A PLATFORM that uses artificial intelligence (AI) can analyze X-ray and CT (computerized tomography) scans within minutes, allowing patients to consult a doctor immediately.
Unveiled on Monday by technology solutions provider Advanced Abilities and healthcare maintenance organization Maxicare, AI SmartScan taps a database of around six million images to detect up to 25 chest pathologies, including tuberculosis, pneumonia, COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), smoker’s disease, enlarged heart, and lung cancer.
“We are able to eliminate so many factors that can add to a patient’s distress. In that sense, we are able to democratize patient care through an innovative solution that will invariably reduce hospitalization and rescue the already overburdened healthcare infrastructure in the country,” said Christer P. Cruz, chief technology officer of Advanced Abilities, at the launch.
The system, which allows healthcare professionals to give faster medical advice backed up by data, is the first of its kind in the Philippines, the startup said.
“We figured that one of the keys in limiting the contagion is rapid diagnosis. Through the quick end-to-end health screening solution provided by the AI SmartScan, we are able to complete the process even before health risks become aggravated,” said Christian S. Argos, chief executive officer of HMO Maxicare.
AI SmartScan is available to Maxicare members at clinics in Eton Centris in Quezon City, Ayala North Exchange in Makati City, and in Cebu.
“Through our partnership, we aim to boost healthcare infrastructure in the country for the benefit of the people. Technological advances, after all, particularly artificial intelligence, hold an enormous position in saving the lives of millions of people around the world,” said Advanced Abilities chief executive officer Angelo Antonio Buendia in a statement.
A LOCAL court in Marinduque ruled in favor of at least 30 plaintiffs against Marcopper Mining Corp. for a mine spill incident in 1993.
In December 1993, parts of the structure of Marcopper’s Maguila-guila tailings dam broke, flooding the Mogpog River with toxic waste.
In a decision dated May 16, the regional trial court granted P200,000 in temperate damages and P100,000 in moral damages to each of at least 30 plaintiffs. An additional P1 million as exemplary damages was awarded to all the plaintiffs.
Marcopper is also known for the 1996 Mt. Taipan pit mining incident, where the drainage tunnels of the company’s open-pit mines broke and caused toxic mine tailings to spill into Boac River.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines said that it welcomed the ruling on the Marcopper mine spill case.
“We are relieved that the court has finally rendered a decision in favor of the plaintiffs in the Marcopper mine spill incident. Marcopper operated under the old mining law,” the chamber said in a statement.
“The incident is a constant reminder to miners all over the world that the safety of all stakeholders in host mining communities is paramount. It underscores extreme consequences to people and the environment from catastrophic tailings facility failures are unacceptable,” it added.
The group said that since the incident, new mandatory environmental laws have been put in place to ensure just and timely compensation for damages and for progressive and sustainable rehabilitation for any adverse effect a mining operation or activity may cause.
It also said that mining operators must use specified measures to prevent the catastrophic failure of tailings facilities and to implement best practices in planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, monitoring, closure, and post-closure activities. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
EASE Healthcare, a women’s health platform, has partnered with doctor influencers on TikTok to raise awareness on contraception in the Philippines.
“A challenge we faced at the start was debunking misconceptions about women’s health,” said Guadalupe Lazaro, co-founder of the Singapore-headquartered Ease, in an e-mail. “We ran into comments from users on social media asking whether the pill would make them infertile (it doesn’t!) — that made us quickly realize we needed to … bust these myths.”
Launched locally this March, the Ease app offers teleconsultation on women’s health issues and the discreet delivery of birth control pills, condoms, and pregnancy tests. Most of its 12,000 Filipina users are 18–35 years old.
“We want to create a safe space for women and men alike to talk about their reproductive and health issues comfortably — with no hesitation or judgment,” said Dr. Pascual.
Modes of contraception and surrounding misconceptions will also be tackled. There’s a notion, for example, that the pill is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy, it isn’t: it’s only about 91% effective in real life.
