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SEC revokes Elite Alliance’s company registration

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revoked the incorporation certificate of Elite Alliance Vera Trade System OPC (EAV) due to misrepresentation and for unlicensed selling of securities.

In an issuance, the SEC said EAV had been enticing the public to invest in the company through the entity’s trade system. As reported to the regulator, EAV offered packages for as low as P500 with a promised income of P500 every 15 days for three months.

The packages go as high as P500,000, which promised a passive income of P3 million. Investors were also told that they can earn a 50% direct referral bonus and a 1% bonus from the investors’ referrals from the second level up to the 10th level.

In July last year, the SEC issued an advisory that warned the public against EAV. But even after the advisory, EAV was found convincing its members and investors that it will be granted a secondary license.

In September 2021, the SEC issued an advisory against the fake secondary license that the president of EAV has been posting online.

The regulator added that any one-person corporation or OPC cannot be allowed to solicit investments from the public.

In November 2021, it issued a show-cause order against EAV and tried to serve the order personally, leading to the discovery that the residences indicated in the entity’s articles of incorporation are fake.

“A false address reflected in the Articles of Incorporation is a ground for revocation of corporate registration for fraud in the procurement of registration under PD (Presidential Decree) 902-A,” the regulator said.

According to the SEC, the investment scheme EAV presented as well as the fake secondary license permit it posted online amounts to serious misrepresentation.

EAV is not authorized to engage in the selling of securities to the public as stated in its primary purpose and the SEC considered this as an ultra vires act or one that requires legal authority.

For its violation of Section 44 of the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines, EAV’s registration as a corporation was revoked, as ordered by the SEC on Monday. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

Maynilad allots P22B for water treatment plants’ construction 

MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. is targeting to spend P22 billion in the next five years for the development of seven new water treatment plants.

In a statement on Tuesday, Maynilad said that this planned development will bring an additional 545 million liters per day (MLD) of water supply.

“By increasing our water production, we can better close the gap between available supply and the growing demand,” Maynilad Chief Operating Officer Randolph T. Estrellado said in a media release.

He said that the move will also reduce service disruptions as it will allow the company to increase pressure in the pipe network.

“This, along with sustained upgrades of our water infrastructure, will allow us to increase pressure in the pipe network and ultimately reduce service disruptions,” Mr. Estrellado said.

Maynilad is targeting to spend P219.8 billion from 2023 to 2027 for its service enhancement program, which includes the laying of new pipelines, construction of additional pumping stations and reservoirs, and replacement and repair of old pipes. It also covers the construction of new sewerage treatment plants and the rehabilitation of existing water and wastewater facilities.

To date, Maynilad operates two new water treatment plants in the La Mesa compound, Quezon City, and two in Putatan, Muntinlupa. These four new water treatment plants produced a combined 2,700 MLD of potable water supply.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has a majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Rep reopens with postmodern take on Carousel

CAST of the musical Carousel

TWO years after Repertory Philippines’ production of Carousel was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the cast will finally be able to perform a stripped-down postmodern version of the musical in a new venue — the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez within the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex — on Nov. 26.

Created by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) in 1945, Carousel follows the story of carnival barker Billy Bigelow who falls in love with and marries the sweet yet naïve millworker Julie Jordan.

After learning Julie is pregnant, desperate for money, Billy is forced to participate in a robbery that ends in tragedy. He is then given a second chance to make things right. Carousel features musical theater classics like “If I Loved You,” “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Christopher “Toff” De Venecia, who marks his Rep directorial debut, said that his postmodernist take on the material differs in “staging and intentionality” from Rep’s first showing of Carousel in 1996 directed by company co-founder Carmen “Baby” Barredo.

“As a creative, I’ve always gravitated towards the political. Reading the text in 2019, I inherently paid attention to lyrics and lines that perhaps other productions would gloss over — and the latter is certainly very tempting as this R&H musical is closest to an opera. Ergo, it’s easy to romanticize and get swept away by the largesse of the music,” Mr. De Venecia said.

