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GCash says P40 billion worth of loans disbursed

BW FILE PHOTO

ONE MILLION active borrowers have been registered on Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc.’s mobile money service platform GCash as of the end of June, its top official announced on Monday.

At the same time, the company has disbursed over P40 billion in loans, GCash said in an e-mailed statement.

“The services… have further undergone innovations, whether in savings, investing, insurance, and lending,” said Martha M. Sazon, GCash president and chief executive officer.

The platform’s GLoan, which provides access to up to P125,000 cash loans, does not require any collateral and gives borrowers up to 24 months to repay, the company said.

Meanwhile, GGives, a “buy now, pay later” option on the platform, allows installment terms of up to 24 “gives” in 12 months. Users can shop at GCash’s partner merchants for up to P125,000 worth of items.

The application’s GCredit is a revolving mobile credit line that can also be used to pay for goods and services.

The platform also houses other financial products such as GSave, GInsure, and GInvest.

“As of the first semester, GSave accounts have reached more than 3.3 million, with one in five banked Filipinos already having a GSave account,” GCash said.

“Insurance provider GInsure, meanwhile, has sold more than two million policies to date,” it added.

Moreover, investment marketplace GInvest has registered more than 3.4 million investors in the first six months. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Landco to develop premium beach resort community in Batangas

LANDCO Pacific Corp. is building a 24-hectare leisure estate which will feature a mix of residential-commercial lots, a condotel, and tourist hubs in Laiya, Batangas.

“We want to introduce Club Laiya and hopefully put Laiya on the map, on the level of Boracay, so that it becomes top of mind for people who want to invest or come for a quick vacation. Let it be the destination on their lists,” said Landco’s vice-president for marketing Gerard “Gibby” F. Peñaflor at a media briefing on Sept. 14.

Located in San Juan, Batangas, two hours away from Metro Manila via the South Luzon Expressway, the work-in-progress resort community of Club Laiya is already attracting tourists with its glamping-style poolside Cocoons near the beach.

“[Laiya] was already known back in the ’90s, but to get here, the entire stretch leading to the resorts was all rough roads, over an hour’s travel,” Mr. Peñaflor told BusinessWorld.

“Now, everything has changed. It became a priority area for tourist development and the roads are now developed.”

Plaza Laiya, a community plaza, will serve as Club Laiya’s gathering point for local events, surrounded by retail and dining outlets and spaces filled with trees and greenery, similar in concept to Bonifacio High Street in Bonifacio Global City.

The Seaside District will be a beach community of homes and businesses, made up of 106 residential-commercial lots with an average size of 300 to 3,000 square meters (sq.m.). This district will be closest to the white sands of Laiya beach.

The Upper West Side District will be an inland gated community with mountain views. Its 190 lots, with an average size of 300 sq.m., will each have exclusive access to a nearly half-kilometer swimming pool and urbanized forest trail around its perimeter.

Mr. Peñaflor explained that investors and property owners will have free rein to transform their residential-commercial properties, whether into a bed and breakfast, a restaurant, or a resort wear boutique.

“If you want to maximize your unit, it can even be enrolled as part of the rental pool that our resort will manage,” he added.

Finally, the Spinnaker, shaped like the special boat sail for which it is named, will be a 20-storey medium-rise beachfront condominium with terraced levels and beachfront cuts that have an unimpeded view of the beach and ocean.

Though it’s still in the beginning stages of construction, Landco hopes to start selling before the end of the year. More information on the units will be released in October.

The development is located with under-30-minute access to hospitals, schools, shopping outlets, and recreational sites like Laiya Adventure Park and Mount Dagulgol.

It’s also eco-friendly, its sustainability program registered with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The entire estate has wastewater treatment, where the treated water is piped back for washing cars, watering plants, and other uses. The surrounding rivers and forests are also the focus of environmental conservation efforts.

Every lot is accessible to the beach via tree-lined walkways, pedestrian routes, bicycle lanes, and a promenade. There will be Wi-Fi for a “work from the beach” set-up, 24/7 security monitoring in public areas, and slipway for small boats and jet skis.

“You can build a house and a restaurant and recover some of the investment. You’ll have a beach property to go to every weekend, but you can also rent it out or maybe pass it on to the next generation,” said Mr. Peñaflor.

“There’s much potential for property appreciation.” — Brontë H. Lacsamana

Citicore says its power plants fully operational after typhoon

CITICORE Renewable Energy Corp. said on Monday that all its power plants are fully operational following the onslaught of Typhoon Karding.

“As of 11 a.m. of Sept. 26, Citicore Solar (CS) Arayat and Bulacan are fully operational and 100% online,” Citicore President and Chief Executive Oliver Y. Tan said in a media release on Monday.

Mr. Tan said that Citicore’s operations and maintenance team are monitoring all operating plants to ensure uninterrupted power services in areas affected by the typhoon.

He assured the company’s stakeholders and its plants’ surrounding communities of continuous service despite the minor damage caused by the typhoon.

In the company’s press release, it said that CS Tarlac 2 is also ready and on standby.

“CS Tarlac 2 is working closely with Tarlac Electric, Inc. for the restoration of electricity in affected areas,” it said.

Further, Mr. Tan said that some facilities with minor damage are under inspection. He said that restoration works continue, but will not affect the operational capacity of the power plants.

