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Economic team pushes for approval of Maharlika Wealth Fund

A Philippines peso note is seen in this picture illustration on June 2, 2017. — REUTERS

Economic managers said they “strongly support” the creation of the Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF), after lawmakers agreed to remove a provision in the bill that would have sourced its funding from state-run pension funds.“We, the economic managers of the Marcos Jr. administration, strongly support the creation of the Maharlika Wealth Fund as a vehicle to move forward the Agenda for Prosperity and achieve the economic goals of the administration,” economic managers said in a statement.The statement was signed by Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe M. Medalla.In a press briefing on Friday, Mr. Diokno called for the immediate enactment of the bill creating the MWF.“The establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund is a tried and tested investment vehicle that has been used by governments in both first world and developing countries to achieve their economic objectives,” he said.Instead of using pension funds, the Finance chief said the proposed measure is being revised by lawmakers to require the BSP to contribute 100% of its annual dividends into the sovereign wealth fund for the first two years.“On the succeeding fiscal years, the central bank shall remit 50% of its declared dividend to the fund and remaining 50% to the National Government (NG). The funding increased capitalization of the BSP so we will transfer 50% to the NG and it will go back to BSP. Thereafter, the BSP shall remit 100% of its declared dividend to the funds,” Mr. Diokno said.In 2019, the BSP recorded a net income of P46.1 billion, declaring dividends of P23.05 billion. Its net income stood at P31.79 billion in 2020 with its declared dividend at around P15.89 billion. Last year, the BSP recorded a net income of P34.81 billion, while its dividends amounted to P17.41 billion. “The investible funds will be channeled through diversified asset and development projects, this will complement the NG budget and infrastructure programs. Instead of reducing revenues, the BSP investing a portion to the fund will have the effect of magnifying the return on investments,” he said. Several lawmakers led by House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., and Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, the President’s son, recently filed a bill seeking to create a sovereign wealth fund.However, several business associations, economic policy groups, civil society organizations and labor groups have opposed the measure, citing concerns over lack of transparency, possible corruption and misuse of pension funds.On Wednesday, House committee on appropriations senior vice chair and Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo said that the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) will be removed as sources of funding for the MWF.However, Mr. Diokno said that the pension funds may still contribute to the fund eventually. “We are not mandating them to contribute, but if they’re looking for higher returns, because most their money is invested in Treasury bills, they don’t earn that much. If they want higher returns, they can contribute but that is up to the respective boards of GSIS and SSS,” he said. Apart from the BSP, initial capitalization of the fund shall be sourced from Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Mr. Diokno said. Other sources of funds are the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), which will provide at least 10% of gross gaining revenue streams. The National Government will also provide contributions, as authorized in the General Appropriations Act (GAA). “Other sources include royalties and special assessment from natural resources based on the fiscal regime to be implemented by NG. Also included are proceeds of privation of government assets,” Mr. Diokno added. Mr. Diokno said the wealth fund can boost investment and funding of big-ticket infrastructure projects, and high-return “green” and “blue projects, as well as countryside development.“A Sovereign Wealth Fund will enhance our fiscal space and reduce fiscal pressures as the fund pursues public infrastructure projects, as well as reduce uncertainties in cases when fund resources are channeled to high-yielding financial undertakings and assets that are underinvested in today’s environment of high global inflation and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.“Ultimately, this will redound to growth and help us achieve our economic transformation towards inclusivity and sustainability.” — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson 

US House panel chair says she’ll subpoena FTX’s Bankman-Fried if needed

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former chief executive officer of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. — WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters told Reuters on Thursday that she is prepared to subpoena FTX founder Sam Bankman–Fried if he does not agree to appear before the panel next week and she is working out the best way to do it.

“We’ve made it clear that we want Sam at our hearing on Dec. 13. If he does not cooperate, then we are prepared to subpoena,” Ms Waters said in an interview in the US Capitol.

Regulators around the globe, including in the Bahamas, where FTX is based, and in the United States, are investigating the role of FTX’s top executives including Mr. Bankman–Fried in the firm’s stunning collapse, Reuters has previously reported. The crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy last month after a liquidity crisis that saw at least $1 billion of customer funds vanish.

Prosecutors and regulators have not charged Mr. Bankman–Fried with any crime. Read full story

Mr. Bankman-Fried missed a Thursday evening deadline to respond to a Senate Banking Committee request to testify at a hearing, raising the possibility of a subpoena, Axios reported.

Ms. Waters said she has the authority to issue a subpoena herself but could put it to a committee vote, adding she would first work out the procedure with Representative Patrick McHenry, the Republican lawmaker who will chair the panel when his party assumes control of the House in January.

She said no decision has been made so far. “I could really do it myself. We’d probably do a vote,” she said. “I have to work it out with Mr. McHenry how we do it. But we will issue a subpoena.”

“Either he participates or not. And that’s when we make our decision,” Ms. Waters said. “It’s only proper and right, and makes good sense, to say we want you here.”

She declined to say whether Mr. Bankman–Fried would be required to appear in person or could testify by video link.

A spokesperson for Mr. Bankman–Fried declined to comment. McHenry’s office was not immediately available for comment. – Reuters

Japanese billionaire Maezawa picks K-pop star TOP, DJ Steve Aoki to join SpaceX moon trip

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Lim Yaw Keong from Pixabay

TOKYO – Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa revealed on Friday that K-pop star TOP and DJ Steve Aoki will be among the eight crew members he plans to take on a trip around the moon as soon as next year, hitching a ride on one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets.

