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Each COVID-19 surge poses a risk for healthcare workers: PTSD

PHILSTAR

Nurse Chris Prott’s knees jump, his heart races, his mouth goes dry, and his mind floods with dark memories when he talks about working in the Milwaukee VA Medical Center’s intensive care unit (ICU) during pandemic surges.  

Mr. Prott shares a struggle common to many of the military veterans for whom he has cared for years: symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  

Mr. Prott was among a half dozen ICU staffers who told Reuters of symptoms such as waking from nightmares bathed in sweat; flashbacks to dying patients during the pandemic’s fear-filled early days; flaring anger; and panic at the sound of medical alarms. Those whose symptoms last longer than one month and are severe enough to interfere with daily life can be diagnosed with PTSD.  

The surging Delta variant is heaping on fresh trauma as the United States and other nations begin to study PTSD in health workers. Data already showed that US health workers were in crisis before COVID-19.  

While PTSD is associated with combat, it can arise among civilians after natural disasters, abuse or other trauma. Health workers can be reluctant to equate their experience with that of returning soldiers.  

“I feel like a schmuck calling it PTSD,” Mr. Prott said. “It took me a long time to be able to talk to somebody because I see guys with real PTSD. What I’ve got going on, it’s nothing in comparison, so you feel guilty for thinking that.”  

Psychiatrist Dr. Bessel van der Kolk knows better. “On the surface, a nurse at your local hospital will not look like a guy coming back from Afghanistan,” said the author of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. “But underneath it all, we have these core neurobiology-determined functions that are the same.”  

Pre-pandemic studies showed that rates of PTSD in front-line health workers varied from 10% to 50%. The suicide rate among doctors was more than twice that of the general public.  

The American Medical Association (AMA) has tapped a military psychologist and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) National Center for PTSD to help it measure the pandemic’s impact.  

Texas Tech University Health Science Center psychiatry resident Dr. Huseyin Bayazit and researchers in his native Turkey surveyed 1,833 Turkish health workers last autumn. The results, presented in May at an American Psychiatric Association meeting, showed a PTSD rate of 49.5% among nonphysicians and 36% for doctors. Rates of suicidal thoughts increased as workers spent more time on COVID-19 units.  

Unions want to mitigate trauma by setting national rules for the number of patients under each nurse’s care. Workers say they should not have to pay for therapy, medication, and other interventions.  

The AMA and other groups want more confidentiality for doctors who seek mental health services. Most ICU staff who discussed PTSD with Reuters requested anonymity for fear of repercussions at work.  

New York’s Mount Sinai Health System and Chicago’s Rush University System for Health provide free, confidential mental health services.  

Mount Sinai’s new Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth offers a military-inspired “Battle Buddies” peer-support program for nurses. A chaplain  from Rush’s “Road Home” program for veterans runs a “post-traumatic growth” bereavement support group for ICU nurses.  

The VA system provides no-cost, short-term mental health counseling through its employee assistance program. Many local VA facilities supplement those with spiritual counseling and crisis incident response teams, a spokesperson said.  

‘YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT’  

About 5,000 US physicians quit every two years due to burnout, said Dr. Christine Sinsky, an AMA vice president. The annual cost is about $4.6 billion — including lost revenue from vacancies and recruitment expenses, she said.  

Hospital survey results in March led the Department of Health and Human Services to warn “staffing shortages have affected patient care, and that exhaustion and trauma have taken a toll on staff’s mental health.”  

Trauma surgeon Dr. Kari Jerge volunteered to work in a Phoenix COVID-19 ward during last winter’s surge. She turned down substantially more pay to return to the ICU after the Delta variant surge.  

Dr. Jerge encourages others to prioritize “self-preservation,” but worries about the loss of expertise. “There is infinite value in a nurse who’s been working in the ICU for 20 years and just has a gut feeling when something’s going wrong with a patient,” she said.  

Nurse Pascaline Muhindura, 40, who cares for COVID-19 patients in Kansas City, Missouri, has advocated for health worker safety since losing a co-worker to the disease early in the pandemic.  

“It keeps getting worse and worse. We are heading back to that place — that woke up those emotions again,” said Ms. Muhindura, who added that many employers do not offer adequate insurance coverage for therapy.  

An ICU fosters the kind of camaraderie forged in battle. A group of Southern California COVID-19 nurses got matching tattoos. Health workers commiserate over crying their way home after tough shifts, support each other on social media, and push colleagues to seek help.  

“There is nothing wrong with feeling this way,” said VA nurse Prott. “You have to deal with it though.” — Lisa Baertlein/Reuters

Rats, drought and labor shortages eat into global edible oil recovery 

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

PERAK, Malaysia/SINGAPORE — In a sprawling oil palm plantation in the Malaysian state of Perak, watermelon seedlings are sprouting from freshly plowed earth between palm saplings while rented cows graze in overgrown areas of the estate.  

