Facebook plans to rebrand company with new name, Verge says

October 21, 2021 | 12:01 am

FACEBOOK, Inc., facing intense scrutiny over its business practices, is planning to rebrand the company with a new name that focuses on the metaverse, according to The Verge.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is expected to announce the name at the company’s Connect conference on Oct. 28, the website reported on Tuesday.

A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment, saying the company doesn’t “comment on rumor or speculation.”

Mr. Zuckerberg, who co-founded the social network in 2004, has said that the key to Facebook’s future lies with the metaverse concept — the idea that users will live, work and exercise inside a virtual universe.

“In the coming years, I expect people will transition from seeing us primarily as a social media company to seeing us as a metaverse company,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in July. “In many ways, the metaverse is the ultimate expression of social technology.”

The rebranding would come at a time when Facebook is under fire from regulators, lawmakers and activists. Whistle-blower Frances Haugen has shared thousands of company documents with regulators and the Wall Street Journal. The documents detailed Facebook’s struggle with moderating its content and alleged deleterious mental health effects of its photo-sharing app Instagram. — Bloomberg

How PSEi member stocks performed — October 20, 2021

October 21, 2021 | 12:00 am

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Wednesday, October 20, 2021.

PHL ranks the 37^th most susceptible to money laundering and terrorist financing — report

October 21, 2021 | 12:00 am

Philippine stocks extend rally on recovery hopes

October 20, 2021 | 9:00 pm

SHARES extended their climb on Wednesday on hopes of global economic recovery and as the country’s pandemic situation continued to improve, as well as anticipation for the release of third-quarter corporate earnings.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up by 30.77 points or 0.42% to close at 7,297.08 on Wednesday, while the all shares index climbed 14.84 points or 0.33% to 4,466.24.

“The index closed higher consistent with markets across the region, on renewed hopes over the recovery of the global economy, as well as the upcoming quarterly corporate earnings results,” Darren Blaine T. Pangan, trader at Timson Securities, Inc., said in a Viber message.

“Investors may still be digesting the new alert level system and its implementation in areas outside of the capital region,” Mr. Pangan added.

“The drop in COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases and the progressive vaccination campaign in the country sustained the optimism as they strengthen the possibility of the social restrictions being continually eased,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research and Engagement Supervisor Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a separate Viber message.

On Tuesday, the Health department logged 4,496 new COVID-19 cases, which brought active infections to 63,637. The positivity rate stood at 12.4%.

The country has administered nearly 53.32 million COVID-19 jabs as of Oct. 19, with 24.69 million individuals already fully vaccinated.

The government has expanded the implementation of granular lockdowns with an alert level system to areas beyond Metro Manila, with the new restrictions expected to lapse by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan arose 0.65%, led by 1.3% gains in Hong Kong, while Japan’s Nikkei was almost flat and so were mainland Chinese shares, weighed down by more weak data on the property sector, Reuters reported.

Most sectoral indices posted gains on Wednesday except for mining and oil, which dropped 268.52 points or 2.52% to 10,381.90, and financials, which inched down by 1.77 points or 0.11% to end at 1,571.78.

Meanwhile, holding firms rose 56.75 points or 0.78% to 7,254.09; industrials gained 52.72 points or 0.49% to 10,773.91; property improved by 15.40 points or 0.45% to 3,370.63; and services went up by 1.30 points or 0.06% to end at 1,872.84.

Value turnover improved to P9.44 billion with 1.34 billion issues traded on Wednesday, up from the P8.54 billion with 1.34 billion shares that switched hands the previous day.

Advancers beat decliners, 106 against 80, as 52 names closed unchanged. Net foreign selling dropped to P31.57 million on Wednesday from the P65.80 million recorded on Tuesday.

“Resistance may be placed at 7,320, while support may be drawn at the 6,940 level,” Timson Securities’ Mr. Pangan said. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte with Reuters

Peso weakens on hawkish comments from Fed official

October 20, 2021 | 9:00 pm

THE PESO weakened versus the greenback on Wednesday following signals from the US Federal Reserve of the possibility of earlier rate hikes.