Aside from combating misinformation, Ease aims to address inconvenience, high costs, and stigma.
Recent partnerships include “It’s Okay to Delay,” a social media campaign on family planning developed by the United States Agency for International Development and the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom); and an Instagram giveaway from personal care brands Nala Women, Mink Intimate, and lana.ph.
According to PopCom, family planning use among Filipino women was sustained, with 8 million users in 2020 from 7.6 million users in 2019, based on data from the Department of Health’s Field Health Services Information System.
Teenage pregnancy and STIs are areas of concern. One in every 10 Filipinas of child-bearing age is a teenager, based on data from the Certificates of Live Births submitted by the Local Civil Registry Offices from 2011 to 2014. Meanwhile, there is little available data on the number of STI cases in the Philippines except for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), in part because of the stigma associated with STIs.
THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public anew on the investment activities of Leefire Philippines after receiving multiple reports on the firm’s continued operations.
“In this regard, the public is hereby warned and advised to exercise extreme caution when approached by individuals or group of persons claiming to represent that they can assist in claiming pending withdrawals or earned money in Leefire Philippines,” the commission said in an advisory.
“The public is further advised not to invest or stop investing their hard-earned money in Leefire and in any high-yield, high-risk investment scheme,” it added.
The regulator said that it received numerous reports regarding the activities and operations of individuals or group of persons from Leefire claiming to assist investors to refund their investments for a fee.
In April, the SEC issued an advisory warning the public about Leefire for enticing investors to put their money in the company, which has no prior license or registration.
In its investigation, it found that the unauthorized firm was not registered as a corporation or partnership and was thus not authorized to solicit investments.
Leefire was found to be engaging in an initial coin offering (ICO) with its native cryptocurrency and that it was seeking to fund its projects with money gathered from the public on the “promise of profits.”
Salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents involved with the unauthorized firm may be prosecuted and held criminally liable, with penalties including a maximum fine of P5 million or up to 21 years of imprisonment, according to its previous advisory. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
LONDON — The World Health Organization (WHO) does not believe the monkeypox outbreak outside of Africa requires mass vaccinations as measures like good hygiene and safe sexual behavior will help control its spread, a senior official said on Monday.
Richard Pebody, who leads the high-threat pathogen team at WHO Europe, also told Reuters in an interview that immediate supplies of vaccines and antivirals are relatively limited.
His comments came as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was in the process of releasing some Jynneos vaccine doses for use in monkeypox cases.
Germany’s government said on Monday that it was assessing options for vaccinations, while Britain has offered them to some healthcare workers.
Public health authorities in Europe and North America are investigating more than 100 suspected and confirmed cases of the viral infection in the worst outbreak of the virus outside of Africa, where it is endemic.
The primary measures to control the outbreak are contact tracing and isolation, Mr. Pebody said, noting that it is not a virus that spreads very easily, nor has it so far caused serious disease. The vaccines used to combat monkeypox can have some significant side-effects, he added.
It is unclear what is driving the outbreak, with scientists trying to understand the origin of the cases and whether anything about the virus has changed. There is no evidence the virus has mutated, a senior executive at the United Nations agency said separately on Monday.
Many — but not all — of the people who have been diagnosed in the current monkeypox outbreak have been men who have sex with men. But that may be because this demographic is likely to seek medical advice or access sexual health screening more readily, the WHO said earlier in the day.
Most of the confirmed cases have not been linked to travel to Africa, which suggests there may be large amounts of undetected cases, said Mr. Pebody. Some health authorities suspect there is some degree of community spread.
“So we’re only seeing … the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
Given the pace of the outbreak, and lack of clarity around what is driving it, there has been worry that large events and parties this summer could make things much worse.
“I’m not saying to people don’t have a good time, don’t go to attend these events,” Mr. Pebody said.