He said that while the operations and maintenance team is patrolling the affected power plants, “we are also extending our assistance to our host communities and coordinating with the local government units for any help we can give.”

Data from Citicore’s website showed that Citicore Solar Bulacan, Inc. operates the 15-megawatt-peak utility-scale solar photovoltaic power plant. The company recently energized its 72-megawatt Arayat-Mexico solar farm.

On Sunday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration placed areas in the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Quezon, and Nueva Ecija under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 5. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Philippines improves in Social Progress Index ranking

The Philippines improved four places to rank 81st out of 169 countries and scored 67.46 out of 100 in the latest edition of the annual Social Progress Index by American nonprofit organization Social Progress Imperative. The index measures non-economic dimensions of social performances across the globe with transparent and actionable data using 12 components and 60 indicators which are classified into: basic human needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunity.

Philippines improves in Social Progress Index ranking

Wall Street banks prep for grim China scenarios over Taiwan

GLOBAL FINANCIAL FIRMS, still smarting from multibillion-dollar losses in Russia, are now reassessing the risks of doing business in Greater China after an escalation of tensions over Taiwan.

Lenders including Societe Generale SA (SocGen), JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS Group AG have asked their staff to review contingency plans in the past few months to manage exposures, according to people familiar with the matter. Global insurers, meanwhile, are backing away from writing new policies to cover firms investing in China and Taiwan, and costs for political risk coverage have soared more than 60% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Political risk around potential US sanctions and the likelihood that China would respond by restricting capital flow has kept risk managers busy,” said Mark Williams, a professor at Boston University. “A sanctions war would significantly increase the cost of doing business and push US banks to rethink their China strategy.”

Heated rhetoric between Beijing and Washington over Taiwan has unsettled firms, coming just months after Russia’s war unexpectedly forced the world’s largest lenders to exit businesses and stop serving ultra-wealthy clients. US lawmakers last week ramped up pressure on banks to answer questions on whether they would withdraw from China if it invaded Taiwan.

While financial services executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they view the risk of armed conflict in North Asia as low, they see tit-for-tat sanctions between the US and China that disrupt the flow of finance and trade as ever more likely.

Any withdrawal would represent a dramatic about-face for Wall Street firms, which have poured billions into China after it opened its finance sector in recent years. Lenders ranging from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. to Morgan Stanley have taken control of joint ventures and sought more banking licenses, while adding staff until some recent cuts sparked by a drop deals. The combined disclosed exposure of the biggest Wall Street banks in banks in China was about $57 billion at the end of 2021.

Those ambitions are now threatened by rising US-China tensions. Last week, Citigroup, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser faced a grilling by lawmakers on whether the lender would pull back from China in the event of a Taiwan invasion. She answered in line with other banks — she would seek US government guidance before making a move.

“It’s a hypothetical question, but it’s highly likely that we would have a materially reduced presence if any at all in the country,” Ms. Fraser said.

Any pullback in China would only hurt these firms, China’s Global Times paper reported last week.

“American politicians want to pile on pressure to coerce top US financial organizations to alienate the Chinese market,” the Communist Party paper said. “There is no denying China’s financial markets may lose some capital, but the US banks may also face the worsening economic woes as a result of the poisonous decision from Washington.”

Over the past few months, firms have been stress-testing to see if they can handle the risk of a sudden market plunge — examining their exposure across the currency, bond and stock trading desks, people familiar said. While banks often draw up contingency plans without putting them into action, the escalating tensions are adding some urgency.

France’s SocGen has been assessing headcount in Greater China — including Hong Kong — driven by nervousness among executives in Paris, one person said. UBS has asked its Taiwan-based trading desk to assess its contingency plan and see how they can lower exposure to the island, according to a person familiar. One way would be to reduce foreign exchange trading services for Taiwanese clients, the person added. Officials at SocGen, JPMorgan and UBS declined to comment. 

TRADING LOSSES
Top of mind is ensuring staff safety, identifying clients who may be sanctioned, and looking at plans to mitigate counterparty risk and potential trading losses, according to two of the bank executives who asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive issue.

One banker said staff at their firm had considered the option of liquidating positions on China’s Financial Futures Exchange to cut onshore counterparty risk, replicating those contracts on other exchanges such as in Singapore.

Meanwhile, insurers have raised prices by 67% on average for political risk coverage linked to China, according to Willis Towers Watson Plc. Businesses that can get insurance face a “steep reallocation” of pricing, which has been “very acute” for China, according to Laura Burns, senior vice-president for political risk at London-based Willis Towers Watson.

Insurers are underwriting new policies, but “cautiously and selectively” in China and have reduced their capacity for Taiwan exposure, said Nick Robson, head of credit specialties at broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. Political risk insurance pays out if a client loses money due to political events such as civil unrest, terrorism or war.

HSBC CHALLENGE
At HSBC Holdings Plc, the global lender most heavily exposed to China and Hong Kong, calls by its biggest shareholder to carve out the Asian business have been driven partly by concern it’s susceptible to a decoupling between the US and China.

Ping An Insurance Group Co. would back a breakup of HSBC’s Asia business or just the Asia retail operations, a person familiar has said. The lender, which was founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865, has been increasingly looking to invest in other markets such as India to cushion any financial impact from volatility in some parts of North Asia, a person familiar has said. CEO Noel Quinn has resisted calls for a breakup. The bank declined to comment.