A coronavirus pandemic-induced labor crunch has forced managers of the 2,000-hectare estate in Slim River to find creative ways to upkeep their fields, even as prices of the world’s most consumed edible oil are near record highs.  

“It is easier to pull out your own teeth than to get new workers now,” said estate manager Ravi, who gave his first name only. “I can’t find the workers to maintain the fields.”  

Malaysia, the world’s second-largest producer of palm oil, is facing a perfect storm of production headwinds that will likely drag global stocks to their lowest level in five years.  

The Southeast Asian country is a microcosm of the difficulties facing producers of various edible oils across several continents, from Canadian canola farmers to Ukrainian sunflower growers, as they struggle to meet strong demand.  

Global food prices have scaled 10-year highs this year — the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) price index is up more than a third since last summer — due in large part to a surge in the price of vegoils that are vital for both food preparation and as fat in numerous daily staples.  

The FAO’s global edible oils index is up 91% since last June, and is expected to climb further as economies reopen following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns, boosting food and fuel consumption of edible oils.  

But producers have been battling a range of impediments, including labor shortages, heatwaves, and vermin infestation, that is driving collective stocks of the world’s most consumed edible oils — palm, soybean, canola (rapeseed) and sunflower seed — to their lowest levels in a decade.  

MALAYSIAN WOES  

In Malaysia, which accounts for around 33% of global palm oil exports, the average yield of palm fruit bunches in Jan.–June fell to 7.15 tonnes per hectare from 7.85 a year ago. Malaysian Palm Oil Board data shows a drop in average crude palm oil yields to 1.41 tonnes per hectare, from 1.56 tonnes over the same period last year.  

Many plantations were harvesting with two-thirds or less of the required workforce, after government coronavirus restrictions cut off the usual supply of migrant workers from Indonesia and South Asia.  

More than half a dozen plantation owners interviewed by Reuters said the lack of workers had forced them to extend their harvesting window from 14 days to as many as 40 days, a change that compromises the quality of the fruit and risks the loss of some parts of the fruit bunches.  

“It is especially bad in Sarawak. Some companies are seeing production falling by 50% because of the shortage of harvesters,” said a plantation manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.  

The Slim River estate has delayed replanting and shut its nursery for the first time in 20 years to redeploy workers for harvesting.  

Another plantation manager, named Chew, said he was forced to increase wages by 10% to retain workers.  

Less manpower to maintain the plantations also means more pests, including rats, moths and bagworms.  

“It has resulted in an environment that is good for rats to nest, feed and breed and natural predators cannot catch up,” said Andrew Cheng Mui Fah, a plantation official in Sarawak.  

At Slim River, Ravi said around a quarter of the estate was facing a bagworm infestation that “will skeletonise the leaves and cause small (fruit) bunch formation.”  

He was referring to the larvae of the bagworm moth that grow and feed on trees.  

INDONESIAN MILLS  

Neighboring Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, does not have the same labor shortage issues and output is expected to rise this year as more area has been planted to palm.  

However, operations at palm oil mills, where the palm fruit is converted into crude palm oil, have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, said Dorab Mistry, director of Indian consumer goods company and major consumer Godrej International.  

“Shutting down of palm oil mills right across the length and breadth of Malaysia [and] Indonesia has been a huge dampener on the production side,” he said at the annual US Soy Export Council conference on Aug 25.  

Total 2021 output from Indonesia and Malaysia, which together account for roughly 90% of world palm oil, was estimated at 66.2 million tonnes, according to Refinitiv Commodities Research published on Aug. 4.  

That is about flat compared with 2020, but analysts said downward revisions are likely if labour shortages and pest infestations worsen.  

NORTH AMERICAN DRY SPELL  

Meanwhile, farmers in western Canada planted canola into some of the driest soils in a century this spring, sending canola futures to all-time highs in early May.  

A July heatwave then scorched crops throughout the Canadian Prairies, leading the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to slash its estimate of canola output by 4.2 million tonnes to 16 million tonnes, the lowest since the 2012–13 season.  

“We haven’t had much rain to speak of and the crop is withering,” said Jack Froese, who has farmed canola near Winkler, Manitoba, for nearly 50 years.  

Mr. Froese expects a yield per acre of just a quarter of last year’s level: “It’s very disheartening.”  

US soybeans have also been sapped by drought, with the USDA lowering its production forecast by 1.8 million tonnes in August from the month prior.  

That is expected to cut US soybean oil stocks to eight-year lows and US soy oil exports to decade lows.  

“We’re looking at an average crop because we were lucky enough to have some subsoil moisture,” said Jared Hagert from his North Dakota farm. “But you don’t have to go too far west of here to get into some really rough crops.”  

