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DMW completes its first building in Makati City

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D.M. Wenceslao and Associates, Inc. (DMW) has inaugurated its five-story mixed-use building located along Jupiter Street in Makati City, the company told the exchange on Thursday.

58 Jupiter Commercial Building will bring in over 2,000 square meters (sq.m.) of gross leasable area (GLA) to the market.

“58 Jupiter is our first constructed-commercial asset in Makati City,” DMW Chief Executive Officer Delfin Angelo C. Wenceslao said.

The new commercial building will have a vertical garden, rain harvesting planters, and operable pivoted windows. It will cater to food and other retailers.

The 22,000-sq.m. 58 Jupiter increased DMW’s total building leasing space to 162,000 sq.m.

“The completion of 58 Jupiter further advances our diversification efforts,” Mr. Wenceslao said.

The company said it plans to pursue projects where it sees “pockets of opportunities.”

“Last year, we purchased a property in Legazpi, Makati, where we envision to build an upscale residential condominium,” Mr. Wenceslao said.

DMW said it is experienced in planning, design, and execution. The listed company is the master developer and owner of 107.5-hectare Aseana City, which is located along Manila Bay.

“We bring these internal capabilities and extensive experience from developing our Aseana City assets into locations outside of Aseana,” Mr. Wenceslao said.

On Thursday, DMW shares at the local bourse declined 0.29% or two centavos to close at P6.90 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Our stories through songs

By Michelle Soliman, Reporter

VIDEO REVIEW
Still
Directed by Treb Monteras II
Viu

WHEN things are uncertain during a pandemic, being stranded anywhere but home may seem like the least ideal situation.

In Still, an eight-episode musical narrative series, estranged friends Sab (played by Gab Pangilinan) and Laura (Julie Anne San Jose) have reunited Balay’s annual Daloy Himig music camp (the place looks so clean and cozy) and are slowly catching up when the lockdown is imposed, the music camp is canceled, and they find themselves stranded.

The first episode introduces the audience to the rest of the characters: Iggy (Mike Shimamoto), Tugs (Abe Autea), and Leigh (Lance Reblando), camp head Nikolas (Christian Bautista), and Balay owner Annette (Bituin Escalante). It is also established that they have been already stranded at Balay for almost a month, prompting desperation among some of the participants to leave.

Still — directed by Treb Monteras II, created by Pat Valera, in collaboration with Giancarlo Abrahan, and Nicco Manalo — premiered on Viu on Nov. 12. New episodes premiere on a Friday at 8 p.m. (with a 32-hour window to screen the episode), and will run until Dec. 31.

The show is halfway through its run.

From the second to the third episode, the characters’ relationships build along with their motivation to go home. Uncertainties about their survival, the future, and what is the point of carrying on, are brought up.

When restrictions ease in the fourth episode, some campers are given the opportunity to leave through the drawing of lots. The characters then face the choice of leave the companionship they have built behind or move on.

The series features simple but quirky animation of objects that flash during some dialogue. In the first episode, screenshots of news headlines about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus and lockdowns are used to in-dicate the passage of time. In the second episode, images of guitar chords appear onscreen while some of the characters are learning the song “Mundo Umikot Ka” as if to encourage the audience to sing along.

The show’s original songs, written by Nica Del Rosario, Matthew Chang, and Mike Shimamoto, are very timely reflections on the current situation. The show’s theme, “Still,” has a nostalgic 1990s feel. Among all the songs per-formed in the four episodes, “Mundo Umikot Ka” stood out the most to me. It speaks about how, despite how things have stopped, our lives carry on. The original songs stand alone as singles even if the listener is unaware of their place in the show. The songs’ messages are also relatable sans the pandemic context.

With Sab and Laura’s backgrounds highlighted in the first half of the series, their characters represent two kinds of people.