“It’s rather around what people do at the parties that matters. So it’s about safe sexual behavior, good hygiene, regular hand washing — all these sorts of things will help to limit the transmission of this virus.” — Reuters
CHILDHOOD memories of playing near water, repurposing discarded materials, capturing an element at its specific state, and taking inspiration from real events are a few of the stories behind the European Union (EU) in the Philippines’ latest art exhibition relating to the importance of water.
In celebration of the founding of the European Union (EU), an exhibition, “Ebb and Flow: Return to Nature,” is on view at the Yuchengco Museum at RCBC Plaza. It features paintings, prints, photography, and sculptures by European and Filipino artists.
The narratives of the artworks show the beauty of water, its importance, and what happens when water and the life that it sustains are nurtured or are ruined.
EU Ambassador to the Philippines Luc Véron said that the title of the exhibition is an invitation to meditation.
“An invitation to meditate on life. No life without water. Yet, as we, sailors, know very well, water is indomitable. Our planet is blue, yet man cannot conquer the ocean. We are just its humble servants,” Mr. Véron said at the exhibition opening on May 19.
In a press release, exhibit curator César Caballero described the exhibition as a gathering of artists “maintaining connections on vital and important questions for life and the transcendental co-existence of the identity of communities and their individuals.”
The exhibition features works by Kizel Cotiw-an (Philippines), Ramon and Romania Diaz (Philippines and Italy), Louis Dumont (Belgium), Henri Etéve (France), Jeanette Kamphuis (Sweden), Radha Makitalo (Finland), Fara Manuel Nolasco (Philippines), Ann Pamintuan (Philippines), René Reitier (Germany), and Viviana Riccelli (Italy).
Filipino artist Kizel Cotiw-an’s paintings, Little Girl Catching Tadpoles and The Water Spirit, take inspiration from her childhood growing up in Benguet, and folklore on the spirits of nature, respectively.
“Without water, all of these beings will perish,” Ms. Cotiw-an wrote on her work’s description.
Filipino artist and professor Fara Manuel Nolasco’s twin paintings depict the ocean shaped as a woman’s torso — one seemingly cleaner as seen through its bright colors, and the other’s dark hues suggesting a polluted environment.
“In yoga philosophy, they say that ‘the universe is in you, you are the universe.’ In the same way the ocean is a huge part of your personhood, and by not protecting the ocean, you are doing yourself harm,” Ms. Nolasco said during a walkthrough of the exhibit.
For Swedish artist Jeanette Kamphuis, her series of jellyfish paintings were inspired by a visit to Manila Ocean Park where she was reminded of the interaction of families.
“The day I visited… Manila was hot and windy. The streets were crowded. I could see parents protecting their children,” Ms. Kamphuis wrote of her work.
German artist René Reitier presents a series of six photographs of water droplets and attempts to make mist visible. “Mist is water in its finest shape… The light breaks in each individual of these small water droplets so that the view becomes impenetrable,” he wrote of his work. “A camera setting that applies a light separation according to the type of isohelie and edge lift through the Sabbating effect, makes the finest color and brightness differences of the mist visible,” he explained.
Known for his brilliantly colored works of marine life and seascapes, Filipino artist Ramon Diaz takes on a different medium by creating a sculpture from a discarded sailboat. Being a member of the Manila Yacht Club, he carved shapes onto an old boat from the yacht club which supposedly chopped to be used as firewood.
The two pieces of the old sailboat feature carvings of the sun and moon, and the earth surrounded by dark hues.
“Ebb and Flow” is part of the Viva Europa 2022 cultural festival, which aims to highlight shared European cultural heritage with Filipinos. It also coincides with the EU Green Week (which runs from May 30 to June 5) and the lead-up to the UN Ocean’s Conference in Lisbon scheduled from June 27 to July 1.
The exhibition is an initiative of the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines and the Yuchengco Museum, the embassies of Belgium, Germany, Spain (together with Instituto Cervantes Manila), France (together with Alliance Francaise de Manille), Italy (together with the Philippine Italian Association and Galleria Duemila), Finland, and Sweden, and artists from the University of the Philippines, Baguio City.