In some good news for buyers, Brazil’s soybean crop is expected to hit a record 144.06 million tonnes in the 2020/21 season, driven by a 4% rise in the area planted to the crop, agribusiness consultancy Datagro estimated.  

Ukraine, the top sunflower seed producer according to the USDA, is expected to lift output by 18% from a 2020 drought-hit harvest and oil exports are forecast to rise to 6.35 million tonnes from 5.38 million last season, according to its agriculture ministry.  

WORSENING OUTLOOK  

Still, the outlook for edible oils production overall remains poor and stocks are likely to tighten further, leaving the markets tight well into next year and adding to inflationary pressures, according to some analysts.  

In Malaysia, worsening COVID-19 outbreaks will leave plantations starved of workers through the rest of the peak palm production window.  

Canadian farmers continue to face drought conditions, leading official agency StatsCan to peg canola output down 24.3% and yields down 30.1%.  

“We have multiple issues with edible oil supplies worldwide, palm oil in Malaysia, canola in Canada and La Nina curbing soybean output in South America,” Mistry said.  

“We are expecting lower oil content in Canada’s canola crop due to the drought,” he said. “The supply tightness in vegetable oil is expected to continue well into 2022.”  

The pressure on stocks is already feeding through to consumer prices and the upward trend is expected to continue, especially as refiners lift prices to cover the surge in raw material costs.  

Singapore-based Wilmar International said a time lag between the surge in raw material costs and consumer price rises it imposed in the first half of the year had negatively impacted margins.  

Mewah Group, one of the largest refineries in the region, said average sale prices for its bulk goods and consumer packs rose almost 54% and 24% respectively in the first half from a year ago.  

“Everyone along the supply chain is absorbing some of the higher costs,” said Oscar Tjakra, a senior analyst at food and agribusiness research at Rabobank. “The cost push should continue next year.”  

With global consumers already facing general economic uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, further increases in edible oil prices will take a toll on many livelihoods due the inelastic nature of food demand.  

Several countries including Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey and the Philippines have all recorded big jumps in food inflation in recent months. The price pressure may continue as higher edible oil costs are passed on by suppliers, leaving consumers with little choice but to pay up for the staple.  

“Even in poorer regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where consumers suffer greatly from high prices, consumption has only declined very marginally,” said Julian McGill, head of South East Asia at LMC International.  

“There is simply not much flexibility in food use of vegetable oils.” — Mei Mei Chu and Naveen Thukral/Reuters

Easy policy lays out a hard road for underperforming peso, baht

The Thai baht and the Philippine peso have lagged all their Southeast Asian peers this year. This may continue as inflation readings could reinforce their central banks as two of the biggest doves in the region.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is weighing a reduction in the reserve requirement ratio while some members of the Bank of Thailand’s policy committee see a need for another rate cut. This easy stance is at odds with that of policy makers elsewhere which are preparing to unwind stimulus deployed to counter the fallout from outbreak.

The baht and the peso are among Asia’s most vulnerable currencies given that their nations are highly dependent on cash generated from abroad — tourism for Thailand and remittances for the Philippines. Thailand’s budget and current-account deficits add further pressure on the baht, while in the Philippines the risk of a sovereign rating downgrade, spurred by a spiraling debt-to-growth ratio, is doing the peso no favors.

“Both the PHP and THB have been weighed down by the virus outbreaks which have hit growth and confidence,” says Irene Cheung, FX strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “The external balance in both countries has been negatively impacted. Philippines trade deficit has rewidened, while Thailand’s current account has deteriorated sharply due to the slump in tourism.”

The baht has lost more than 8% against the dollar this year while the peso has weakened almost 4%.

The currencies could extend losses if inflationary data this week offer scope for policy makers to lean further toward accommodation. Thailand is forecast to report on Monday that consumer prices rose just 0.36% year-over-year in August, giving the central bank plenty of room to continue its policy stance, or even cut rates again as two members of its policy committee wanted to do last month.

Data on Tuesday are expected to show that the Philippines’ price growth came in at 4.4% last month — above the central bank’s 2%-4% target — but anything other than a very strong upside surprise is likely to mean BSP tightening remains off the table. At its August meeting, the central bank said it expected CPI to return to the midpoint of the range for 2022 and 2023 — and it has already come down noticeably from February’s 4.7% peak.

With BSP and BoT set on avoiding rate hikes, the peso and baht may be on track to end the year languishing at the bottom of the regional currency rankings table. — Bloomberg

SMC builds game-changing Skyway 3

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Explore Aruga Apartments by Rockwell’s capacious 1 bedroom premier unit

Explore this capacious 1 bedroom premier unit at Aruga Apartments by Rockwell. The separate living, dining, and well-equipped kitchen spaces are decked out with convenient inclusions and furniture pieces for a comfortable stay in the secure community of Rockwell Center in Makati.