Planning for the spectrum of scenarios is no easy task, especially with executives wary of alienating Chinese officials on an issue of extreme sensitivity. One senior private banker in Hong Kong, who works with wealthy Chinese clients at a European bank, says the topic is so taboo that bankers are reluctant to hold formal discussions or put plans in writing for fear of it getting back to Beijing.

“Some of the banks who are the most exposed are the most fearful to plan long term, for fear of backlash from China,” said Isaac Stone Fish, founder of Strategy Risks, which specializes in corporate relationships with China. “Banks having a lot of these conversations are doing it outside of China and Hong Kong.”

RUSSIA LESSONS
In some cases, executives worry about a situation — much like in Russia — where Beijing blocks foreign banks from moving assets or capital abroad as a payback for any US sanctions.

Russian authorities plan to review individual requests on the sale of foreign bank units in the country without instigating a blanket ban on such deals, two officials familiar with discussions on the matter have said earlier. The government will consider every application and decide to grant permission if it’s deemed beneficial for the nation, the officials said.

The Interfax news service had earlier cited Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moiseev as saying that a government subcommittee on foreign investments would reject all sales requests from foreign banks to sell their units “until the situation has improved.”

European banks including Societe Generale and UniCredit SpA have flagged combined hits of almost $10 billion from Russia, mostly from writing down the value of their operations and setting aside money as a shield against the expected economic ramifications.

“Russia has proven to be a template of what you don’t want to happen,” said Dale Buckner, CEO of security services firm Global Guardian, whose clients include banks and private equity firms. “People are asking the ‘what if’ questions: if there was a blockade, if there was shut down of the cyber system, if there were naval strikes or an actual war. What would happen?”

The first part of the calculus would be to review hard assets and intellectual property in the region, understand where a firm’s money is parked and who has control if China decided to take over the banking system and deny access, he said.

“It’s almost impossible to plan for these things,” said Tom Kirchmaier, professor at the Centre of Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. “While there has been some planning for these scenarios since the financial crisis, there no doubt will be some big surprises when theory hits practice.” — Bloomberg

In China, home buyers occupy their ‘rotting,’ unfinished properties

A HOMEBUYER stands at her unfinished apartment where she stays, at Guangxi Zhuang, China. — REUTERS

GUILIN, China — For six months, home for Ms. Xu has been a room in a high-rise apartment in the southern Chinese city of Guilin that she bought three years ago, attracted by brochures touting its riverfront views and the city’s clean air.

Her living conditions, however, are far from those promised: unpainted walls, holes where electric sockets should be and no gas or running water. Every day she climbs up and down several flights of stairs carrying heavy water bottles filled with a hose outside.

“All the family’s savings were invested in this house,” Xu, 55, told Reuters from the Xiulan County Mansion complex, her room bare except for a mosquito net-covered bed, a few necessities and empty bottles on the floor. She declined to give her full name, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

Xu and about 20 other buyers living in Xiulan County Mansion share a makeshift outdoor toilet and gather during the day at a table and benches in the central courtyard area.

They are part of a movement of home buyers around China who have moved into what they call “rotting” apartments, either to pressure developers and authorities to complete them or out of financial necessity, as numerous cash-strapped builders halt construction amid the country’s deep real estate slump.

Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute estimated in July that stalled projects accounted for 3.85% of China’s housing market in the first half of 2022, equivalent to an area of 231 million square meters.

While some local governments have taken steps to prop up the property market by setting up bailout funds, buyers like Xu, who paid deposits in advance and are on the hook for mortgages, remain in limbo.

MORTGAGE STRIKES
The proliferation of unfinished apartments has sparked unprecedented collective disobedience, fueled by social media: in late June, thousands of home buyers in at least 100 cities threatened to halt mortgage payments to protest stalled construction.

The overall property market is highly sensitive to cases of unfinished apartments because 90% of new houses bought in China are purchased “off plans” while still under construction, said Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai E-House.

“If this issue is not resolved, it will affect property transactions, the government’s credibility, and it could exacerbate the developers’ debt problems,” he said.

China’s deep property slump, along with disruptions caused by strict anti-COVID measures, are dragging on the world’s second largest economy just as the ruling Communist Party gears up for its once-in-five-years Congress next month.

‘CRASHING FROM PARADISE’
Xu bought her two-bedroom, 70 square meter flat in early 2019, about a year after its developer, Jiadengbao Real Estate, started construction and began marketing apartments for around 6,000 yuan ($851) per square meter, which they said would come with facilities such as floor heating and a shared swimming pool.

Work progressed quickly at first, with blocks in the planned 34 tower complex going up one after another.

But in June 2020, Jiadengbao Real Estate hit the headlines after a court accused its parent company of illegal fund-raising and seized 340 million yuan worth of its properties, including a number of flats in Xiulan County Mansion.

Construction stopped in mid-2020, which Xu found out months later, describing her feelings at the time as “crashing from paradise.”

Jiadengbao Real Estate did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Since the debt crisis erupted in 2021, thousands more home buyers have been caught in similar predicaments as cash-strapped developers went into bankruptcy or abandoned struggling projects.

FENCING AND UNDERGROWTH
On a recent day, the main block of buildings at Xiulan County Mansion was surrounded by a tall blue fence while the clubhouse, touted in promotional materials, was covered in a dense undergrowth. Cement mixers, iron poles, and piles of debris lay strewn around.

Xu, who is unemployed, said she bought the apartment for her only son, with the hope that he would be able to raise a family there. She said her son and her husband, who live far away in the northern province of Hebei, blame her for their financial predicament, and no longer speak to her.

“We don’t know how long we will have to live here because the government has not said anything officially,” she said.

She hopes the Guilin government will step in to help.

The city government did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Housing authorities in Baoding, the northern city where Xu is from and where Jiadengbao Real Estate’s parent company is registered, said last November the city government and Communist Party committee had set up a group to resolve the issue.

“If the government really wants to protect people’s livelihoods, and resume construction, we will go back home,” Xu said. — Reuters

Weaker demand spells end of shipping boom

THE cost of shipping goods from China has slumped to the lowest level in more than two years as the world economy stumbles, dimming prospects for container carriers that turned in record profits during the pandemic.

A 40-foot shipping box from the world’s largest port of Shanghai to Los Angeles fetched $3,779 last week, the first time the spot price was below $4,000 since September 2020 and half the level of three months ago, according to Drewry. More declines are expected in the next few weeks, it said.

While the value of Chinese exports was still rising through August, it’s expected to continue to slow down. That’s a symptom of multiple headwinds hitting developed and developing economies alike, from soaring inflation and a surging dollar to central bank interest-rate hikes and trade disruptions blamed on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“It’s fair to say that the demand outlook for the trans-Pacific and container shipping generally is receding quickly,” said Simon Heaney, a senior manager of container research at Drewry.

In what’s typically the peak season for seaborne trade, global demand for Chinese goods is waning instead as consumers cut back spending because of inflation and the shift away from goods toward services.

Factories in Europe and the rest of Asia are also scaling back production. China’s economic slowdown is also cutting into import demand, with companies in Asia and Europe seeing weaker growth or declines in orders from Chinese companies.

For the world’s shipping lines, it’s providing some relief to their packed sailing schedules yet threatening to slow an eye-popping run of profitability driven during the pandemic by stronger-than-normal consumer demand for household items.

“While it’s more clear that the second quarter of 2022 will be an earnings peak, I think any talk of bust and return to pre-pandemic earnings levels — or lack thereof — is premature,” said John McCown, an industry veteran and founder of Blue Alpha Capital.

Shares of Copenhagen-based A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S hit the lowest since March 2021 on Friday, and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG slumped to the lowest since June last year. Cosco Shipping Holdings Co., China’s biggest carrier, reached a 17-month low. Shares of Honolulu-based Matson, Inc., a smaller player that has operated an express Asia-to-US service across the Pacific, are worth about half of their record high set in March.

It was just about two years ago that US import demand started to surge, leading to a queue of cargo ships off the coast of Southern California through 2021 that eventually reached a high of 109 in January this year. As of Friday, the line to enter the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach had eight vessels.

US container imports aren’t falling off a cliff, but they’re slowing down to more normal levels seen before Covid-19.

The steady fall in spot container rates is putting pressure on carriers that have been pushing to sign more long-term contracts with customers as those prices soared into early 2022. Maersk, for instance, said recently it has about 72% of its long-haul volume on contracts.

Walmart, Inc., Amazon.com, Inc. and Ikea were among companies that signed contracts when spot prices were at near-record levels, according to analysis firm Xeneta, but as inflation bites importers in the US and Europe want to ship fewer goods from Asia, it said.

Many of the carriers’ customers want to re-negotiate for discounts.

Agents and freight forwarders in Asia have received calls recently from cargo owners asking to lower their shipping costs, with some exporters complaining about the unfairness of paying almost twice as much on contracts than the spot market. Shipping companies want exporters to bulk up their volumes, but many are refusing to because of the weaker economic outlook.

“We polled customers and 50% of them successfully negotiated for lower rates on term contracts,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta. “The drop in freight rates is due to falling demand globally, and port congestion has eased, allowing for more efficient operation of the ships.”

Economists forecast the value of Chinese exports will grow 9% this year, down from the 13.5% expansion in the first eight months of the year and well below the 30% jump last year. While exports rose 7.1% in August from a year earlier, higher prices rather than a boost in volumes may be playing a bigger role in driving up the figures. About half of the headline export growth in July was due to price effects, according to an estimate by Macquarie Group Ltd.

EARLIER PEAK
Some of the softening in demand reflects an earlier-than-usual peak season for US companies to import their wares. Historically, Chinese exports grow strongly into the second half of the year as companies in the US and Europe stock up before the holiday season, but this year there was a big spike in shipments in May though July, which then fell back a bit in August.

Shanghai’s port processed 8.4% less cargo in August than a year earlier, with the number of containers down 3.4%, the port said earlier this month. That tracks with the drop in boxes arriving in the US — the number of containers arriving at the busiest US port of Los Angeles dropped by the most since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic last month.

With no capacity to spare just six months ago, the container lines are now scrambling to reduce an excess of it to match demand. According to a Drewry report on Friday, 117 out of 744 sailings were canceled over the next month on major trade lanes, and about 68% of those blanked voyages were scheduled to do transpacific eastbound trips.

The weakening outlook isn’t coming just from mainland China — Taiwan’s exports grew at the slowest pace in more than two years in August, while South Korean exports dropped 8.7% in the first 20 days of this month.

