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Maynilad customers set to receive rebate

CUSTOMERS of Maynilad Water Services, Inc. who were affected by the recurring service interruptions in areas served by the concessionaire’s Putatan water treatment plants are set to receive a rebate.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said Maynilad was found to have violated its service obligations of ensuring the availability of an uninterrupted water supply to its customers.

The agency did not specify details of the rebate, saying it was “currently in the process of assessing the final rebate amount, which shall not be recoverable or passed on to the consumers.”

Separately, Maynilad said that it voluntarily decided to pay a rebate to its affected customers, adding that the company has accepted the findings of the MWSS-Regulatory Office.

Maynilad said that the water service interruptions were due to the reduced production of its treatment plant in Putatan, Muntinlupa, damaging its sludge removal equipment.

The company added that the prolonged water service interruptions were due to the rise in turbidity levels of the raw water from Laguna Lake.

MWSS has ordered Maynilad to expedite the resumption of water supply to the affected customers “during this time of the pandemic when water is most essential for safeguarding public health.”

Meanwhile, Maynilad said that the repairs on the sludge removal equipment are now 75% completed, allowing the company “to increase water production to 91%, and gradually reduce the number of affected customers or lengthen the supply availability duration.”

The west zone water concessionaire also assures the public that it was stabilizing the plant’s system that was affected by the defective equipment.

Maynilad also said that it was expecting the water level to revert to the normal level by the end of the month. It said it was monitoring the turbidity trend in the raw water supply.

“Barring any complications, water service should revert to normal levels by the end of January 2023 or earlier,” Maynilad said.

Last month, the MWSS warned Maynilad that it would impose another sanction and a possible fine if it fails to address the recurring water service interruptions in areas served by the Putatan water treatment plants.

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

World Bank GDP growth forecasts for select East Asia and Pacific economies

PHILIPPINE economic growth would probably slow to 5.4% this year, from an estimated 7.2% in 2022, amid a looming global recession, the World Bank (WB) said. Read the full story.

World Bank GDP growth forecasts for select East Asia and Pacific economies

Term deposit yields end mixed on rate, inflation expectations

BW FILE PHOTO

YIELDS on the term deposits of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ended mixed on Wednesday as the market anticipates further rate hikes, but lower global oil prices and a stronger peso helped ease bets of large increases.

Bids for the term deposit facility (TDF) of the central bank amounted to P377.197 billion, lower than the P390-billion offer as well as the P430.617 billion in tenders seen a week earlier for the same offer.

Broken down, tenders for the seven-day deposits amounted to P190.262 billion, going below the P220 billion auctioned off by the BSP and the P237.656 billion in tenders a week earlier for a P230-billion offer.

Accepted rates were from 6.27% to 6.45%, higher than the 6.2445% to 6.42% last week. This caused the average rate of the one-week term deposits to inch up by 2.31 basis points (bps) to 6.3553% from 6.3322% previously.

Meanwhile, the 14-day papers fetched tenders amounting to P186.935 billion, higher than the P170-billion offer as well as the P192.961 billion in bids for the P160-billion offering seen the previous week.

Lenders asked for yields ranging from 6.25% to 6.459%, narrower than the 6.2445% to 6.5% margin seen on Jan. 4. With this, the average rate of the two-week papers declined by 2 bps to 6.398% from 6.418% in the prior auction.

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

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

Term deposit yields were mixed due to hawkish signals from the BSP, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla on Tuesday said the central bank could consider a 25-bp or 50-bp rate increase at its meeting next month, citing the need to anchor inflation expectations.

He said the pressure to match the US Federal Reserve’s policy tightening was waning, and the need for a large adjustment is “no longer there.”

Still, the BSP chief noted that inflationary pressures are broadening and until that is addressed, monetary tightening will continue.

The Monetary Board raised rates by a total of 350 bps last year to tame inflation and slow the peso’s decline. This brought the policy rate to a 14-year high of 5.5%.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve delivered 425 bps of cumulative rate hikes in 2022, which brought its own policy rate to 4.25-4.5%.   