 

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Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by enabling them to publish their stories directly on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

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[B-SIDE Podcast] Building resilience among children

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Children are getting ready for another round of virtual classes as the Department of Education (DepEd) announced Sept. 13 as the opening date for School Year 2021–2022. 

The mental health of children has been discussed by experts, who are worried about the long-term effects of lockdowns. 

In this B-Side episode, Jean L. Goulbourn, founder of the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation (NGF Mindstrong), talks to BusinessWorld reporter Patricia B. Mirasol about resilience among kids and Ang Katatagan, the foundation’s program with DepEd aimed at giving teachers the tools to help their students cope with the stress of remote learning. 

“The pandemic has changed the whole world of a child. They’re isolated. It’s not healthy,” said Ms. Goulbourn, who established NGF Mindstrong in 2007 to help individuals battle depression. 

A child’s resilience is like a muscle —  it can be strengthened.  

“Resilience is about bouncing back from unexpected situations that shock, surprise, or traumatize you,” said Ms. Goulbourn. “It’s a mental decision, a survivor instinct, and an intuition from the soul. All three come into play in deciding how you react to a trauma, problem, or crisis.”  

The NGF founder added that children are very clever and are made to survive. “The decision to save themselves is instinctive,” she said, “Resilience in children can be built.” 

Instead of distracting a child from hurt, disappointment, and grief, parents should allow them to experience these emotions and express themselves. 

A sense of spirituality bolsters resilience. 

Ang Katatagan, NGF’s program with DepEd, trains teachers to develop resilience among Filipino school children through class activities and related projects.   

Teachers under this program are trained to self-reflect, communicate, and observe their actions and reactions. They are also trained to discipline children and foster in their students a sense of spirituality.  

“A child who grows up with a sense of spirituality can handle situations better than one who… believes in no one and nothing,” Ms. Goulbourn.   

Through a grant from the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Ang Katatagan’s pilot batch in Cebu of 200 DepEd teachers will be deployed in schools in the said metropolis.  

The private sector should invest in mental health. 

Ang Katatagan, which took 5 ½ years to be approved, does not yet have a fixed funding mechanism. Companies and businesses need to invest more in mental health initiatives, said Ms. Goulbourn.   

“It only takes P3,850 for one school teacher to understand where she is, who she is, and how she can strengthen her weak points so she’s strong enough for the children,” she said. “That’s for twenty-five hours of training, plus three hours for a battery of psychological tests.”   

Section 3F of the Mental Health Act (Republic Act No. 11036) calls for the integration of strategies to promote mental health in educational institutions, the workplace, and in communities.  

Parents need to create an emotionally safe environment for their children.  

“Invest time, space, and focused attention within the family,” said Ms. Goulbourn.  

Her foundation’s crisis lines get calls from children of affluent families who have all the trappings of wealth but feel empty on the inside.  

Depression is a risk factor for suicide according the Department of Health and the World Health Organization. 

“I don’t want to see any family ever go through what I went through as a mother, to lose a daughter due to self-harm,” said Ms. Goulbourn. “This Ang Katatagan program is very important to our foundation and to our country.”  

This B-Side episode was recorded remotely on Aug. 17. Produced by Paolo L. Lopez and Sam L. Marcelo.

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NGF Mindstrong’s crisis hotline numbers are 8804-4673; 0918-8734673; and 0917-5584673. Individuals can donate to the foundation through BPI Makati Atrium (peso savings: 3123-7249-59) and BDO SM Makati (peso savings: 000040491889).

SM goes online

With the community quarantine due to COVID-19, many of us stayed at home and downloaded various apps on our phones to have convenient access to essential products and services. However, having so many mobile apps – from food delivery, shopping, to restaurants can sometimes be very confusing, especially when you need to keep track of all the pop-up notifications, payment transactions, and not to mention, the expensive delivery fees.

Here’s one app you need to download because it has just about everything you need: the SM Malls Online app. With this app, you can safely and conveniently buy from various trusted essential and retail stores and restaurants from select SM malls and have them delivered straight to your doorstep – all in one app.

By downloading the SM Malls Online app, you can enjoy all these – and more, without stepping out of your home:

 

One-stop-shop.  When you shop on the SM Malls Online app, you don’t need to worry about the hassle of multiple online checkouts or multiple costly delivery fees that add up. You can buy all the products you need from your favorite brands all in one online checkout and pay only one delivery fee – and just like that – it’s sent right to your home. That includes the leading international and local retail and dining establishments from SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM City North EDSA, and SM City Fairview – with more SM malls available soon.

In-store pickup. During check-out, you may also select ‘in-store pickup’ to get your order when you’re already at your chosen mall. Proceed to the specific mall at your own convenience within 72 hours to claim your order, show the seller representative the order ID and other details on SM Malls Online app then you’re good to go.

