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Philippines further eases restrictions in Metro Manila

PHILSTAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

THE PHILIPPINE capital and nearby cities, will be placed under a more relaxed alert level starting Nov. 5, according to the presidential palace.

Metro Manila will be downgraded to Alert Level 2 from Nov. 5 to 21, Palace Spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. said in a statement on Thursday night.

An inter-agency task force made the decision a day after the Philippines recorded its lowest single-day tally since Feb. 24. 

Meanwhile, the task force has also approved a recommendation to “base the alert level assignments on data that is nearest to the implementation date,” Mr. Roque said.   

Starting Dec. 1, alert level assignments per region or locality shall be determined every 15th and 30th of the month, he said. 

“Escalations, on the other hand, may be done at any time in the middle of the implementation period as warranted while de-escalations can only be done at the end of the two-week assessment period,” he added. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Jobless rate soars to 8.9% in Sept.

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS
Joblessness remained elevated in the Philippines in September. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE rose to 8.9% in September, as bad weather left nearly 900,000 without work in the farm sector and strict lockdowns claimed over 340,000 factory jobs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

Based on the preliminary report of the September round of the labor force survey (LFS), the jobless rate increased to 8.9%, compared with the 8.1% in August. This was the highest this year, matching the revised 8.9% jobless rate in February.

This translated to 4.25 million unemployed Filipinos in September, up from 3.88 million in August.

Philippine labor force situation (Sept. 2021)

At an online press conference on Thursday, National Statistician and PSA chief Dennis S. Mapa said 862,000 jobs in agriculture and forestry were lost in September due to several storms and the end of the harvest season.

Severe Tropical Storm Jolina (Conson) and Tropical Storm Kiko (Chanthu) hit parts of the country in September.

The manufacturing sector also lost 343,000 jobs, as Metro Manila remained under the second-strictest lockdown until Sept. 15.

Other sectors that shed jobs included information and communications (126,000), mining (75,000) and real estate (69,000).

“These results were expected as many parts of the country remained under stringent and blanket quarantines for most of the survey period,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in a statement.

“Overall, the economy has generated 1.1 million employment above the pre-pandemic level. This signals the Philippines’ continuing recovery.”

Employment rose by 414,000 in the services sector in September, thanks to wholesale and retail trade which accounted for 353,000 jobs.

Other subsectors that increased workers included public administration and defense and compulsory social security (118,000), education (115,000) and construction (105,000).

Overall, the quality of jobs slightly improved as the underemployment rate went down to 14.2% in September from 14.7% in August — the second lowest this year after the 12.3% in May. This represents those in the labor force who are already working but are looking for more work or looking to work for longer hours.

The underemployment rate represented 6.18 million, down from 6.48 million in August.

The month’s labor force participation rate (LFPR) dipped to 63.3% in September, from 63.6% in August.

The size of the working-age population was approximately 47.85 million in September, slightly lower than the 48.12 million in the previous month.

OUTLOOK
Mr. Chua expressed confidence the labor market would show improvements in October, since it would reflect the full impact of the granular lockdowns in the Philippine capital.

“We look forward to the expansion of the alert level and granular lockdown system to the whole country to recover more jobs and livelihoods,” he said in a statement.

However, the lackluster labor market may have weighed on the economy’s growth in the third quarter.

“Lack of access to income and accelerating inflation likely tag teamed to keep a lid on household spending. Meanwhile, fear of the more transmissible Delta variant kept Filipinos indoors for longer, also limiting their options to online shopping,” ING Bank NV Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said.

Mr. Mapa said further easing of mobility curbs and a pickup in the pace of vaccinations will help drive consumption.

“However, until households are secure in their ability to access income and rebuild their savings, we may have to be content with only modest gains in consumption and in turn, overall economic growth. Where consumption goes, the Philippine economy will likely follow,” he added.

In a Viber message, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the recent typhoons in October could lead to another temporary reduction in agricultural jobs until the next planting season.