The local unit closed at P50.79 per dollar on Wednesday, depreciating by seven centavos from its P50.72 finish on Tuesday, based on data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

The peso opened Wednesday’s session weaker at P50.78 per dollar. Its weakest showing was at P50.85, while its intraday best was at P50.75 versus the greenback.

Dollars traded dropped to $781.67 million on Wednesday from $999 million on Tuesday.

The peso retreated versus the greenback after a Fed official said interest rate increases could come sooner if inflation remains elevated, a trader said in an email.

Reuters reported Tuesday that Fed Governor Christopher Waller said a more aggressive policy response may be implemented to curb elevated inflation.

“If monthly prints of inflation continue to run high through the remainder of this year, a more aggressive policy response than just tapering may well be warranted in 2022,” Mr. Waller said.

US inflation has been rising at an annual rate of 5% of four consecutive months, a trend last seen in 1990. Mr. Waller said he is now “greatly concerned” if such pace continues.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ricafort attributed the peso’s weakness to higher oil prices.

Fuel prices reached multi-year highs recently due to low supply as demand picked up in economies that are gradually easing restrictions.

Reuters reported that Brent crude futures topped $86 a barrel on Monday, which is the highest since October 2018. Meanwhile, the US West Texas Intermediate futures reached $83.73, the highest since October 2014.

For today, Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P50.70 to P50.90, while the trader expects the local unit to move within P50.70 to P50.95 per dollar. — LWTN with Reuters

TnT routs Magnolia, takes Game One

October 20, 2021 | 8:40 pm

The TnT Tropang Giga routed the Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots, 88-70, in Game One of their best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup finals series on Wednesday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

TnT blew past Magnolia early in the contest and never looked back after to gain the early lead in the championship series of the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association tournament.

The Tropang Giga opened the proceedings with a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the match, which it used to build a 24-14 advantage after the first quarter.

In the second frame, the Hotshots continued with their offensive struggles and TnT capitalized on it to build an even bigger lead by the halftime break, 53-34.

TnT’s juggernaut continued at the start of the second half, with the team outscoring Magnolia, 20-7, in the opening seven minutes of the third quarter to extend its lead to 32 points, 73-41.

Magnolia would not recover after that.

Rookie Mikey Williams led the way for TnT in the win, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

JP Erram had 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks while Kelly Williams had points.

For Magnolia it was Paul Lee who top-scored with 12 points while Calvin Abueva had a double-double of 11 points and 11 boards.

As a team, however, the Hotshots only shot 27% (16-of-53) for the game.

Game Two of the finals is on Friday at 6 p.m. – Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Bill preserving worker benefits during mergers hurdles panel

October 20, 2021 | 8:34 pm

A HOUSE COMMITTEE approved Wednesday a bill preserving worker benefits and seniority in the event their employers merge.

In a hearing, the House Committee on Labor and Employment approved an unnumbered substitute bill and committee report to House Bill 2633 filed by Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza.

The measure, if passed, would allow job losses only in the event of redundancy resulting from a merger, consolidation, or sale. An employee declared redundant will be granted the opportunity to be employed in a newly created position if minimum qualifications are met.

Union members and other employees in the surviving company will continue to enjoy benefits won under collective bargaining agreement (CBA) before the merger.

If one company’s CBA expires while another remains in effect, the union involved can negotiate new economic provisions.

The bill also provides for a certification election for the merged company to determine which union will represent the surviving company.

Mr. Mendoza said that the bill was filed amid unprecedented merger activity by companies seeking to become “bigger and more competitive,” especially among multinational companies.

“This plethora of previously unfamiliar corporate occurrences creates a trail of novel issues… This is particularly when the issue of the security of tenure, diminution of wages and benefits, and other employment terms and conditions comes to fore,” he said in the bill’s explanatory note. — Russell Louis C. Ku

Over 1,000 availed themselves of mobile number portability — TCI

October 20, 2021 | 8:32 pm

A JOINT VENTURE operated by the main mobile service providers said over 1,000 subscribers have switched networks since the commercial launch at the end of September of Mobile Number Portability (MNP).

“There are more than 1,000 who have successfully ported to their new networks,” Melanie A. Manuel, general manager of Telecommunications Connectivity, Inc., (TCI), the company tasked with carrying out the provisions of the MNP law, said in a webinar Wednesday.