Maezawa bought every seat on the maiden lunar voyage, which has been in the works since 2018 and would follow his trip on a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for a 12-day stint last year.

The picks were announced by Maezawa on Twitter and at a website for what he dubbed the #dearMoon Project.

The fashion tycoon and his crew would become the first passengers on the SpaceX flyby of the moon as commercial firms, including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, usher in a new age of space travel for wealthy clients.

The mission aboard SpaceX‘s Starship vehicle is scheduled to take eight days from launch to return to earth, including three days circling the moon, coming within 200 kilometres from the lunar surface. Though the flight was scheduled for 2023, it is facing delays due to ongoing tests of the spacecraft and its rockets.

Like fellow billionaire Musk, Maezawa has a flare for promotion and an infatuation with Twitter — he has boasted to holding the Guinness world record for the most retweeted post, when he offered a cash prize of 1 million yen ($7300) to 100 winners for retweeting it.

Maezawa used the micro-blogging site to recruit eight crew members from around the world to join him on the moon trip, saying 1 million people had applied.

TOP, the stage name of Choi Seung Hyun who broke out with the K-pop group Big Bang, is among the higher profile members selected, along with Aoki, a Japanese-American musician and DJ whose father founded the Benihana restaurant chain.

“I feel great pride and responsibility in becoming the first Korean civilian going to the moon,” TOP said in a video posted after the announcement.

Indian actor Dev Joshi was also among the picks for the group, comprised largely of artists and photographers. U.S. Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were named as backup crew members.

Maezawa, 47, flagged an update to the lunar expedition on Monday, tweeting he’d held an online meeting with Musk and was readying a “big announcement about space.”

Maezawa made his fortune founding the online fashion retailer Zozo Inc., in which Softbank Group Corp’s 9984.T internet business is now the top shareholder. – Reuters

Microsoft gaming ambitions hobbled as US seeks to block Activision deal

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Quentin Le Gohic from Pixabay

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Thursday moved to block Microsoft‘s $69 billion bid to buy “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard, throwing a stumbling block in front of the tech giant’s plans to rapidly expand its portfolio of popular games and catch up to bigger rivals.

Microsoft, which owns the Xbox console and game network platform, said in January 2022 that it would buy Activision for $68.7 billion in the biggest gaming industry deal in history.

Without Activision and its variety of games across mobile, consoles and PCs, Microsoft could struggle to attract users to its budding subscription service for accessing games. Drawing subscribers has become a priority for big tech companies as traditional growth sources such as ad sales become less reliable.

The US software company had said it wanted the deal to help it compete with gaming leaders Tencent 0700.HK and PlayStation owner Sony 6758.T, which has criticized the deal.

But, in its complaint, the US Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust law, said that Microsoft had a record of hoarding valuable gaming content.

“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” said Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition

. “Today, we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”

The agency set a hearing before an administrative law judge for August 2023.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said the company would fight the FTC. “While we believed in giving peace a chance, we have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court,” he said.

The Biden administration has taken a more aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement. The US Department of Justice recently stopped a $2.2 billion merger of Penguin Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, and smaller US rival Simon & Schuster.

“This is more evidence of the administration’s and the antitrust agencies’ war against big tech,” said Andre Barlow of the law firm Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have prioritized big tech in antitrust enforcement.

Shares in Activision closed down 1.5% at $74.76, while Microsoft slipped from earlier highs but closed about 1% higher at $247.40.

Activision, which has long dreamt of being a Disney-like entertainment conglomerate, also realized it needed more tech know-how and it could be forced to trim back its roster of games to shift resources into emerging areas such as AI.

 

COMPETITION CONCERNS

The FTC said that its concern was that Activision‘s popular games, including “World of Warcraft” and “Diablo,” would not continue to be offered on a range of consoles, PCs and mobile devices.

While Microsoft has suggested concessions to address competition concerns, the rapid pace of change in the tech and gaming industries could make those conditions useless over time.

To woo regulators, shortly after the deal was announced Microsoft unveiled a new set of principles for its app store, including open access to developers who meet privacy and security standards.

This month, in another move to blunt criticism, Microsoft entered into a 10-year commitment to offer “Call of Duty,” the popular first-person shooter series, to Nintendo platforms. Microsoft made the same offer to Sony.

Antitrust challenges have stumbled when companies put forward a “fix” for antitrust harms being done by a deal, said William Kovacic, a former FTC chair who now teaches law.

“I think we can predict with a high degree of certainty that he (the judge) will listen to those arguments (from Microsoft) and may be sympathetic to it,” said Kovacic.

Chair Lina Khan and the two Democrats on the commission voted to approve the complaint, while Commissioner Christine Wilson, a Republican, voted no.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick told employees on Thursday that he was confident that the deal would go forward.

“The allegation that this deal is anti-competitive doesn’t align with the facts, and we believe we’ll win this challenge,” he told employees, saying that he believed the companies’ arguments would win “despite a regulatory environment focused on ideology and misconceptions about the tech industry.”

The deal also faces regulatory headwinds in Europe.