“From a contemporary lens, there are a lot of themes that are embedded in the text that can be quite triggering. You can consider them thematic landmines. So, we paid closer attention to these and they became the impetus for how we approached certain scenes and numbers in the show,” he added.

Citing recent events such as the #MeToo movement to the so-called non-essentialism of art in a time of crisis, Mr. De Venecia said that “there’s a lot of intertextuality that weaves its way into this staging — hence the postmodernism. It’s quite playful and self-aware too.”

Adjusting to health guidelines in the new normal, the original cast of 30 is now downsized to 14. The orchestral accompaniments will use a two-piano musical orchestration. 

Rep’s production will be led by Gian Magdangal as Billy Bigelow and Karylle Tatlonghari as Julie Jordan in their debut Rep production, Joining the two leads are Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante as Carrie Pipperidge, Julie’s best friend, and Lorenz Martinez as Enoch Snow, Carrie’s love interest.

Also in the cast are Red Nuestro, Roxy Aldiosa, Julio Laforteza, Gia Gequinto, Noel Rayos, Mia Bolaño, Roby Mallubay, Paula Paguio, Steven Hotchkiss, Cara Barredo, Czar Decena, and Kyla Rivera-Soong (who is also the show’s assistant director).

“I actually wasn’t sure as to whether Rep would push through with staging Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel given the scale of the production that was intended for the 2020 run and issues of sustainability in the new normal,” said Mr. De Venecia.

“As a producer myself, I kept these in mind in the many conversations that I had with the Rep team during the lockdown. As attached as I was as a director to the 2020 version that we were already rehearsing (it took me about a year to prepare for that), I had to let go and recalibrate,” he added.

Mr. De Venecia, who is also the managing artistic director of The Sandbox Collective and a representative of Pangasinan, has always been interested in forging a discourse about the arts and storytelling beyond its theatrical performance.

“I’m excited for individual and collective audience takeaways. I hope what they experience will galvanize conversations outside of the theater’s four walls,” he said. 

Tickets for Carousel are available through the CCP Box Office, TicketWorld, and SM Tickets. Ticket prices range from P1,000 to P3,000. For updates, visit www.repertoryphilippines.ph, or follow Repertory Philippines on Facebook and Instagram. Educators and school representatives who are interested in the show can e-mail sales@repphil.org. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Alibaba Cloud says first PHL data center now serves over 200 companies; investment to continue

ALIBABA Cloud on Tuesday said its first data center in the Philippines now services more than 200 local and international companies.

The company, which serves as the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, also plans to invest more in local infrastructure as demand grows, said Allen Guo, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence country manager for the Philippines.

“For the Philippines — including local small and medium enterprises, conglomerates, and international companies — for now, there are more than 200,” Mr. Guo said during a briefing in Makati City.

“We can see in the Philippines that cloud adoption continues to grow and that there is still a big potential demand from Filipino enterprises. In order to support the Philippines, Alibaba Cloud is definitely committed to continuing to invest in infrastructure, services, and talent in the country,” he added

The company has said that it intends to support 50,000 local information technology professionals and help 5,000 Philippine businesses in their digital transformation journey by 2023.

The company’s data center in Manila brings its total availability zones to 76 spread across 25 regions globally.

In June last year, the company announced that it would invest $1 billion in Asia-Pacific over the next three years. It targets to support one million digital talents, 100,000 developers, and 100,000 technology startups in the region.

Mr. Guo said the company’s data center in the Philippines underscores its commitment to equipping Philippine customers with “secure, reliable and scalable cloud solutions.”

This year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival was powered by Alibaba Cloud’s infrastructure system. It “significantly improved efficiency of computing, storage, and network in data centers supporting the event, while also reducing network latency,” it said in a statement.

According to the company, it saw an 8% year-on-year decrease in computing costs per resource unit from April 1 to Nov. 11.

Alibaba Cloud is therefore looking to introduce more technologies that have successfully supported this year’s 11.11 to Philippine enterprises, according to Mr. Guo.

“Alibaba Cloud’s native-cloud database products … significantly expanded the capacity of consumers’ shopping carts by more than double, from 120 items to 300,” the company said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

The slow and steady grace of exiting isolation

IN a Field of Flowered Ice by Katrina Cuenca

SOCIETY effloresces in “Slowly We Unfurl,” a solo show by painter and sculptor Katrina Cuenca at Galerie Joaquin Rockwell in Makati City that captures the feeling of re-emergence. 

The exhibition, which runs until Nov. 25, features paintings and sculptures of flower-like forms on the cusp of blossoming. Petals rendered in muted, soothing shades move with steady grace and gently awaken. 

“We were very afraid and stuck at home most of the time [during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown],” Ms. Cuenca said over lunch at the gallery on Nov. 18. “Now it feels different. It’s something that I wanted to celebrate.”

“My figures go outside, either from outside to inside the canvas or from inside the canvas going outside, instead of the figure just being from inside the canvas,” Ms. Cuenca said. “It’s a symbolism of blossoming of humanity back into the world, into society and back into some sense of normalcy.”

“Slowly We Unfurl” is lighter than Ms. Cuenca’s previous work, in keeping with its hope for brighter days.

While the series retains elements of Ms. Cuenca’s signature style — the use of gold leaf along with flowing waves inspired by her mother’s love for the movement of betta fish — she also experimented with different materials.   

A few pieces feature a special black paint that absorbs 99.8% of light, resulting in a matte, dark finish. Others have a prismatic dichroic film attached onto an acrylic box, adding a holographic dimension when light hits.

Copper sculptures, which she began working on in 2020, are joined by blossoms painted on copper sheets.

The sculptures, which took her a year to figure out with the help of her artist friends, are three-dimensional versions of wave figures seen on her paintings. The copper sheets are cut and folded, then coated with seven layers of paint to achieve the desired luminosity and iridescence. It is then heated and left to cool off. The sheets are secured with brass rods standing on a base made of resin.

“It’s a different mindset. You have to make sure that it’s nice from all angles,” she said.

Ms. Cuenca, a self-taught painter and sculptor, has been drawing and painting since childhood. However, she took up finance instead of fine arts in college, and, upon graduating, took on jobs related to her course.

“After a few years of that I found more creative job opportunities and it was like I was being called back to what I really wanted to do,” she said.

Ms. Cuenca’s first dive into the art scene was in 2010, when she received an invitation to her first group show, but it wasn’t until 2015 that she regularly started exhibiting.

Since then, Ms. Cuenca has had multiple well-received solo exhibitions and has participated in ManilART in 2020 and 2021.

“I like art that speaks to me or has a story to tell, or pieces that spark a certain emotion or feeling,” Ms. Cuenca said. “I like that with abstract art you have to dig a bit deeper to understand what the artist is trying to convey. I believe that modern contemporary art conveys the zeitgeist of our generation and I enjoy seeing the different points of view of different artists.”

“Slowly We Unfurl” runs until Nov. 25 at Galerie Joaquin Rockwell. For more information, like Galerie Joaquin on Facebook and follow @galeriejoaquin on Instagram. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

CTA rejects manning firm’s P13-M refund claim

CTA.JUDICIARY.GOV.PH

THE Court of Tax Appeals has denied Pacific Ocean Manning, Inc.’s appeal to review and set aside its tax liabilities worth P13.04 million allegedly representing its unused input taxes traced to zero-rated sales in 2016.

In a decision dated Nov. 10 and made public on Nov. 17, the CTA Special Third Division ruled that the firm failed to prove it engaged in zero-rated sales in 2016.

“A perusal of the records shows that Pacific Ocean Manning failed to submit in evidence any proof that its foreign clients are not doing business in the Philippines,” Associate Justice Maria Rowena Modesto-San Pedro said in the ruling, citing the country’s revenue code.

It noted that a taxpayer has the burden of proof to show that it complied with mandated conditions for a tax refund.

Under the law, taxpayers that engage with foreign corporations outside the Philippines are entitled to zero-rated sales that do not translate to output tax.

The term “zero-rated sale” must be written on the company’s official invoices.

Sales that qualify for 0% value-added tax (VAT) include services other than processing, manufacturing, or repacking of goods; services performed in the Philippines by VAT-registered persons and sales paid in acceptable foreign currency in line with the central bank’s rules.

The firm provides its clients, usually seafarers, with services that include arranging the procedural requirements when they apply for a job in shipping companies.

The court said the petitioner did not provide evidence to substantiate its services to its client V. Ships UK, Ltd., which the firm said resulted in zero-rated sales.

The manning agency agreement between Pacific Ocean Manning and its client only took effect on July 1, 2016, despite its refund claim covering four quarters of that year.

“There is no way to establish the type and nature of services actually rendered by petitioner to V. Ships UK, Ltd. prior to said effectivity date,” said the tribunal.

“It is thus unnecessary for this court to look into petitioner’s compliance with the other remaining requirements for the claim for unutilized input VAT refund to prosper,” it added. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Gov’t partially awards fresh 20-year T-bonds

BW FILE PHOTO

THE GOVERNMENT partially awarded the fresh 20-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday as investors asked for high rates amid expectations of continued central bank tightening.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised only P27.597 billion from its offer of new 20-year papers on Tuesday, less than the programmed P35 billion, even as total bids reached P70.361 billion or over twice as much as the amount on the auction block.

The bonds were awarded at a coupon rate of 8.125%, 31.5 basis points (bps) higher than the 7.81% quoted for the 20-year paper at the secondary market prior to the auction, based on PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates data provided by the BTr.

The government accepted offers with rates ranging from 7.73% to 8.249% for an average of 8.012%, also 20.2 bps above the 20-year bond’s secondary market yield.

“The Auction Committee partially awarded the new 20-year Treasury bonds at today’s auction, capping the coupon rate at 8.125%. The auction was more than twice oversubscribed as total submitted bids amounted to P70.4 billion,” the BTr said in a press release on Tuesday.

A trader said it was a “good auction” in terms of the awarded rate as the coupon quoted for the new 20-year paper was lower than the average rate of the reissued 25-year bond sold by the Treasury last week.

The government fully awarded the reissued 25-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered last week as investors asked for higher yields ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) rate hike.

The BTr raised P35 billion as planned from its offer of 25-year papers as total bids reached P80.953 billion. The bonds, which have a remaining life of 11 years and 11 months, were awarded at an average rate of 8.168%, 91.2 bps lower than the 9.08% average quoted for the papers when they were first offered on Nov. 3, 2009 and 108.2 bps below the 9.25% coupon for the issue.

“However, given another partial award, the BTr has awarded less compared to its schedule,” the trader added in a text message.

UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in a Viber message that the partial award was due to investors asking for higher yields.

“Nevertheless, the average bid is well within what our traders expected but biased to the lower end of about 8%. Of course, the Treasury has been picking its spots and careful in responding to the market, especially under the current environment,” Mr. Asuncion added.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a text message that markets are still anticipating a smaller US Federal Reserve rate hike and a matching BSP increase in December.

“Inflation is still expected to reach its peak towards 8% in the fourth quarter due to the effects of [weather disturbances] and increased demand during the holiday season, but to ease after the holidays,” he added.

The BSP last week delivered a jumbo rate hike to rein in rising prices as it sees inflation continuing to overshoot its target until next year.

The Monetary Board increased the overnight reverse repurchase or policy rate by 75 bps to 5%, the highest in nearly 14 years. The rates on the central bank’s overnight deposit and lending facilities were also increased to 4.5% and 5.5%, respectively.

The BSP has now hiked rates by 300 bps since May as it seeks to temper inflation.

Headline inflation in October accelerated to 7.7%. For the first 10 months, inflation averaged 5.4%, higher than the central bank’s 2-4% target but below its 5.8% forecast for the year.

BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla on Tuesday ruled out further outsized or off-cycle increases, but said they will need to keep on raising borrowing costs as the US Federal Reserve’s own tightening cycle continues.

The Monetary Board’s next review will be held on Dec. 15.