Mr. Ricafort said lower global oil prices and a stronger peso could help ease inflation and reduce the need for central banks to tighten policy. — Keisha B. Ta-asan

Citicore Energy REIT eyes green bonds

CITICORE Energy REIT Corp. (CREIT) said it is looking to issue green bonds in 2023 to fund the acquisition of AFAB Solar Rooftop System and parcels of land spanning 475.3 hectares in Batangas.

In its three-year investment plan posted on Wednesday, the company said that once it has acquired AFAB, it will be leased out to an affiliate solar power business, Sunny Side Up Power Corp., for 20 years.

Meanwhile, the parcels of land from multiple owners in Tuy, Batangas are expected to be leased out to solar power developers and operators for an initial term of 25 years.

CREIT is targeting to increase its renewable energy capacity by five times to 780-megawatt-peak of direct current (MWpDC) from its current capacity of 145 MWpDC.

The company expects to complete eight renewable projects this year, which can be potentially infused into the REIT and help it reach its target capacity.

These projects are the second phase of the Arayat-Mexico solar farm;  Batangas solar farms A and B; separate solar farms in Pangasinan, Laguna and Bulacan; and a run-of-river hydropower project in Isabela.

The first four projects are currently at the pre-development status while the next three are still at site selection. The Isabela project is under construction.

Meanwhile, the company’s sponsor — Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. — is also developing other solar power plants under its five-year roadmap of 1.5 gigawatts of direct current capacity.

“The sponsor’s pipeline of projects will serve as the primary source of new assets for infusion into CREIT,” the firm said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

Data security more important as digital transformation accelerates

REUTERS

DIGITAL transformation will continue to accelerate, leading to cybersecurity becoming “the cornerstone for everything” and not just a concern of security and risk management, according to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

“Around the world, the public is becoming more discerning about how personal data should be gathered, stored, and processed — and governments are responding by creating new legislation to protect personal data,” Phil Rodrigues, AWS’s head of security for Asia-Pacific & Japan, said in a statement.

Technological research and consulting firm Gartner said three-fourths of the world’s population will have introduced data protection legislation by 2024, while large organizations are expected to invest $2.5 million in privacy technology.

In the Philippines, legislation like the Data Privacy Act and SIM Card Registration Act have been implemented to deter cybercrime. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also kicked off 2023 with a “Check-Protect-Report” information drive to educate and protect financial consumers.

Moving forward, instead of conducting periodic cybersecurity reviews, a future where organizations will shift to continuous automated security is expected, Mr. Rodrigues said.

He added that cybersecurity will eventually be built into everything organizations do from the very start, with trends like cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) expected to add a layer of automation in cloud environments.

“Cloud-based AI/ML offers predictive capabilities derived from collected information that can play a role in making cybersecurity more proactive by identifying outliers and offering recommendations on how to address vulnerabilities,” Mr. Rodrigues added.

The workforce must also grow to keep data safe and be trained not just in technical skills like AI and cloud computing, but also in communication-related skills, he said.

He said cybersecurity professionals themselves name communication, flexibility, and leadership as the top three skills they can be better trained in, citing a 2022 study by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

In 2022, the International Information System Security Certification Consortium also found that there was a global shortage of 3.4 million cybersecurity practitioners.

Meanwhile, Reynaldo C. Lugtu, Jr., chairman of the Information and Communications Technology committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, told BusinessWorld in an interview that consumers can be prepared for risks if data security issues are better communicated to them.

Though the Philippines has made big strides for financial inclusion, Filipinos still have “issues of security, trust, and lack of knowledge,” he said.

“Financial institutions should give contact details for any issue [customers] encounter, like problems with accounts, money transfers, or transactions. They should be able to go to a chatbot, e-mail, or hotline,” Mr. Lugtu said in a mix of Filipino and English.

“What’ important is they communicate [security risks and protection measures] to consumers. With social media, they can reach a wide consumer base,” he added.  