As of late November, Microsoft was expected to offer remedies to EU antitrust regulators in the coming weeks to stave off formal objections to the deal, people familiar with the matter said. The deadline for the European Commission to set out a formal list of competition concerns, known as a statement of objection, is in January. – Reuters

ECB to raise deposit rate by 50 bps on Dec 15 as bloc enters winter recession

LONDON – The European Central Bank will take its deposit rate up by 50 basis points next week to 2.00%, despite the euro zone economy almost certainly being in recession, as it battles inflation running at five times its target, a Reuters poll found.

Since starting its inflation-fighting campaign in July, later than its peers, the ECB has been raising rates at its fastest pace on record and has already added 200 basis points to its key deposit rate, taking it to 1.50%.

According to the Dec. 5-8 Reuters poll, banks will earn 2.00% on deposits after policymakers meet on Thursday, the most since 2009. The refinancing rate will also move up by 50 basis points, to 2.50%.

The median view for the deposit rate was held by 51 of 60 economists surveyed, while two said the ECB would be more cautious and seven said it would be more aggressive.

When it last met in late October, the Governing Council topped up key rates by 75 basis points.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is also widely expected to downshift to a 50 basis point move following four consecutive 75 basis point increases at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday, the day before the ECB decision. ECILT/US

“The ECB‘s meeting next week is one of the few meetings at which the central bank will take a decision after the Federal Reserve and not before it. A slowing of the Fed’s rate hike pace could have an impact on the ECB as well,” said Carsten Brzeski at ING.

“The drop in headline inflation, as little as it says about the impact of the rate hikes so far, could at least take away some of the urgency to continue with jumbo rate hikes.”

Prices rose a much less than expected 10.0% last month on a year earlier, suggesting inflation across the 19 countries that use the euro might have peaked and bolstering the case for the ECB to slow its pace of increases.

Findings in the poll agreed and showed inflation would top out this quarter, at 10.3%, and then decline. But it was not seen at the Bank’s 2.0% target at any point on the polling horizon out to 2025.

ECB President Christine Lagarde suggested at the bank’s last meeting that it would set out a plan this month for reducing its bond holdings under the Asset Purchase Program.

The poll said it would reduce the stock by 175 billion euros next year, with forecasts ranging from 75 billion to 600 billion euros.

 

TURN ON THE HEAT

Policymakers face the dilemma of tightening policy just as the currency bloc heads into recession. Respondents in the poll gave a median 80% chance of one within a year.

Quarterly forecasts in the survey showed the economy would contract 0.3% this quarter and 0.4% next, meeting the technical definition of recession. It will then flatline in Q2 and expand 0.3% in the final two quarters of 2023.

Across this year the poll of 69 economists showed it would expand 3.2% before contracting 0.1% in 2023. In 2024 it will expand 1.3%.

When asked what sort of recession the bloc would endure, the vast majority of respondents said short and shallow, although 20 of 30 economists cautioned the risks to their growth forecasts were to the downside.

“We expect a short recession linked to the energy shock in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023, mitigated by government measures and followed by a moderate recovery from Q2,” said Luca Mezzomo at Intesa Sanpaolo.

Energy costs have soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but many governments have introduced price caps and subsidies to support consumers as citizens head into winter and need to heat their homes. – Reuters

Ahead in the cloud

Group behind Landers expands to digital through ePLDT’s end-to-end cloud-based solutions

Data is becoming the lifeline of businesses today. Organizations are beginning to realize that they have to know how to store and manage data and harness its power to help them make more informed decisions much quicker.

A cloud-based environment is seen to give enterprises this kind of flexibility, and the group behind famous brands such as Landers Superstore, Popeyes Philippines, Kuya J Restaurant has been maximizing such benefits of adopting cloud technology in their operations.

A giant on the rise with more than a million members, seven superstores and a dozen more in the pipeline, plus a growing number of restaurants to its name, Unido Capital Holdings Inc. has landed “in the cloud” in its aim for the skies.

Francis Reyes, the group’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer, said that cloud adoption has helped their retail brand Landers expand beyond its physical stores onto the digital realm, even before the pandemic accelerated the need for such paradigm shifts in 2020.

Unido Capital Holdings Inc. Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Francis Reyes

“To tell you honestly, we didn’t pivot with Landers during the pandemic because we have already started setting up our e-commerce business, Landers.ph, way before in 2017. Because of this, Landers has enjoyed steady growth and, in fact, holds the lead when it comes to grocery shopping within Metro Manila,” Mr. Reyes shared.

The group, however, did have to pivot for its food businesses by creating Central Delivery, an online platform that enabled the group’s restaurants to continuously serve its customers when the lockdowns slowed foot traffic to a virtual halt.

“In just 22 days, we were able to come up with Central.ph sometime in April 2020, through which we offered our customers not just delivery services, but also exclusive discounts and promos,” Mr. Reyes explained.

Nonetheless, the pandemic further emphasized the growing importance of cloud solutions to modern businesses.

“Cloud services were very important to us back then and is still very important to us now. We were able to mobilize and use that robust technology to go online almost instantaneously,” he added.

In undertaking these endeavors, the group needed a reliable partner that would not only provide access to necessary solutions, but also empower the company and its people to understand these new technologies.

“It’s also about trust. We can have access to a lot of things – information, technology, other resources – but trust is never quite as easy to access. It needs to be developed [and] have a good foundation,” Mr. Reyes added. “PLDT, being around for decades, epitomizes Filipino technology. It is something we trust.”