Bloomberg Intelligence logistics analyst Lee Klaskow said the shipping industry still could have its third-best year in 2023, but the good times may not keep rolling beyond that given all the new ships — ordered during this period of prosperity — that will start to be launched next year.

“There is a lot of new capacity hitting the water in 2023, which will dampen spot and contractual rates,” he said. “When we get to 2024, things may get worse for liners as more supply hits the water and supply chains normalize.” — Bloomberg

Entertainment News (09/27/22)

Concert focuses on music of Troy Laureta

AWARD-winning Filipino-American musical director and record producer, Troy Laureta, presents a multi-singer concert that features performers from the US and the Philippines. Loren Allred stars alongside Regine Velasquez in the concert, East Meets West: A Troy Laureta Experience, at the Newport Performing Arts Theater on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 8 p.m. Also performing at the concert will be Matt Bloyd and Cheesa, Ogie Alcasid, Jona, Jed Madela, and Adah Leosala. Tickets are available at TicketWorld.

Tony Hadley takes 40th anniversary tour to Manila

TONY Hadley, the former lead singer of Spandau Ballet, revisits his biggest numbers and hits live on-stage at the Newport Performing Arts Theater on Sept. 28, 8 p.m. Mr. Hadley is celebrating four hit-making decades performing his most memorable tunes including “True,” “Gold,” and “Through the Barricades.” Tickets are available at TicketWorld.

Phil-Korean festival returns onsite

THE 31st Philippines-Korea Cultural Exchange Festival returns onsite on Sept. 30 at the Aliw Theater, CCP Complex, Pasay City. Presented by the United Korean Community Association (UKCA), the Korean Embassy, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the festival returns to the stage after two years of online celebration. The audience can experience some of the best of Korean and Filipino culture and its collaborations through special performances and booths featuring Korean food, beauty, and different industries. The performers include the Korean group Jinmyung, a traditional Korean percussion quartet, Filipino musician Celso Espejo, P-Pop girl group KAIA and Filipino singer MONA. The 2021 Philippines-Korea Cultural Exchange Festival winner will also perform live on stage for the first time since winning the title. Nine finalists composed of Filipinos and Koreans will also showcase their talents on stage in vocal and dance performances. Gates will open at 1 p.m., performances will start at 6 p.m.

EastSide performs at Newport

MINDANAO’s EastSide Band will have a two-night concert at Newport World Resorts’ The Grand Bar and Lounge and Bar 360. The six-piece band take the stage of The Grand Bar and Lounge on Sept. 30 at 10:15 p.m. and at Bar 360 on Oct. 1, 11:15 p.m., for a minimum cover charge of P1,000 consumable on food and drinks. Since uploading their first cover video in 2018, the EastSide Band has steadily grown its online audience, earning them a performing stint at ABS-CBN’s ASAP Natin ‘To, and a back-to-back concert with the band Music Travel Love in Cagayan De Oro City.

Indie film platform for accessible movies launched

INSPIRED by watching indie films in class at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde then the University of the Philippines Film Institute, Karen Jane Salutan was motivated to create EdukSine, an independent Filipino film platform and social enterprise, which was recently launched at the Cine Adarna at UP. With a grant from the Department of Science and Technology, it serves as an avenue for independent filmmakers to highlight local films which strengthen cultural roots and narratives. Co-founded with Romae Marquez, the project is an alternative to the sad fate of indie films that get abruptly pulled out of mall cinema theaters after low turnouts. EdukSine proposes a different way to promote these films to the right audience: through pre-arranged physical screenings in schools and universities, government offices and private companies, to include barangays and villages in the provinces. This is in addition to an online website and even hybrid setups. The team wishes EdukSine to be a sustainable avenue for independent film producers and directors. Today, EdukSine carries over 40 films accessible through their website eduksine.com, while others are available in physical screenings. For more information, visit EdukSine at https://eduksine.com.

CCP Met Opera in HD returns to Greenbelt

AFTER two years of silence due to the pandemic, operatic arias will once more resound in at the theater this September as the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) relaunches the Met Opera in HD series in cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc., and Ayala Cinemas. Season 7 of the CCP Met Opera In HD Season 7 will be launched on Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m. at the Greenbelt 3 Cinema 1 with a private screening of Georges Bizet’s Carmen. The series will feature one Met Opera in HD production every month until February at Greenbelt 3 in Makati. Forthcoming are Carmen on October 4, featuring mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine and tenor Roberto Alagna; La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi on Nov. 15, featuring soprano Diana Damrau and tenor Juan Diego Flórez; Dialogues Des Carmélites by Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc on Dec. 6, with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard and Karita Mattila; La Fille Du Régiment by Gaetano Donizetti on Jan. 10, with Bel canto stars Pretty Yende and Javier Camarena; and, Samson Et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns on Feb. 7, with mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča and tenor Roberto Alagna. All screenings are at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit the CCP website (www.culturalcenter.gov.ph) and follow the official CCP social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

5 Seconds of Summer releases 5th studio album

POP rock band 5 Seconds of Summer has released their fifth studio album, 5SOS5. The 19-track album showcases their pop-punk sound paired with reflective and intimate lyrics, with the majority of the new album written by the band and Michael Clifford leading on production. Released alongside 5SOS5 is the new single “Bad Omens.’’ Previously released tracks from the album are “Blender”, “Take My Hand”, and “Me, Myself & I.” This is the band’s first album to be released independently via BMG. The deluxe CD and digital versions of the album include 19 tracks, with cassette and vinyl formats also available.