HEALTHY DIGITAL HABITS
Meanwhile, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky released this month a list of five healthy digital habits for Filipinos this new year:

1. New year, new passwords – Start the new year with changing passwords on all accounts, without using the same one. Modern password managers have handy features like automatic generators that produce a unique and complex variation of one master password for each account.

2. Subscribe to notifications about account data leaks – Data leaks and breaches happen often and are a big threat to personal and corporate accounts. Use services that scan for the latest leaks to see whether they contain your data. Advanced password managers also include this feature and can quickly notify users if any of their saved logins or passwords are found in recent data leaks.

3. Need more privacy? Get a VPN – Known to allow users to access content like streaming services or games from anywhere in the world by hiding one’ original IP address, a virtual private network or a VPN lets a person stay private online. They are easy to use, provide high traffic speeds, and keep personal data safe.

4. Transfer documents to a safe place – People keep both paper originals and electronic versions of documents. Whether on a folder on the computer or uploaded to a password-protected cloud, any method can be insecure and lead to the loss of data. Modern password manager apps are a good alternative since they’re encrypted and capable of storing scans, PDFs, and other documents.

5. Learn more about your child’s hobbies on the Internet – It’s important to learn online safety from childhood so kids enter the digital world equipped with healthy digital habits. Parents who are not tech savvy must put in the effort to learn about secure online practices together with their child.

Vladislav Tushkanov, Kaspersky’s lead data scientist, said in a statement that privacy and security are not a result, but a process. Securing one’s account and digital footprint will require some dedication, he said.

“Small steps such as creating unique passwords for different accounts and using advanced tools like password managers can greatly boost your privacy while making this task much simpler. And there’s no better time to start a new, more secure digital life than in the new year,” he said. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

Net Foreign Direct Investment (Oct. 2022)

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) inflows rose to a six-month high in October, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Wednesday. Read the full story.

Net Foreign Direct Investment (Oct. 2022)

Former GSIS president is new SSS chief

FORMER Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) President and General Manager Rolando L. Macasaet has been appointed as the new president and chief executive officer of Social Security System (SSS) and took office on Tuesday.

Mr. Macasaet is the 20th SSS president and CEO and was appointed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. last week, state-run private sector pension fund SSS said in a statement on Wednesday.

He was the head of the GSIS, the state-run pension fund for government employees, for four years during the Duterte administration.

Mr. Macasaet replaced Michael G. Regino, who was appointed by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte and was SSS chief for nine months.

He took his oath of office as SSS chief before Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin in Malacañan Palace on Jan. 5.

“President Ferdinand R. Marcos has high expectations from us to provide guaranteed safety nets to the Filipino people. We have to work doubly hard so we could provide our current members and pensioners on what is just and due to them without putting in jeopardy the financial protection of current members and future pensioners,” Mr. Macasaet was quoted as saying.

Mr. Macasaet held leadership roles in government-owned and -controlled corporations from 1988 to 2005.

He has more than two decades of professional experience in financial services, banking, and public-private partnerships. He previously worked at Philippine National Bank and served as a board member of San Miguel Corp., Bank of Commerce, and Private Infrastructure and Development Corp., among others.

Mr. Macasaet obtained BS Business Economics and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of the Philippines. — A.M.C. Sy

Dining In/Out (01/12/23)

CHEF Domenico Nicolino — FACEBOOK.COM/THEPENINSULAMANILA

The Pen’s Old Manila returns

AFTER a two-year hiatus, The Peninsula Manila’s signature restaurant, Old Manila, reopens on Jan. 17 with a new chef de cuisine, Domenico Nicolino. Tables can be booked through 8887-2888 (extension 6691 or 6694) or e-mail DiningPMN@peninsula.com.