With the help of experts from ePLDT and PLDT Enterprise, Mr. Reyes and his team were able to create suitable cloud-based solutions and services that helped Landers maximize programs such as Salesforce Cloud, Amazon S3, and Microsoft Azure.

The Unido Holdings Group executive credited PLDT for helping them get the right solutions that they do not know of yet at first.

“Obviously, there are solutions for infrastructure that had to be set up for customer support and services. These include anything from e-mail services to analytics, customer relationship management (CRM) to artificial intelligence. We have been looking for and eager to have these, and PLDT has all these in its arsenal,” Mr. Reyes said.

Among their most complex and useful undertakings is Project Giga CRM, which aims to improve contact and data management by connecting all the stores and datapoints in the cloud.

Project Giga CRM also employs a new module that greatly improves the quality of customer center support that can, for one, automatically convert messages, inquiries, and feedback from the website and other social media assets into tickets that can be traced, monitored and, most importantly, resolved.

The new CRM system also provides a weekly report on product supplies, data on top spenders per branch, tracks the number of members converted via canvassers, gauges campaign performance by comparing costs against revenue, and monitor sign-up and renewal rates by measuring them against targets.

Growth beyond the pandemic

While the pandemic seems to be winding down, its impact in the way the world conducts business is here to stay. Landers and its affiliates, having found their place in the cloud, is testament to this.

At the recently-held PH Digicon 2022, Dennis Jimenez, chief information officer of Landers affiliate Kuya J Food Group, said that the solutions worked because they are “scalable, agile, available and cost-efficient,” and that they intend to build on these gains in the coming years.

“Today, we are assured that the right tech is always available for us and that we can make our vision happen, even during challenging times, as we’ve seen in the past couple of years,” Retail E-Commerce Business Head Ryan Pangilinan added.

For Mr. Reyes, his sights are currently set on making sure that Landers’ goals soon turn into milestones, as it gears towards having more than 20 stores by 2024 and tripling the brand’s worth by 2026.

The group is also aiming to operate 100 Kuya J and 400 Popeye’s physical stores by 2026; and such goals are seemingly within reach. This is based on Landers’ 53 percent growth in the past couple of years and its recording of the highest number of transactions for Popeye’s in the Philippines, as compared to other franchise holders in other parts of the world.

Impressive as the numbers are, however, Mr. Reyes maintains that their primary motivation is still the people, particularly its more than 1 million members, more than 10,000 employees, and the thousands of others they serve through Landers.ph and Central.ph.

In meeting its goals and reaching customers, a cloud-empowered Landers group is definitely not alone on its journey.

“With ePLDT and PLDT Enterprise, we don’t just get access to the cloud or to new technologies. We are able to sit down and think of solutions together. And that is why we truly value this partnership,” Mr. Reyes said.

For more on ePLDT’s multi-cloud solutions, contact your Relationship Manager or visit www.ePLDT.com.

 

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GIR drops to $93.95B as of end-Nov.

Five-dollar bills are inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., March 26, 2015. — REUTERS

THE PHILIPPINES’ dollar reserves dipped as of end-November as the National Government paid some of its debt obligations and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) continued to defend the peso.

Data released by the BSP on Wednesday evening showed gross international reserves (GIR) stood at $93.95 billion as of end-November, slipping 0.08% from the $94.03 billion as of end-October. 

The dollar reserves declined 12.8% from the $107.72 billion as of end-November 2021.

“The month-on-month decrease in the GIR level reflected mainly the National Government’s (NG) payments of its foreign currency debt obligations and the BSP’s net foreign exchange operations,” the central bank said. 

As of end-November, the dollar reserves were enough to cover 6.9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.2 times based on residual maturity.

It is also equivalent to 7.5 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

Ample foreign exchange buffers protect the country from market volatility and serves as a guarantee for the economy’s ability to pay its debts in the event of an economic downturn.

According to the BSP, net international reserves dipped 0.07% to $93.93 billion as of end-October 2022 from $94 billion a year ago.

Net international reserves are the difference between the BSP’s reserve assets (GIR) and reserve liabilities such as short-term foreign debt, and credit and loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Broken down, the BSP’s foreign investments stood at $79.29 billion as of end-November, slipping 0.8% from the $79.96 billion a month earlier. This was also 13.4% down from the $91.51 billion a year earlier.

Foreign currency deposits declined by 7.7% to $1.32 billion in November from $1.43 billion in October, and by 47% from the $2.49 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, buffers in the form of gold were valued at $8.96 billion, or higher by 8.3% than the $8.27 billion as of end-October, but still lower by 0.4% from the $9 billion a year earlier.

The country’s reserve position in the IMF also rose 2.2% to $755 million from $739 million in the prior month, but dipped by 3.5% from the $782 million as of end-November 2021.      

Special drawing rights (SDRs) — or the amount the country can tap from the IMF — was higher by 0.11% at $3.624 billion from the $3.62 billion in a month prior. However, it was lower by 8.1% from the $3.942 billion a year earlier.

The Philippines received $2.8 billion worth of SDRs from the IMF in August 2019 as part of the latter’s efforts to help countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The BSP is expecting to end the year with $99 billion in dollar reserves, and $100 billion by end-2023.

Year to date, the GIR has declined by 12.8% from the $108.8 billion as of end-2021 due to the weaker peso in recent months, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in an e-mail note.