It said it cannot provide an estimate of how many will make the switch going forward, as it would take around “three months to establish a trend.”

“There are many factors involved. Maybe some people are still waiting until everything becomes stable… it’s too early to tell if this is the trend,” Ms. Manuel said.

Both TCI and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said they are working to address delays encountered by users switching networks.

TCI said Smart Communications, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., and DITO Telecommunity Corp., aim to address such issues and are open to feedback from those who have availed of the service early.

“For the USC (unique subscriber code) generation… what we’ve done is to open virtual stores so that the applicants will no longer have to go to the physical store to get the USC,” Ms. Manuel said. The USC is one of the first requirements for switching service providers.

The NTC said it is “closely monitoring the implementation of the service to ensure that the objectives of the law are achieved.”

“We have requested Globe to answer the concerns and they have submitted and we are evaluating the answer of Globe. We will be doing that for all the concerns that will be raised before the commission,” NTC Deputy Commissioner Edgardo V. Cabarios said.

Once the system for porting phone numbers is streamlined, TCI said it will continue reviewing the process and ensure all MSPs are compliant with regulations.

TCI is also looking at collaborating with third parties to make them “MNP-ready.”

“Of course, now you’re not talking just about SMS and voice, you also have the apps,” Ms. Manuel said. “(We’re) making sure that all the banks and all the other applications are MNP-ready, so we’ll continue to work with them.” — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

DBM taking steps to keep agencies from gaming fund utilization rates

October 20, 2021 | 8:32 pm

THE BUDGET department said it will propose rules in the 2022 General Appropriations Act to deter the “abuse” of fund utilization metrics by government agencies in order to arrive at a more accurate picture of how appropriations are used.

At a Senate finance committee hearing, Senators had raised the issue of high budget obligation rates being presented during budget deliberations which do not reflect actual utilization, but rather the transfer of funds from various offices without assurance of utilization.

“We have seen how agencies try to go around the system. The only way we can probably rectify it is in the next couple of years, similar to the Bayanihan law, it was provided that transfers of funds will ultimately mean reversion if at the end of the year it has not been utilized,” Undersecretary Tina Rose Marie L. Canda said during the hearing Wednesday.

“Some agencies have (adopted the) practice of… (making) interagency transfers within the department,” she added. “They transfer from one agency to the next within the department, so it’s also considered obligated.”

Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said a system needs to be adopted “that will make the utilization better monitored.”

“We want the economy to get better, and it won’t get better as you said if these are just paper transfers or paper releases,” Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who chairs the committee, told the hearing.

Between 2014 and 2020, Mr. Drilon said, the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), the government company that specializes in international procurement, took in P50.7 billion in fund transfers from agencies. Fund transfers to the budget department’s procurement service amounted to P91.8 billion.

“These were all considered obligated, but if you look at the aging of these transfers, you will discover that these are being resorted to improve the performance of the agencies by showing that they have obligated what is allocated to them, but in truth, these are transferred,” Mr. Drilon added during the hearing.

Director Joshua S. Laure said that as of Wednesday, the interagency fund transfer balance has fallen to P26.1 billion.

Mr. Drilon also noted about P31.7 billion in funds parked with PITC, and P31.6 billion with the budget department’s procurement service.

The increasing reliance on procurement services, Ms. Canda said, was the reason behind the high levels of parked funds.

“We have veered away from the very mandate of the procurement service,” said Ms. Canda. “The procurement service is supposed to be for common-use supplies and equipment. Through years of not implementing this and expanding PS as a procurement agency for others, the parked funds increased.”

“If we prohibit procurement agencies and allow other agencies to undertake their own procurement in so far as their big-ticket items are concerned, then the growth of these parked funds will definitely not be that huge,” she added. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

Grid operator briefly raises yellow alert warning over Luzon

October 20, 2021 | 8:29 pm

THE GRID operator issued a yellow alert warning lasting a few hours over the Luzon power grid Wednesday afternoon, after five power plants with a total capacity of 1,230 megawatts (MW) went on forced outage.

In an announcement on Viber, National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said the grid was under yellow alert beginning noon until 3:45 p.m.