Grand Hyatt celebrates the Year of the Water Rabbit

USHER in the Year of the Water Rabbit in grand style with feasts and treats at Grand Hyatt Manila. There will be a Chinese New Year celebration at the Grand Ballroom on Jan. 22, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., complete with authentic Chinese cuisine featuring a live cooking show by the hotel’s Chinese master chefs, a prosperity toss, and lion dance performance. The Chinese New Year set menu at the Grand Ballroom starts at P25,888 net for six persons. Savor Chinese specialties at No. 8 China House, The Grand Kitchen, and The Lounge which are ready to welcome the new year. No. 8 China House has special Chinese New Year set menus starting at P14,880 net for four persons, available on Jan. 21 and 22 for lunch and dinner. Enjoy intimate gatherings in any of the restaurant’s seven private dining rooms for families or groups ranging from four to 22 persons. Guests may view the special menus at bit.ly/GHMCNY2023. The Grand Kitchen will offer a special Chinese New Year buffet on the eve of Jan. 21 and for lunch on Jan. 22 at P3,488 net per person. The guest-favorite Merienda Cena at The Lounge will also be serving traditional Chinese delicacies along with a spread of culinary creations to pair with tea, coffee, or free-flowing rosé available from Jan. 20 to 22 from 2:30 to 6 p.m. at P1,950 net. The hotel also has a Chinese New Year specialty cake and signature Nian Gao (tikoy) in traditional brown sugar flavor, which comes in gift boxes. These sweet confections are available in Florentine and through Dine at Home from Jan. 13 to 22. For inquiries and reservations, call 8838-1234 or e-mail manila.grand@hyatt.com.

Marco Polo Ortigas welcomes Rabbit year all month

IN honor of its Chinese heritage, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila (MPOM) is celebrating Chinese New Year with offers and activities throughout January. The five-star hotel is currently offering the traditional nian gao, more commonly known as tikoy, until Jan. 22. The rice cake comes in four variants: Double Gold Bar Nian Gao (P2,598); Double Flavored – Red Dates Sugar and Fortune Orange (P2,598); Red Dates Sugar Round Tikoy (P1,898); and Fortune Orange Round Tikoy (P1,898). Until Jan. 15 those who purchase a minimum of 10 boxes can enjoy 10% off their order. The hotel will also be hosting a 2023 forecast reading with Feng Shui Master Joseph Chau on Jan. 20, noon, at the Cantonese Lung Hin restaurant located on the 44th floor. From Jan. 16 to 22, Lung Hin will be offering a Lucky Rabbit Chinese New Year Set Menu. The 10-course menu costs at P52,888 for 10 people and P26,888 for five people. Rounding up the festivities will be the grand lion and dragon dance performance on Jan. 22. For reservations, call  7720 7777.

Birth year promo at Crowne Plaza

Seven Corners at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria joins the Chinese New Year festivities with a “Farewell, Tiger! Rabbit, Come Forth” promotion. Every day until Jan. 14, guests born on the Years of the Tiger and Rabbit can celebrate the Chinese New Year early by treating their friends and family to a lunch or dinner buffet at 50% off! From pasta to sushi, curry to steak, cakes to kakanin, diners can go around the culinary world. To take part in the promo, a valid ID must be presented upon dining with birth years: 1926, 1927, 1938, 1939, 1950, 1951, 1962, 1963, 1974, 1975, 1986, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2022, and 2023. The promo is applicable to a minimum of two guests and maximum of eight guests, with the discount applying on the total food bill after taxes and service charge. It is available for in-house and walk-in guests; prior reservation is encouraged via 8790-3100, e-mail fandb.reservations@ihg.com, and Viber 0927-163-0128