Safe virtual shopping experience. For your safety, leading brands and trained riders follow #SafeMallingAtSM protocols in fulfilling your orders on the app. Shopping bags are sanitized and the riders are required to wear facemask and face shield, have their temperature monitored, and maintain a 6-ft. distance when handing your order.

Great deals and promos. As a special treat for first-time app users, SM is offering up to P200 off of shoppers’ fave brands when they use the code, SMGOESONLINE, upon checkout with a minimum purchase of P500. Shoppers can also buy from two or more brands and enjoy free shipping when they use the code, 2orMORE, for at least two non-food brands with a minimum of spend P750 or 2orMOREFOOD for at least two restaurants with a minimum spend of P300. This promo is currently available from August 1 – September 30, 2021. Be sure that you have the latest version of the app from Google Play or the App Store so you can enjoy these great deals from SM.

Awesome retail and dining brands. Just like other SM malls nationwide, SM Malls Online Mobile app guarantees Filipinos easy access to a wide array of trusted brands for everything from essentials and restaurants to gadgets and more. Foodies can savor appetizing dishes from places like Manam, Panda Express, Wendy’s, Frankie’s Buffalo Wings, and Auntie Anne’s. Shoppers can also look forward to top brands on the app ranging from clothes to gadgets to beauty like Adidas, Office Warehouse, PC Express, Samsung, The Body Shop, and Watsons. Cyberzone also offers the lowest price guaranteed on gadgets and laptops from Villman, Silicon Valley, PC Express and more, just in time for online classes and perfect for work-from-home set-ups.

Download the SM Malls Online App for free on Google Play or the App Store. For the latest news and deals, follow @smmallsonline on Facebook and Instagram or visit www.smmallsonline.com.

 

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BPI employees step up as financial wellness mentors to everyday heroes

BPI volunteer mentors, uniformed and non-uniformed personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), DepEd personnel, and adult family members of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), came together for the Adopt-a-Beneficiary General Orientation.

BPI Foundation, the social development arm of BPI, recently launched its Adopt-A-Beneficiary program, a high-impact mentorship program on financial wellness, as a way of giving back to uniformed and non-uniformed personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), employees from the Department of Education (DepEd), and adult family members of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

“We recognize the contributions and sacrifices of our everyday heroes in keeping our society safe, our children educated, and our economy running amid these trying times,” said BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen Cammayo. “As part of our commitment to creating a culture of financial wellness, the Adopt-a-Beneficiary program aims to and enable beneficiaries to have better control of their finances without feeling overwhelmed and intimidated.”

Employee volunteers have started to provide one-on-one mentoring sessions that are focused on the financial needs of their assigned beneficiaries.

Alexius Abong, one of the volunteer mentors, shared his motivation to participate in the program. “It is a great opportunity for us to be able to share our knowledge and passion on the importance of financial awareness to help them reach their goals in life,” he said.

“We are able to learn from each other because we get to see things from a different perspective,” said Josefina Picache, another volunteer. “I look forward to helping our mentees enrich their lives and achieve their goals through our guidance.”

Expressing his gratitude to BPI Foundation for being chosen as one of the adopted beneficiaries, Gerald Magno, a DepEd personnel, said, “Bilang newly-weds at nagsisimula pa lang kami ng aking asawa, malaking tulong ang mentorship program na ito upang simula nna ang aming financial wellness journey (As newly-weds, with my wife and I just starting out, this mentorship program is a great help to start our financial wellness journey).”

For Noemie Penuela, a family member of a seafarer from Pototan, Iloilo, she considered the exclusive mentoring sessions a source of encouragement for her to be more open about her financial worries. “Isa itong malaking bagay na hinati nila kami samaliliitnagrupo. Nakatulongitona mas maintindihan namin ang sessions dahil natututukan kami ng aming mentor (It was of great help that they divided us into small groups. It aided us in better understanding the session because our mentor was able to focus on us),” she said.

To be able to cover the financial topics slated in the Adopt-a-Beneficiary program curriculum, BPI volunteer mentors will continue to give exclusive mentorship sessions until December this year.

“We hope that our volunteers and beneficiaries will seize and optimize this opportunity to improve their financial management skills and ultimately make financial wellness a permanent part of their lives,” Mr. Cammayo added.

To know more about BPI Foundation, follow its Facebook and Instagram pages and visit www.bpifoundation.org.

 

 

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by enabling them to publish their stories directly on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

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Better lives and resilient economies, through critical infrastructure

Prime Infra aligns core purpose across asset portfolio

Better lives and resilient economies, through critical infrastructure. The infrastructure arm of the Razon group outlines its core purpose fulfilled across its portfolio of assets operating in various industries such as energy, water, construction, and more.