Yellow alerts, signifying thinning reserves, become red alerts if the supply-demand balance worsens to the extent of requiring rotating brownouts.

The NGCP said the plants undergoing unplanned outages are Unit 2 of the Sual plant, Unit 1 of GN Power, Unit 1 of SLTEC, Unit 2 of SLPGC and Unit 3 of Limay.

Meanwhile, two power plants ran on de-rated capacities of 315 MW.

The operating requirement of the Luzon grid was 10,514 MW, while available capacity was 10,935 MW.

At 3:45 p.m., NGCP lifted the yellow alert, citing “receding system demand.”

During yellow alerts, distribution utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) asks participants of its interruptible loading program (ILP) to prepare for possible de-loading.

The ILP calls on large power users with generating facilities to hold off from drawing power from the grid when supply is tight.

“When NGCP places the Luzon Grid on Yellow Alert, Meralco will automatically advise all ILP participants to prepare for possible activation or de-loading. Part of the advisory to ILP participants is a request to inform Meralco if the participant can de-load or not during the period of the alert,” Meralco Vice-President and Head of Utility Economics Lawrence S. Fernandez told BusinessWorld on Viber.

When the yellow alert was lifted, Meralco informed ILP participants that the grid was “on white condition.”

The Luzon grid previously underwent a spate of yellow and red alerts at various times between May 31 and June 2, due to forced plant outages, higher demand and thinning reserves. — Angelica Y. Yang

First Gen says Avion unit cleared to run on liquid fuel

October 20, 2021 | 8:28 pm

FIRST GEN Corp. said the second unit of its 97-megawatt (MW) Avion power plant has returned to commercial operations using liquid fuel after the completion of repairs Tuesday.

“Unit 2 of the 97-MW Avion Power Plant is now commercially available on liquid fuel operation,” the power company said in a disclosure Wednesday.

It added that recommissioning and testing of the unit using liquid fuel have been successfully completed. The natural gas-powered unit went offline for more than a month due to damage to one of its dual fuel aero-derivative gas turbines, which was discovered after a routine inspection.

The company said Tuesday that restoration work on the turbine had been completed by its manufacturer, General Electric Co.

Recommissioning and testing for gas operations, however, will be conducted once the supply of natural gas from the Malampaya field becomes available after the gas field underwent a 22-day shutdown starting on Oct. 2.

The Avion power plant is owned by First Gen’s subsidiary, Prime Meridian Powergen Corp., and is located within the First Gen Energy Complex in Batangas.

It is one of the five natural gas facilities that source fuel from the Malampaya gas field in Palawan.

First Gen also owns the three other gas facilities receiving supply from Malampaya: the 1,000-MW Santa Rita, 500-MW San Lorenzo, and the 420-MW San Gabriel plants.

The fifth natural gas facility fed by the deep water-to-gas project is the 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas plant operated by KEPCO Ilijan Corp.

First Gen shares on Wednesday declined by 0.34% to finish at P29. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago

ADB approves renewable, low-carbon energy policy

October 20, 2021 | 8:26 pm

THE ASIAN Development Bank (ADB) said it approved a new energy policy which aims to support its member countries in their transition to renewable and low-carbon energy sources.

“Energy is central to inclusive socioeconomic development, but the expansion of energy systems has come at the cost of harmful impacts on our climate and environment,” ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said in a statement Wednesday.

The new policy goes hand in hand with the bank’s commitment to stop funding new coal- fired power plants, which it said are the main source of greenhouse gases and air pollution in the Asia-Pacific.

The bank said affordable and reliable energy systems need to be developed to support economic growth and urbanization.

It cited projections by the International Energy Agency indicating that the electricity-generating capacity of the Asia-Pacific could increase by about 7% yearly to 6,113 gigawatts by 2030.

“Investments in renewable energy generation in the region could reach $1.3 trillion per annum by 2030, doubling the amount from the previous decade,” it added.

The bank estimates that roughly 350 million people in the Asia-Pacific do not have sufficient electricity, while around 150 million people have no access at all.

The ADB put up about $42 billion to finance the region’s energy needs between 2009 and 2020.

In May, the bank raised its funding goal to $100 billion from $80 billion previously for climate financing to its developing member countries between 2019 and 2030. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago