. He may have a sick spouse or child. He may be having marital problems or worries about his financial obligations.

FIVE SOLUTIONS
Above all, think of all the good things that Normandy has done for your organization. Are they enough for your management to ignore the losses? Why or why not? Calculate the actual and potential losses and weigh them against what you can do with him. Quantify the damage in absolute terms so that you can have an accurate description of what you’re trying to address. Estimates could give you a wrong impression about the losses.

As soon as you’ve established all the facts and figures, explore the following steps:

One, review the provisions of your code of conduct or related policies. Find out if there’s anything about negligence. Usually, cases arising out of employee negligence fall into two types: gross negligence (willful recklessness or inattention) or simple negligence (careless mistake). They carry different penalties which may include restitution for damages. This policy should be your guide.

Two, determine the culpability of other workers and their boss. Most of the time, we should not focus on the acts or omissions of one person. The immediate boss must take command responsibility. Jurisprudence has established that as a general rule, employers are given “wide latitude of discretion” in terminating managers who failed to supervise their workers.

Three, observe due process every step of the way. Everything starts with utmost confidentiality and legal objectivity. In this case, both Normandy and his boss must be charged separately with different violations. The boss may be charged with loss of confidence or neglect of duty. The process includes the filing of an incident report, issuance of notice to explain, administrative hearing, management deliberation and issuance of a decision.

Four, allow Normandy to negotiate on the resolution of the case. If the decision is to terminate his employment, agree to a resignation or an honorable exit so that all parties may be spared of any emotional anguish. The same thing can be applied to Normandy’s boss who might be in the best position to recover the damages from.

Last, explore the options for restoring the damage. How could an ordinary worker like Normandy pay back the millions lost by the company? The best thing you can do is to forfeit his unpaid salary and benefits. I have also seen many organizations apply command responsibility to the immediate boss. Department managers can’t wash their hands of this case.

PRECEDENT
Consider the fact that your action will establish a precedent. Workers and managers who find themselves in the same situation may use the same arguments in resolving future issues. This is best handled when you properly document the procedure and its results.

Another thing. Performance problems can happen anytime even if the workers and their managers have done an excellent job in the past. There’s no assurance that people with excellent work performance in the past will make mistakes. That’s because work scenarios are constantly changing. Somehow along the way, workers and their management may have misunderstood the requirements.

If you’re in HR, it’s the best time for you to remind people of the company’s expectations.

Bring Rey Elbo’s popular program called Superior Subordinate Supervision to your management team. Or chat him on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter or e-mail elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com

Learning finance

March 3, 2023 | 12:01 am

WHEN the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released its Financial Inclusion Summary for 2021, we learned important things about the state of financial literacy in the Philippines. Because of the pandemic, 37% of adults started saving more for emergencies and 17% either started or used online banking and digital payments more frequently. As a result, account ownership almost doubled, e-money account ownership and usage are on the rise, and more Filipinos are investing.

That is the good news. On the flip side, less Filipinos are saving while avoiding insurance compared to 2019. With limited income and credit, the vulnerable sector depleted their savings, defaulted on their debts and relied more on government aid. The vulnerable sectors are also financially underserved.

International financial literacy surveys such as that of the World Bank found that only 25% of adult Filipinos are knowledgeable on basic financial concepts. In a global study by S&P Global Ratings, the Philippines scored in the bottom 30 of 144 countries surveyed on financial literacy.

Financial literacy is the ability to make appropriate decisions in managing an individual’s personal finances. It is an acquired set of skills such as understanding the foundation (reading financial statements), understanding the art of finance (by using limited data to arrive at accurate description of company’s performance), and understanding financial analysis.

The data clearly states the obvious. We need to promote financial literacy on different levels, across all social and economic sectors of society. Only then can our people achieve financial independence through smart savings and investments, as well as demand better financial services and conditions from financial institutions. And we need to break the barriers in learning finance.

At its core, finance involves numbers and to many people it can be intimidating and is conveniently ignored. It is therefore important to hurdle this fear with the realization that getting destressed in finance can lead to more engaging involvement in the individual’s primary occupation. Studies show that empowered and financially literate employees have higher self-esteem. This leads to better productivity for organizations.

To learn finance better, approach it as a subject we can enjoy. Basic financial literacy will not require knowledge of advance math, nor does it require heavy memorization and too high an intelligence quotient. Learners in finance should however develop an understanding of numerical relations and should find finance fun. Numbers should be viewed as telling stories that can help one move ahead in life. If money is our mode of transaction, we should discover how we can make it work for ourselves.

The finance student must learn to develop a number sense. This happens if the student can focus on the visual representation of the number facts. In math, for example, Professor Jo Boaler says students learn best when they work on problems they enjoy, rather than exercises and drills they fear.

Lawrence Debroux, CFO of Heineken, was quoted extensively by Harvard Professor Mihir Desai in his book How Finance Works which, by the way, is one good reference for those looking for a colorful and interactive guide to the subject. Desai’s book demystifies finance through his interactive and conversational writing style.

Debroux says: “If you would have asked me twenty years ago about the most important trait for succeeding in finance, I would probably have told you to be hardworking and to be super-expert and driven. That actually leads you to a certain point, but after that it fails you. You can always be hardworking.”

“But now, being persistent and curious are probably the two things I consider most important. Persistence is key because you can’t take the first answer as a final answer. Finance is about digging, trying to find what is behind the numbers, and what is going on with the assumptions. Is the number right, and if it is not, why not? Is it showing the reality or distorting it? Numbers are very dry if you just look at them like numbers, but if you want to know the reality behind them, that’s where it becomes interesting. If you’re interested and curious about what people do, then they become interested in what you want to bring.”

A healthy attitude towards the subject and a clear appreciation of why it matters can lead to a better journey in learning finance. Mastering the analytical pillars of finance — time value of money, asset valuation and risk management — can help improve the lot of the Filipino. Understanding basic finance is within everyone’s reach.

While we see several initiatives from government, private sector and the academe to address the challenges of financial literacy, ultimately it is an individual choice. And it all starts with an appreciation that finance need not be daunting but can be a fun subject after all. More people should see finance as having simple truths that requires a commonsense approach to learning.

The views expressed herein are his own and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX.

Benel Dela Paz Lagua was previously EVP and chief development officer at the Development Bank of the Philippines. He is an active FINEX member and an advocate of risk-based lending for SMEs. Today, he is independent director in progressive banks and in some NGOs.