Lil Nas X releases League of Legends Worlds anthem

FRESH from sold out shows at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall, multiplatinum recording artist Lil Nas X, has joined forces with League of Legends Esports to unveil his new single and this year’s Worlds Championship anthem, “Star Walkin’ (League of Legends Worlds Anthem).” The song arrives alongside an animated official video that highlights landmarks in San Francisco, the destination city for the World Final, and League of Legends pros past and present. Lil Nas X will take the stage at the Worlds Opening Ceremony leading into the World Final at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Nov. 5.

Drag Playhouse PH celebrates music of Beyonce

DRAG Playhouse Philippines recently celebrated the music of Beyoncé through a thematic show that highlighted the star’s contribution to queer pop culture. House 628 Live: The Renaissance Ball featured the queens of Drag Playhouse Philippines sashaying to Beyoncé’s club-thumping 2022 album, Renaissance, and classic hits. Aside from drag performances by OV Cunt, Marina Summers, Prince, and Eva Le Queen — three of them currently contestants on Drag Race Philippines — the drag show also hosted contests in several categories. Watch the Facebook video for the roundup of House 628 Live: The Renaissance Ball, Category: A Night of a Thousand Beyoncé.   

OPPO collaborates with Spotify

GLOBAL technology company OPPO recently announced its partnership with audio streaming platform Spotify. Through this collaboration, they created an all-new simple and customizable listening experience on OPPO smartphones with its latest ColorOS 13 Operating System. Spotify users can now enjoy music, podcasts and audiobooks with easier access and convenient controls on the home screen of their OPPO device. Spotify users can now know what Spotify content is currently playing, without having to unlock their device. Smart Always-On-Display supports Spotify controls and information display.

DJ Alesso performing in Manila

OVATION Productions is bringing in DJ Alesso for a performance on Dec. 17 at the SMDC Festival Grounds. Hailing from Stockholm, his second single as the lead artist, 2012’s “Calling (Losing My Mind)” with Swedish House Mafia’s Sebastian Ingrosso and Grammy award-winning OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, was certified Platinum twice in Sweden while also reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s US Hot Dance Club Songs. Alesso was featured on Vai Anitta, a Netflix original docu-series which highlighted his work on the “Is That For Me” record and video shoot. He also released “Tilted Towers,” an ambitious crossover blending the dance music world with the gaming community. He debuted his song on a Twitch livestream with Ninja, the gaming world’s biggest star, premiering it for nearly 50 thousand fans at once. Alesso at SMDC Festival Grounds is presented by Ovation Productions in partnership with Spade Empire Events and TAPGO TV. Tickets will be out soon via ovationtickets.com and smtickets.com.

Lack of catalysts seen to prompt cautious trading

BW FILE PHOTO

RECENT interest rate hikes by US and Philippine central banks, along with the depreciating peso, are seen to weigh on local stocks next month, as investors await more economic catalysts.

So far in September, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) has declined by 324.11 points or 4.9% to end at 6,259.54 on Sept. 23 from its end-August close.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the PSEi’s decline follows two straight monthly gains. In end-August, the PSEi gained by 4.2% month on month, while in July, it added 2.6%.

For October, Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc. Head of Sales Trading Toby Allan C. Arce expects investors to wait on the sidelines ahead of upcoming inflation data that will give hints on central banks’ move on interest rates.

“Given the limited data available for 2023, timing will be key in the months ahead as inflation for September and October will feed the next round of rate hikes in November,” Mr. Arce said in a Viber message.

“Until then, the market may continue to feel some pressure and trading will likely remain range-bound,” he added.

Mr. Arce said: “A significant rally is not expected, though, amid the lack of positive catalysts, expectations of further policy rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and the Philippine central bank, as well as the depreciation of the Philippine peso will continue to weigh on sentiment.”

Last week, the Fed raised its monetary policy rate by 75 basis points (bps) for a third time, while the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised benchmark rates by 50 bps for a second straight meeting.

Meanwhile, the local unit posted a record-low P58.50 versus the greenback on Friday from its P58.49 finish on Thursday.

Year to date, the peso has weakened by 14.7% or P7.49 from its P51-close in the previous year.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said that investors will be awaiting the speaking engagements of the Fed and the release of macroeconomic data.

“Towards the end of the week funds will also be rebalancing ahead of the quarter-end window dressing,” he added.

Among the economic data that will give hints on the current strength of the global economy are consumer confidence, personal consumption expenditures price index, and jobless claims, Mr. Limlingan said.

For next week, analysts expect the PSEi to stay volatile, mirroring the decline of the peso versus the US dollar, as central banks continue to tighten their monetary policies. They are also factoring in the damage brought by Typhoon Karding.

“Trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange is expected to stay volatile this week as risk-off sentiments among investors will likely prevail as stocks mirror the decline of the Philippine peso while central banks around the world continue aggressive monetary tightening to tame inflation,” Globalinks Securities’ Mr. Arce said.

However, Mr. Arce said that investors might take advantage of the market dip and hunt for bargains.

“Investors and traders may remain bullish and take full advantage of the dips as stocks are now relatively cheap,” Mr. Arce said.