The BSP intervenes in the foreign exchange market to smoothen the volatility, especially as the peso slumped to a record low of P59 against the dollar in October. The local unit has since bounced back to the P55-a-dollar level.

“GIR likely to inch higher to close out the year with the peso appreciating sharply,” ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in a Viber message. “Strong dollar theme fading somewhat with expectations that the Fed would be slowing pace of rate hikes.”

The US Federal Reserve has so far increased rates by 375 basis points from near-zero in March to within 3.75-4%, which was described as the fastest monetary tightening since the early 1980s.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the Philippines has more than enough foreign exchange reserves for a proposed sovereign wealth fund, saying there was “too much ammunition.”

An initial version of the bill proposing the Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF) had sought to tap state pension funds and the BSP’s foreign exchange buffers as a source of funds.

However, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo said they are now looking to use the BSP’s profits for the MWF, after a meeting with BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla on Wednesday.

Ms. Quimbo said the House Committee on Appropriations will meet today (Friday) to discuss how much the BSP will contribute to the fund. — Keisha B. Ta-asan

PHL unlikely to fall into a recession, Marcos says

Families enjoy taking pictures around Luneta Park in Manila, Nov. 28. Economic managers are targeting 6.5-7.5% gross domestic product growth this year, and 6-7% in 2023. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

A RECESSION is unlikely in the Philippines, according to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., citing the improvement in jobs market in October.

“I’m confident that recession will not happen in the Philippines because the unemployment rate is very low and if you remember, this administration has been prioritizing the creation of jobs since the beginning,” Mr. Marcos said in mixed English and Filipino in a video message sent to reporters.

The Philippines’ jobless rate dropped to 4.5% in October, lower than the 5% in September and 7.4% a year earlier. This represented 2.241 unemployed Filipinos in October, lower than the 2.497 million in September.

The economy expanded by 7.6% in the third quarter, slightly faster than the revised 7.5% growth in the second quarter and 7% a year earlier. Economic managers are targeting 6.5-7.5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year, and 6-7% in 2023.

A technical recession is marked by two consecutive quarters of declining GDP.

The Philippines fell into a recession during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. It recorded five straight quarters of GDP decline from the first quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2021, as strict lockdowns hurt economic activity.

At the same time, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said recent economic data would indicate a “sustained, strong fourth-quarter economic performance.”

“The jobs market continues to improve, with unemployment rate down to its lowest level in 17 years, manufacturing output is rising and capacity utilization rate is improving, the peso has stabilized and is growing stronger, and oil prices are falling to near pre-Russian invasion of Ukraine levels,” Mr. Diokno said in a Viber message to reporters on Thursday.

For the first 10 months of the year, the unemployment rate averaged 5.6%, lower compared with the 7.8% average in 2021.

Mr. Diokno also cited the improving underemployment rate and factory data.

The October underemployment rate eased to 14.2%, while factory output rose for a fifth straight month in October.

“The manufacturing sector posted its highest average capacity utilization rate for the year at 72.4% in October. The manufacturing sector is recovering well,” Mr. Diokno said.

The Finance chief said that inflation is expected to slow down as early as the first quarter of 2023.

“With strong (fourth-quarter) growth, the implication is that with the peso stabilizing and oil prices falling, inflation, which is the top concern of the present administration, will soon fall,” Mr. Diokno said.

Headline inflation accelerated 8% in November, the fastest since the 9.1% during the Global Financial Crisis in November 2008. In the 11-month period, inflation averaged 5.6%, faster than the 4% in the same period a year ago, but still below the BSP’s full-year forecast of 5.8%.

The peso closed at P55.45 against the dollar on Wednesday, strengthening by 52.5 centavos from P55.975-a-dollar close on Tuesday.

“With the recent numbers, the likelihood that the BSP forecast, which was subsequently adopted by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), will be achieved is getting stronger,” he added.

The DBCC on Monday raised the average inflation assumption to 5.8% for 2022 from 4.5-5.5% previously. It also expects inflation to ease to 2.5-4.5% in 2023, and return to the 2-4% target in 2024 to 2028.

Meanwhile, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the low unemployment rate suggests low odds of a recession.

“The government should still remain vigilant of headwinds and risk factors that like the 14-year high inflation rate and global factors like continued lockdowns in China that would lead to a slowdown in economic recovery/growth,” he said in a Viber message. 

John Paolo R. Rivera, an economist at the Asian Institute of Management, said a drop in unemployment is not the only indicator of incidence of recession.

“Other macroeconomic indications like inflation and the exchange rate should be taken into consideration,” he said in a Viber message. — John Victor D. Ordonez and Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

PHL improves in 2022 global talent ranking

Students attend a cooking class at the Technical Education, Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) training school in Taguig City, March 23. — PHILIPPINE STAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES jumped three spots in an annual global ranking of economies that measures their ability to attract and retain a skilled workforce, a report by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Center showed.

Based on IMD’s World Talent Ranking 2022 released on Thursday, the Philippines ranked 54th out of 63 economies, up three places from 57th spot (out of 64) in 2021.

Despite the improved ranking, the Philippines still placed 13th out of 14 Asia-Pacific economies in World Talent Ranking, ahead only of Mongolia (62nd). Singapore had the highest ranking (12th), followed by Hong Kong (14th), Australia (18th), Taiwan (19th) and New Zealand (31st).