Prime Infrastructure Holdings, Inc. (Prime Infra), led by businessman Enrique K. Razon, Jr., is focused on providing essential services to host communities in emerging markets through the delivery of critical and socially relevant infrastructure.

“Infrastructure is the backbone of a strong economy and a modern society. Our business operates on this belief. By addressing the gaps in infrastructure, we aspire to help emerging markets meet their challenges and realize their potential for rapid economic growth,” says Razon, chairman of Prime Infra.

Born out of the heritage of the International Container Terminal Services, Inc.’s (ICTSI) vast experience in successfully establishing and operating ports worldwide, Prime Infra has a strong reputation in project development and delivery, regulatory management, and long-term operations of infrastructure assets.

“Prime Infra is a strategic and reliable partner in creating meaningful value and lasting impact to customers. Together, we can build better lives and better economies,” Razon adds.

Prime Infra’s portfolio of core assets is at various stages of development and operations, and actively explores new growth opportunities. It recently achieved a significant milestone in the water business with its acquisition of the controlling stake in East Zone concessionaire Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWC).

A water treatment facility of East Zone concessionaire Manila Water, one of Prime Infra’s key operating businesses

Guided by its values—passion, integrity, pioneering, tenacity, and value creation—Prime Infra delivers on its commitments to stakeholders with greater efficiency.

“Our team builds collaborative relationships with our partners, working in synergy with business units as we establish and transform each one of them into industry leaders,” said Prime Infra President Guillaume Lucci.

Lucci adds that “the strength and competitive advantage of Prime Infra lies in the integration of sustainability at the core of its business framework.”

Phase 1 of the Concepcion solar farm managed by Solar Philippines Tarlac Corporation (SPTC). SPTC is jointly owned by Prime Infra and Solar Philippines.

By retaining control of all assets, Prime Infra ensures that pragmatic sustainability can be maintained and its promise of better lives through its portfolio of clean energy solutions, water, and wastewater services, and high-quality infrastructure can be fulfilled for the long term.

“As we move towards our target of achieving worldwide expansion by 2030, we make sure that we are one step closer to the realization of a sustainable society,” Lucci said.

To know more about Prime Infra, you can visit their website at www.primeinfra.ph.

 

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by enabling them to publish their stories directly on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

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Setting financial goals in time of crisis

In photo during the BUSINESSWORLD Insights (clockwise, from top left) are moderator Daniela Laurel of BusinessWorld; and panelists Aira Gaspar, Manulife Investment Management (Philippines) president and CEO; Kelvin Ang, AIA Philippines CEO; Atty. Loraine Saguinsin, UnionBank Private Banking relationship manager; and Edser Trinidad, First Metro Asset Management, Inc. first vice-president and head of investment & research.

By Chelsey Keith P. Ignacio, Special Features Writer

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have taken unexpected costs from one’s pocket, making numerous people uncertain for the present and the future. Such experience has prompted them to be extra mindful of their finances.

This is the common observation shared by industry leaders in a recent BusinessWorld Insights held on August 31, with the theme “Saving, Spending, Investing: Achieving Financial Goals even amid Crisis.”

Aira Gaspar, president and CEO of Manulife Investment Management (Philippines), said that Filipino Millennials and Generation Z experienced a financial transition during the COVID-19 crisis. Their survey showed that 81% of the younger generation began to take necessary steps financially to secure their future.

“The pandemic has accelerated the financial adulting of the younger generation in our survey. It caused a shift in their behavior, which puts investing, saving, and necessities in their financial priorities,” Ms. Gaspar summarized.

AIA Philippines’ CEO Kelvin Ang, meanwhile, said that there is a higher value for protection products like medical needs as well as for savings.

Sharing a survey, Mr. Ang noted that 77% want to save more for peace of mind, and about the same number want to save for emergency spending.

“The pandemic is more than a disease; it is a disruption that impacts on the financial and the health of people. So, psychologically, people are saying that they want to save more because of the uncertainty. And they are considering various savings and investment options,” he added.

Edser Trinidad, first vice-president and head of investment & research at First Metro Asset Management, Inc. (FAMI), observed that the pandemic changed the financial goals of the people.

Among the goals of the people before was to set aside finances to, for instance, travel or purchase certain material things, he explained. But because of the uncertainty nowadays, the goal has changed in terms of setting a target, as shown in increasing attention on putting financial buffer in one’s family and setting aside more budget for health and well-being.

Mr. Trinidad also shared that lots of their investors have moved towards a more conservative approach last year due to the uncertainties, with an emphasis on savings or time deposits and money market funds. This year, with other countries improving their vaccination rates and reopening their economy, several investors have started to look out abroad to diversify their investments.

Atty. Loraine Saguinsin, relationship manager at UnionBank Private Banking, also presented a survey they conducted with Lombard Odier, noting four broad categories that gained the most importance for the ultra high net-worth clients when the COVID-19 crisis began. These include technology, investment, sustainability, and family services.