Nespresso, Angel Chen collaborate on Lunar New Year edition

NESPRESSO teams up with Chinese fashion designer Angel Chen for a limited-edition Lunar New Year collection to ring in the Year of the Rabbit. The Nespresso X Angel Chen collaboration features a patchwork rabbit design fashioned out of unused wools, hand-woven materials, and lace from Chen’s past collections and recycled Nespresso jute coffee bags. The patchwork design is an interesting yet pragmatic way to give selected materials a second life while also symbolizing the coming together of family and friends during this special time of the year. As part of the collection, there is a range of selected coffee, machines, and gifts in the limited edition Lunar New Year design. The collection offers exclusive coffee sleeve wraps in the season’s festive colors and features the rabbit patchwork design for five-sleeve and 10-sleeve coffee assortment packs, and a travel mug in festive red. Purchase any Nespresso machine along with one coffee sleeve and get the limited-edition Nespresso X Angel Chen Travel Mug and the exclusively crafted cotton pouch with a patchwork rabbit designed by Angel Chan. Those who purchase 10 sleeves of Nespresso coffees can bring home the crafted cotton pouch made from sustainable and upcycled materials. Two new recipes inspired by the auspicious ingredients of the season and incorporating Chen’s favorite ingredients such as pomelo, have also been created. One is Peanut Mocha – made from Nespresso Master Origins Nicaragua, milk, chocolate syrup, peanut butter spread, and pistachio nuts. Peanuts and pistachio nuts are popular snacks during this time of the year and are often associated with good luck and happiness. The other is Sweet Reunion, with World Explorations Shanghai Lungo as its base, apple juice, pomelo honey jam, and slices of apples are added to give the drink a fruity freshness. The Chinese pronunciation of pomelo is similar to the word “bless” and the round shape of the pomelo is often associated with “family reunion.” They are also widely considered to bring good luck to the household. The limited-edition Nespresso X Angel Chen collection is available in Nespresso boutiques located in Power Plant Mall, Podium Mall, Robinsons Magnolia, One Bonifacio High Street Mall, Mitsukoshi BGC, and Ayala Center Cebu, pop-up stores in Greenbelt 5, Shangri-La Plaza, TriNoma, Alabang Town Center, and SM Mall of Asia, and online at www.nespresso.ph.

Shangri-La The Fort marks the coming of the Water Rabbit

SHANGRI-LA The Fort’s restaurant Canton Road celebrates the coming of the Year of the Water Rabbit with Executive Chinese Chef Wang Wei Qing sharing regional Chinese specialties for prosperous family celebrations, special dishes, a signature collection of nian gao (tikoy), and Lunar New Year hampers. Canton Road presents Chef Wang’s signature and specialty dishes good for a minimum of five dining guests. There are the Emerald, Jade, Gold, and Diamond set menus, as well as special Year of the Water Rabbit menu items. Each menu features nine dishes including: US beef tenderloin with foie gras in crispy garlic pepper sauce; Ming Dynasty roasted Peking duck; Steamed pink grouper with ginger soy sauce; Australian scallops, prawn balls, and asparagus in XO sauce; and Norwegian salmon yee sang. The restaurant’s private dining rooms can accommodate groups ranging from five to 15 diners. For more information and restaurant reservations, e-mail eats.slfm@shangri-la.com. Meanwhile, Canton Road’s nian gao treasure boxes are available in three flavors and two variants: the Longevity Box with a 400-gm fish-shaped steamed coconut nian gao (P2,888 net); the Prosperity Box, a double layer square nian gao treasure box (P3,988 net) with a choice of a 400-gm fish-shaped steamed coconut nian gao, 800-gm ube (purple yam) and red coconut sugar with pili nuts nian gao, or an 800-gm radish cake nian gao. There are also three specialty hampers: the Fa Cai Hamper (P3,888 net) which contains a pack of spicy cashew nuts, a box of Bake House Conscious cookies, a jar of spicy beef sauce, Shangri-La green tea, a pack of Chinese dried red dates, a box of fortune cookies, a pack of Chinese dried red dates, and a 750ml bottle of Renmano Chairman Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021; the Xin Nian Kuai Le Hamper (P5,888 net) which contains a jar of spicy beef sauce, a pack of spicy cashew nuts, a box of Bake House Conscious cookies, a box of rabbit-shaped sugar cookies, Shangri-La green tea, a caramel dark chocolate bar, two 400-gm fish-shaped nian gao, a jar of mixed candied fruits, a 750-ml bottle of Renmano Chairman Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021, and a 750-ml bottle of Renmano Chairman Chardonnay, 2019; and the Gong Xi Fa Cai Hamper (P7,888 net) which contains a pack of Chinese dried wolfberries, two packs of Chinese red dates, a box of fortune cookies, a jar of vegetarian XO sauce, a pack of spicy cashew nuts, a box of rabbit-shaped sugar cookies, Shangri-La green tea, a bar of caramel dark chocolate, two 400-gm fish-shaped nian gao, a jar of mixed candied fruits, a 700-ml bottle of Hennessy VS Cognac, and one 750-ml bottle of Renmano Chairman Chardonnay, 2019. Pre-order is required with a lead time of 24 hours; 48 hours for bulk orders with a minimum of 10 boxes. For more information on how to order, visit https://www.shangrilafortexclusives.com/ or e-mail  eats.slfm@shangri-la.com.

