With the pandemic, industries have shifted from ‘business as usual’ to ‘business unusual’, operating under several constraints yet finding ways to innovate, adapt and push towards critical recovery.

Corporations like SM Investments Corporation (SM Investments) have helped boost national recovery by ensuring essential support to the health sector as well as businesses within and beyond its ecosystem.

With the rollout of vaccination in the first quarter of 2021, SM offered its facilities as vaccination sites across the country to aid local government units (LGUs) to inoculate their respective communities safely.

SM Supermalls has supported the vaccination program of various local governments with over 6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in 71 malls around the country to date.

In the recent national vaccination drive, dubbed as the ‘Bayanihan Bakunahan,’ a massive three-day vaccination event launched by the Philippine government to curb infection rates, the SM group actively supported the campaign by making 66 SM malls readily available as venues for the program that aimed to administer 9 million jabs to Filipinos nationwide.

Closer to home, about 130,000 SM employees have been vaccinated to date as the company continues to push for enhanced health and protection among its people.

“It is a main focal point of the company to provide the necessary care to our employees and extend this to the communities in hopes of an accelerated recovery,” said SM Investments President and Chief Executive Officer Frederic C. DyBuncio.

Beyond vaccination efforts, SM continued to support business continuity of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Through the SM StartUp Package, SM is offering start-up packages to MSMEs to boost their initial entry into the market.

These include start-up friendly rental rates and use of kiosks or carts free of charge; marketing assistance to give the brand free exposure in SM online assets and ad spaces inside malls; financial assistance with BDO Unibank; and mentorship from SM experts on operations and marketing.

This is available to the first 100 digital-based MSME owners who currently don’t have a shop inside SM or any other physical store in general. The StartUp Markets will be situated in prime mall locations within 13 regional and premier malls in major cities: SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Southmall, SM Pampanga, SM Clark, SM Grand Central, SM Sta. Rosa, SM City Cebu, SM Iloilo, SM Bacolod, SM CDO Downtown Premier, and SM Lanang Premier.

For its part, 2GO Group, Inc. provided key services in strong support of the local economy by ensuring the unhindered flow of essential and fast-moving consumer goods, pharmaceutical and farm products, food, finished goods, raw materials and liquid bulk between Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It expanded its port coverage and trip frequency to increase regional connections and service underserved areas.

Airspeed, a part of SM Investments’ portfolio investments, was the only forwarder at the start of the lockdowns who was able to secure chartered flights to serve essential industries such as pharmaceuticals and food.

Retail operations through food, non-food and pharmaceuticals stores created safe working environments for customers. These stores remained open throughout the pandemic, ensuring customers had ongoing access to essential goods.

Moving Stronger to 2022

SM Investments’ chief executive reiterated the importance of adaptation and innovation as in the case of SM, it found ways to conduct business by combining both its physical and digital strengths to better serve the public.

“We’ve seen the varying approach of different industries during this time of the pandemic. Its impact on our industry has led to fast-track our foray into e-commerce to be a fully serviceable and viable channel of delivering goods and services to both our production partners and, of course, to our customers,” said Mr. DyBuncio.

SM likewise has underscored the need to future proof its operations in 2022 and the coming years forward.

One such innovation was “Call to Deliver”, SM Store’s hybrid shopping service available through #143SM, Facebook Messenger and Viber that allows customers to chat with store personal shoppers and have their items delivered right at their doorstep or picked up in-store for a personalized and safe approach.

SM Markets for its part also enhanced SM Markets Online, its one-stop shopping platform that showcases all basic necessities as well as select premium or specialty items.

SM Supermalls launched SM Malls Online Mobile App, its online shopping app for shoppers who want to buy from their trusted mall brands, favorite restaurants or even authentic gadgets from Cyberzone in one delivery or pickup from preferred SM malls. The SM Malls Online App is currently available in SM Megamall, North EDSA, Mall of Asia, Fairview, Southmall & Aura Premier with more malls to come in 2022.

Through BDO’s Cash-Agad program, SM helped micro-businesses in far flung areas with cash withdrawal enabled through the Point-of-Sale terminals of the bank’s many partners.