Mr. Limlingan said: “For the shortened week, locally we will assess the damage brought by Typhoon Karding. Hopefully, this will be minimal.”

Mr. Arce placed the PSEi’s support between 6,000 and 6,200 levels, and its resistance at the 6,300-6,400 range. He noted that its breakdown below 6,000 would see traders targeting the 5,700 to 5,500 levels. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

Super Typhoon Karding exits PHL, leaving 5 dead

KEVIN MORILLO VIA PGQ

FIVE rescue workers died in Bulacan on Sunday as Super Typhoon Karding, a category 3 typhoon with international name Noru, brought rains and strong winds across Luzon in northern Philippines, local authorities said.

Governor Daniel R. Fernando of Bulacan, a coastal province immediately north of the capital region, told DZMM radio station the casualties were conducting rescue operations when a flash flood swept their boat.

The municipal disaster management office of Guiguinto town posted a message of condolences to the families of those who died, calling them heroes.

No deaths or injuries were reported so far in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora, where Karding made its two landfalls Sunday afternoon and evening, members of the disaster management council said during a Monday morning briefing attended by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

The typhoon slightly weakened after landfall and was moving westward towards the West Philippine Sea and Vietnam as of Monday morning, according to state weather agency PAGASA’s 11 a.m. bulletin.

“This tropical cyclone is forecast to re-intensify beginning tonight or tomorrow early morning as the typhoon moves over the West Philippine Sea,” PAGASA said.

Karding was expected to leave the Philippine area by Monday evening.

Clearing operations were underway across the typhoon’s path as some of the estimated 74,000 people who were evacuated started to go back home, according to the disaster management council.

Relief operations were also ongoing for those affected by the calamity, including families in and outside evacuation centers.

Mr. Marcos told a news briefing that authorities have prepared relief packs and cash for those affected by the storm, including allocations that will be airlifted to isolated areas and island towns.

In a statement on Monday, Interior Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. said a total of 8,642 police officers and 11,619 firefighters were deployed to aid in heavily affected areas.

In Nueva Ecija, the provincial government has declared a state of calamity due to massive flooding that affected homes and farmlands.

INFRASTRUCTURE
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said on Monday that operations of airports in areas hit by Karding remained normal.

A total of 41 flights to and from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), however, were canceled on Monday, according to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

“Apart from the 41 canceled flights today, the MIAA Management expects flight operations to normalize within the day as Typhoon Karding continues to move further away from Luzon,” the agency said in a statement, citing the latest bulletin issued by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines, Inc. said it was mobilizing to resume full operations at the Manila airport.

“Some flights may need to be delayed or adjusted. It will take some time to restore normal schedules even after the typhoon recedes and the weather improves,” the airline said in a statement.

On telecommunications, Globe Telecom, Inc. said it was restoring services in typhoon-hit areas in Luzon.

“In the National Capital Region, all communication lines have been restored and are now completely functional,” the Ayala-led company said in an e-mailed statement.

At the same time, service in most of Quezon’s Polillo Group of Islands, which is a heavily impacted area, has been restored.

“Call, text and data service are back up in Burdeos, Patnanungan, Polillo, and Jomalig, with only Panukulan left to be restored,” Globe said.

It added that in Rizal province, 80% of municipalities have also been reconnected.

For its part, the PLDT group said emergency service stations for free charging and free WiFi were set up in the hardest hit areas.

“PLDT and Smart Foundation, together with Tulong Kapatid, the consortium of companies and foundations led by Manuel V. Pangilinan, will deliver relief assistance to communities heavily affected by Karding starting tomorrow,” it said in a statement.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said there were nine roads that were still closed as of 12 noon Monday due to the typhoon.

“One road in the Cordillera Administrative Region, one in Region 1, two in Region 2, four in Region 3, and one in Region 4-A were still closed due to safety reasons, damaged pavement, landslides, flooding, and fallen electrical post brought about by the typhoon,” the department said in a statement.

The department said its quick-response teams in typhoon-affected areas were directed to step up clearing operations to restore mobility and support the government’s relief operations.

POWER
Damage sustained by electric cooperatives (ECs) was so far estimated at P2.45 million, while several areas in Luzon are still experiencing total power interruption, the Department of Energy (DoE) said on Monday.

According to the latest report of the National Electrification Administration to the department, seven ECs are under total power interruption due to unavailable transmission lines.

These are: Aurora Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Tarlac I Electric Cooperative; Tarelco II; Nueva Ecija 1 Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NEECO I); NEECO II A1; NEECO II A2; and  San Jose City Electric Cooperative.

“For our transmission lines, NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines) is working on the restoration of five 69-kilovolt lines, some are still not available,” Magnolia B. Olvido, head of DoE’s Task Force on Energy Resiliency secretariat said during a virtual press briefing.

Ms. Olvido said these transmission lines are within Aurora and Nueva Ecija, while partial restoration has been done in Tarlac.

For power generation plants, Ms. Olvido said that as of 1:00 pm on Monday, almost all power plants were under normal operation.

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s biggest electricity distributor, recorded momentary and sustained power interruptions across its franchise affecting 1.24 million customers.

Of the total affected customers, 437,525 were tagged as sustained interruptions while 800,301 were momentary interruptions.

Energy Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella said the DoE would implement a price freeze for kerosene and household liquified petroleum gas (LPG) in areas that are under a state of calamity.