Sab grew up to pursue a different path from her passion for music. When she visits Balay to do research for her thesis, she not only reunites with a friend but rekindles her love for music. She represents those whose regular rou-tines were disrupted by the pandemic, and as a result find themselves rekindling an old hobby or passion, or for some, developing a new one.

In the series, Sab’s voiceover introspections about the challenges and purpose of life hit hard — some viewers may find themselves agreeing and saying, “That’s me” in their head.

Laura, on the other hand, may seem stubborn at first, but her attitude is due to a lost opportunity that she has clung to and wanted badly. She represents those who were set to pursue goals that which were shattered during the pandemic. It is through her that we understand the difficulty of looking at the bright side.

It is interesting to watch the dynamics of the big names in music and television blending with the talents from the live theater scene in the series. It would be great to see more original content today with performing artists across various fields.

After four episodes, the story lives up to the duality of its title which may mean either being motionless and continuing progression. I look forward to the upcoming episodes and get to know more about the other characters (and see their solo performances), as well as, hopefully, becoming invested in each of them.

Older episodes are still available for viewing. New episodes of Still premier every Friday at 8 p.m. until Dec. 31. Both older and new episodes are accessible within 32 hours (from Fridays at 8 p.m. to Sundays at 8 a.m.). Tickets (P599) are available at https://ticket2me.net/e/33588/still-a-viu-original-musical-narrative-series-exclusive-previu. The series’ original soundtrack is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and Tidal via Still: A Viu Original Musical Narrative Series.

Term deposit rates end mixed on inflation, rejected bids for bonds

YIELDS ON THE central bank’s term deposits ended mixed on Thursday as inflation eased and after the government rejected bids for its offer of Treasury bonds (T-bonds) on Tuesday.

Demand for the term deposit facility (TDF) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) amounted to P479.591 billion on Thursday, surpassing the P430-billion offer as well as the P467.818 billion in tenders logged in the previous week’s auction.

Broken down, bids for the six-day term deposits amounted to P175.622 billion, higher than the P160 billion auctioned off by the central bank but lower than the P181.141 billion in tenders last week, which was for a seven-day tenor.

Banks asked for yields ranging from 1.7% to 1.9%, a narrower margin compared with the 1.71% to 2.19% band a week ago. This caused the average rate of the papers to slip by 0.13 basis point (bp) to 1.7586% from 1.7599% previously.

Meanwhile, the 13-day papers fetched bids worth P303.969 billion, well above the P270-billion offering and also beating the P286.677 billion in tenders last week for a 14-day tenor.

Accepted yields for the 13-day deposits ranged from 1.75% to 2%, tighter than the 1.745% to 2.19% band recorded on Dec. 1. This caused the average rate of the 13-day papers to inch up by 0.15 bp to 1.8241% from 1.8226% in the prior auction.

The term deposit tenors were adjusted in view of the holiday on Wednesday in commemoration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

The BSP has not auctioned 28-day term deposits for more than a year to give way to its weekly offering of bills with the same tenor.

The central bank uses the TDF and its short-term securities to gather excess liquidity in the financial system and guide market rates.

Yields on the term deposits were mixed as inflation eased to a four-month low in November, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

The consumer price index stood at 4.2% last month, slower than the 4.6% in November mainly due to easing food inflation.

However, headline inflation remained above the BSP’s 2-4% target and was faster than the 4% median estimate of 18 analysts in a BusinessWorld poll held last week.

Another factor that caused mixed yield movements was the government’s rejection of all bids for its offer of 10-year T-bonds on Tuesday, Mr. Ricafort added.

The Bureau of the Treasury did not accept any bids for its offer of P20 billion in reissued T-bonds, which have a remaining life of nine years and seven months. The papers attracted P42.44 billion in demand, lower than the P55.37 billion seen the last time the series was sold on Nov. 9.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon cited high rates for the rejection. — L.W.T. Noble

WB flags job quality issues as labor market recovers

THE labor force continues to face pandemic-related challenges including the disproportionate impact of the public health crisis across gender lines and the urban-rural divide, the World Bank (WB) said.

The bank added that the government needs to mitigate the long-term impact of school closures on human capital.

“(The pandemic) has forced learning losses on school-going children, especially those with inadequate access to remote learning. And for children from low-income families, it has added the effects of long-lasting impairment to human capital, which could reduce their productivity when they grow up,” World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and Philippines Ndiame Diop said in an online briefing Thursday.

World Bank Senior Economist Kevin C. Chua said the labor market improved as reflected in increased labor force participation, although the challenges related to job quality persist.

“In September, the share of part-time workers remains higher than pre-pandemic level, while the share of wage and salary workers employees remains lower than before the pandemic,” Mr. Chua said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority estimated unemployment in October at 7.4% from 8.9% in September. This represents 3.504 million jobless, down from 4.255 million in September.

However, the underemployment rate — or the proportion of employees that are still looking for more work or longer working hours — rose to 16.1% in October from 14.2% in the prior month. This is equivalent to 7.044 million workers, up from 6.183 million.

To support the recovery of the job market, policy should focus on resuming economic activity, said Yoonyoung Cho, a senior economist at the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.

Ms. Cho noted that some industries are more severely affected by job losses.

“Female young urban workers were relatively more affected by the pandemic compared with their male or their rural counterparts,” she said.

The uneven impact of job losses is also reflected in the decline in wage employment, while self-employment and unpaid family work increased, she added.

In the long run, the government and other stakeholders should also resolve challenges related to business competitiveness and worker productivity and protection, Ms. Cho said.

“We once again highlight the importance of human capital investment, in particular, ensuring a strong early start in helping institutions recover the lost learning (opportunities) from the school closures and distance learning. Ensuring the inclusion of the vulnerable population in the opportunities will be absolutely critical,” she said.

Earlier this week, the World Bank raised its growth forecast for the Philippines to 5.3% from 4.3%, citing a better-than-expected third quarter performance. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Smart 5G deployment gets support from US agency

SMART Communications, Inc. on Thursday said the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will support its fifth-generation (5G) deployment in the country through a training assistance.

The USTDA “awarded a grant” for training to Smart, the wireless arm of PLDT, Inc., to advance its plan “to expand 5G services to 96% of the country’s population,” the telco said in an e-mailed statement.

The US agency made the award to support the telco’s investment in equipment and services from Cisco Systems, Inc.

The training grant is expected to help the company in providing better cloud-based products and services to its customers throughout the Philippines.

“This grant builds on previous USTDA assistance that is advancing PLDT and Smart’s efforts to modernize the company’s national fiberoptic network and prepare the Philippines for the transition to 5G,” Smart said.

USTDA said it is committed to supporting “cutting-edge” information and communications technology infrastructure in the country.

“[The project] will strengthen digital connectivity and bring faster, higher quality, and more affordable digital services to the people of the Philippines,” USTDA Acting Director Vinai Thummalapally said.

Alfredo S. Panlilio, president and chief executive officer of PLDT and Smart, said: “A well-trained technical team is vital to the success of our overall digital transformation, which will enable us to elevate the experience of our customers.”

“Our people must be trained and prepared to make full use of the power of these transformative new technologies,” he added.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Factory output’s recovery streak continues in October

THE COUNTRY’S factory output expanded for the seventh straight month, albeit at a slower pace in October, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday. Read the full story.

Few Europeans want a return to 9-5 at office after pandemic

BERLIN — Only 14% of European workers want to return to the office 9-5, and more than half say they have become more productive as a result of working from home, which has boomed amid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns and restrictions, a survey showed Thursday.

But “hybrid working” — a mix of working at home and at the office — also has its downside, with over a quarter of respondents feeling like they work all hours or into the night, according to the survey commissioned by Samsung Electronics and the consultancy The Future Laboratory.

The survey of 14,000 people across Europe also indicated that 83% of workers were seeking more support from their employers to help balance their work and home lives.

About 12% of employed people in the European Union usually worked from home in 2020, up from around 5% before the pandemic, according to data from Eurostat.

“With presenteeism now an outdated concept, employers need to think carefully about how they meet the demands of modern hybrid living,” Benjamin Braun, vice-president for Samsung Europe, said in a statement.

Two-thirds of Europeans said they had made — or were planning — home improvements to make hybrid living easier, for example by creating office spaces at home, while 41% had decided to move house.

In the survey by the world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker, 51% said technology was helping them set boundaries, for example, by using mobile alarms or time management applications.

“We are likely to see tech stepping in to monitor our mental health and happiness as much as our physical health, with smart devices becoming our wellbeing assistants,” said Meik Wiking, chief executive of Denmark’s Happiness Research Institute, which is collaborating with Samsung on the future of work. — Reuters

Tonik deposits hit P5 billion eight months after launch

Total deposits held by Tonik Digital Bank, Inc. (Philippines) hit P5 billion to date as the lender attracted depositors through relatively higher rates.

The P5-billion mark was reached eight months since the bank launched in the country in March, it said in a statement on Thursday.

“We built Tonik to accelerate financial inclusion to more Filipinos, who deserve to have the fully digital ease and convenience in their banking experience. We are very grateful that we’re now closer to reaching this goal with the overwhelming support that we are receiving from our customers,” Tonik Chief Executive Officer and Founder Greg Krasnov was quoted as saying.

The digital bank secured P1 billion in deposits within a month since its launch.

Tonik offers rates of up to 6% for its time deposits. Its other deposits products yield rates of up to 4.5% per annum.

The bank is also extending credit where clients can complete a lending application in 15 minutes. The loan product is targeted for the country’s unbanked, underbanked, as well as middle class Filipinos that are looking for a quick credit application.

Aside from online transfers, bank clients can do cash-in and cash-out transactions with Tonik through point-of-sale terminals in convenience stores and pawnshops across 30,000 areas nationwide.

Digital banks offer their products and services digitally and are not expected to have brick-and-mortar branches like traditional lenders.

These lenders are expected to help the BSP with its target to bring 70% of Filipinos into the formal financial system and to make 50% of payments online by 2023. — L.W.T. Noble

What to see this Week 12/10/21

Encanto

THE MADRIGAL family lives in a charmed place called an Encanto. Each member of the family has a magical gift except 15-year-old Mirabel, who struggles to find her place in the family. Directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush, the film features the voices of Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Angie Cepeda, and Diane Guererro. “The story of a homeland lost and the family who rebuilt in a new land is not an uncommon one for many immigrant families, and by sensitively including it as part of a charming Disney movie, perhaps will give a new generation a better sense of belonging or at least the comfort that others have shared their experience,” writes rogere-bert.com’s Monica Castillo. “It may help kids who didn’t grow up with those stories of a ‘paradise lost’ to understand those that did. Maybe that’s an optimistic view for a movie many will flock to in a post-turkey coma, but despite a few missteps, Encanto is one of the more charming animated movies to hit theaters this year.” Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer gives the film a score of 90%; while its audience score is 93%.

MTRCB Rating: G

 

Venom: Let There be Carnage

EDDIE Brock returns as the lethal protector Venom in this sequel to the Marvel Universe hit film. In this film, Eddie/Venom goes after a deranged serial killer, Cletus Kasady, who also becomes a host to an alien symbiote. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film stars Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, and Woody Harrelson. Variety’s Peter Debruge writes, “Managed (more than directed) by motion-capture star-turned-aspiring blockbuster helmer Andy Serkis, Venom: Let There be Carnage has all the indications of a slapdash cash grab. The set-pieces look sloppy, the visual effects are all over the place, and the laughs come largely at the movie’s expense. But it does introduce Carnage, so in that respect, mission accomplished. The irony, of course, is that in their haste to get a sequel into theaters, the execs couldn’t have known that a global pandemic would swoop in to delay the release by a year. If only they had slowed things down and taken their time to hash out a better story.” Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer gives the film a score of 58%; while its audience score is 84%.