Despite the higher unemployment rate, Mr. Ricafort said markets may “look beyond that and well into the Christmas holiday season and also the preparations for the May 2022 elections.”

He said there will be more job opportunities as the national elections approach as the government ramps up infrastructure spending. — B.A.D.Añago

BSP to keep accommodative policy to aid recovery

BW FILE PHOTO

THE PHILIPPINE central bank will continue to keep its accommodative policy to support the economy’s recovery, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said on Thursday.

“Given the manageable inflation outlook, and with non-monetary government measures helping to ease some of the supply-side pressures, the priority for monetary policy remains in keeping stimulus in place to aid the recovery,” he said at a briefing.

The BSP has maintained policy rates at record lows in its September review, even as it raised inflation outlook further beyond target to 4.4% for 2021.

Inflation in September eased to 4.8%, although still above the 2-4% BSP target. October inflation data will be released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on Friday.

“Nevertheless, the BSP stands ready to respond to potential second-round effects from supply-side factors as well as to more broad-based inflation pressures as the economy makes a full recovery,” Mr. Diokno said.

Third-quarter gross domestic product data will be released on Nov. 9, while the BSP will have its next policy review on Nov. 18.

At the same time, Mr. Diokno said the central bank will monitor the near-term impact of the US Federal Reserve’s move to unwind its massive stimulus program.

“With a gradual shift of major central banks toward normalization, including the recent US Fed announcement on the tapering of asset purchases, monetary authorities will be closely monitoring the near-term impact on financial conditions,” he said.

“The BSP is of the view that the Philippine economy will continue to recover in an environment of tighter global financial conditions,” he added.

The central bank chief stressed the flexible exchange rate system “serves as the country’s first line of defense against global shocks supported by robust external payments position.”

Mr. Diokno added the country’s huge gross international reserves (GIR) will also serve its purpose as a buffer against potential external shocks. 

The country’s GIR stood at $106.6 billion as of end-September, 1.3% lower than the $107.96 billion as of end-August.

Still, this level is enough to cover 7.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.3 times based on residual maturity. It is also equivalent to 10.7 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

Meanwhile, analysts believe the Fed’s tapering asset purchases may put more pressure on the peso.

“A sustained decline in portfolio inflows specially in fixed income will likely exert further pressure on the peso and make inflationary expectations even more de-anchored,” Bank of the Philippine Islands Lead Economist Emilio S. Neri, Jr. said in a Viber message.

“This could mean stronger dollar. Definitely, Asian currencies are going to be affected, including the peso, could depreciate,” UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in a phone call.

The peso has been depreciating in the previous months. At its close of P50.595 per dollar on Thursday, the local unit has weakened by P2.572 or 5.36% from its P48.023 finish on Dec. 29, 2020.

Still, analysts said another taper tantrum similar to the one in 2013 is unlikely. In 2013, the taper tantrum resulted in panic over rising credit costs which led to sharp outflows from emerging markets and pushed central banks to hike interest rates.   

“The problem before [in 2013] was the communication of the policy. This time, there’s much talk about it and the Fed has been more transparent so I think the market has adjusted carefully,” Mr. Asuncion said.

Mr. Asuncion said the market has already gradually priced in the taper as the Fed has hinted about it in the previous months. He noted this was reflected in the uptick in yields as seen through the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates in previous weeks.

“Tantrum is unlikely in the short term as the Federal Open Market Committee announced a mild taper and absence of an immediate rate hike,” Mr. Neri said.

“We foresee the possibility of a tantrum later as a more aggressive policy action may be necessary for most central banks to tame what is likely to be a more persistent rise in prices caused, in large part, by their delayed normalization,” he added. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

SSS rolls out relief programs for pandemic-hit borrowers

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Senior Reporter

THE SOCIAL Security System (SSS) on Thursday announced four relief and restructuring programs for borrowers with past-due payments on salary and housing loans as the economy suffered from the effects of the pandemic.

