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Entertainment News (05/17/22)

Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag screening at the CCP

THE CCP Arthouse Cinema, in collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Philippine Film Archive, and the Society of Filipino Archivists for Film, presents National Artist Lino Brocka’s Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, a special screening for the 2022 National Heritage Celebration and in commemoration of Lino Brocka’s Death anniversary on May 22. Watch the film for free on May 20, 2 p.m. at the CCP Tanghalang Manuel Conde. Pre-register for the event through https://tinyurl.com/ccparthouse-nationalheritage.

Filipino-dubbed K-drama on iWantTFC

WATCH THE Filipino-dubbed Korean drama Encounter starring Park Bo-Gum and Song Hye Kyo for free on iWantTFC (https://t.co/sSOCJGnPeb). Encounter tells the love story between Soohyun (played by Song Hye Kyo), the wealthy CEO of a large hotel, and Jinhyuk (played by Park Bo Gum), a new employee who just began working at Soohyun’s hotel. Both of them give up everything to be together.  The screening is exclusively available in the Philippines.

Universal Records PH welcomes Ken San Jose

UNIVERSAL Records Philippines has officially welcomed the singer-dancer Ken San Jose as part of the growing artist roster. The singer-dancer was joined by his management, Cornerstone Entertainment Inc.’s Erickson Raymundo and Jeff M. Vadillo during the exclusive contract signing at the Universal Records office with Managing Director Kathleen Dy-Go and Operations Manager Peter Chan. According to the World of Dance PH finalist, joining the UR roster is a dream come true for him. “It’s a dream come true. It’s something na I’ve dreamed of ever since I was young, signing a record deal”. Mr. San Jose said in a statement. His musical influences include Chris Brown, Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, and Skusta Clee.  Mr. San Jose has released four singles since 2019, including “Halma” and “Lose Control” and this year. “I definitely wanna release my first album with UR and I definitely want to explore my artistry whether that’s on hip-hop or RNB,” Mr. San Jose said.

South Korean acts at the Smart Araneta Coliseum

FOUR of the biggest South Korean acts are slated to visit Manila for Begin Again: KPOP Edition with NCT DREAM, SHINee’s KEY, WEi, and ALICE performing their latest hits on May 29, 5 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. NCT DREAM will be headlining the show. The group released their album Glitch Mode last March which sold 2 million copies. Performing alongside the group is labelmate KEY, lead dancer, and lead rapper of SHINee. WEi, a six-member boy group from OUI Entertainment, is also joining the concert. In March of this year, the group released their fourth mini-album Love Pt.1: First Love. The album sold more than 100,000 copies and placed at number five on Korea’s Gaon Chart. The fifth group joining the show is ALICE with members EJ, Do-A, Chaejeong, Yeonjae, Yukyung, Sohee, and Karin. In 2018, the group was namedthe Best Rookie Group at the 24th Korean Entertainment Arts Awards. Pre-selling of tickets begins on May 17, 12nn via https://www.cdmentertainment.ph. Official ticket selling begins on May 18, 10 a.m. via https://www.ticketnet.com.ph/ and all Ticketnet outlets nationwide.   

Stream the 31st SEA Games on GigaPlay   

MOBILE SERVICES provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) continues to enable its subscribers’ unshakeable passion for sports as it streams the 31st SEA Games live from Hanoi, Vietnam on May 12 to 23 on the GigaPlay App for free and with no streaming charges. Subscribers simply need to be on the Smart mobile network and have the GigaPlay App to enjoy SEA Games 2022 right at their fingertips, powered by Smart’s wide network coverage. Through Smart’s coverage of the Team Pilipinas on GigaPlay, Smart customers can show their support to the country’s top athletes. Smart is supporting Olympic gold medalist for powerlifting Hidilyn Diaz, who will lead the national powerlifting team, along with silver medalists for boxing Nesthy Petecio, bronze medalist for boxing Eumir Marcial, fellow Olympic boxer Irish Magno, Olympic gymnast Carlos Yulo, and Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena, as well as the Philippine national esports team Sibol and the national badminton team. As an advocate of Philippine esports, Smart is also rallying behind bemedaled Team SIBOL, whose #LakadMatatag battle cry is expected to boost the Philippines medal count with 54 esports athletes ready to grind it out at the Hanoi games. Catch all the SEA Games action by downloading GigaPlay from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Limitless: A Musical Trilogy airs on GMA