Philippines climbs in world talent ranking

European countries topped the index, with Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark in the top five.

The IMD rankings are based on three factors: “appeal” or the extent to which an economy attracts and retains foreign and local workers, “investment and development” which measures resources allotted to develop a homegrown workforce, and “readiness” which considers the quality of the skills and competencies in the talent pool.

The 2022 report showed the Philippines now ranked 35th in readiness, from 47th in 2021. It maintained its ranking for investment and development (62nd) and appeal (43rd).

The Philippines achieved an overall score of 41.10 in the 2022 ranking, up 2.52 points from 38.58 in 2021.

“Global economies are reassessing the balance they make when cultivating domestic and international talent, in a bid to compensate for skilled labor losses as a result of travel constraints and lockdowns during the pandemic,” the IMD said in a separate statement. 

Sought for comment, IMD World Competitiveness Center Senior Economist Jose Caballero said that the Philippines’ ranking went up as more skilled labor were available.

“It improved in the availability of skilled labor reaching 2nd place (from 9th) and in the effectiveness of the university education to meet the demand for particular competencies (moves to 32nd rank from 40th),” Mr. Caballero said via e-mail interview.

Under the readiness factor, the IMD said that the country’s strengths are in labor force growth (3rd place), available skilled labor (2nd), competent senior managers (20th), and graduates in science-related fields such as engineering, math, natural sciences, and information and communications technology (15th).

However, the IMD said the Philippines trails other countries (57th) in terms of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 

Students in the Philippines performed poorly in reading comprehension, science, and mathematics in the PISA 2018 cycle.

In terms of appeal, the Philippines scored high in collecting personal income tax (15th), but ranking low in brain drain (46th) and attracting and retaining talent (36th).

“Under the appeal factor, the level of motivation of the labor force increased from 42nd to 35th,” Mr. Caballero said. 

In terms of the investment and development factor, the country showed weaknesses in terms of total public expenditure (59th), total public expenditure on education per student (62nd), pupil-teacher ratio in primary education (58th), and pupil-teacher ratio in secondary education (59th). 

“In the future, national education systems will become less important to determine the quality of the talent pool. This is the result of talent globalization, but also of countries borrowing successful educational policies from others and the resulting race to the top in education,” IMD World Competitiveness Center Director Arturo Bris said.

“Indirectly, quality of life and economic sustainability will indeed determine the quality of the talent pool as well. There will be winners and losers,” he added. 

Mr. Caballero said that the long-term competitiveness of the Philippines would depend on “an effective talent management strategy.”

“The talent management strategy should focus on the development of in-demand skills and competencies by not only increasing but also adjusting public expenditure on education to target that development (such as alignment between investment and outcomes),” Mr. Caballero said. 

“In addition, further advancements can originate in improving the levels of quality of life, addressing the root-problems (such as lack of opportunities) of brain drain and increasing the attractiveness of the country for highly-skilled overseas personnel (such as higher quality of the job environment),” he added. 

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message that the Philippines’ higher ranking could be attributed to the easing of pandemic-related restrictions. 

“The improvement in the country’s ranking may have to do with the further reopening of the economy towards greater normalcy, especially the easing of restrictions on the entry of foreign visitors since February 2022 and resumption of face-to-face classes. These could help the recovery of many businesses and industries especially those hard hit by the restrictions,” Mr. Ricafort said. 

He said these efforts will help boost the productivity of students, after learning losses during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Further improving ease of doing business for the country especially for foreign talent and investors, as well as further improvement of the country’s adherence to environment, social, and corporate governance (ESG) standards would help improve the country’s rankings,” Mr. Ricafort said, adding that the lower cost of living in Philippines would help attract foreign talent.

Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at UnionBank of the Philippines, said in a Viber message that there should be more investments towards developing the human capital.

“Investing in the Filipino is almost always the step in the right direction,” Mr. Asuncion said. “(There should be) ever-increasing investments in top-notch education and training for all Pinoys. Market-responsive curriculum/curricula should be top priority.”

Chris Nelson, British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines executive director, said via mobile phone that the country would improve its ranking by finalizing its participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement, as this would attract foreign investments.

“It is also very important that the Senate sign and complete the RCEP. That is important because it is the largest trading bloc in the world. Many other countries have already ratified. The Philippines would clearly benefit from being a member of RCEP and would further encourage investments here,” Mr. Nelson said.

Touted as the largest free trade agreement, the RCEP, entered into force on Jan. 1. The participating countries include the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand.    

The Philippines has yet to finalize its participation in the RCEP as it awaits the Senate’s concurrence of the trade deal.

Fed up Pinoy K-pop fans watch concerts overseas

Filipino fans attend K-pop group NCT 127’s concert at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, Sept. 2. Aside from NCT 127, many K-pop groups such as Seventeen and ENHYPEN have recently held sold-out concerts in Manila. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

By Justine Irish D. Tabile

JANEL SUMMER SISON, a 26-year-old civil engineer from Manila, flew to Bangkok on Oct. 1 to watch the concert of K-pop group Seventeen, her first trip in three years amid a coronavirus pandemic.

This was after she failed to get a ticket — sales started as early as July — to the group’s performance in the Philippine capital, where the South Korean stars did their concert leg a week earlier.