“Given the circumstances we are faced with today, we do not want to add burden to those who are already encountering hardships,” SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said at a briefing.

Employers can pay overdue SSS contributions in full or by installment over four to 24 months without penalties under the Contribution Condonation Penalty Program.

This applies to all employers who are delinquent on social security contributions or penalties from March 2020 onwards. Penalties on unpaid employee compensation are not covered.

The Enhanced Installment Payment Program allows employers to pay past-due social security and employment compensation contributions in installment for nine to 60 months, depending on the total amount.

The Housing Loan Restructuring and Penalty Condonation Program allows qualified SSS housing loan borrowers, successors-in-interest, and legal heirs to pay outstanding principal interest, insurance dues, and legal expenses within 90 days from their notice of approval.

They may also pay 50% within 90 days from when they receive the notice and pay the remaining half in 12 equal monthly installments. All unpaid penalties after full payment will be condoned.

Lastly, the Short-Term Member Loan Penalty Condonation Program consolidates all due and demandable arrears composed of the outstanding principal and interest of a borrower’s past-due salary, calamity, and emergency loans, along with those under the Salary Loan Early Renewal Program and the Loan Restructuring Program.

The consolidated loan may be settled through a one-time full payment within 30 days from a notice of approval. Borrowers may also pay 50% of the consolidated amount within 30 days from receipt of the approval and the remaining half in six equal monthly installments.

SSS expects 700,000 applications from employers, SSS Senior Vice-President Mario R. Sibucao said. At least 20% of a total P55 billion in delinquency payments are penalties to be condoned.

“That’s a little big, but that count depends on whether or not they are qualified for the condonation program. But the business operation has been affected financially by calamity, man-made disasters, economic crisis,” he said in English and Filipino.

Meanwhile, SSS Senior Vice-President Pedro T. Baoy said housing loan penalty condonation and restructuring program targets almost 2,000 borrowers, with a principal amount of P350 million and targeted P2 billion in penalties to be condoned.

The short-term member loan condonation program targets almost seven million borrowers, with a principal of around P59 billion and P60 billion in penalties to be condoned.

In the eight months to August, the SSS collected P155.59 billion in contributions and spent P159.6 billion. Of the expenses, P154 billion was spent for benefits while the rest was spent on operating expenses, SSS Executive Vice-President Rizaldy T. Capulong said.

“(Member contributions are) already lower by around P4 billion than the expenditures,” he said.

“However, because we have investment income of about P20 billion, that P4-billion difference has been provided for. In the event that contributions are not enough to pay for expenditures, our next line of funding would be the investment income. And then in the event that investment income is not sufficient, then the next source of funding would already be our reserves.”

BoI says likely to miss this year’s investment target

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

THE Board of Investments (BoI) is unlikely to meet its target to approve P905 billion in investment pledges this year, as a fresh surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) dampened investor sentiment.

Ceferino S. Rodolfo, Trade undersecretary and BoI managing head, said P376 billion in investment pledges were approved as of last September, while another P200-225 billion worth of pledges will be given the go signal before the year ends. This is still far from the P905-billion target for this year as reflected in the General Appropriations Act.   

“I don’t think we can meet it. I think we will need more time. We will need definitely until at least the first or second quarter next year. We lacked the time because of the global surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant,” Mr. Rodolfo told reporters during a virtual briefing on Thursday.

In 2020, the BoI approved P1.02 trillion worth of investment pledges.   

“We were really hit by the global economic setback caused by the Delta variant. This translated to stricter quarantine protocols in the Philippines. We were deeply affected during the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter,” Mr. Rodolfo said, noting new investments are starting to trickle in as lockdown restrictions eased.

He said some of the investments are in housing, renewable energy, telecommunications, cement manufacturing and agriculture.

Investments in the pipeline include telecommunication projects, he added.

Meanwhile, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the Senate is eyeing to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) within the month.

He said the Senate Foreign Relations Committee started deliberations last week.   