“Ebb and Flow” runs until May 31 at the Ground Floor of the Yuchengco Museum, RCBC Plaza in Makati City.— Michelle Anne P. Soliman
PROPERTY developer Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. (SLI) on Tuesday reported a 66% surged in net income to P2.84 billion last year, driven by the company’s land banking initiatives.
“For year 2021, SLI has continued to grow and strengthen its foundation in select provinces through continuous land banking where the company has had proven and continued success, including new pioneer areas,” SLI said in a disclosure.
Gross revenues likewise increased by 24% to P8.37 billion.
SLI’s recorded sales growth of 64% in Mindanao, 41% in Visayas, and 22% in Luzon.
“Our balance sheet continues to expand as total assets increased by 14%, from P45.79 billion to P51.99 billion,” the company added.
In terms of land bank, the board of directors recently approved land acquisitions and joint venture agreements totaling 434.42 hectares (ha) across Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Cebu, Iloilo, Cotabato, and Davao del Sur.
“The organization has also expanded its commercial properties adjacent to our residential communities with over 122.68-ha across the nation,” SLI said.
The company added that it is seeking to “unlock the values of these developed properties, serve the needs of the community and maximize its recurring revenues base.”
It has two subsidiaries, namely: Sta. Lucia Homes, Inc., which is engaged in property development and construction; and Santalucia Ventures Inc., which is engaged in marketing and advertising.
At the stock exchange on Tuesday, SLI shares closed unchanged at P2.93 apiece. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled, $85 million (painted in 1982 and sold at Phillips)
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Jackson Pollock’s Number 31, $54.2 million (painted in 1949 and sold at Christie’s)
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled, $85 million (painted in 1982 and sold at Phillips)
Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Shades of Red), $66.8 million and No. 1, $49.6 million (painted in 1961 and 1962 sold at Christie’s)
Claude Monet’s Le Parlement, Soleil Couchant, $75.9 million (painted between 1900 and 1903 and sold at Christie’s)
Claude Monet’s Nymphéas, $56.5 million (painted in 1907 and sold at Christie’s)
Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, $195 million (painted in 1964 and sold at Christie’s)
Claude Monet’s Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute, $56.6 million (painted in 1908 and sold at Sotheby’s)
Vincent van Gogh’s Champs près des Alpilles, $51.9 million (painted in 1889 and sold at Christie’s)
Pablo Picasso’s Femme nue Couchée, $67.5 million (painted in 1932 and sold at Sotheby’s
ON the same day that a selloff wiped $1.5 trillion of value from the stock market, Asher Edelman was in the audience at Phillips auction house in New York. Million-dollar lots sold in quick succession — $8.4 million for a Rothko, $15.6 million for a Calder, $85 million for a Basquiat — with many selling well above their high estimates.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that we had a great day,” says Mr. Edelman, an ex-financier and the current chairman of the board of ArtBnk. “I think most people had pre-decided on a lot of things, and they weren’t going to un-decide because the market was down. There’s plenty of cash rolling around.”
Six months from now will be a different story, Mr. Edelman cautions. “It’s pretty simple,” he says. “In 1989 and in 2008, you had very similar activities. In 1989 the economy began to collapse, and by 1990 no art traded at all. But in 1989 I sold 30% of my art collection by value in the November sales.”
In 2008 everyone witnessed the same thing: “In May, 2008, we still had a very hot art market, even though people were already starting to get very hurt by subprime mortgages,” he says. “And then six months later the art market collapsed, and it wasn’t until 2010 or 2011 that you saw it spark again.”
This year’s marquee May auctions in New York, Mr. Edelman predicts, will be remembered the same way: “Here we are again, going into what will be the most serious recession, probably, since the 1970s.” If that’s true, the art market has gone out with a bang. In just two weeks, Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips sold about $2.5 billion worth of art. The biggest winners in last week’s sales, seen below, brought in $759 million, with works by Monet and Rothko dominating the list. — Bloomberg
LONDON — If British scientists have their way, two medium-sized tomatoes a day could keep the doctor away.