“Many MSMEs bore the brunt of the pandemic. And as close partners to several of these enterprises, it’s imperative that we pay it forward and support the backbone of our economy,” he said.

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Globe’s corporate venture builder, 917Ventures, recently introduced a new portfolio company, iNQUiRO, to help businesses make data-driven decisions in their operations. This start-up offers a suite of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered products that allows small, medium, and large enterprises to create exciting value for their customers.

iNQUiRO aims to address the challenges encountered by businesses in their journey towards data-driven insights, especially during the pandemic. These include access to the right data, tools, and technology. With its unique and unparalleled access to rich omnichannel data, iNQUiRO has developed products that can extract quick and actionable insights.

“By providing organizations of all sizes with access to otherwise unobtainable insights, we enable them to make exceptional and impactful data-driven decisions. This is what makes iNQUiRO truly a game-changer,“ said Pancho Reyna, Chief Operating Officer at iNQUiRO.

iNQUiRO’s products are designed to provide organizations with knowledge that creates impact — from customer analytics, to risk assessment and even fraud detection. Its products are also priced competitively to offer the maximum value for the organization and democratize access.

For instance, iNQUiRO’s 360° Customer Dashboard and Audience Builder, an intuitive platform, gives clients access to valuable consumer information, particularly behaviors and trends. The service is complete with optimized tools and resources that help businesses transform data into valuable and actionable insights and explore various opportunities.

Through the iNQUiRO Credibility Score, the start-up intends to use behavioral data in creating a credibility profile for consumers to help companies and organizations assess the credibility of consumers with limited or no available financial data and to provide these consumers with access to a wider range of financial products.

Aside from iNQUiRO, 917Ventures’ lineup of portfolio companies also includes mobile wallet giant GCash, digital health companies KonsultaMD and HealthNow, digital marketing solutions firm AdSpark, online grocery platform PureGo, and loyalty and e-commerce solutions provider RUSH.

917Ventures Managing Director Vince Yamat shared, “We put our customers and partners at the heart of what we do. As we expand our services and continue to grow our portfolio companies, we are committed to taking Globe’s vision of creating a digital nation forward, as we empower more Filipinos through our tech and digital solutions.”

The Globe Group strongly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), particularly UN SDG No. 9, highlighting the roles of infrastructure and innovation as crucial drivers of economic growth and development. Globe is committed to upholding the UN Global Compact principles and contributes to 10 UN SDGs.

For more information about iNQUiRO, visit https://www.inquiro.ph/.

To know more about 917Ventures, visit https://917ventures.com.

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“You can reach your dreams if you put your mind to it.”

Engr. Joshua Mangila, an SM scholar alumnus, proved this to be true as he ranked 4^th at the recent Civil Engineer licensure examination.

Engr. Joshua is a son to a hardware store worker and a housewife from Caloocan City. He was able to finish his degree in Civil Engineering from the FEU Institute of Technology through the SM Scholarship program. Even though he is an only child, Engr. Joshua and his parents experienced hardships as they make ends meet.

A good training ground

According to Engr. Joshua, he learned from the SM Scholarship Program to not just aim for the minimum but to always go for something greater. He was able to carry this principle when he took the board exams.

“As an SM Foundation (SMFI) scholar during my college days, keeping a grade of more than 80% can be very challenging. This is where I learned to be persistent and focused, especially when studying for exams. During the review, my main objective was to score higher than 85% in all subjects. This was of course not easy, but because of my experience as an SM scholar, I was able to achieve it,” he said.

“As an SM Scholar, we don’t only receive scholarship grants and allowances, we are also given the opportunity to join their various enrichment activities for character building. This is where I learned grit. I still remember the message of Ms. Debbie Sy in one scholar event. She stressed the importance of grit – that it’s about creating a higher purpose with our roles and passion. That we need to propel forward despite the setbacks and failures. We need to have a deep motivation to change our current economic status to a better one,” Engr. Joshua added.

A message for his fellow SM scholars

A ‘kuya’ to his fellow SM scholars, Engr. Joshua gave some reminders for the current scholars, especially those who will take their board exams in the future: There will always be a lot of challenges, especially in our studies, but we should never give up. We should never stress ourselves with negativity because it will not make the situation better.”

“Rest is important. Studying and solving problems everyday can be tiring, so taking a break sometimes is helpful. Focus on your weaknesses and improve yourself. Making mistakes is fine, but making the same mistakes in the actual exam is not. Learn from these mistakes during the review, so that it can be avoided while taking the exam. Excessive pressure can be unhealthy. Always keep a good balance in life, and do not be distracted by stress. Studying is not easy, but that does not mean that it cannot be enjoyable,” he discussed.

“Most importantly, always rely everything, especially the things that we cannot control, to the One that controls all,” Engr. Joshua added.

Beyond grateful

During the kumustahan session of the SMFI officers with Joshua, he took the opportunity to express his gratitude for SM Foundation and the Sy family, “I am thankful for this opportunity to express my gratitude to SM and the Sy family for all the support that they have given us. To be able to study civil engineering without worrying about the expenses and tuition fees allowed us to focus more on our studies. Without SM, I probably would not have reached this point in my life.”

Aside from Joshua, other SM scholars from the recent batch also passed the said board exams. They are: Engr. Elgemae Aboilo, Engr. Fatima Belale, Engr. Jessie Mari Cerera, Engr. Miel Carlo Reganit, Engr. Froilan Tanque, and Engr. Kenneth Villanueva.

SMFI, through its Scholarship program, provides deserving and qualified students with access to college education and technical-vocational studies since 1993. To date, SM has produced more than 8,000 college and tech-voc scholar-graduates.

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Firmly looking ahead to recover from two years of pandemic restrictions, the Philippines has gradually opened up the economy to rekindle trade and industry. Ramping up vaccination coupled with strategic easing up of controls on key sectors contributed to a strong 7.1-percent GDP growth in the third quarter of 2021.^[1] The Philippine economy is rearing its engines again – and it needs more power than ever to refuel its post-pandemic growth.

A looming crisis

The Department of Energy estimates the country’s peak power demand in 2021 to have hit 16,333 megawatts (MW)^[2] – a seven-percent increase from 2020, the first year of the pandemic. Of this, 11,841 MW is from Luzon alone. The largest, most populated, and most economically productive region in the country, Luzon draws a third of its power supply from the Malampaya gas fields off the shore of Batangas.

The looming depletion of the Malampaya gas fields presents daunting challenges not only for Luzon but for the entire Philippines. The country’s post-pandemic recovery hinges largely on the availability of reliable and cost-efficient energy. From factories to commercial centers to the smallest homes in far-flung villages, a stable electricity supply is necessary to spur everyday economic activity.

Decarbonization

In the Philippines and elsewhere, the energy landscape is inevitably further linked to climate change. At the recent 26^th Conference of Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland, 200 member states reached a consensus to keep global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius – a broad target that involves phasing down of fossil fuels and active restructuring of countries’ energy portfolios, as well as financing support for more sustainable sources of energy.

In the Philippines, where 57% of installed energy capacity comes from coal^[3], the Department of Energy has emphasized energy security and climate justice as overriding pillars of the country’s energy transformation.

Minimizing dependence on fossil fuels while attaining energy security, however, are not mutually exclusive, and together they present infinite opportunities for innovation in the energy sector.

Energy transformation through Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)/Natural Gas (NG)

Critical to driving decarbonization is achieving an energy mix that provides the most optimum results with the least impact on the environment. Liquefied natural gas, long considered the lowest-emission fuel available, presents unique opportunities in securing a clean and efficient energy supply.

The intermittent supply of renewable energy – further exacerbated by climate change – poses risks to the stability of power grids. Gas-fired power plants help address volatility issues of solar, hydro, and wind sources. Renewable energy requires an alternative, stable fuel capacity to support its intermittency. For most markets, natural gas is the cleanest and most commercially preferred source of stable capacity for a power system and works hand-in-glove with renewables.

“The fastest route to net-zero is innovative energy-efficient technologies and a rapidly growing adoption of LNG/NG as the transition fuel for cleaner air. The key thing is balance – you have to be sensible in providing the most optimized outcome for the country, and this balance is something that AG&P has envisioned to help achieve for the Philippines,” notes Anupam Ahuja, SVP, Strategic Services, Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (AG&P) Group.

Serving new and growing LNG/NG demand centers in South and Southeast Asia, AG&P is building the country’s first LNG import facility in Ilijan, Batangas. Called the Philippines LNG Import Terminal or PHLNG, the facility will have an initial capacity to deliver up to 3.0 MTPA of regasified LNG, with additional capacity for liquid distribution. Immediately on its first day of operations, PHLNG will have a scalable onshore regasification capacity of 420mmscfd and almost 200,000cbm of storage that will ensure high availability and reliability of natural gas for its customers.

“We share the country’s vision for transitioning to clean energy and look forward to supporting it every day,” Ahuja notes, sharing that PHLNG will serve to kick-start the country’s LNG importation and regasification ability.

“PHLNG will allow the Philippines to access the potential of natural gas in securing the current and future energy demand of the region while helping spur overall economic and social progress. It will, directly and indirectly, improve the quality of life for many Filipinos,” Ahuja adds.

^[1] https://psa.gov.ph/content/gdp-posted-growth-71-percent-third-quarter-2021

^[2] https://www.bworldonline.com/peak-power-demand-in-2021-seen-exceeding-pre-lockdown-levels/

^[3] https://www.bworldonline.com/what-is-the-optimal-energy-mix/

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PH, SING, AU, NZ among pioneers

Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) joined the Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Chief Financial Officers Leadership Network’s new Asia-Pacific Chapter as one of its Founding Members.

Announced during the A4S Annual Summit opened via a video message by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, MPIC, represented by Chief Finance, Risk and Sustainability Officer Chaye Cabal – Revilla, along with other founding members, will collaborate with global peers to progress the integration of finance and sustainability in ways of doing business.

“Finance leaders have the distinct advantage of being at the center of all business matters. We have visibility, not just on finance, but we are also integral to risk management and strategy development and most recently, even sustainability,” said Cabal- Revilla. “As such, I truly believe that we are best positioned to be catalysts for change in our organizations. With Sustainability gaining more and more importance in the global mindset, we at MPIC have been focusing on integrating finance and sustainability in all our business decisions.”

A4S and the CFO Leadership Network

Established in 2004 by HRH The Prince of Wales, A4S aims to make sustainable business, business as usual. The organization works with the finance and accounting community to inspire finance leaders to adopt sustainable and resilient business models, transform financial decision making to reflect the opportunities and risks posed by the climate crisis and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, and scale up action to transition to a sustainable economy.

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales shares a message to global financial leaders via a video message played during the A4S Summit.

HRH The Prince of Wales, in his opening message to global financial leaders during the A4S Summit, said “We simply must seize the current window of opportunity to re-imagine our global systems in a way that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of how we operate.” His Royal Highness continued, “My Accounting for Sustainability Project is providing you with the guidance, tools and training required. My only hope is that you can learn from these examples and take heart from the success of the members of the various A4S networks.”

The global CFO Leadership Network is a unique group of over 60 CFOs from large organizations representing over US$20.7 trillion in combined total assets, with members having a commercial presence across 200+ countries. It brings together CFOs and their teams to develop and scale up adoption of practical approaches which embed social and environmental risk and opportunity into the heart of strategic planning and decision-making processes.

Joining the Global Movement

With the rapid increase of climate and other sustainability-related risks, it is integral for businesses, particularly in the Asia-Pacific Region, to integrate sustainability into its business operations and strategies. Due to the key risks of extreme weather, countries in the region experience the greatest level of GDP impact.

MPIC President and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim highlighted the need for this movement, “Our businesses are key utilities that are essential to the daily lives of all Filipinos and consequentially need to be secured for future generations. We must prioritize forward-looking strategies in all our operations in order to maintain our role as a reliable partner in nation-building for decades to come.”

As the leading infrastructure investment company in the Philippines, MPIC is taking significant strides to ensure that its businesses are future-proofed for the benefit of all its stakeholders, primarily its customers and investors. Beyond providing essential services to majority of the country, MPIC takes on the opportunity to create programs that increase livelihood, become a staunch advocate for environmental stewardship, among others, and spur advanced economic development in the Philippines – a cycle that leads to inclusive progress.

“As a conglomerate, we consciously integrate collective action into our business operations, as well as our social responsibility initiatives to ensure that our efforts are for the benefit of the entire country,” said MPIC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan. “If we work together towards achieving sustainability on all fronts, we are closer to our ultimate goal of safeguarding a sustainable and resilient future for all.”

MPIC’s participation in the founding of the new Asia-Pacific A4S chapter is aligned with its commitment to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by managing its impacts, improving its performance, and tracking its progress against the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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More than half of Filipinos cannot access formal credit

Insights to Inspire aims to spark ideas that empower businesses to pursue bigger goals through data and information. Read our insights on current issues and learn new ways to make an impact in your industry.

According to figures from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, 51.2 million or 71% of the total Philippine adult population are unbanked and, therefore, credit invisible. This reflects an alarming reality for the majority of Filipinos who utilize informal (and therefore, unregulated) channels to secure loans, such as loan sharks.

In addition, some Filipinos may have a good track record when it comes to paying back loans — but to friends or relatives and not to formal financial institutions. Being credit invisible means that many Filipino adults, due to lack of any type of credit history, are subject to a catch-22 when they need to make big-ticket purchases like a car or a house and are unable to qualify for loans from financial institutions.

If we are to come closer to achieving financial inclusion for Filipinos under AmBisyon Natin 2040, the Philippine government’s long-term vision culminating in 2040, then much needs to be done. We need to build not only awareness but concrete steps so that more Filipinos can have access to financial services.

Financial inclusion through credit scoring
Credit scoring has long existed in different parts of the world, and although growing in the Philippines, levels of participation are still behind that of many other developed credit economies. A good credit score can be an enabler that helps someone gain access to credit and the economic opportunities that can bring. Credit scores help lenders to better assess a consumer’s financial risk, and based on the increased insight they can bring often enable them to give you better terms and interest rates because of your credit history.

But if someone is unbanked, it follows that there is no historical record of their spending and, more importantly, paying behavior on which to base an assessment of the risk they represent as borrowers.

In 2011, TransUnion, the first international private credit bureau in the Philippines, was established. TransUnion’s vision is to make trust possible between consumers and business — this includes helping more Filipinos become credit visible so they can access more financial products at competitive rates. This endeavor is backed by some of local banking industry’s stalwarts, including Banco de Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Citibank, Metrobank, and HSBC.

TransUnion leverages technology and innovation to help member banks and financial institutions support nation-building. Where traditional data from financial institutions isn’t available to give a traditional credit score, we use our international experience to leverage alternative data assets and take a different approach.

In the Philippines, TransUnion recently launched CreditVision Link. It is the first credit score to combine trended credit bureau data and alternative data sources to give a more robust and well-rounded picture of someone’s credit viability.

While TransUnion Philippines has access to traditional data, e.g. credit and loan payments and credit card statements, relying solely on this data can return searches on many potential customers as “no-hit” or “thin-file” results, putting loan applications in jeopardy.

CreditVision Link utilizes telco data as basis for alternative scores, including telco reloads and payments, and mobile data usage. In a country where, according to data from Statistica, there are almost 169 million mobile phones in use, that is a good data source. As a result, more consumers become credit visible with more comprehensive assessments of spending and payment behavior.

Benefits of converting the credit invisible
Seventy-one percent of the Philippine population is a huge, untapped market. If banks and financial institutions can convert even just a portion of that adult population from being credit invisible to credit visible, they will make more opportunities available for Filipinos to enter and participate more fully in the Philippines’ economic recovery.

By relying on more comprehensive and reliable data about Filipino consumers, lending institutions can expand their customer base, increase their booking rates and the number of people they can help to achieve great things.

As we face post-pandemic times and work together to help restart the Philippine economy, empowering a greater number of Filipinos to be more financially independent begins with making the financial market more inclusive. As they step out of the shadows and become visible consumers, they will boost financial growth and act as a catalyst for the economy, benefitting not only themselves but the entire country.

PIA ARELLANO has over 25 years of industry experience across banking, payment solutions, telecommunications, and remittance services. She has been instrumental in establishing TransUnion as a risk management and data solutions and insights partner of banks and financial institutions in the Philippines.

Email questions to tuphcomms@transunion.com.

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