“There will be another committee hearing and hopefully after this, the RCEP can be presented and passed at the Senate plenary for ratification this November,” Mr. Lopez said. 

“The government together with key economists and experts have shown the net benefits of being part of RCEP and its positive contribution to GDP and trade, and conversely, the negative impact on growth, trade, investments and jobs of delayed or non-participation of the Philippines,” he added.   

To recall, RCEP is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that includes Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and all ASEAN-member countries which seeks to improve trade and investment.

“We should not be left behind.  There are enough safety nets to vulnerable sectors and even the exclusions of sensitive list of agriculture products,” Mr. Lopez said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Women lead at Tokyo Film Fest

arisa

THE 34TH EDITION of the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) was meant to introduce many firsts — a new venue, a new programming director, and a hybrid program that would most likely be the norm in today’s pandemic reality — and it was, but beyond a revamped film festival, it was also the year where female-led stories reigned.

“More than half of the films [in this year’s festival had] protagonists who are women, and [many are about] women who are fighting against the system,” Shozo Ichiyama, TIFF programming director, told reporters during an online media roundtable on Nov. 2.

“I think there are many filmmakers who are trying to show the injustice in this society from the woman’s point of view… systems that are established by men,” he added.

In the festival’s main competition section alone, eight of the 15 films have female protagonists. Mr. Ichiyama noted in particular Mikhail Red’s Arisaka and Kaltrina Krasniqi’s Vera Dreams of the Sea as films with female-led stories about breaking down the said systems.

Arisaka, one of the two Filipino films competing in the main section, tells the story of a female policeman on the run against assailants after a key witness is shot down, while Albanian film Vera Dreams of the Sea is poignant tale of a woman protesting against a male-dominated society after she learns that her house had been mortgaged by her recently deceased husband due to his gambling.

Another film which talks about the challenges of being a woman is Hommage, a South Korean film by Shin Su-won, that tells the story of a jobless female filmmaker tasked to restore a film but instead reveals the struggles female directors have faced in South Korea.

THE ROLE OF FILM FESTIVALS IN GENDER PARITY
While Mr. Ichiyama admitted that it was not his express intention to have more female-led films, TIFF has been working towards bringing gender parity in the weeklong festival — it’s the first and only film festival in Asia to sign the 5050×2020 pledge which aims to promote gender equality and transparency in film festival selection committee members, film directors, cast, and crew.

The initiative was launched during the 2018 Cannes Film Festival by award-winning French filmmaker Agnes Varda and has been signed by 156 film festivals including Cannes, Berlin, and Venice.

“[Signing the pledge might seem like] it’s just signing to say ‘yes, we will’ but it is an awareness and [creating] awareness into what we need to do… and being able to deal with how gender inequality is happening and how we can try collectively as a film festival to address these issues,” said Lorna Tee, film producer and art curator, during the TIFF’s Future of the Film Industry panel held on Oct. 31. — contributed by Zsarlene B. Chua

Higher expenses drag PLDT’s net profit in the third quarter

BW FILE PHOTO

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

PLDT, Inc. on Thursday reported an attributable third-quarter net income of P5.9 billion, down 20.3% from P7.4 billion in the same period a year ago, as expenses increased.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the company said its revenues for the period increased 3.7% to P48.2 billion from P46.5 billion previously.

Broken down, service revenues for the quarter grew 5.6% to P46.9 billion from P44.4 billion in the same period a year ago, while non-service revenues dropped 33.2% to P1.4 billion from P2.1 billion previously.

However, income after expenses for the quarter reached P11.2 billion versus P11.8 billion in the same period a year earlier. Other expenses totaled P3.5 billion from P1.4 billion previously, bringing the company’s income before tax to just P7.7 billion, down 26.7% from P10.5 billion in the same period last year.

For the January to September period, the company’s attributable net income declined 4.6% to P18.8 billion from P19.7 billion a year ago.

“Reported net income declined… after taking into account revaluation losses due to the peso’s depreciation this year vis-a-vis the peso appreciation last year,” PLDT said.

PLDT Chief Finance Officer Anabelle L. Chua said at a briefing that the company’s telco core income for the third quarter, which excludes the impact of asset sales and Voyager Innovations, hit P7.9 billion versus the P7.1 billion reported in the same period last year.

It climbed “10% year on year, or P2.1 billion, to 23.1 billion in the first nine months of 2021, helped by lower tax rates,” PLDT said.

The company believes it remains on track to reach its full-year telco core income guidance of P30 billion.

Total home revenue for the first nine months grew 25% to P35.3 billion, according to the company.

Meanwhile, individual wireless revenues grew 3% to P65.1 billion during the period, with data or broadband contributing 80% of the total.

Alfredo S. Panlilio, president and chief executive officer of PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc., said: “We are optimistic that once the lockdowns are not there, there is a probability that it will help the wireless business.”

Jane J. Basas, senior vice-president and head of consumer wireless business at PLDT’s Smart Communications, Inc., said: “As we see mobility improving in the fourth quarter, we do see improvement in revenues.”

The enterprise segment’s revenues for the third quarter increased 2% to an all-time high of P10.7 billion. The segment’s revenues grew by 2% to P31.1 billion in the first nine months.

The group intends to start building the first hyperscaler data center in the country next year. It will be completed by the first quarter of 2024.

The data center will serve the massive power and IT requirements of global tech giants.

“I think the [budget] for the new data center would be approximately about P5 billion,” Ms. Chua said.

PLDT’s Maya Bank, a digital bank, will also be launched by the first quarter of 2022.

“We have integrated financial services into our digital ecosystem by maximizing the synergies among PLDT, Smart, and PayMaya. And that is just the beginning. We will eventually expand this to include other customers, including those we provide with home broadband,” Mr. Panlilio said.

PLDT and Smart spent P63.3 billion for their network buildout in the first nine months of the year. They said they are “on track” to meeting the 2021 full-year capital expenditure guidance of at least P88 billion.

PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company remains committed to sustaining its “radical leadership” amid rapidly shifting patterns of business.

“In many ways, we have to adopt revolutionary aspects of leadership, adapting to abrupt changes where really needed, while maintaining the values that are important to the company,” he said.

“At the center of it all is the customer experience. In the old days, the value of companies was defined mainly by traditional metrics. Nowadays, companies are measured on two additional metrics which define their market value: sustainability and digitalization. These are no longer options but imperatives.”

Hrushikesh Mahananda, a telecoms analyst of the UK’s GlobalData, said PLDT is expected to lead the fixed-line voice services segment in terms of subscriptions through 2026.

“The operator will also top the fixed broadband services market, by subscriptions, supported by its strong position in DSL (digital subscriber line) and FTTH (fiber to the home) service lines,” he said in a statement.

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.

A diary of a few lows and more highs, so far

Music Review
= (Equals)
By Ed Sheeran
Asylum Records

TIME away from songwriting and touring allowed English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran to focus on what he considers more valuable than sold out shows and chart-topping songs — finding love, settling down, and spending time with family and friends.

After a four-year hiatus since last releasing an album, the 30-year-old singer from Suffolk returns with the fourth installment of his symbol album series with = (read as Equals). Written and produced over a four-year period, = captures much of the artist’s personal and career life. The album artwork shows butterfly imagery and is backdropped by one of Mr. Sheeran’s own abstract paintings — a hobby he started while away from creating music.

A mix of pop, rock, and folk, and ballads, Mr. Sheeran’s 14-track album maintains his relatable storyteller songwriting.

The album begins with a pop rock track, “Tides,” featuring loud guitar strumming juxtaposed with Mr. Sheeran’s lyrics about his achievements in his family and career life.

The first single of the album, “Bad Habits,” is a catchy pop track — however, it is not as infectious as its follow up single, “Shivers” a clap-along and Last Song Syndrome (LSS)-inducing dance track which could pass as this album’s “Shape of You” (2017). Both singles have spent 15 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom.

The third single, “Overpass Graffiti,” is an ode to the 1980s pop sound with rich synthesizers and drumbeats.

Mr. Sheeran returns to his folk acoustic sound in “First Times,” which is reminiscent of 2011’s “The A Team.” The song talks about the euphoric experience of performing at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 80,000 people, At the same time, it also reflects on more intimate “first times” such as his marriage proposal to his now wife and embracing fatherhood.

The ballad “The Joker and the Queen” is a tranquil love song fit for a slow dance. Meanwhile, “Visiting Hours” is dedicated to a lost close friend. A song Mr. Sheeran wrote while in quarantine in Australia, the lyrics capture the longing to spend a moment with them and catch up: “I wish that heaven, had visiting hours… Can I just stay a while and we’ll put all the world to rights? The little ones will grow, and I’ll still drink your favorite wine.”

In the tracks “Leave Your Life” and “Sandman,” Mr. Sheeran adds a new theme to his songs — fatherhood. “Leave Your Life” is a letter to his daughter about the promise of being a present father despite traveling and touring as a musician. He sings: “I’m never gonna leave your life. Even at the times I’m miles away, You are always on my mind.” “Sandman” is a lullaby for his daughter Lyra which he wrote on a ukulele and includes the sound of baby’s musical bed bells.

Equals offers mainstream pop tunes which could potentially be the standouts in the album and shows a maturity to Mr. Sheeran’s songwriting themes as he sings about loss and resilience and fatherhood. While he had gradually explored a more pop sound in his previous four albums —   +, x, and ÷   —  it will be interesting to see what new themes and topics Mr. Sheeran will sing about in upcoming records. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Figaro files for P1.77-B IPO

FIGARO COFFEE FACEBOOK PAGE

FIGARO COFFEE Group, Inc. (Figaro Group) has filed its registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a P1.77-billion initial public offering (IPO).

According to its prospectus dated Oct. 24, the company plans to offer up to 1.26 billion common shares for P1.28 per share to the public, with an overallotment option of up to 126 million shares.

The Figaro Group (TFG) is eyeing to conduct the offer period from Dec. 16 to Dec. 22, while its listing and trading at the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange is set on Dec. 31.

The proceeds from the offer will be used to fund future store launches and renovations, commissary expansion, debt repayment, investments in IT infrastructure, as well as potential acquisitions.

Figaro Group plans to use P657.6 million of its proceeds to fund store openings and renovations and P350.30 million for its commissary expansion.

“As part of our growth plans, we plan to have a total of about 150 system-wide stores by the end of 2022 and more than 300 system-wide stores throughout the country by the end of 2029,” the company said.

Figaro Group is the firm behind food retailers such as Figaro Coffee, Angel’s Pizza, and Tien Ma’s Taiwanese Cuisine. It also operates one TFG Express kiosk and one Café Portofino outlet.

As of Sept. 17, Figaro Group said it has a total of 90 branches. The company operates 52 Figaro Coffee shops, 31 Angel’s Pizza outlets, five Tien Ma’s Taiwanese cuisine restaurants, one TFG Express kiosk, and one Café Portofino outlet.

Figaro Group also plans to spend P600 million to acquire other foodservice businesses in the next three years.

“We are still in the early stages of studying and evaluating these potential acquisitions, which are intended to accelerate our growth, expand our business segments, and add value to our brands and product offerings,” the company said.

Figaro Group will also use approximately P80 million of the IPO proceeds to settle short-term financial obligations incurred by a subsidiary through loans, which were used for additional working capital.

It will also spend P5 billion on IT infrastructure development to upgrade its enterprise resource planning systems and improve the system integration of its stores, among others.

The company has tapped Abacus Capital & Investment Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., and PNB Capital and Investment Corp. to be the joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners of the offer. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Dune — a prophetic tale about the environmental destruction wrought by the colonization of Africa

REBECCA FERGUSON IN DUNE: PART ONE (2021) — IMDB.COM/

DIRECTOR Denis Villeneuve’s most recent sci-fi epic is the latest attempt to tell the story of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed 1965 novel, Dune. The film is set millennia in the future when the galaxy is ruled by a class of family Houses. Each house battles for control over the most valuable resource in the galaxy, “spice” — a powerful hallucinogen that also happens to power interstellar travel.

Spice is mined on only one inhospitable desert planet — Arrakis, also known as Dune. Arrakis is populated by the Fremen, a group of warriors and desert dwellers who have to fight against a series of imperial colonizers, each one using different methods of control to mine and sell spice.

Dune offers a useful allegorical narrative of the “scramble for Africa,” which saw European empires carve up the continent into colonized powers based purely in the pursuit of trade advantages.

VIOLENT EXTRACTION OF RESOURCES
The “scramble” officially began in 1884 with the Berlin Conference. Here major European and other imperial powers — Germany, Britain, Belgium, Austria-Hungary, France, Spain, the US, the Ottoman Empire and others — colluded in violently delineating the continent’s varied tribal geographies into colonial nation states.

The colonial and aristocratic European motifs in Mr. Villeneuve’s Dune are not hard to spot: sealing decrees with signet rings on wax, overtly westernized regal dress and military uniforms.

Based on specific trade specialties and existing knowledge of resources, by 1914, Africa was a colonized continent. Like Arrakis, its valuable natural resources (both human and nonhuman) were being mined to service western colonial markets.

In Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium undertook one of the most notorious resource plunders in the Congo, which is known for its abundance of rubber. Leopold was far more brutal in his land grab than other colonizers, committing mass genocide in the process.

Seeing the Congolese people as inferior, Leopold forced them to labor for the valued resources and murdered those who refused. The exact figures are hard to discern, but it is thought that his armies murdered over half of the population.

In the film, audiences are introduced to Vladimir, leader of House Harkonnen, which has enacted a brutal and violent colonization of Arrakis for years. His corpulence, greed and brutality bear a striking resemblance to the actions of Leopold. There is even a scene where he bathes in molten rubber.

THE LASTING IMPACT OF COLONIZATION
As Mr. Villeneuve himself has pointed out, the themes of his version of Dune speak to how fragile a planet’s ecosystem can be. It also highlights how we must change our dependence on extracting resources to start a planetary healing process.

As climate catastrophe continues to unfold around the world, many commentators (myself included) point to the extractive nature of fossil fuel companies, deforestation practices and ocean-polluting industries as the prime culprits. These practices have a legacy in the colonial plunder of Africa, with several chartered companies set up to marshal the global trade of the resources gained from colonial invasions.

For example, Cecil Rhodes, who is known widely for the decolonization campaign #RhodesMustFall, made his fortune mining diamonds in South Africa. This industry produces a lot of local pollution and is also highly energy intensive.

Many modern-day mining and oil companies have their roots in the colonial invasion of Africa, with damaging environmental costs both locally in African countries, but also globally as they belch carbon into the air.

Dune shines a harsh light on these processes.

We see how technologically superior invading “houses” are harvesting the raw materials, enslaving the population and using precious resources (such as water) to feed sacred trees rather than quench the thirst of indigenous workers. But these powers are ultimately humbled by Arrakis’ indigenous population who use spice as part of their sustainable relationship with the harsh environment of the planet — not for intergalactic trade or to generate vast profits.

In this, Dune critically explores the geopolitics behind resource extraction. It highlights the limitations of and the inevitable resistance to the powers that attempt to wield natural resources for domination. It also predicted that the colonization of the past would lead to much of the destruction we are now seeing.

The next decade has to be the one in which we, as a planet, begin to work towards reducing the impact of climate catastrophe. Part of that process will involve understanding the past transgressions of European power on the Global South. Stories that have a message behind them, like Dune, show us how.