A research team led by scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have edited the genetic makeup of tomatoes to become a robust source of vitamin D, which regulates nutrients like calcium that are imperative to keeping bones, teeth and muscles healthy.
Although vitamin D is created in our bodies after exposure to sunlight, its major source is food, largely in dairy and meat.
Low vitamin D levels — associated with a plethora of conditions from cancer to cardiovascular disease — affect roughly 1 billion people globally, the researchers said.
Tomato leaves naturally contain one of the building blocks of vitamin D3, called 7-DHC. Vitamin D3 is considered best at raising vitamin D levels in the body.
The scientists used the Crispr tool — which is designed to work like a pair of genetic scissors — to tweak the plant’s genome such that 7-DHC substantially accumulates in the tomato fruit, as well as the leaves.
When leaves and the sliced fruit were exposed to ultraviolet light for an hour, one tomato contained the equivalent levels of vitamin D as two medium-sized eggs or 28 grams (1 ounce) of tuna, the researchers wrote in a paper published in the journal Nature Plants.
Most vitamin D3 supplements come from lanolin, which is extracted from sheep’s wool. Since the sheep stays alive, it works for vegetarians, but not vegans.
The scientists are now evaluating whether sunshine, instead of ultraviolet light, can effectively convert 7-DHC to vitamin D3.
New regulations in Britain have allowed the researchers to evaluate this theory — but it could be some time before they are ready to hit supermarket shelves.
To close the current gap in the intake of vitamin D from dietary sources, two medium sized gene-edited tomatoes should be enough, said the study’s lead author, Jie Li, adding that it is hard to tell a gene-edited tomato apart from a wild tomato.
“They taste like tomatoes,” added Cathie Martin, another study author. — Reuters
PSC Chief William ‘Butch’ Ramirez — PHILIPPINE STAR FILE PHOTO
PHILIPPINE Sports Commission (PSC) William “Butch” Ramirez on Tuesday said that the country’s overall performance in the just concluded 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) was nothing to be ashamed of, a good finish, in fact, considering the challenges Filipino bets had to face in the buildup to the meet.
“Our performance in bringing home 52 gold, 70 silver, and 104 bronze medals in placing fourth overall in the medal standings was a good finish despite the various challenges our national athletes had to face amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic before competing in Vietnam,” Mr. Ramirez stressed.
“It would have been a very good finish had we converted 50% of our silvers (to gold) and bronzes (to silver),” noted the PSC chief, who has been daily monitoring closely the progress of the country’s standard-bearers in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and surrounding provinces.
He pointed out that funding training programs to develop elite athletes for international competition was expensive.
“You need money for coaches, both local and foreign, airfare, transportation and hotel for international exposure to season them, plus the logistical support like proper nutrition, sports psychology, and medicine for athletes discovered abroad or locally,” Mr. Ramirez explained.
As someone who began his stint in the PSC as a commissioner in 1998, then as chairman for the first time from 2005 to 2009, and then as chairman again from 2016 to the present, he said that short-term programs to nurture top athletes were at least four years while 12 years so they could be truly world-class, as long as they start young.
The prime example, Mr. Ramirez said, was weightlifter Hidilyn F. Diaz, who was a wild card entry at 17 in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, then won a silver in the 2016 Rio Games before finally delivering the country’s first gold medal in the Tokyo edition last year when she was 30 years old.
The PSC honcho also reminded everyone that the government’s sports agency was not only to support national athletes, but also to implement a genuine grassroots sports program in the countryside in cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd) and local government units (LGUs). “The PSC will never achieve its grassroots goals without our partners in the DepEd and LGUs.”
At the same time, Mr. Ramirez renewed his commitment and support “to our private partners, the Philippine Olympic Committee and the National Sports Association (NSA),” in promoting and nurturing athletes for international play.
He said while the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) has given the PSC’s high remittances before the pandemic, “the PSC still has to get the 5% of its gross income as required by Republic Act 6847 that created the government sports agency.
“This gross income needs to be remitted by PAGCOR to the PSC so we can fund these two fundamental purposes the government sports agency was created for.”
The PSC chairman likewise said the Philippine Sports Institute needs adequate government funds to pursue its goals of updating the country’s know-how in sports medicine and technology, including the improved sports rehabilitation facilities, in keeping abreast with the rest of the world.
He mentioned that the country’s success in the Tokyo Olympics, where Filipinos achieved a milestone of one gold from Ms. Diaz, two silvers from boxers Carlo Paalam and Nesthy A. Petecio, and a bronze from fellow pug Eumir Felix D. Marcial, were products of intensive training and exposure overseas funded by the PSC.
He was hopeful that the PSC’s allocation in the national government budget, a portion of which goes to grassroots sports, would be increased in tune with the times. Mr. Ramirez also was grateful for the private sector like the MVP Sports Foundation in helping some NSAs and encouraged more institutions and personalities to chip in and recognize the value of investing in the development of athletes.
As one of the architects of the country’s successful campaigns in the Tokyo and Rio Olympics, 2018 Asian Games and 2019 Philippine SEA Games, Mr. Ramirez credited these positive results to his “dedicated board of commissioners through our leadership in guiding and collaborating with our stakeholders.”
AC Energy Corp. (ACEN) said on Tuesday that its Australian business has started the construction of a 50-megawatt (MW), one-hour battery that will connect to its solar farm in New South Wales.
In a disclosure, the Ayala-led listed renewables company said the battery energy storage system (BESS) is set to be built near its 720-MW New England Solar Farm east of Uralla town in the southeastern Australian state.
The hybrid solar farm, which is under construction, is expected to be one of the country’s largest renewable energy facilities. The battery system will address its intermittency.
Eric T. Francia, ACEN president and chief executive officer, said the company is “pleased to be expanding its renewable energy portfolio and contributing to Australia’s transition to a clean energy future.”
“ACEN has been a partner of UPC Renewables since 2018 and we are immensely proud of the work already achieved on the New England Solar project by the team,” he said.
Based on ACEN’s annual report, a joint venture between ACEN and UPC Renewables Australia Pty. Ltd. is developing the solar farm.
The report also said that the first phase of solar project, which will have a capacity of 521 MW, as well as the adjacent 50-MW battery energy storage system, achieved financial close in February 2021 and is expected to be completed in 2023.
“While the UPC\AC Renewables name and brand is changing to ACEN Australia, our highly capable Australian team will remain in place, and our approach to building long-term relationships built on trust with our host communities, and other stakeholders remains the same,” Mr. Francia said.
ACEN previously disclosed that on March 15, its unit ACEN Renewables International Pte. Ltd. took full control of its Australian joint venture company after buying the stake of its partner.
Anton Rohner, chief executive officer of ACEN Australia, said that the battery would support grid reliability while allowing for “generation-shifting,” referring to energy that can be stored and then discharged into the grid when needed.
“The New England battery can also be scaled up to 200 MW with two hours of storage capacity in response to the needs of consumers and the grid,” Mr. Rohner said. “We are excited about an energy future where projects such as the New England Solar Farm is supported with batteries and other energy storage technologies.”
ACEN quoted Adam Marshall, member of parliament for Northern Tablelands, as saying: “The construction of the BESS is a landmark project for the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) and also the New South Wales economy.”
Mr. Marshall said the battery system is supported by a AU$12.5-million state government grant.
ACEN said the solar farm is being built across two solar fields about six kilometers east of Uralla. It said once the entire 720-MW project is complete, it will produce around 1.8 million megawatt-hours of clean electricity each year. The output is enough to power about 250,000 homes in New South Wales, it added.