FROM WINNING the Silver World Medal at the 2022 New York Festivals TV and Film Awards, Limitless: A Musical Trilogy gives the recognition back to the public with the Philippine TV airing of Julie Anne San Jose’s concert on May 15, 22, and 29 on GMA. Airing at 2 p.m. after All Out Sundays, the three-part special gives viewers the chance to experience Julie’s musical journey beginning with “Breathe,” where she traveled to Mindanao; followed by “Heal,” which was shot in the Visayas; and finally, “Rise,” which was set in Luzon.  As the world faced the challenges of the global pandemic, Limitless was conceptualized to inspire Filipinos all over the globe to never lose hope. Set in picturesque landscapes in select cities and provinces of the Philippines, Limitless reminded everyone that anyone can be limitless. At recently-concluded New York Festivals TV and Film Awards, the GMA Synergy-produced musical won the Silver World Medal in the Entertainment Special: Variety Special category. Through Limitless, Ms. San Jose was able to open herself up more to the public: who she is beyond being a singer, songwriter, dancer, multi-instrumentalist, and actress. Her fans got to know her different facets, and learned more about her passions. The show saw the singer collaborating with some of the country’s finest musical talents, including Christian Bautista, Jong Madaliday, Myke Salomon, Jessica Villarubin, and Rayver Cruz.

GTV further boosts signal reception in PH

GTV continues GMA Network’s pursuit of reaching every Filipino household as it further expands its coverage after completing all its analog station upgrades across the country. The GTV Iloilo station, which covers the Western Visayas region, is the ninth and final analog TV station upgraded for GMA Network’s second free-to-air channel. Since GTV’s launch in 2021, the network has been non-stop in its efforts to expand and improve its signal in key areas within and outside Metro Manila. These stations include Tandang Sora, Mt. Sto. Tomas, Mt. Banoy, Naga, and Legazpi in Luzon; Tacloban and Iloilo in Visayas; and General Santos and Zamboanga in Mindanao. Boosted by its signal improvements, GTV likewise continues to be the second top channel in the country next to flagship station GMA. From Nielsen’s January to April 2022 TV audience measurement data, GTV recorded an average of 11.6 percent people audience share across all dayparts in Total Philippines. It has further widened its gap from its closest competitor TV5 with 10.4 percent, while A2Z had 5.4 percent. Currently, GTV has a total of 27 stations located in key areas in the Philippines. Viewers can also catch GTV on digital TV receivers GMA Affordabox and GMA Now.

Overseas Filipinos’ cash remittances (March 2022)

MONEY SENT HOME by overseas Filipinos rose by 3.2% in March, reflecting improved economic conditions in many host countries as pandemic restrictions eased. Read the full story.

Overseas Filipinos’ cash remittances (March 2022)

Great London property exodus is in reverse as tenants return

REUTERS
FLAGS are seen on Parliament Square in London, Britain, Jan. 31, 2020. — REUTERS

TENANTS flocking to London are driving up rents in the capital, reversing the pandemic “race for space” and adding to the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

A record 30% of homes rented out in London this year went to people who previously lived outside the city, according to estate agent Hamptons. The surrounding areas of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey — known as the Home Counties — now account for more than half of tenants moving in.

However, people are tending to move to London for lifestyle reasons rather than because they are being summoned back to the office, Hamptons said. Study and changes in family circumstances often provide the trigger.

Rents in the capital have risen by 12.3% over the past 12 months, the fastest rate since the Hamptons index began in 2013. Growth is now outpacing the national average, having lagged behind during the pandemic when many quit urban centers in search of larger homes.

The boom is being underpinned by a lack of new homes coming to market, with 30% fewer properties to rent this April than a year earlier.

“With COVID being pushed further to the back of people’s minds, life in the capital is slowly returning to its new normal,” said Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons. “The footloose nature of many jobs today means that it will be culture and lifestyle rather than employment that becomes the capital’s biggest draw.”

In a separate report, Capital Economics predicted that house prices are heading for a fall, with mortgage rates set to rise faster than at any time since the late 1980s.

Andrew Wishart, senior property economist at the consultancy, said the surge in borrowing costs back then caused house prices to crash by 20%. However, “the tight labor market, lower loan-to-value ratios, and a lower peak in interest rates mean the drop in prices should be less dramatic this time.”

Wishart sees a drop of 5% over the next two years, reversing a fifth of the increase since the pandemic began. London and the South East can expect the largest drop in house prices, he said, and northern regions and Wales the smallest.

A similar warning was issued last week by former Bank of England policy maker Charles Goodhart, who told lawmakers he expected house prices to decline. — Bloomberg

How PSEi member stocks performed — May 16, 2022

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Monday, May 16, 2022.

General retail price index in the National Capital Region

RETAIL PRICES of goods in Metro Manila grew in January at their slowest pace in six months, preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed. Read the full story.

General retail price index in the National Capital Region

PSEi climbs on bargain hunting after 5-day slide

BW FILE PHOTO

SHARES closed higher on Monday on bargain hunting after five consecutive days of decline and as Metro Manila remained under Alert Level 1.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed 1.92% or 122.95 points to end at 6,502.12, while the all shares index rose 1.41% or 48.88 points to 3,506.28.   

“The local market bounced back this Monday…as investors hunted for bargains from its preceding five-day decline. The keeping of the National Capital Region and other areas in the Philippines under coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Alert Level 1 status, which would help in sustaining the vibrant flow of consumer and business activities in the country, also helped in Monday’s rally,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message. 

On Sunday, Malacañang announced that Metro Manila will remain under Alert Level 1 from May 16 to May 31 despite the detection of cases of the more infectious COVID-19 Omicron subvariant in the country.

“The market’s recovery was largely a combination of technical bounce, bargain hunting, attractive valuation on hopes [that the] full-year 2022 gross domestic product (GDP) target is still doable given the strong first quarter of 2022,” First Metro Investment Corp. Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang said in a Viber message.

“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is set to hold its third rate-setting meeting on May 19 (Thursday). The street is mixed as to whether or not the central bank will keep the key policy rate untouched at 2%,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

With faster-than-expected GDP growth seen to put upward pressure on inflation, some market players are pricing in a hike by the BSP as early as its meeting on Thursday.

A BusinessWorld poll of 17 analysts conducted last week showed they are divided on the BSP’s next move, with nine betting rates will remain unchanged, while eight are expecting a 25-basis-point hike.

Economic growth in the first quarter accelerated by a higher-than-expected 8.3% annually. It was a reversal from the 3.8% decline in the same period last year and faster than the 7.8% growth logged in the final three months of 2021. The latest GDP growth print is also within the 7-9% target of the government.

All sectoral indices closed higher on Monday. Property increased by 3.15% or 91.10 points to 2,977.04; holding firms went up 1.96% or 115.08 points to 5,970.89; services gained 1.23% or 22.75 points to 1,859.50; financials added 1.13% or 17.40 points to 1,554.57; industrials rose 0.93% or 83.49 points to 9,015.98; and mining and oil improved by 0.78% or 83.99 points to 10,833.60.

Value turnover reached P8.06 billion on Monday with 678.36 million shares switching hands, lower than the P10.77 billion with 996.41 million issues logged on Friday.

Advancers beat decliners, 118 against 79, while 43 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling on Monday declined to P763.47 million from the P1.36 billion seen on Friday. — R.M.D. Ochave

Peso drops on Powell hints, wage hike risks

BW FILE PHOTO

THE PESO weakened anew versus the greenback on Monday following hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve and due to inflation risks amid wage hikes.

The local unit closed at P52.493 per dollar on Monday, shedding 4.3 centavos from its P52.45 close on Friday, based on Bankers Association of the Philippines data.

The peso opened Monday’s session at P52.40 against the dollar. Its weakest showing was at P52.499, while its intraday best was at P52.38 versus the greenback.

Dollars exchanged dropped to $549.84 million on Monday from $978.4 million on Friday.

The peso depreciated as the Fed chief continued to hint on the central bank’s monetary policy tightening plans this year, a trader said in an e-mail.

US Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powell on Thursday reaffirmed they are likely to increase interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) for each of their policy review on June and July, Bloomberg reported. He also said they are prepared to do more, although he said they are not actively considering a 75-bp hike.

Meanwhile, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the peso weakened following the approved wage hikes in some areas of the country.

“This could lead to higher inflation amid possible risk of second-round inflation effects that also justify any hike in local policy rates,” Mr. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

The Department of Labor and Employment this Saturday approved a P33 increase for the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila and by P55 to P110 for the Western Visayas Region.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board is meeting to review its policy settings on Thursday.

A BusinessWorld poll of 17 analysts conducted last week showed they are divided on the BSP’s next move, with nine betting rates will remain unchanged, while eight are expecting a 25-basis-point (bp) hike on Thursday.

Some analysts said the central bank could still keep rates at record lows on Thursday to wait for more proof of a robust economic recovery, although some analysts said the BSP can already start tightening following stronger-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter.

For Tuesday, both Mr. Ricafort and the trader gave a forecast range of P52.35 to P52.55 versus the dollar. — L.W.T. Noble with Bloomberg

Ex-PCGG chief dared to sue over Picasso painting

SCREENSHOT FROM THE KINGMAKER

PRESUMPTIVE president Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.’s spokesman on Monday dared the former head of a government commission tasked to go after ill-gotten assets of the late dictator and his cronies to file a case over a missing Pablo Picasso painting seen in the house of his mother Imelda.

“Under our Constitution, whoever makes allegations should be the one to prove these,” Marcos spokesman Victor D. Rodriguez told ABS-CBN Teleradyo in Filipino.

“If you have something, come over. The courts are open. You can’t do it in the comforts of wherever you are. You keep harping allegations left and right,” he added.

Andres Bautista, former chief of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) — a body formed by the late Corazon C. Aquino to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos and his cronies — had spotted the P8-billion painting in a television video of Mr. Marcos’ visit to her mother’s house.

Picasso’s Femme Couche VI (Reclining Woman VI) was one of the paintings that anti-graft court Sandiganbayan had ordered seized from the Marcoses in 2014, added Mr. Bautista, who is also a former election chief.

But Mr. Rodriguez said Mr. Bautista should not make accusations against the presumptive president in the media.

Mr. Bautista has been living in the US for about half a decade. He earlier said he could not come home due to “personal issues.” His estranged wife had accused him of hiding P1 billion in assets.

Mr. Rodriguez turned his ire on Mr. Bautista and renewed allegations against the former chairman of the Commission on Elections.

“Why don’t you be true to the Filipino people?” he asked. “Face the many allegations of election fraud during your time as Comelec chairman,” he added, criticizing Mr. Bautista for leaving the country.

“I just want him to be fair to the Filipino people. The courts are open.”

Mr. Bautista earlier denied he was facing any lawsuits in the Philippines.

“PCGG, the Picasso is back,” he tweeted last week and posted a screenshot of Imelda Marcos’ video. “Please seize it for the Filipino people while you still can.”

In 2014, the PCGG under Mr. Bautista tapped the National Bureau of Investigation to raid the former first family’s museum in their home province of Ilocos Norte in northern Philippines to recover the art pieces.

The Picasso painting was not found in the Marcos museum but was later recovered along with other paintings in a separate raid in the former first family’s home near Manila, the capital.

The Philippine central bank initially had custody of the seized paintings, but it later gave up custodianship in Oct. 2014, saying it could not vouch for the authenticity of the paintings.

The central bank meant that “the paintings are not real and they might get in trouble for (being a custodian),” Mr. Bautista told news website Rappler, Inc. in mixed English and Filipino last week.

The Marcoses have been accused of living lavishly at the Philippine presidential palace while Filipinos suffered from a collapsing economy, which sank by 7.3% in 1984 and 1985.

The late dictator plundered as much as $10 billion (P525 billion) while they were in power, according to the World Bank-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Stolen Asset Recovery. The stolen wealth includes $683 million in Swiss bank deposits through dummy foundations.

This earned him a Guinness World Record for the “greatest robbery of a government.”

The PCGG has recovered more than P170 billion and is still in the process of recovering P125 billion in ill-gotten assets.

Mr. Marcos said in a television interview before the May 9 elections he would strengthen the PCGG and order it to go after new targets. “Instead of directing themselves against the Marcoses only, if I have a relative who is corrupt, then that person’s name will come out, not only us, everyone.”

Mr. Marcos is headed for a landslide presidential victory in the May 9 election and will become the first candidate in recent Philippine history to win an election majority.

He fled into exile in Hawaii with his family during a 1986 “people power” street uprising that ended his father’s 20-year autocratic rule. He served as a congressman and senator after returning to the Philippines in 1991.

Mr. Rodriguez said he had yet to discuss the painting with Marcos Jr. and his family. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

DoH says more than 1,000 Filipinos got COVID in past week

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

PHILIPPINE health authorities on Monday reported 1,118 coronavirus infections for May 9 to 15, 14 of which were severe and critical cases.

There were 16 more deaths, 12 of which occurred this month and four in April, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a statement. It added that 588 severe and critical coronavirus patients or 10.6% of total admissions were staying in hospitals.

The agency said 438 or 15.6% of 2,812 intensive care unit (ICU) beds had been used as of May 15, while 4,141 or 17.5% of 23,707 non-ICU beds were occupied.

It added that 68.67 million people had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, while 13.62 million people have received booster shots.

The government has yet to detect any local transmission of an Omicron subvariant that is estimated to be about 20% more infectious than BA.2.

“There is no indication of that,” Edsel T. Salvana, a member of a DoH-led technical advisory group, told a televised news briefing when asked if there’s already a local transmission of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1.

But it is “safer to assume” that the variant is present in communities, he said.

Authorities earlier reported that the BA.2.12.1 had been detected in the capital region and in Palawan province. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

PHL seen facing risk of imported inflation as currency weakens

Vendors unpack sacks of vegetables in Balintawak market, Jan. 27, 2021. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE PHILIPPINES is among those economies exposed to a heightened risk of imported inflation due to its depreciating currency, according to Nomura Global Markets Research.

“(I)nflation is already above central bank targets in four economies (India, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand), all of which have sufficient (foreign exchange) reserve buffers to smoothen the pace of depreciation, but this would mean faster domestic liquidity withdrawals (India falls in this camp) or even higher inflation, if they allow the currency to adjust (the Philippines and Thailand), which could nudge these central banks even closer to policy exit, in our view,” Nomura said in a note on Monday. 

The report, issued by research analysts Sonal Varma, Ting Lu, Euben Paracuelles, and Jeongwoo Park, classified the Philippines, along with Thailand and Indonesia, as economies experiencing “warm” inflation.

The analysts assessed inflation by looking at the trimmed mean and weighted median consumer price index of these economies.

“For the ASEAN-3 in the warm inflation bucket, the central banks can afford to be relatively patient for now, but we expect most to pivot in the coming months due to either rising inflation, fiscal or balance of payment risks,” it said.

Headline inflation in the Philippines rose to a three-year high of 4.9% in April. This reflected the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on food, transport and utilities.

The central bank expects inflation to hit 4.3% this year, above its 2-4% target range, amid rising oil and commodity prices.

Nomura said currency weakness could worsen imported inflation risk at a time of already elevated commodity prices and supply chain disruptions.

Closing at P52.493 to the dollar on Monday, the peso is down by 2.9% from its level at the end of 2021.

Philippine dollar reserves totaled $106.75 billion at the end of April. This is equivalent to 9.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

The Monetary Board will convene for its third rate-setting of the year on May 19. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

EO to establish MSME franchise holder registry

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed an executive order (EO) setting up a registry for franchise holders officially classified as micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), in order to better track and regulate franchising activity.

The Palace said in a statement on Monday that under the order, which was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador M. Medialdea on behalf of Mr. Duterte last week, franchisors are responsible for registering their franchise agreements with the Department of Trade and Industry.

The order applies to members of authorized franchise associations. It also requires franchisors who are not yet part of such associations to register their franchise agreements with MSME franchisees within 30 days of the order taking effect.

The order requires full disclosure of any pre-signing, initial or recurring fees; detailed responsibilities of the franchisor and the MSME franchisee; and non-discriminatory provisions.

The registry must also track terms and conditions concerning pre-termination, termination or expiration of the franchise agreement; provisions for “cooling off” periods during which MSME franchise holders decide to exercise their option to terminate the agreement; and remedies available if any party is in breach of the agreement.

“There is a need to intensify government efforts to strengthen the franchising industry to help businesses, especially MSMEs, by developing a transparent and business-friendly environment, and promoting fair and equitable practices,” according to the order. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

More tax credits from textile industry rejected

REUTERS

THE Commission on Audit (CoA) has disallowed more tax credit certificates (TCCs) issued to textile companies worth a combined P3.83 billion, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement on Monday.

According to a CoA report made to the DoF, the textile companies that illegally obtained TCCs from the One-Stop Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center (OSS) were Silvertex Weaving Corp., Knitech Manufacturing, Inc., Capital-Roll Knit Corp., Uni-Glory’s Knitting Corp., Primeknit Manufacturing Corp., Tai-Cheng Integrated Resource, Inc., Miskhu Industrial Corp., and Universal Pacific Knitting Mills, Inc.

As of the end of 2021, previous notices of disallowance issued by CoA’s Special Audits Office to the textile industry had totaled P3.41 billion.

These tax-credit certificates were illegally granted between 2008 and 2014.

Tax credit certificates, as authorized by Executive Order 226, are typically given to exporters registered with the Board of Investments (BoI). Through these certificates, exporters can obtain refunds on taxes paid on raw materials by offsetting the tax credits against other taxes due.

DoF, BoI, Bureau of Customs and the OSS were found to have improperly issued TCCs to ghost exporters, or to companies that were not entitled to the tax credits.

The OSS is managed by the DoF, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the BoI. — Tobias Jared Tomas

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