 

Oli Mould is a Lecturer in Human Geography, Royal Holloway University of London

Jollibee unit to acquire 51% of bubble tea firm

JOLLIBEE FOODS Corp. (JFC), through wholly-owned unit Jollibee Worldwide, Pte. Ltd., is planning to purchase a 51% stake estimated at $12.8 million in Milkshop International Co. Ltd., the firm behind Taiwanese bubble tea brand Milksha.

JFC is aiming to hop on the global bubble tea craze by growing the Milksha brand globally, the fastfood giant said in a disclosure on Thursday.

“[The] completion of this transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, and the final purchase price will be confirmed after closing,” it said.

Jollibee said one of the co-founders of Milkshop will continue to hold the remaining 49% stake after the transaction.

The company announced in June that it plans to serve Milksha in the Philippines through its Chowking stores.

JFC and its other subsidiaries, Fresh N’ Famous Foods, Inc. and Mang Inasal Philippines, Inc., have exclusive rights to sell and market products under the Milksha brand through a licensing agreement with Milkshop.

Milkshop was founded in 2008 in Taiwan’s Tainan City. It is involved in the development, operations, and franchising of specialty tea shops under trade names Milkshop and Milksha.

The firm sources its milk from its own dairy ranch and their bubble tea is said to be “free from chemical additives, preservatives, and caramel color.”

Majority of Milkshop’s outlets are in Taiwan with 231 shops, while it has 12 outlets in Singapore, four in Hong Kong, two in Melbourne, Australia, and another two in Vancouver, Canada.

Despite the pandemic, Milkshop booked system-wide sales worth $74.7 million in 2020.

Jollibee shares went up by 2.59% or P6 to close at P238 each on Thursday. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

ICTSI income climbs 73% in Q3

INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) on Thursday said its net income attributable to equity holders for the third quarter climbed 73% to $119.7 million from $69.2 million in the same period a year earlier, mainly due to “a considerable improvement in trade activities.”

“We have seen a considerable improvement in trade activities and outperformance in Asia, the Americas and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) as economies continue to recover from the impact of the… pandemic and lockdown restrictions ease,” ICTSI Chairman and President Enrique K. Razon, Jr. said in an e-mailed statement.

“This has led to strong performance this quarter for ICTSI,” he added.

The company’s revenues for the third quarter grew 27% to $482.4 million from $379.3 million in the same period in 2020.

Its consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter was at $296.9 million, up 31% from $226.8 million previously.

ICTSI said it saw higher operating income and lower equity in net loss of joint ventures, which was partially tapered by an increase in interest expense on loans, concession rights payable, and lease liability.

At the same time, it saw higher depreciation and amortization expenses associated with its new terminals.

In the quarter, the company’s total consolidated throughput was 7% higher at 2,807,098 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 2,626,542 TEUs last year.

For the first nine months, ICTSI’s total revenues hit $1.37 billion, a 24% increase from $1.1 billion previously.

Its net income attributable to equity holders for the January to September period was $316.4 million, 73% higher than the $182.6 million earned in the same period a year ago.

“ICTSI handled consolidated volume of 8,266,621 TEUs in the first nine months of 2021, 11% more than the 7,426,307 TEUs handled in the same period in 2020,” the company said.

ICTSI attributed the increase in volume to the improvement in trade activities.

Its capital expenditures (capex), excluding capitalized borrowing costs, for the first nine months reached $104 million. The company’s total budget for the year is about $250 million.

“These were mainly for the ongoing expansion at Manila International Container Terminal in the Philippines and ICTSI DR Congo in Democratic Republic of Congo, and acquisition of port facilities and equipment at International Container Terminal Services Nigeria Ltd. in the Port of Onne in Nigeria,” the company said of its spending in the first nine months.

ICTSI closed unchanged at P178 apiece on Thursday. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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