Mang Inasal kicks off 20th anniversary with 2-in-1 deals

MANG INASAL kicks off its year-long 20th anniversary celebration with the “2-in-1 AnniverSAYA Deals” at all its branches nationwide until Feb. 28. Simply present the physical or digital coupon to get the discounts. Check out these 2-in-1 AnniverSAYA deals at all Mang Inasal stores nationwide: https://bit.ly/MangInasalBRANCHES.

Kenny Rogers Roasters unveils 3D billboard

KENNY ROGERS Roasters has unveiled its first larger-than-life and hyper-realistic billboard in EDSA corner Apo St., Mandaluyong. It showcases four products in 3D effect, starting with its signature Kenny Rogers Roasters’ Roasted Chicken which is seen being slowly cooked in the rotisserie oven. Next is the Baby Back Ribs on Brick Oven which is shown marinated and slowly cooked. The restaurant chain also features its other classic offerings including its Signature Corn Muffins, as well as eight of its all-time favorite side dishes and its latest addition — the Spinach Mashed Potato. Kenny Rogers Roasters will also be dressing up its delivery truck with a 3D Roasted Chicken which will roam around the streets of Metro Manila. Kenny Rogers Roasters’ signature offerings available for dine-in, takeout, or delivery through www.kennyrogersdelivery.com.ph, hotline: 8-555-9000, or via Grab Food and Food Panda.

Fabelmans, Banshees win top awards as Hollywood embraces Golden Globes

STEVEN SPIELBERG poses with his awards for Best Director in a Motion Picture and Best Picture Drama for The Fabelmans at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, Jan. 10. — REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin landed the top movie awards at the Golden Globes on Tuesday as Hollywood returned to a show that had been knocked off television by scandal.

The Fabelmans, a coming-of-age story based on Mr. Spielberg’s teen years, was named best movie drama at the star-studded ceremony. Banshees of Inisherin, the story of feuding friends on an Irish island, won best movie musical or comedy.

The awards are likely to give both movies a boost on the road to the Academy Awards in March.

Celebrities and broadcaster NBC abandoned the 2022 Globes because of ethical lapses at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the group that hands out the awards.

A larger, more diverse membership and other changes by the HFPA persuaded many of the biggest movie and TV stars to support this year’s ceremony, which provides publicity for winners and nominees and often boosts their chances at the Oscars.

The show unfolded largely as it had in years past, except for a biting monologue from comedian and host Jerrod Carmichael who opened the show joking, “I’m here because I’m black.”

“One day you’re making mint tea at home. The next day you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organization,” he said at the ceremony, which was broadcast live on Comcast Corp.’s NBC network and streamed on Peacock.

Roughly 200 journalists and others from the international film industry voted on this year’s Globes. Among those voters, nearly 52% are racially and ethnically diverse, including 10% who are Black, according to the HFPA.

The following is the full list of winners:

MOVIES
Best Picture-drama — The Fabelmans

Best Picture-musical Or Comedy — The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Animated Film — Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Picture (Non-English Language) — Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)

Best Actress, Drama — Cate Blanchett, Tar

Best Actor, Drama — Austin Butler, Elvis

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy — Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy — Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actress — Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Supporting Actor — Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Director — Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

Best Screenplay — The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin Mcdonagh

Best Original Score — Babylon, Justin Hurwitz

Best Original Song — RRR’s “Naatu Naatu” by Kala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani, Rahul Sipligunj

TELEVISION
Best Drama Series — House of the Dragon

Best Musical or Comedy Series — Abbott Elementary

Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie — The White Lotus

Best Actress, Drama — Zendaya, Euphoria

Best Actor, Drama — Kevin Costner, Yellowstone

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy — Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy — Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Best Supporting Actress, Musical, Comedy or Drama — Julia Garner, Ozark

Best Supporting Actor, Musical, Comedy or Drama — Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

Best Actress, Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie — Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

Best Actor, Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie — Evan Peters, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Best Supporting Actress, Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie – Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus

Best Supporting Actor, Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie — Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird

— Reuters

SM group pushes resiliency agenda in post-pandemic strategy

BUSINESSES need to include economic and societal resilience in their long-term strategy, the top official of SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) said, as he pointed to the lessons from the pandemic’s disruptions.

Frederic C. DyBuncio, president and chief executive officer of SMIC, said the world is approaching the end of the pandemic with businesses turning optimistic about sustaining a post-pandemic rebound.

“While this positive outlook may result in better conditions for businesses and the job market, we need to take a broader view of our resilience strategy if we are to bounce back better for the long term,” Mr. DyBuncio said.

Businesses should learn from the disruptions that were caused by the pandemic and come out with plans for the environment, he said.

He pointed out that the Philippines sits within the typhoon belt, an area where more than 30% of the world’s tropical cyclones form, thus the pressing need to implement a mitigation roadmap.

According to Mr. DyBuncio, the SM group has focused on answering the need for a robust ecosystem to sustain developing countries through the impact of climate change.

SM puts 10% of its capital expenditure into incorporating disaster resiliency and sustainability in its infrastructure designs, disaster preparedness of its communities, and forwarding disaster resiliency advocacies among local governments and international communities.

“The conglomerate’s property arm, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is leading the charge within the group,” said SMIC.

Mr. DyBuncio also emphasized the need to “correct” the perception of the impact of global issues on the Philippines.

“[Climate change is not one of them] as it increases the risk of biodiversity loss, natural resource crisis, and human environmental damage,” said Mr. DyBuncio.

The SM group, with its aim of playing an important role in curtailing societal impacts, has signed on to the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.

Through this, SM “will be assessing its risks and taking practical steps to reduce its impact by shifting to renewable energy sources to power its operations, among other actions,” Mr. DyBuncio said.

Mr. DyBuncio said that the group aims to change the Filipino’s future and its people into a more climate-resilient one.

“We urge that we look at our climate agenda through the lens of the Philippines’ agenda and the realities that Filipino businesses and local communities face every day,” he added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

Weaponized AI: How organizations can prepare to deal with the threat

TRUSTPAIR.COM

By Ramprakash Ramamoorthy

AS organizations gear up to construct robust, secure ecosystems, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a competent tool for enhancing their security postures. Despite AI’s transformative capabilities in cybersecurity, it can also be weaponized by hackers to disrupt the security networks of companies. McKinsey & Company report that hackers are carrying out increasingly sophisticated attacks using AI, machine learning (ML), and other technologies.

A weaponized AI system breaks down performance and disrupts normal operations by leveraging vulnerabilities in a network. AI’s unique abilities — such as information retention, learned intelligence, automation, and improved speed — are used to penetrate networks and systems. By weaponizing AI to model adaptable attacks and develop intelligent malware programs, cybercriminals have been able to program these attacks to collect knowledge of factors that proved to be successful.