MTRCB Rating: PG

CNPF, partners plant 300,000 coconut trees

VERONICA REVERSE/UNSPLASH

THE tree planting program under the collaboration of listed food company Century Pacific Food, Inc. (CNPF), mobile wallet GCash, and impact organization HOPE has reached 300,000 trees as of November.

CNPF said in a stock exchange disclosure on Thursday that the tree planting program covered an equivalent of 3,000 hectares of land with new coconut seedlings since it began its initiative.

In August, CNPF partnered with GCash and HOPE to plant 1 million coconut trees via GForest, which seeks to support small-holder coconut farmers in South Cotabato and Sarangani.

GForest is a feature on the GCash application that allows its users to help in environmental protection.

“By reducing their carbon footprint and doing cashless services like sending money, paying bills and buying prepaid load in GCash, users are awarded green energy points in GForest, which they can use to claim a virtual tree. CNPF, GCash, and HOPE then convert these virtual trees into real coconut trees,” the listed firm said.

Noel M. Tempongko, Jr., CNPF vice-president and coconut division general manager, said more than 2,300 farmers have already benefitted from the program.

“We are very pleased with the progress that we’re making. Through GForest, we have a platform that enables us to spread awareness and involve consumers in our journey,” Mr. Tempongko said.

GCash Chief Customer Officer Winsley Bangit said the partnership empowers its users to help the environment.

“The partnership empowers our users to become ‘green heroes’ in their own right and ensures that we help promote a ‘green lifestyle’ for future generations to come,” Mr. Bangit said.

According to CNPF, the initiative of planting a million coconut trees is an integral part of its sustainability program.

“With the help of GForest and HOPE, the company’s coconut division will effectively reach net zero carbon emissions by 2028. It will help secure the Company’s long-term supply of raw materials for its fast-growing coconut business,” CNPF said.

On Thursday, shares of CNPF at the local bourse rose 1.89% or 50 centavos to end at P27 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

SpaceX links up with Filipino partners

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is set to roll out its high-speed satellite internet services in the Philippines next year. According to the Speedtest Global Index, our country currently ranks 64th in the world for fixed broadband speed and 72nd in terms of mobile internet speed.

Bloomberg recently reported that Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, is in talks with two Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)-listed telecommunication companies to launch its ultra-fast satellite broadband in an archipelago beset by slow speeds and poor connectivity. It identified these two telcos to be Transpacific Broadband Group International, Inc. and Converge ICT Solutions, Inc.

DFNN, Inc., another PSE-listed firm, was mentioned earlier this year in connection with Starlink’s entry into the country. Bilyonaryo.com said DFNN Chairman Ramon C. Garcia, Jr. “is serving as SpaceX’s go-between with the Senate, which is finalizing its amendments to the Public Service Act.”

Starlink uses advanced satellites in a low orbit of 550 kilometers to enable streaming, video calls, online gaming, and other high data rate activities that historically have not been possible with satellite internet. Its potential users can expect to experience download speeds between 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps, with latency as low as 200 milliseconds in most locations.

Rural communities that have gone unserved by the traditional internet service providers will finally gain access to essential online services and resources through Starlink, including virtual doctor visits and remote learning. Fine examples of Starlink’s deployments are the Pikangikum First Nation, an indigenous community in Canada; the Hoh Tribe in Washington, USA; and the Wise County Public Schools in Virginia, USA.

During disasters, the Starlink team can easily be deployed in a matter of minutes to support emergency responders, especially in areas where connectivity has been unreliable, too expensive, or completely unavailable. Starlink’s satellites are also on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation. At end of life, these satellites will utilize their on-board propulstion system to de-orbit over the course of a few months.

In the unlikely event that the propulsion system becomes inoperable, the satellites will burn up in earth’s atmosphere within one to five years — significantly less than the hundreds or thousands of years at higher altitudes.

Considered as the world’s most advanced broadband system, Starlink is presently available in more than 20 countries. Its parent firm, SpaceX, is the only satellite operator with the capability to launch its own satellites as needed.

If only the Philippine Congress could fast-track the passage of amendments to the Public Service Act of 1936, which would hasten the advent of ultra-fast internet services in our benighted land.

 

J. Albert Gamboa is the chief finance officer of Asian Center for Legal Excellence and co-chairman of the FINEX Week Committee. The opinion expressed herein does not necessarily reflect the views of these institutions and BusinessWorld.

How to establish an employee suggestion program

A candidate had just finished what he felt was a stirring campaign speech in an online forum. He asked the audience: “Are there any questions?” A voice boomed from out of nowhere: “I have one question: Barring the result of surveys, who do you think is your biggest competitor in this election?”

We learn from experience that we all get excited when we talk about ourselves while ignoring the strengths of other competitors and stakeholder. That’s how politicians think. They often magnify their strengths and ignore their weaknesses. This is a one-sided approach.

The same thing is happening in the workplace. Managers don’t want to admit they are part of the problem. This happens all the time when they can’t maintain a work environment that encourages workers to contribute ideas. More often than not, they would simply ask workers to do this and that, without realizing what’s missing.

Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990), one of Japan’s leading industrial engineers and co-creator of the Toyota Production System, was right when he said: “Having no problems is the biggest problem of all.”

You were asking me what is wrong with your organization, except that I haven’t looked closely at your management policies and procedures. So, how can I help you? I can only give you some basics on how Toyota and other dynamic organizations carry out their time-tested employee suggestion program (ESP).

BASIC FORMULA

If organizations want to benefit from ESP or any derivative scheme, they need to do a better job of studying best practices and adjust accordingly to the company’s needs. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but to come up with a better platform appropriate for your company’s culture and specific needs. Here are the basic steps:

One, create or revise the company’s mission, vision, and value statements. Without a guiding light, you’ll be constantly in the dark. Many of these are motherhood statements but that happens only because management often forgets about it. For example, how do you intend to operationalize customer satisfaction, excellence in service, or quality orientation, in real, absolute terms?

Two, establish or review the company’s quality management system. QMS is the focal point, secretariat, internal expert, and repository of all tools and techniques related to quality and productivity improvement. It’s like having another job function in a department or division to ensure continuity. To ensure unhampered operations, it could be a part of human resources, quality assurance or the operations department, regardless of the nature of the business.

Three, make the employee suggestion program part of QMS. This requires the creation of a system that allows employees to process their ideas with the help of an ad hoc team in the form of a quality circle, productivity team or kaizen team. This is to ensure that their ideas are processed with the help of other workers through a consensual decision-making process.

Four, have a QMS steering committee to supervise such program. It must have an organizational structure with four levels composed of the Chief Operating Officer or General Manager as the Chairperson. The next level is composed of department managers, while the line supervisors must personally carry out the coaching and screen all employee ideas. The fourth level is composed of all employees acting like an army of problem-solvers.

Five, create a training program or similar platform to promote QMS. Make it easy for all workers to create and process their ideas. This means teaching them tools and techniques to generate ideas using problem-solving tools and decision-making approaches. You can’t simply leave the workers to contribute their ideas without a coherent policy or specific tools to process their ideas.

Last, reward and recognize people with a good number of ideas. It does not have to be cash. Some companies follow the lead of credit card companies. The earned points can be redeemed in exchange for home appliances, devices, and accessories. This is acceptable to most workers as it offers a tax-free situation for both the workers and their organization.

My experience tells me that money is often the most expensive way to motivate people. But if you treat your workers right, they will reciprocate in more ways than you can imagine.

 

Have a chat with Rey Elbo via Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter or send your workplace questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting

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