LEGISLATION
At the House of Representatives, a solon called on Mr. Marcos’ administration to grant a P15,000 production subsidy to farmers affected by the super typhoon.

“We will push for the inclusion of the P15,000 production subsidy for 9.7 million farmers and fisherfolk in the proposed 2023 budget,” Party-list Rep. Arlene D. Brosas said in a statement.

Ms. Brosas said the fund can be sourced from the “obscure lump sum items” included in the proposed 2023 expenditure program, such as “redundant” support funds for local government units and the national anti-communist task force.

She also said the President can use the available balance from contingent and parts of unprogrammed funds for rice farmers’ cash assistance.

Ms. Brosas, along with Party-list Reps. France L. Castro and Raoul Danniel A. Manuel, on Monday also filed House Bill 5152, which seeks to establish evacuation centers in every city and municipality in the country.

During the disaster management council meeting, Social Welfare Secretary Erwin T. Tulfo proposed the construction of one evacuation center for each municipality so that classes could continue in the aftermath of calamities.

“Covered courts, small barangay halls, and schools became the make-shift evacuation centers for affected Filipinos,” Ms. Castro said in a press statement. “We hope that the bill would be classified as urgent by the Malacañang and the House leadership because time is of the essence so that we can save more lives.”

The immediate approval of the bill was sought so that funding can still be included in the 2023 proposed budget that is currently under deliberation in Congress. — John Victor D. Ordoñez, Arjay L. Balinbin, Ashley Erika O. Jose, and Kyanna Angela Bulan

Globe wants SIM registration law to require valid IDs

STOCK PHOTO | Image by terimakasih0 from Pixabay

GLOBE Telecom, Inc. on Monday said the proposed law on the registration of subscriber identity modules (SIM) cards should require users to present verifiable identity documents.

“There is a need for an authentic, verifiable source document that establishes a SIM holder’s identity,” Globe General Legal Counsel Froilan Vicente M. Castelo said in an e-mailed statement.

“This is necessary given the ubiquity of fake IDs,” he added.

On Sept. 19, the House of Representatives approved on third reading House Bill 14, or the proposed Subscriber Identity Module Card Registration Act, which is seen to prevent mobile phone scams. The Senate has approved a counterpart bill on second reading.

According to Mr. Castelo, it would also help if mobile phone operators can have access to the National ID system to verify the IDs submitted by user applicants.

At the same time, Globe wants an amendment to a provision that requires mobile operators to keep SIM registration data for a period of 10 years from deactivation.

“We propose that the bill instead mandate telcos to store historical data on registered prepaid SIM owners given that mobile numbers, being a finite combination of digits, are recycled and may be assigned to different users in varied periods of time,” Mr. Castelo said.

The company noted that there are prepaid SIM users who frequently change their numbers.

“The data retention period of 10 years will only be appropriate for registered postpaid SIMs,” it said.

Under the bill, telecommunications companies are tasked with the safekeeping of information gathered during the registration process. No data may be divulged except in compliance with laws, upon a court order or with the written consent of the subscriber.

Any breach of confidentiality will be punishable with imprisonment or a fine of as much as P1 million.

The proposed law was passed by the previous Congress but former President Rodrigo R. Duterte vetoed the bill in April after senators included social media accounts in the coverage. — Arjay L. Balinbin

China means to resolve differences with PHL, says envoy

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CHINA seeks to resolve differences with the Philippines over maritime claims, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said on Monday, and maintain good overall bilateral relations.    

“We are neighbors that cannot be moved away and have every reason to live together peacefully,” he said during the Chinese Embassy’s celebration of its 73rd National Day via Zoom.

Mr. Huang said it was necessary to properly handle differences to remove interference from China-Philippine relations.

“We should put our differences in a proper place and seek peaceful solutions through friendly consultations, so that our overall relations will not be affected.”

On Friday while on an official trip to the United States, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said China is “claiming territory that belongs to the Philippines,” referring to the West Philippine Sea.

“I think it’s no surprise to anyone that the Philippines has some of these conflicts with the People’s Republic of China, and the position that the Philippines takes is that we have no territorial conflict with China. What we have is China claiming territory that belongs to the Philippines,” he said.

“We have also made it very clear to our friends in Beijing that this is the way we feel about it,” he added.

China has ignored a 2016 United Nations-backed arbitral award that voided its claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea, parts of which are claimed by the Philippines.

The South China Sea, a key global shipping route, is subject to overlapping territorial claims involving the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and China. Each year, trillions of dollars of trade flow through the sea, which is also rich in fish and gas.

Mr. Marcos has said that he is open to any peaceful approach that will resolve the disagreement in the disputed sea, noting that the differences in maritime claims should not be the defining element to the relationship between Beijing and Manila.

Both countries should focus on the steady growth of their cooperation, Mr. Huang said, especially in four key areas: agriculture, infrastructure, energy and people-to-people exchanges.

“In a few week’s time, the CPC (Communist Party of China) will host that 20th National Congress in Beijing. The conference will outline the two steps strategic arrangements for building China into a great modern socialist country and map out the strategic tasks and major measures for the next five years,” he said.

“This will not only open a new chapter in China, but also provide new opportunities for the development of China-Philippine relations,” he added. “I have full confidence in the prospects of China and China-Philippines relations.” — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

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