Meanwhile, the Fed has hiked rates by 375 bps since March and is expected to begin considering smaller increases as early as its Dec. 13-14 meeting.

The BTr wants to raise P215 billion from the domestic market this month, or P75 billion through Treasury bills and P140 billion from T-bonds.

The government borrows from local and external sources to help plug a budget deficit capped at 7.6% of gross domestic product this year. — L.M.J.C. Jocson

Patient blood management seen to improve health outcomes

NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE-UNSPLASH

By Brontë H. Lacsamana, Reporter 

PATIENTS with anemia, iron deficiency, or other conditions that may require blood transfusion will benefit more from hospitals that practice patient blood management (PBM), which optimizes patient outcomes through the preservation of their blood, hematology experts said.  

“Sure, there are patients who will eventually need transfusion, but even for them there are still guidelines to facilitate diagnosis so as not to miss the treatment options before transfusion,” said Dr. Jesus A. Relos, Makati Medical Center’s (MMC) hematology section chief, at a Nov. 15 webinar held by the Philippine College of Physicians.  

“Under PBM, anemia and iron deficiency are recognized as global health issues in their own right and addressed with the utmost care and consideration,” he added.  

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 42% of children under 5 years old and 40% of pregnant women are anemic. 

In the Philippines, iron deficiency is prevalent yet overlooked, with the main cause being nutritional, said Dr. Relos. The next most common cause is inflammation from infections like tuberculosis, malaria, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).  

“Physicians should really engage in close monitoring of anemic patients,” he said.    

NEW STANDARD OF CARE
PBM will help avoid unnecessary transfusions, which expose patients to transmissible infections and the risk of adverse reactions, the WHO said in a 2021 policy brief.  

Recommended strategies include maximizing the capacity of the patient to tolerate anemia and implementing guidelines for rational blood use.  

In June, the Philippine Red Cross collected 166,266 blood units from January to end of June this year, slightly less than the 218,578 blood units collected in the same period last year but still more than in 2020, when the pandemic first hit.  

The blood shortage that the world has been facing is a sign that PBM must now become the prevailing standard of care, said Dr. Ma. Angelina L. Mirasol, clinical associate professor at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).  

“We must practice it because there’s overwhelming scientific evidence that it reduces mortality and morbidity, shortens hospital stays, and lowers costs. We also have an ethical obligation not to ignore and withhold such a beneficial medical model,” she said.  

Aside from PBM programs now in place in hospitals like MMC and UP-PGH, Dr. Mirasol pointed out that Republic Act No. 7719, or the National Blood Services Act of 1994, already mandates rational blood use.  

Dr. Relos agreed, saying that many medical professionals are already in keeping with the principles of PBM. “Hospitals just need to formalize it, even if not labeled as PBM, as long as we know the pillars and get the right outcomes,” he added.

In cold Ukraine village, Banksy mural offers warm bath

The mural created by England-based street artist Banksy on the wall of a five-storey apartment building destroyed by a Russian aerial bomb in March 2022 features a bearded man having a bath, Horenka, Kyiv Region, northern Ukraine, Nov. 19. -- Oleksandra Butova/Ukrinform via Reuters

HORENKA, Ukraine — As they head into a cold winter, residents of a bombed-out Ukrainian village say they appreciate a warm bath in a mural painted by graffiti artist Banksy.

The mural, showing a man scrubbing his back in a bathtub, is on the ground floor of what remains of an apartment block hit in a Russian attack in March in Horenka, northwest of Kyiv, once on the front line where Russia’s assault on the capital was halted.

“For me, it means washing off all the dirt. The dirt of the Russian Federation …,” Tetiana Reznychenko, 43, told Reuters as snow fell around her. “And this drawing makes me feel as if I have cleansed myself of the dirt that descended on us.”

The mural is one of one of seven that Banksy has confirmed painting in Ukraine. Ms. Reznychenko said she had given Banksy’s team a mug of instant coffee in her apartment, as it was cold when the artist came to paint the mural.

She has a wood stove in her apartment but no electricity, heating or running water as winter sets in.

“Winter has begun, and we don’t know what will happen next. Firemen brought us non-drinking water … but it will freeze unless we move it inside,” she said.

Despite the problems, she and her neighbors remain defiant.

“Ukrainians adapt to everything. No light? No problem. There are candles, there are alternative sources of electricity, there are power banks,” said neighbor Olena Kulynovich.

“When the neighbors have electricity, we go to them, charge the phones and the power banks. No water? That’s ok. Even if the government doesn’t help, we managed to organize the delivery of water.” — Reuters

Aboitiz Power to supply renewable energy to two Visayas-based firms 

ABOITIZ Power Corp. (AboitizPower), through its retail electricity supply company Advent Energy, Inc., will energize two manufacturing companies in the Visayas through the government’s green energy option program (GEOP).

“We support the GEOP initiative of the DoE (Department of Energy) as it gives customers the freedom to choose renewable energy in meeting their energy requirements and their own energy supplier,” AboitizPower said in a media release on Tuesday.

AboitizPower will supply power to NKC Manufacturing Philippines Corp. and Victoria Milling Co. (VMC) through its renewables brand Cleanergy.

NKC President Norihiko Matsuda said that the car builder’s transition to renewables will be vital to its business operations.

“While we help build vehicles, we want to do our part in creating a safer world where families can enjoy the products we put to life,” Mr. Matsuda said.

“As a sustainable enterprise, our company undertakes environmentally responsible practices within our business and promotes these across our supply chain and surrounding environment,” VMC President Minnie O. Chua

Ms. Chua said that the sugar producer’s shift to renewables is aligned with its sustainability goals.

Launched in 2018, GEOP is a policy mechanism that allows consumers consuming at least 100 kilowatts to source power from qualified suppliers that source electricity from renewables.

GEOP promotes the use of renewables to increase the share of clean energy in the country’s power generation mix.

AboitizPower’s Cleanergy supplies communities and businesses with power sourced from run-of-river, large hydro, solar, and geothermal.

The power company is targeting to grow its portfolio to 4,600 megawatts (MW) of sustainably sourced energy by 2030. To date, the power company said it owns, together with its partners, a total net sellable capacity of 1,248 MW. — A.E.O. Jose

BPI launches new time deposit product

BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has launched a new time deposit product called Green Saver that offers a fixed rate and tax-free interest earnings.

BPI Vice-President and Head for Deposit Products Ma. Carmina T. Marquez at a media briefing on Tuesday said that Green Saver is a sustainable time deposit product with indicative interest rates ranging from 4% to 4.5% annually.

The deposit product will have a fixed term of five years and interest earnings will be tax-free. The minimum placement amount is at P5,000, lower than the at least P50,000 required for BPI’s regular time deposit accounts.

“Investments in the BPI Green Saver Time Deposit will be allocated to finance or refinance a portfolio of green projects that need thorough and careful environmental eligibility criteria projects involving energy efficiency, renewable energy, including climate resilience and sustainable culture,” Ms. Marquez said. “It’s really being able to save for a sustainable future to support green projects under the BPI Sustainable Funding Framework.”

“It offers fixed high interest rates to protect you from any rate volatility or any market volatility. The choice of when you want to withdraw your interest varies. You can earn interest and interest can be credited monthly to a settlement account or be paid at the end of the five-year term,” she added.

The bank said the deposits will be used to fund projects vetted by technical consultants trained and accredited by the International Finance Corp.

BPI is looking to attract about two million clients to invest in the product, Ms. Marquez said.

“If you would look at P5,000 per client to reach the P10 billion, that’s about maybe two million clients. But since we have the other higher deposit amounts, I think we’ll be able to reach the P10 billion target even with just fewer clients,” she said.

BPI posted higher net earnings in the third quarter as its net interest and non-interest incomes increased alongside an expansion in its customer base to over nine million.   

The Ayala-led lender said it booked a P10.1-billion net income in the July-to-August period, up 26.8% from a year prior. This brought the bank’s bottom line for the first nine months to P30.5 billion.   

BPI shares rose by 0.10% or 10 centavos to close at P97.8 apiece on Tuesday. — K.B. Ta-asan

Lowering the risk of pneumonia

Getting the annual flu shot is a way to reduce the risk from the flu and pneumonia, according to the American Lung Association.  

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends pneumococcal vaccination for all children younger than 5 years old and all adults 65 years or older. In certain situations, other children and adults should also get pneumococcal vaccines. At-risk individuals should also get vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia.  

“The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic clearly demonstrated how vaccination can save millions of lives. All stakeholders need to work together to promote awareness on pneumonia and the value of vaccination. Each one of us can be a hero in the fight against pneumonia,” said Dr. Lulu Bravo, executive director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV) at an event supported by MSD Philippines and the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) in line with World Pneumonia Day on Nov. 12. 

Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection of the lungs that is most commonly caused by viruses or bacteria. Depending on the severity of the pneumonia, signs and symptoms of pneumonia may include cough; shortness of breath; fever, sweating and shaking chills; fatigue; chest pain; nausea, vomiting or diarrhea; and confusion, especially in older adults. 

While it can cause mild to life-threatening illness in people of all ages, pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).  

The WHO reiterated that pneumonia can be prevented by immunization, adequate nutrition, and addressing environmental factors. Preventing pneumonia means lowering the risk of complications and even deaths due to this highly-preventable disease. 

In the Philippines, pneumonia is the third leading cause of death across all ages and is the most common cause of death among children under 5 years of age. 

On the other hand, getting the recommended vaccines can significantly lower a person’s risk of developing pneumonia. One of the serious complications of the flu is pneumonia. 

“Vaccination is empowering. It protects children against pneumonia and reduces its severity when they do get sick, enabling them to spend more time studying and playing. Parents also save on healthcare expenses for medicines and hospitalization. We reiterate our appeal to parents to bring their children to the nearest health center for their free pneumonia vaccination,” said National Immunization Program (NIP) Manager Dr. Kim Patrick Tejano. 

He added that through the NIP, the Department of Health (DoH) provides free pneumonia vaccination to the vulnerable population. “We have expanded our pneumonia immunization to include children under 2 years of age who are given at least 3 doses of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Our senior citizens who are 60 years and older are given one dose of the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. Our goal is to reach at least 95% vaccination coverage,” said Dr. Tejano. 

Dr. Beverly Lorraine C. Ho, OIC-Undersecretary of the DoH Public Health Services Team, highlighted that if no action is taken today, millions of adults and children will be lost to pneumonia globally over the next decade. 

Pneumonia cases have consistently accounted for the highest claims that PhilHealth pays every year, according to Dr. Israel Pargas, senior vice-president at Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).  

“In 2021, we paid almost P3 billion for pneumonia. For 2022, as of the month of June, we have paid P1.7 billion already for pneumonia. For COVID-related pneumonia, we paid more than P10 billion in 2021 and this year we have already paid around P15 billion,” he said. 

PhilHealth provides both outpatient and inpatient benefits for pneumonia. Part of the agency’s outpatient package is the “Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama” which covers eight diseases including mild cases of pneumonia.  

The package covers consultation, diagnostics such as x-ray, and medications including antibiotics. For patients with pneumonia requiring hospitalization, PhilHealth provides case-rate packages, the coverage of which depends on disease severity. 

“Through the Universal Health Care Law, PhilHealth is hoping to expand our benefit packages including for pneumonia, which we are currently reviewing to rationalize the rates. Aligned with UHC and our thrust on prevention, we want to make primary healthcare our foundation by shifting from specialist care to primary care and coming up with a more comprehensive primary care package,” said Dr. Pargas.  

As the DoH is focusing now on population-based health services particularly on prevention, health promotion, and immunization, PhilHealth will focus on individual-based health services such as diagnostics and medications.

 

Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), which represents the biopharmaceutical medicines and vaccines industry in the country. Its members are at the forefront of research and development efforts for COVID-19 and other diseases that affect Filipinos.

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