Urgency of goal-setting

Given that several people began to change their priorities towards money or assets, how should they set financial goals and start accomplishing them?

Ms. Gaspar of Manulife advised to set realistic financial goals and expectations and proactively pursue ways to achieve them.

In starting to save and invest, it is okay to start even with small amounts. They could also begin doing so regardless of the times. “People can often fall into the black hole of waiting for a certain perfection to happen before they start. But sometimes, the ideas of perfection tend to change throughout time and experience. So no matter where you are at, start now and take the first step,” Ms. Gaspar said.

A basic requirement to create saving is to suspend less than what an individual makes. This process also comes with assessing one’s income and expenses. “For example, in terms of expenses, are there expenses that you can do without in the current pandemic?” Ms. Gaspar explained. “There is also an option of looking for locations that can give you the best value for your money for the necessities that you need to spend on.”

Investing is also never too early to start on, but Ms. Gaspar reminded the importance of setting up emergency funds if something untoward happens. It could be a source to fund the particular requirement and perhaps turn a person away from instances like taking debt, which could have high-interest rates.

FAMi’s Mr. Trinidad also recognized that setting up financial goals or targets is an important thing to do right now as it would guide a person on how to set aside funds for investing and for saving.

“Setting up goals is quite important to at least allow oneself to better prepare for this kind of uncertainties,” he said.

Likewise believing that financial planning is good amid bad times or not, Mr. Ang advised people to be clear of their financial goals and to stick with them as well as not be distracted from them. He also recommended speaking with financial advisors.

Additionally, for the CEO of AIA Philippines, getting help from someone would be good in maneuvering the financial pyramid. This is to make sure that the pyramid is properly addressed, from the protection needs at the bottom, before going to savings, investments, and others. “Having a qualified person will help you understand yourself — what is the risk profile, the investment horizon, and the purpose,” Mr. Ang said.

Balance and continuity

The focus on financial goals, whether the short-term or long-term ones, should also be balanced. According to Atty. Saguinsin of UnionBank, long-term goals like future education and short-term goals like bills are all relevant. An individual cannot just choose one or the other.

“It is more of balancing, which you would allocate more for this goal,” she explained. “At least for the means that you have right now, you can allocate portions of your savings and investments on short-term goals and then apart on long-term goals. And as you have more sources of income, now you can allocate more on your long-term goals like retirement or what you want your children to inherit.”

Also, for Atty. Saguinsin, now is the best time to start planning wealth transition. In planning the transfer of assets, families should also ensure a smooth transition and that the successors would manage well in terms of skills and knowledge. A key in doing such planning is communication, which is pivotal in family businesses.

“The pandemic has allowed us to rethink, re-examine, and re-plan on how we will achieve our financial goals,” Atty. Saguinsin also noted. “The challenge is: Can we sustain this post-pandemic? Hopefully, we can bring this discipline in the new normal so that we will be consistently investing and saving for our future.”

This session of BusinessWorld Insights is made possible by Manulife Investment Management Philippines and AIA Philippines; with the support of Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines, British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and The Philippine STAR.

Ayala Land’s nation-building efforts receive global business award

Beyond developing properties all over the Philippines, Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) is a partner of Filipinos in nation-building by creating communities, sustainable developments that contribute to economic growth.

Such nation-building efforts of ALI, along with its other business endeavors, received Stevie Award recognitions at the 18th Annual International Business Awards (IBA), a premier and global business award program that honors the positive contributions and achievements of organizations and professionals.

ALI garnered the most number of Stevie Awards in the program, with a total of 36 comprising of 11 Golds, 6 Silvers, and 19 Bronzes.

AREIT, the pioneering Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in the Philippines established under ALI, is a Gold Stevie awardee as the Real Estate Company of the Year. Among the notable achievements of AREIT is its landmark Initial Public Offering, which the company designed to make the local property market more inclusive and accessible to Filipino investors.

Another program of ALI that received a Gold Stevie Award is the ‘Zero-Waste’ Circular Waste Management Program, a unique circular economy model that created a process to provide alternative destinations for the recycling and reprocessing of waste materials.

Ayala Land’s Circular Waste Management Program: Plastic waste turned into eco-pavers and used in Makati CBD sidewalks.

ALI’s construction arm Makati Development Corporation (MDC) also won a Gold Stevie Award for being the Materials and Construction Company of the Year. MDC has generated local employment in the country and applied various process improvements and technological innovations in the company.

AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. and Ayala Land Offices Inc., also key subsidiaries of ALI, are Gold Stevie awardees as well for their successes as organizations. The other awards granted to ALI are also driven by its work for the communities and their employees, some of which were responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Most especially in these difficult times, when all sectors of society are enduring the challenges of the global pandemic, we continue to strive for excellence within our organization in order to serve our stakeholders and the communities in the best and most effective way possible. It is our goal to drive recovery by intensifying our community engagement efforts,” ALI Vice President Manny A. Blas said.

This year, the Stevie Awards received more than 3,700 nominations submitted by organizations of different sizes and industries, coming from 63 nations and territories. Determining the award winners were the average scores given by over 260 executives worldwide who did the judging process from June through early August. The virtual awards ceremony will take place on December 8.

“What we’ve seen in this year’s IBA nominations is that organizations around the world, in every sector, have continued to innovate and succeed, despite the setbacks, obstacles, and tragedies of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Stevie Awards President Maggie Gallagher said. “All of this year’s Stevie Award winners are to be applauded for their persistence and their resilience.”

 

 

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Lexus electrified: Luxury cars of tomorrow that you can drive today

Like most industries, the automobile industry is seeing a paradigm shift in both its values and its focus in the ‘now normal.’ Consumers are demanding more accountability from businesses about the long-term impacts they place on society and the environment, pushing companies to shift their priorities from revenues to sustainability and impact.

In a survey of around 7,000 respondents worldwide conducted by McKinsey and Company, in cooperation with the World Economic Forum, many respondents stated that they were now more interested in battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and partial-hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). More than 55% of survey respondents from North America, which has lagged in EV sales compared to Asia and Europe, expressed increased interest in these vehicles. More importantly, when asked about the factors contributing to their interests, respondents across regions were most likely to cite increased sustainability concerns and air-quality improvements.

Lexus, as one of the leading luxury car manufacturers worldwide, has been championing the shift towards hybrid vehicles with new cutting-edge innovations for over a decade. In 2004, Lexus launched the world’s first self-charging luxury hybrid. Today, the brand sells 10 hybrid models and is currently the luxury brand with the widest hybrid lineup. This includes its range of self-charging hybrids, with five different models ranging from compact to SUV, sedans, and coupés in the Philippines. What’s more, Lexus has announced that it has sold almost two million hybrid vehicles globally since the launch of the luxury hybrid RX 400h model.

The Philippine market saw its first Lexus hybrid in the form of the CT 200h in 2011. Today, the LS, IS, RX, and NX hybrid variants are available locally. The LS 500h flagship model is equipped with the new Lexus Multi Stage Hybrid System, a technology that transforms the performance and driver appeal of hybrids, providing improved responsiveness and more rewarding, linear acceleration, particularly when moving off from stationary.

“The new IS 300 Hybrid Premier & the IS 300 Hybrid sport sedans were born and bred at the Shimoyama Technical Center — where the toughest and most challenging roads in the world have been recreated. The outcome was an IS lineup that is agile and provocative. The IS 300h — while boasting hybrid technology — thoroughly espouses Lexus’s DNA,” Lexus said in a statement.

“The RX 450h, the pioneer in Luxury SUVs, makes a bold and completely new statement in this segment while building on and staying true to the pioneering values of previous hybrid RX generations.”

The NX 300h also features the Lexus Multi Stage Hybrid System, which was developed to create a hybrid with a more sporting and engaging driving experience by closely aligning engine speed with throttle inputs, as well as to achieve the best possible balance of power and fuel consumption.

The new Multi Stage Hybrid System marries the elements of a traditional full hybrid powertrain — usually a powerful petrol engine, a powerful electric motor, and a lithium-ion battery pack — to an automatic gearbox mounted at the rear of the hybrid transmission. The electric motor generates better acceleration feel than a conventional engine, and adding physical gears more closely aligns engine speed with the driver’s inputs. The result is a much more direct connection between the accelerator pedal and vehicle acceleration, resulting in blistering zero-to-100kph times.

The Lexus Multi Stage Hybrid System also features ‘M’ Mode, which gives drivers the ability to initiate direct and responsive gear shifts for the most sporting and engaging drive yet from a Lexus hybrid. A new lightweight and compact electric motor and a lithium-ion battery offset the weight of the added automatic transmission, and so the Multi Stage Hybrid System weighs the same as the current hybrid powertrain — an amazing feat of engineering.

Lexus has positioned Hybrid Drive as its key technology in addressing environmental issues in the 21st century, and it intends to enhance its hybrid lineup while encouraging the widespread use of hybrids. Lexus’s core vehicle technology will help reduce CO2 emissions while providing a pleasurable driving experience. Ambitious goals have been set by Lexus for 2050, and even more Lexus models will be available with hybrid technology before then — helping pave the way for a greener future.

To learn more about this promotion visit the Lexus website at https://fal.cn/LexusHybridDrive or visit our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram @lexusmanila.

To arrange a consultation with your personal sales consultant, visit the Lexus Remote page at https://www.lexus.com.ph/en/lexus-remote.html.

 

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by enabling them to publish their stories directly on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

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