ACEN, which aspires to become the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, has around 3,800 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia. Its goal is to reach 5,000 MW of renewables by 2025.
On Tuesday, shares in ACEN dipped by five centavos or 0.70% to close at P7.05 each. — Victor V. Saulon
THE government fully awarded the reissued Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday as investors asked for higher rates after the central bank hiked borrowing costs and amid expectations of further monetary tightening here and in the United States.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P35 billion as planned from the reissued 10-year bonds it auctioned off on Tuesday, with tenders reaching P72.853 billion, more than double the offer.
The debt papers, which have a remaining life of nine years and seven months, were awarded at an average rate of 6.894%, 58.1 basis points (bps) higher than the 6.313% quoted when the series was last offered on April 26. The bonds carry a coupon rate of 4.875%.
The average rate was also higher than the 6.4068% fetched for the 10-year tenor at the secondary market prior to the auction, based on the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said in a Viber message to reporters that the government made a full award of its offer on Tuesday even as the market demanded higher yields for the long-dated bonds following the BSP’s rate hike last week “and expectations of similar follow up actions both from Fed (US Federal Reserve) and BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) to tame inflation.”
The first trader said via Viber that the auction result was expected as rates bid by banks for the issue fell within the market’s expected range of 6.625% and 7%.
“Despite a strong auction turnout, market players continued to submit high and defensive bids on inflation concerns and more monetary policy tightening to come globally.”
The second trader said in a Viber message that the yield range seen on Tuesday came as expected by market players amid “heightened inflation expectations.”
“The bids are quite defensive, similar to what we have seen in the recent auctions,” the second trader added.
Last week, the BSP raised benchmark interest rates for the first time since 2018 to tame rising inflation.
The Monetary Board on Thursday increased the key policy rate by 25 bps to 2.25%. Accordingly, interest rates on the BSP’s overnight deposit and lending facilities were also hiked by 25 bps to 1.75% and 2.75%, respectively.
At the meeting, the central bank upwardly revised its average inflation forecast for 2022 to 4.6% from the previous forecast of 4.3%, exceeding the 2-4% target band. For 2023, the BSP’s inflation forecast was hiked to 3.9% from 3.6% previously.
Inflation climbed to 4.9% in April, the highest in more than three years, as oil and commodity prices soared amid the Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions.
The start of the BSP’s tightening cycle came a week after the release of data showing gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by a better-than-expected 8.3% in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, US central bankers broadly back two more big interest rate hikes in June and July, but what happens after is a matter of intense internal debate that turns in large part on differing views of how price pressures will play out in months ahead, Reuters reported.
To Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, once the Federal Reserve has delivered half-of-a-percentage-point rate hikes as Chair Jerome H. Powell has signaled, “a pause in September might make sense.”
“I think a lot of it will depend on the ground dynamics that we are starting to see” both of the inflation the Fed is trying to contain and the impact of higher interest rates on the economy, he told the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday.
Speaking later in the day at a separate event, Kansas City Fed President Esther George painted a murkier picture, enumerating the many factors like Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s COVID-19 lockdowns that could play out to either intensify or relieve inflation pressures.
The Fed started its tightening cycle with a 25-bp hike in March. It then raised borrowing costs by 50 bps in its meeting on May 3-4.
The government wanted to borrow P200 billion from the domestic market in May, or P60 billion via Treasury bills (T-bill) and P140 billion from T-bonds.
Tuesday’s T-bond auction was the last one for the month. The BTr raised just P115.208 billion through the longer-tenored debt against the P140-billion program.
With T-bill awards for the month reaching only P26.1 billion, the BTr’s total borrowings from the domestic market in May reached just P141.31 billion versus its P200-billion plan.
The Treasury is expected to release its June borrowing plan within the week.
The government borrows from local and external sources to help plug a budget deficit capped at 7.7% of GDP this year. — Tobias Jared Tomas with Reuters