“I’d rather watch a concert in another country,” Ms. Sison said in an Instagram message. “As much as the Philippine crowd is iconic, the first step — ticketing — is too stressful, not to mention confusing.”

A global coronavirus pandemic forced concerts, operas, ballets and plays to cancel at the last minute starting in 2020 because of high coronavirus transmission rates among performers and diving audience numbers, especially amid concerns over the Omicron variant in the latter part of 2021.

The concert scene here and overseas appears to be back, with a lust for life, after most countries eased lockdowns and learned to live with the virus at the start of 2022.

It used to be that a frustrated fan travels abroad to watch a concert if their favorite artist or group skipped their country as one of the stops in a tour.

Some Filipinos appear to be skipping the local concert scene altogether to avoid the hassles of local ticketing policy or to simply go on a music holiday.

“Ticket prices are carefully studied by organizers to provide the best possible show while maintaining reasonable prices,” Arnel C. Gonzales, general manager and senior assistant vice-president at the SM Mall of Asia’s Arena Management and Promotions, said in a Viber message.

“SM Mall of Asia Arena’s principle of partnership with its content partners and promoters makes these world-class acts to be within reach of Filipinos locally and help promote tourism by hosting these top-notch events.”

Ms. Sison begs to disagree, citing her frustrating experience in trying — and failing — to get a ticket from Live Nation, the local concert organizer for Seventeen.

Live Nation did not reply to an e-mail seeking comment.

“After the ticketing experience in the Philippines, I realized that it was better to watch Seventeen overseas, especially if you want to travel,” she said.

“Luckily we got them, since the ticketing system in Thailand is better, with more available seats and less queueing,” she added.

Tickets for Seventeen’s three-hour “Be the Sun” concert in Manila cost P2,900 for a general admission seat and as much as P18,450 for a VIP seat with a soundcheck perk.

In Thailand, ticket prices cost 1,800 baht (P2,857) to 6,500 baht. In Singapore, VIP seats with the soundcheck perk cost S$348 (P14,186) and 3.5 million rupiahs (P12,400) in Indonesia.

“Filipino fans choose to attend concerts because they want the experience of meeting their idols in person even if their seats are too far from the stage,” University of the Philippines sociologist Samuel I. Cabbuag said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Going overseas to watch their idols perform live also makes sense to them even if most people would consider this extreme.

“Some also attend concerts to meet fellow fans, possibly internet friends they haven’t met in real life,” Mr. Cabbuag said. “It adds to that enjoyment that they get to form connections with their internet friends.”

The Philippines had the third-most K-pop fans — higher than South Korea and behind Indonesia and Japan, according to Twitter K-pop data from 2021.

Ric Charles Jordan Cayat, a 26-year-old job training expert from Manila who flew with Ms. Sison to Bangkok to watch Seventeen’s live performance, said he didn’t have that much interest in concerts before the global pandemic.

‘CORE MEMORY’
“During the lockdowns, I mainly watched recorded performances of my favorite artists, which probably increased my appetite for the real thing,” he said in an Instagram message. “I also wanted to confirm that my K-pop idols are real people.”

Cherish Aileen A. Brillon, a professor from the UP College of Mass Communications, said most fans develop a “parasocial relationship” with their idols — they have come to consider them as friends despite having no or limited interactions with them.

“Concerts attract fans because they offer a feast for their eyes and are an expression of their idols’ talents,” she said. “There is also an affective aspect to it since in watching concerts, we feel like we are closer to them than what we thought was possible.”

“I think money is sometimes not an issue to those who can afford it,” Ms. Brillon said. “Sometimes, what you’re allowed to see of the musicians depends on the money you can shell out.”

Mr. Cayat’s group paid P8,950 each for the Bangkok gig, though their seats were as close as a seated VIP spot at the Mall of Asia Arena, he said.

They also paid P10,000 each for the round-trip tickets plus P3,000 for their four-night stay at the Narawad Boutique Hotel inside Bangkok’s city center.

“If given the chance, I would do it again,” Mr. Cayat said. “While it was a bit more expensive because of the airfare, the experience made it worthwhile.”

Ms. Sison, the civil engineer, said the concert area in Bangkok was filled with fellow Filipino K-pop fans “maybe because we all thought the ticketing system in the Philippines was hopeless.”

“We felt a different energy from our idols because it’s been a while since they performed live in front of an audience,” she said.

“To be in that moment with your idols, friends and fellow fans all enjoying the music, dancing and shouting — plus crying — is definitely a core memory,” she added.

“Also, we’ll never know what will happen in the future. The pandemic taught us to grab every opportunity there is. Watch a concert while it’s there.”

James Cameron on releasing long-awaited Avatar sequel: ‘It’s a relief’

SAM WORTHINGTON in Avatar: The Way of Water

LONDON — Filmmaker James Cameron is taking audiences back to his visually mesmerizing world of Pandora, releasing the sequel to his 2009 epic Avatar, the top-grossing movie of all time.

The stakes are high for Avatar: The Way of Water, which reportedly cost more than $350 million and comes 13 years after the original that grossed $2.9 billion worldwide, with more Avatar movies in the pipeline.

“It’s a relief. We’ve been sitting on this egg for a long time and getting it out in front of people, the response has been overwhelmingly good so far,” Mr. Cameron said in an interview.

Set more than a decade after the original where Pandora’s blue Na’vi people battled human colonists for the moon’s natural resources, The Way of Water revisits protagonists Jake Sully and Neytiri, now parents of five children.

Their peaceful life in the paradise-like jungle is interrupted by the return of the “Sky People,” the Na’vi name for humans, who are after Sully. Sully, Neytiri and their children flee to a far-flung territory, seeking refuge with the oceanic Metkayina clan. They quickly have to learn the ways of the water to survive amid the approaching threat of their enemy.

Asked if he was concerned the 13-year gap might hurt interest, Mr. Cameron said: “That was a very legitimate concern, I didn’t feel that instinctively but it was always a possibility. Then we dropped our first teaser trailer in May and it had 148 million views in 24 hours. I’m not worried about it anymore.

“What does worry me is that the market has contracted due to the double punch of streaming and the pandemic, it’s slowly coming back… so can we be profitable in a changed market? … We’ll know in a few weeks, I guess.”

HOLDING HER BREATH
The new movie, which begins its global cinema rollout from Dec. 14, reunites Mr. Cameron with his Titanic star Kate Winslet, who plays the Metkayina clan’s shamanic matriarch.

Ms. Winslet performed her underwater stunts herself and learnt to hold her breath for around several minutes as she prepared for the role.

“With Titanic, when you’re flooding sets… you just never knew if there was going to be a chair sliding past your face or someone was going to get bumped by a table or a floating cushion,” she said.

“With Avatar… everything is completely planned. The safety has to obviously be in place because you are performing underwater 20 feet down and you have to be very respectful and calm so that everything works in a clockwork manner.”

EMOTIONAL RETURN
Speaking at the world premiere in London on Tuesday, actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana — who return as Jake Sully and Neytiri — spoke to Reuters.

“This was a labor of love spread out over a decade, so it’s great to finally be able share it,” Mr. Worthington told Reuters.

“This is a heart-wrenching story, it’s mighty, it’s very powerful, you hope that it connects (with audiences) but it’s not just the carbon copy of the first one, we’ve really expanded the world, we’ve expanded this family unit.”

Ms. Saldana said reprising her role was “emotional.”

“It was exciting, it was also very scary because obviously Jim had raised the stakes for himself, that meant that everybody was going to have a brand-new challenge to have to deal with,” she said.

Sigourney Weaver plays Kiri, Neytiri and Sully’s adopted daughter. Her biological mother is Dr. Grace Augustine, who Ms. Weaver played in the original movie.

“The whole thing was such an amazing adventure,” she said.

FOUR MORE AVATARS
Four Avatar movies are planned through 2028.

“I never had any doubt that this day would come because I’d read all four of the scripts… but I think that the enormity of the task, of the world-building… creating this whole new level of detail… that was difficult,” producer Jon Landau said, adding most of the third movie had been filmed.

“We will continue to explore new locations on Pandora, we will continue to meet new and diverse clans.” — Reuters

Japanese psycho-thriller to premiere on Disney+

IN a fictional Japanese village called Kuge, a newly hired police officer Daigo Agawa (played by Yuya Yagira) arrives in town a broken man. Then a series of alarming events — including unexplainable deaths and disappearances — begin to unfold, leading Daigo to the horrifying realization that something is deeply wrong with the village and those who live there.

This is the premise of the Japanese psycho-thriller Gannibal, which premieres on Disney+ on Dec. 28. The series is based on the popular manga series of the same name by Masaaki Ninomiya.

Also in the cast are Show Kasamatsu (Tokyo Vice, Love You as the World Ends), and Riho Yoshioka (Haken Animé!, The Romance Manga Artist).

Mr. Yagira, the lead actor, and Shinzo Katayama, the series director, spoke to Asia-Pacific press on Dec. 1 at the Disney Content Showcase at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

“I’ve been hearing that the manga is very fun to read. The original material has its own appeal,” Mr. Yagira said of the source material.

It is, fundamentally, a story of family. Speaking through an interpreter, the actor explained: “The family has a problem and they moved to a new village. He (Daigo) wanted to solve a family issue.” Mr. Yagira added that as the audience gets to know the family, they will come to observe that his character also has an internal conflict.

The series, he said, shows the Japanese trait of “watching out for each other.”Mr. Katayama has experience directing thrillers — he helmed Mother and Missing. For Gannibal he took a different tack, shooting scenes “for a long period from one angle” in comparison to his previous films. He did this to showcase the locations where the series was shot in, including the mountains in Nagano City and Ibaraki Prefecture.

The series is produced by Tatsuya Iwakura and Teruhisa Yamamoto, who produced this year’s Academy Award-winning Drive My Car. That film’s writer, Takamasa Oe, also wrote Gannibal.

“Gannibal is a thriller that will leave audiences gasping with shock after every episode,” Mr. Yamamoto was quoted as saying in a statement. “But it’s also a human story that reflects upon the differences between family values and culture that, at a glance, seem so contradictory and yet are so relatable. With Gannibal and our other Japanese local content, we are building on Disney’s rich history of storytelling and are combining it with Japanese creativity to open new doors of entertainment for everyone.”

The psycho-thriller is the first of the Japanese shows in the lineup of Disney’s streaming content to premiere. The other shows include Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown Arc (done in collaboration with animation company Kodansha), Dragons of Wonderhatch which is a mix of live action and animé, and the drama House of the Owl.

Gannibal premieres on Disney+ on Dec. 28. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

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