A data breach in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region takes roughly 184 days to identify and 65 days to contain, according to data from Ponemon Institute. Threat actors may exploit this knowledge when initiating cyberattacks. Despite the fact that the digital economy in the ASEAN region is predicted to grow by $1 trillion over the next 10 years, many organizations in the ASEAN region lack the appropriate cybersecurity awareness and security infrastructure to effectively mitigate the risk of AI-enabled attacks. This can impede the digital transformation initiative undertaken in the region.

A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: AI USED TO PERPETRATE CYBERATTACKS
Features that make AI and ML systems vital to businesses, such as the automation of predictions through analyzing large volumes of data and finding patterns, are the very same features that cybercriminals abuse.

DATA POISONING
By making minute adjustments to parameters or creating carefully thought–out scenarios, hackers can subtly influence the data sets used to train AI while gradually guiding it in the wrong direction. Although it may be impossible to verify the veracity of data and inputs, every attempt should be taken to collect data from reliable sources. Incorporate anomaly detection as much as possible, give AI adversarial examples to help it identify malicious inputs, and isolate AI systems with safety features that make the systems simple to shut down if something starts to go wrong.

DEEPFAKES
Deepfakes, a portmanteau of “deep learning” and “fake media,” entail the use of AI methods to modify audio and visual content to make it appear legitimate. Deepfakes are ideal for use in disinformation campaigns, because it is challenging to instantly distinguish them from authentic content, even with the aid of technology. Deepfakes can reach millions of people worldwide at unprecedented speeds due to the widespread usage of the internet and social media. It is crucial that people understand how convincing AI-powered deepfakes can be and how they can be utilized maliciously.

MIMICKING TRUSTED SYSTEMS
Cybercriminals create malware that can impersonate a managed, secure system using AI technologies. Cybercriminals can therefore carry out stealthy ransomware assaults by integrating into a company’s security network. This malware has the potential to pass security layers and access sensitive information unique to organizations. Legacy systems may not be able to detect such threats, which may lead to a major security risk. Thus, sophisticated attacks call for an advanced, AI-enabled cyberdefense framework that can facilitate a robust security structure.

HOW TO DEFEND AGAINST AI-POWERED CYBERCRIME
An integrated approach in which all the concerned stakeholders (employees, organizations, institutions, and agencies) are responsible for combatting AI-powered cybercrime is an absolute necessity. To match the scope and sophistication of future threats, organizations will need to use AI tools in addition to the standard cybersecurity best practices. But to prevent AI from being used by hackers, the way it is created and commercialized will also need to be managed. In a report on the abuses of AI, Europol urged governments to create particular data protection frameworks for AI and to make sure that these systems follow security-by-design principles.

By creating a baseline of typical behaviour and promptly identifying anomalies in things like server access and data traffic, AI can be quite successful at network monitoring and analytics. Early intrusion detection provides the best opportunity of reducing the harm that AI can cause. As AI learns and develops, it might eventually be given the authority to neutralize threats on its own and prevent breaches in real time, even if it may initially be ideal to have AI systems flag problems and alert information technology (IT) departments so they can investigate.

ManageEngine’s IT at work: 2022 and beyond survey found that 82% of respondents in Singapore believe AI and ML technologies will play a significant role in strengthening their IT security frameworks in the near future. AI can learn when alerts are effective, just as it can model typical behavior, learn how users interact with systems, identify vulnerabilities and viruses, and comprehend what constitutes an emergent threat. AI can gain experience and improve at defending the organization’s network as it expands and receives more feedback on its choices.

From a security perspective, a multi-stakeholder effort is imperative to establishing an appropriate risk-response framework. Relevant agencies and industry bodies are working together to identify emerging security risks associated with such technology adoption and to build capabilities to address these risks. Engaging with the broader AI community, including researchers and experts, to encourage the development of responsible approaches to the use of AI in cybersecurity, and to help ensure that the technology is used for the greater good will pave the way for ethical AI. Organizations will become more adept at reducing AI’s risks as they better grasp the technology.

 

Ramprakash Ramamoorthy is the Director of Research at ManageEngine.

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