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Despite Omicron threat: 2022 growth goals within reach — BSP

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE ECONOMY is still well-placed to grow within target this year as the Omicron variant is expected to be a risk to the economic outlook in the short term, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno.

“Our position is that, despite the recent variant of the virus, we will hit our projected growth of 7-9%. So the variant, as it turned out, is mild and less lethal,” Mr. Diokno said at the 2022 virtual inaugural meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines.

“We hope that the variant will be gone by the middle of February or March. So that gives us confidence that we will hit our growth target of 7-9% this year, and 6-7% for the next two years,” he added.

Like other countries, the Philippines is experiencing an Omicron-driven surge. Active cases rose by a record 34,021 to 237,387 on Thursday, based on data from the Department of Health.

After the holidays, the government imposed tighter restrictions to curb the infection spread. Metro Manila and provinces seeing the surge were placed under Alert Level 3 until Jan. 15. This means businesses had to reduce their operations.

Economic managers earlier said the more restrictive Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila and nearby regions could cost P3 billion in losses to productivity contributions.

Government officials are keen on imposing granular lockdowns instead of total lockdowns that were implemented earlier.

Mr. Diokno is hopeful that because the Omicron is “mild and less lethal” and since it hit early in the year, its impact will not be long-lasting to the growth outlook.

“We hope that the variant will be gone by the middle of February or March. So that gives us confidence that we will hit our growth target of 7-9% this year, and 6-7% for the next two years,” Mr. Diokno said.

The last time the country saw an infection spike was in August, no thanks to the Delta variant. Despite this, the economy beat expectations as it grew by 7.1% in the third quarter, bringing full-year growth to 4.9%.

The Philippine economy contracted by a record 9.6% in 2020 due to having one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdown at the early stages of the pandemic. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Truckers say Roxas Blvd closure will mean higher costs, more delays

The southbound portion of Roxas Boulevard will be closed to vehicular traffic starting 6 a.m., Jan. 15 to make way for the rehabilitation of the damaged Libertad Drainage Main Box Culvert. PHOTO BY METRO MANILA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

TRUCK OPERATORS are expected to incur additional expenses as they would need to take a longer route during the closure of the southbound portion of Roxas Boulevard.

The Roxas Boulevard southbound lane will be closed to motorists for “two months” beginning Saturday (Jan. 15) to give way for the repair of the damaged box culvert, South Manila district engineer Mikunug D. Macud of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) told BusinessWorld in a phone interview.

The damaged box culvert, which was built in the 1970s, is directly in front of HK Sun Plaza in Pasay City heading to the EDSA-Roxas Boulevard flyover.

Mr. Macud said the northbound portion of the road will also be closed for another two months after repairs on the southbound portion are completed by March 15.

“The number one effect is additional expense on the part of the truckers because we will have to take longer routes, use much more fuel and pay bigger toll fees. Plus, the fact that if everyone uses those routes, there will be more traffic,” Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines President Maria B. Zapata said partly in Filipino in a phone interview.

“So this is really a struggle for the operators,” she added.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said 887 cargo trucks and 1,029 trailers traverse the Roxas Boulevard southbound lane every day.

As an alternate route, trucks and trailers from Bonifacio Drive going to Roxas Boulevard southbound can turn left to P. Burgos Avenue, then straight towards Finance Road and Ayala Boulevard, then right to San Marcelino Street, and then P. Quirino Avenue to South Luzon Expressway to their destination.

For free-flowing movement, Ms. Zapata suggested that all local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region (NCR) lift the ban on cargo trucks.

Sought for comment, MMDA Chairman Benjamin “Benhur” de Castro Abalos, Jr. said in a phone message: “There is no truck ban in the NCR except EDSA since last year.”

Ms. Zapata said traffic enforcers should be more considerate of truckers during the closure of Roxas Boulevard, noting the high penalties for offenses such as “obstruction.”

She said the truckers are hoping to discuss their requests with the Metro Manila Council, which is composed of mayors.

In a separate phone interview, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) Assistant Vice-President Flordeliza C. Leong said the closure of Roxas Boulevard is a disruption but it will improve infrastructure in the long term.

“When there’s disruption in the flow of goods and the movement of people, there are cost implications, there is also delay in terms of time, and all these will mean additional cost. Unfortunately, this is passed on to the consumers,” she noted, adding that there will also be “missed opportunities and decline in productivity because of the longer route.” 

Among the alternatives previously eyed was for the container vans to be carried on barges for transport from the Manila International Container Terminal to the Cavite Gateway Terminal in Tanza, Cavite.

Mr. Abalos said in a phone interview that the plan will still push through, “but not right away while the DPWH is still fixing the road network in the Tanza station.”

“There were some problems encountered, particularly the right of way, because the trailers are big… They’ll be stuck in traffic, so the suggestion is there should be one entrance and one exit, so while the DPWH is fixing it, we have no choice [but to push through with the closure], kasi unang-una, delikado at baka mag-collapse na ito (because it is dangerous and the box culvert may collapse),” he added.

The agency plans to implement a zipper lane or counterflow scheme for light vehicles “on a case-to-case basis.”

GIR as of end-2021 falls below BSP projection

REUTERS

THE COUNTRY’S dollar reserves inched up as of end-December buoyed by higher valuation of gold buffers, but fell short of the central bank’s year-end projection.

Preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the gross international reserves (GIR) stood at $108.891 billion as of end-December. This is 1.08% up from the $107.723 billion as of end-November but was lower by 1.11% from the record $110.117-billion level seen as of end-2020.

The GIR also fell below the $111-billion end-2021 projection given by the BSP.

“The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the National Government’s net foreign currency deposits with the BSP and upward adjustment in the value of the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market,” the BSP said in a statement

At its end-December level, the GIR is enough to cover 10.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

It is also equivalent to about 8.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.9 times based on residual maturity.

The seasonal increase in remittances sent by overseas Filipinos during the holiday season drove the GIR to its highest level in 12 months or since December 2020, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

The end-December GIR level also reflects the 3% increase in world gold prices during the month, he added.

“Despite stark depreciation pressure on the local currency throughout the year, the central bank has managed to maintain a very decent stash of ammunition to stave off any speculative attack on the currency,” ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in an e-mail.

The peso closed at P50.999 a dollar on Dec. 31, 2021, weaker by 6.2% from its P48.023 finish on Dec. 29, 2020.

Having an ample level of foreign exchange buffers safeguards an economy from market volatility and is an assurance of the country’s capability for debt repayment in the event of an economic downturn.

The BSP earlier said that they expect lower GIR than previously anticipated amid the “use of reserves to pay foreign currency obligations and various expenditures.”

As of end-December, reserves in the form of foreign investments edged up 0.26% to $91.748 billion from $91.505 billion as of end-November. This was 2% down from the $93.644 billion seen a year ago.

The country’s gold reserves were valued at $9.332 billion as of end-2021, higher by 3.7% than the $9 billion a month earlier but falling by 19.6% from the $11.605 billion as of end-2020.

The Philippines’ reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by 2.5% month on month to $801.6 million, but fell by 1.4% from the $813.1 million from a year ago. 

Special drawing rights held by the Philippines — or the amount the country can tap from the IMF — stood at $3.942 billion for the third straight month and jumped more than three times (219%) the $1.232 billion seen as of end-2020.

Meanwhile, foreign currency deposits stood at $3.066 billion, increasing 23% month on month and by 8.7% year on year.

Asian Institute of Management economist John Paolo R. Rivera said any restriction measures would impact the country’s foreign exchange buffers.

“GIR tends to improve when restrictions are stricter because we do not get to unload our foreign currency reserves as our economy has lower domestic demand and is more reliant on domestic production,” Mr. Rivera said in an e-mail.

For his part, ING’s Mr. Mapa said developments related to tightening of the monetary policy in the US could affect GIR developments this year. Federal Reserve officials have already signaled possible rate hikes this year to curb elevated inflation in the United States. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Fitch Solutions hikes PHL budget deficit forecast

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE PHILIPPINES’ budget deficit would likely stay far above the pre-pandemic average in 2022 even as the gap narrows on a rebound in revenues, adding fiscal pressures to the next administration, Fitch Solutions Country and Industry Research said.

Fitch Solutions in a report on Wednesday said the 2022 deficit would likely narrow to 7.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) from an estimated 8.3% last year.

“Rebounding revenues on the back of the economic recovery will offset still expansion fiscal spending, with the government seeking to accelerate the economic recovery in 2022,” the think tank said.

Fitch Solutions raised the budget deficit forecast from the previous 7.8% of GDP for 2021 and 6.9% for 2022, noting the country still faces risks from the pandemic’s threat to revenues.

“We believe the Philippine government could come under some pressure to speed up fiscal consolidation plans given the sharp rise in public debt levels during the pandemic,” Fitch said.

As revenues slipped during the pandemic, the country’s deficit expanded to 7.5% of GDP in 2020 from 3.4% a year earlier.

In the 11 months to November, the budget deficit reached P1.33 trillion, up by 24.63% compared with the P1.07 trillion in the same period last year.

The government’s economic managers said the fiscal gap could reach 8.2% of GDP for 2021, then 7.7% for this year.

Fitch Solutions said economic growth this year would likely be stronger than in 2021 despite the threat of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“As such, while the budget continues to provide economic stimulus, revenue growth should be such that the overall deficit narrows in 2022,” it added.

This year’s P5-trillion national budget is larger than previously expected, Fitch Solutions said.

Spending would likely grow by 11.2% in 2022, up from the expected 11% for 2021.

“Following an announcement that unused funds from the 2021 budget could be spent in 2022, we expect this to push up overall spending for the year,” Fitch Solutions said.

Meanwhile, revenues are projected to expand by 14% this year from 7% in 2021 as eased lockdowns support more domestic activity and tax collections.

Revenue collection in the 11 months to November hit P2.7 trillion, or 5.99% higher than last year, Treasury data showed.

Amid the deterioration of the country’s fiscal position during the pandemic, Fitch Solutions said the next president could face challenges if he or she prioritizes growth over deficit consolidation.

The think tank expects the debt-to-GDP ratio to rise to 69.2% in 2022. To compare, the debt-to-GDP ratio was 63.1% as of September last year.

“Government bond investors may become increasingly concerned about the surge in public debt, especially if they believe that further public debt increases are likely,” Fitch Solutions said. “In turn, this could see borrowing costs rise over the coming years as bondholders demand a higher risk premia.”

The think tank said the next president would also need to scale down spending to cut the deficit and maintain investor confidence, noting this is a “challenging” choice while the country needs spending in infrastructure, education, and healthcare. — Jenina P. Ibañez

DBM asks agencies to avoid duplication of LGU services

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) is asking National Government agencies to avoid duplicating services that have been devolved to local government units (LGUs) in its national budget call for 2023.

DBM in a national budget memorandum dated Jan. 12 noted the increase in resources made available to LGUs.

“National Government agencies should refrain from duplicating the direct delivery of devolved functions and services with the LGUs, and rather focus on capacitating and monitoring the LGUs and shift to addressing emerging national program concerns,” DBM said.

This should be consistent with strategies that agencies outlined in their devolution transition plans, the department added.

The Supreme Court’s Mandanas ruling is named after Batangas Governor Hermilando I. Mandanas who successfully challenged the government’s previous position that LGUs were entitled to a smaller share of National Government funds.

Starting this year, LGUs get a bigger share of the National Government’s tax collections, alongside the transfer of basic services.

DBM in the memorandum said regional needs are expected to be prioritized in national plans. At the same time, regional plans should be aligned with set national priorities.

“Regional agency programs must also be responsive to the needs of the poorest, disadvantaged but well-performing LGUs in their sectors,” DBM said. “Agency programs to be implemented by LGUs shall have been coordinated with the targeted LGUs as to the resource availabilities and should be responsive to local and regional needs.”

The Finance department has said the Supreme Court’s Mandanas ruling would lead to lower economic growth because the higher tax allocation for local government units would dampen spending efficiency.

Meanwhile, Institute for Leadership, Empowerment, and Democracy (I-LEAD) Executive Director Zy-za Nadine Suzara said spending inefficiencies by LGUs will not deter economic growth because a greater bulk of the budget remains with the National Government.

The 2023 budget will include only implementation-ready agency proposals to improve efficiency in delivering public services, DBM said. — Jenina P. Ibañez

House of Gucci and Lady Gaga land SAG award nominations

LOS ANGELES —  High fashion drama House of Gucci led the nominations on Wednesday for Hollywood’s Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG), scoring nods for the top prize of best cast and for the performances of stars Lady Gaga and Jared Leto.

The awards, voted on by members of the SAG-AFTRA acting union, are closely watched as indicators of which movies will fare well at the Oscars ceremony in March. Actors form the largest group that will vote for the Academy Awards.

Dark Western The Power of the Dog also received three SAG nominations for actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. But it was shut out of the contenders vying for best cast, as was Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed remake of musical West Side Story.

The films that will challenge Gucci for best movie cast are Belfast about a family living amid conflict in late 1960s Northern Ireland; deaf community story CODA; King Richard about the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams; and Don’t Look Up, a comedy that is an allegory about climate change.

In Gucci, Ms. Gaga plays Patrizia Reggiani, an ambitious outsider who married into the family only to have her former spouse, played by Adam Driver, killed off. Mr. Leto portrays misunderstood designer Paolo Gucci.

Other film acting nominees included Ben Affleck for his turn as a caring uncle in The Tender Bar, Will Smith for the title role in King Richard, and Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem for their portrayals of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos.

West Side Story received one nomination for supporting actress Ariana DeBose.

The SAG Awards are scheduled to be handed out at a live televised ceremony on Feb. 27, one month ahead of the Oscars.

Netflix scored the most SAG movie nominations of any film studio, with seven in total, while HBO and HBO Max topped the television field with 14 nods.

The television nominations included five each for cutthroat corporate family drama Succession and feel-good fish-out-of-water comedy Ted Lasso. South Korean dark drama Squid Game landed four nominations including Best TV Drama Series Cast. — Reuters

 

Key nominations for the 2022 Screen Actors Guild awards

•  BEST MOVIE CAST: Belfast, Coda, Don’t Look Up, House of Gucci, King Richard

•  BEST TELEVISION DRAMA SERIES CAST: The Handmaid’s Tale, The Morning Show, Squid Game, Succession, Yellowstone

BEST TELEVISION COMEDY SERIES ENSEMBLE: The Great, Hacks, The Kominsky Method, Only Murders in the Building, Ted Lasso

BEST ACTOR, MOVIE: Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos; Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog; Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick … Boom!; Will Smith, King Richard; Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

BEST ACTRESS, MOVIE: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye; Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter; Lady Gaga, House of Gucci; Jennifer Hudson, Respect; Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, MOVIE: Caitriona Balfe, Belfast; Cate Blanchett, Nightmare Alley; Ariana DeBose, West Side Story; Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog; Ruth Negga, Passing

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, MOVIE: Ben Affleck, The Tender Bar; Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza; Troy Kotsur, CODA; Jared Leto, House of Gucci; Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA: Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show; Jung Ho-Yeon, Squid Game; Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale; Sarah Snook, Succession; Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA: Brian Cox, Succession; Billy Crudup, The Morning Show; Kieran Culkin, Succession; Lee Jung-Jae, Squid Game; Jeremy Strong, Succession

BEST ACTRESS, TV COMEDY: Elle Fanning, The Great; Sandra Oh, The Chair; Jean Smart, Hacks; Juno Temple, Ted Lasso; Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso

BEST ACTOR, TV COMEDY: Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method; Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso; Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building; Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building; Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso — Reuters

AirAsia: 7 out of 10 Filipinos still keen on traveling 

NEWSROOM.AIRASIA.COM

SEVEN out of 10 Filipinos are still keen on pushing through with their planned air travel in the next nine months despite the rising coronavirus cases, a survey commissioned by low-cost carrier Philippines AirAsia, Inc. showed.

This is “an encouraging indicator for the aviation industry this year,” the airline said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday.

Tangere, a big-data analytics firm, conducted the survey for Philippines AirAsia in December last year. Tangere has 1,605 users between the ages of 18 and 60 from socioeconomic classes A, B, C, D, and E, according to Philippines AirAsia.

Despite the heightened caution, 60% of the respondents expressed a desire to travel domestically, with Palawan (77%), Boracay (69%), Cebu (58%), Siargao (57%), and Bohol (52%) topping the list of preferred destinations.

“Davao also ranked high among Visayan travelers, getting the thumbs up of 52% of pollees from the region,” the airline said.

“Should international border restrictions relax this 2022, five out of 10 Filipinos are also ready to travel abroad, picking Seoul, South Korea (78%); Singapore (73%); and Osaka, Japan (71%) as their must-visits,” it added.

In its analysis published on Oct. 19 last year, the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation said, citing International Air Transport Association projections for next year, that “‘Within-Asia’ traffic… is forecast to be still nearly 90% below 2019 levels for the full year 2022.”

“Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Asia-Pacific region accounted for about a third of global RPKs (revenue passenger kilometers). But in 2022, the region will now remain approximately three-quarters below Europe and North America,” it added.

Philippines AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Ricardo P. Isla said the airline is seeing that Filipinos are now much more confident to travel because the country is gaining “a better understanding of the pandemic” and developing “a more fitting culture of safety and vigilance.”

“At AirAsia, we are observing an uptrend in long-term bookings which signifies a more positive outlook on travel plans this year. But we are not letting our guards down. We will be consistent in prioritizing the safety and well-being of our guests as they fly to their intended destinations,” he added.

The survey also showed that Filipinos will be traveling in smaller groups this year.

The airline said 69% prefer to travel with families, 40% with partners, and 24% with close friends over work colleagues, solo trips, and group tours.

“This reflects the yearning of some Filipinos to reconnect with their loved ones from whom they were isolated in the past couple of years,” it noted.

Moreover, only 13% of the survey respondents are willing to spend between P30,001 and P40,000 on their travel, while 15% and 38%, respectively, limit their budget to P15,000 to P20,000 and less than P14,999.

“Frugality has been expected by air carriers given the economic impact of [the pandemic] and the long list of essentials…, as well as the need to grow personal emergency funds,” the airline said.

“In line with this, Filipinos keep an eye out for bang-for-buck offers that can help them in their trips like complete tour package deals of Flights + Hotel + Tours and Activities (66%), discounted Flight + Hotel bundles (61%), and discounted Food + Activities bundles (59%),” it added. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Sleek, stylish, and witty

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY — PLAYSTATION.COM

Video Game Review
Guardians of the Galaxy
Sony PlayStation 5

Super Robot Wars 30
Personal Computer via Steam

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny
Nintendo Switch

Square Enix and Eidos Montreal’s Guardians of the Galaxy might not have the participation of the movie’s cast, but it exudes no small measure of charm all the same. Following the story of Star-Lord and his ragtag bunch of misfit friends, it throws you into the thick of things. You must brawl, shoot, and explore your surroundings as best as you can, all while enjoying the excellent writing.

It’s clear from the onset what Guardians of the Galaxy focuses on. Centered around protagonists Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax, it puts its proverbial best foot forward by bringing all these unique personalities to life in-game. The witty banter between them during cutscenes or while in combat is all in character, and their unique abilities and animations help set them apart even further. Their gags and dialogue are consistent, with alternating goofy and serious moments dotted throughout the game to keep the tone interesting.

These characteristics also work to help you. You control only Star-Lord, but you’re able to ask the assistance of the others to assist you during fights, or to help solve the plethora of environmental puzzles in Guardians of the Galaxy. Someone like Drax uses his brute strength to take opponents down, but can also lift heavier objects to help you proceed. The same goes with Groot, who uses elongating limbs to help bridge gaps or provide crowd control.

In fact, the Devil-May-Cry-like combo system encourages you to actively work with your team. By using their special abilities while simultaneously fighting and mixing in your own combos, you build towards striking against the game’s stronger foes. The mechanics are pretty neat, if uncomplicated, and really hammers home the point that Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t so much just Star-Lord but that of the entire squad proving that it’s collectively greater than the sum of its parts.

When you’re not bashing in enemies, you’re dealing with the environments. None of them are particularly challenging to navigate, but exploring tends to reward you with additional lore and fanservice, letting you come out with journals, sneak peeks, and references that will make any Guardians of the Galaxy comic book fan squeal with joy. The environments themselves also never get stale, having you traverse abandoned space ships, infested caverns, and alien worlds. You’re mostly set on a linear path, but the areas you do get to explore look absolutely beautiful. It’s got a fair amount of content to it as well, with first-time playthroughs lasting about 15 hours to 16 hours depending on how thorough and skilled you are.

Really, the only thing holding Guardians of the Galaxy back is its repetitive nature. The combat and exploration are pretty decent as a whole, but they can get a little draining, especially against the tougher enemies you might encounter. Fights aren’t difficult, but they do last quite a while. And while you have a decent number of upgrades available to kit out the characters and maximize their potential, the combat always feels just a bit lacking as if it’s missing a mechanic or two to spice things up.

That said, its personality is more than enough to carry this single player experience all the way to the end. It might not be a game you’ll replay any time soon, but it’s game you’ll fondly remember if you’re a Guardians of the Galaxy fan. It’s sleek, it’s stylish, it’s witty, and it’s a great take on this lovable band of superheroes.

THE GOOD:

• Knocks your socks off with its great voice acting and witty dialogue

• Solid combat and exploration

• Excellent storyline, with a heady mix of serious plot points and funny jokes

THE BAD:

• Gameplay feels a little too shallow

• Can get repetitive

• Cutscenes can take a while

RATING: 8/10

POSTSCRIPT: It’s hard to narrow down Super Robot Wars 30’s best points. The Super Robot Wars (SRW) series itself is already well known for its tactical gameplay and its clear homage to the mecha animé genre. It wears its inspirations on its shoulders with pride, making it a one-of-a-kind game franchise that’s able to lure in new fans with its deep, engaging, tactical battles and, at the same time, appease old ones with its solid writing. One would expect Super Robot Wars 30 to do the same, and it does. But more than just follow in the footsteps of its predecessors, it openly celebrates the best parts in the series.

Super Robot Wars 30 starts off small, letting players pick the character route they want to traverse initially. However, the roster soon opens up, with different characters from Japan’s most famous mecha franchises eventually becoming available to recruit. These characters bring with them their own unique abilities and skill sets, giving new recruits a specific role to fulfill with very little overlap. It’s up to the player to decide who to use, which characters to bring to each stage, and what strategy to use to achieve victory,

It all sounds pretty simple at first. Many other tactical role-playing games, including those from the Fire Emblem and Disgaea franchises, can lay claim to the same thing. What really sets Super Robot Wars 30 apart is its presentation. Tactical battles look pretty mundane at first, but a significant chunk of SRW’s charm lies in the combat animations and character barks that go with it. Since each character has its own set of weapons and personalities, the animations you have for each attack are all different, each is punctuated by a special intro and snappy quotes. Your attacks differ entirely based on what weapons are used, and effort has been spent to make it seem weighty and impactful.

Just as strong as the combat animations is the gameplay itself. While Super Robot Wars 30 does play pretty safe, there’s no denying that there’s a keen sense of enjoyment to be had when you maneuver your characters through the stage and weather the tide of enemies the game loves to keep sending after you. Care must be given to ensure that characters stay healthy, and the few new options like auto battle come in to help break the monotony during points where victory is all but guaranteed already. This strong emphasis on tactical depth is hard to ignore, and it really cements the game’s foundations. A ton of missions are on offer, each with its own wrinkles depending on when you tackle it, and on which characters you bring. Simply put, there’s just no end to the options you have available to you.

In Super Robot Wars 30, the missions you take are also accompanied by long segments of story exposition, presented in a very visual novel-esque fashion. These might bore someone who simply wants to enjoy the tactical side of the game, but the serious writing helps prop up the story, especially when characters from different franchises get to interact with one another. It’s the little things like this that are the real treats of fanservice for long-time followers of SRW, and the developers know exactly the types of audiences they cater to. Characters do not feel weird or obnoxious; they are instead written according to their in-universe canon, making for some entertaining teamups and drama depending on the progression of the narrative.

If there’s any real criticism to be levied against Super Robot Wars 30, it’s that the mission design can feel lacking on occasion. While SRW’s charm certainly carries a lot of the gameplay, some maps do tend to feel a little repetitive. Thankfully, this is a minor issue on the whole, and the game makes up for this lack of variety with its overall quality.

On the whole, Super Robot Wars 30 is easily one of the best games available on Steam, and while it does carry a hefty price tag, it’s worth every penny if you’re even remotely interested in TRPGs and mechas. For the genre, no other game series comes close.

THE GOOD:

• Has all the charm and intensity of the previous Super Robot Wars games, and more

• Still has the same addictive tactical gameplay setup

• Tons of content to run through

THE BAD:

• Needs more mission/stage variety

• A bit costly in the absence of any sales blitz

Nippon Ichi Software has been making Disgaea games for close to 20 years. Released in 2003, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was a breath of fresh air, able to laugh at itself and its antics and whole-heartedly dipping into its sillier parts without a care in the world. While other Japanese role-playing games like Final Fantasy delved on serious matters with a serious tone, Disgaea was more than willing to go for extremes: its highly exaggerated damage numbers, its over-the-top comedy, and its light-hearted but still endearing plot.

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny seeks to channel that same energy once more, mustering everything that the series has to offer in a bigger, more exciting, and more ridiculous scale. Its plot is still silly, its combat is still fun, and its tone is still as wacky as ever. All these, combined with some new quality-of-life features, prop up the game’s status as the most accessible game in the franchise yet.

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny follows the tale of Zed the Zombie. This unlikely hero is off to challenge the God of Destruction. Each time, Zed is defeated, but each death he suffers makes him far stronger than before after reincarnation. His attempts and failures slowly empower him, and in his quest to take down his foe, he travels across the various Netherworlds and meets with new companions and new enemies, all while he attempts to bring down his mortal foe.

As far as stories go, Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s par for the course in terms of what you’d expect from a Disgaea game. What helps it along, though, is its self-awareness. Much of the latest release in the franchise tends to be silly and exaggerated, but it’s not done in a malicious way. It’s all for fun and games, and never offensive. Instead, it doubles down on its character tropes, and on the series’ running jokes. It might not always make perfect sense, but it’s charming nonetheless, especially for longtime followers of the intellectual property.

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny’s humor also extends to the gameplay. Being the latest Disgaea expansion, it has all the bells and whistles any good Disgaea game will have. Fun and colorful characters, plenty of interesting and challenging maps to play on, and a plethora of classes to use and abilities to manipulate. These are all standard fare for the series, and the solid turn-based gameplay it has makes it a good anchor for any newcomer to latch onto.

What really stands out are some of the new features Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny introduces. Chief among them is Demonic Intelligence, which helps cut down on the micromanagement previous titles in the series needed you to do to get your turns done. You won’t always be inclined to use it, especially when you’re trying to get the most out of your turns or need specific strategies to employ, but it offers you flexibility to streamline some of the tedium. By presetting how certain units you have can react, things like striking nearby foes or using skills when needed are automatically done, and these little plusses do go a long way.

That’s because Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, as with its predecessors, thrives on replay and repetition, and on your own willingness to “break” your characters. With an absurd level cap that can reach upwards into the thousands, it encourages you to go crazy with your characters. Go for bigger numbers, grind for better stats and gear, and keep the bar constantly rising by continually challenging tougher foes. The sky’s the limit in Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, and in a JRPG where stats are king, the bar can be as high as you want to set it.

This all comes down to Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny being an easy title that both veterans and newcomers to the series can enjoy. With a ton of replay value and a lot of post-game and downloadable content to bite down on, it offers plenty of options that allow you to have fun with your game. You’re basically free to enjoy it as you please — that is, if you can get past some of its limitations. For instance, its graphics might turn some people off. While the game does still use two-dimensional art assets, the new 3D models that appear on the map can be jarring. The animations can be nice and entertaining, but they do feel a little chunky and fat when compared to the sprites used in the previous games.

In addition, Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny on the Nintendo Switch presents with some bad framerate issues when it is on anything but performance mode — a surprise considering that the game doesn’t seem to be a resource hog. While it’s a turn-based game and doesn’t really need a smooth framerate to be playable, having a bad one during gameplay is quite off-putting, especially for those used to being treated to a smooth 60 frames per second.

On the whole, Disgaea 6 is a fun title that takes advantage of better QOL features to help reduce the tedium of grinding. For the more discriminating gamers, however, this becomes a moot point in the face of its poor optimization. It’s a fun title to play, and will still hold your attention for hours on end, but it’s a game that simply adds very little to the Disgaea formula, and plays things on the safe side. Bottom line, it’s a Disgaea title, and therefore still a must-buy — although it could have been better in the way that Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance was relative to the immediate past release.

THE GOOD:

Still a solid Disgaea game, with hundreds of hours of content to play through

Enjoyable humor and writing, with expressive and memorable characters

Flexible approach to gameplay allows for plenty of ways to experience it, while also streamlining a lot of the grind

THE BAD:

Dipping framerates on the Switch

Not much “new” in the way of mechanics

Missing features from the previous games

RATING: 9/10

THE LAST WORD: Sony Interactive Entertainment Singapore has announced the opening of preorders for Gran Turismo 7, slated for release on March 4. Customers who preorder any physical edition of the game will receive digital contents of 100,000 CR (in-game credit) and a three-car pack, as well as stand a chance to receive a metal/leather keychain. Standard editions are pegged at P3,490 for the PS5 version and P2,990 for the PS4 version, while the 25th Anniversary Edition carries a price tag of P4,490 on either platform.

Sony has likewise unveiled the upcoming launch of the PlayStation VR2 and the complementary VR2 Sense Controller. The new iteration of Sony’s virtual reality headset boasts of true next-generation experience with high-fidelity visuals, new sensory features, and enhanced controller and eye tracking. In what is sure to be welcomed by current PS VR owners, the VR2 likewise features a simplified single-cord setup.

Highlighting the launch of the VR2 is the release of Horizon Call of the Mountain, featuring a story distinct from Horizon Forbidden West, out next month, and told through the eyes of a new character. The series’ virtual reality offering is designed to push the VR2’s hardware to its limits.

Cebu Landmasters posts P16.5-B record reservation sales

CEBU Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) recorded a 16% increase in reservation sales to P16.5 billion last year, the real estate developer said on Thursday, describing the figure as “record-breaking” coming from P14.25 billion a year earlier.

“The company has rapidly expanded since its listing in June 2017 and has now more than doubled its P7.7 billion sales take up during that year,” said CLI Chairman Jose R. Soberano III in a press release.

The listed property firm, which is focused on Visayas and Mindanao, said it launched 3,865 units in 10 projects worth P18 billion in 2021, more than the eight projects launched in 2020 worth P11.5 billion.

It said by the end of last year, 96% of completed project were sold out, 86% of developments still under construction were taken up, and 70% of newly launched projects were sold out.

Altogether, the company’s portfolio was 85% sold out across different project stages, CLI said.

The company’s new offerings include Costa Mira Beachtown Mactan, its beachfront condominium communities with 659 units valued at P3 billion. The project accounted for 17% of overall sales.

Economic housing brand Casa Mira accounted for 41% of sales, followed by high-end Premier Masters at 31%, and mid-market Garden Series at 27%.

“CLI launched more economic housing projects as affordable quality housing was in demand throughout the pandemic,” said Mr. Soberano. “We started to unveil higher-end projects when the economy began to open and recover.”

Almost half of total sales come from Cebu, accounting for 48%, followed by Iloilo at 17%, and Cagayan de Oro at 13%, CLI reported.

Meanwhile, the developer said it provided relief and assistance to stakeholders affected by Typhoon Odette (internationally named Rai) through emergency loans, supplies, temporary coverings and repairs, among other initiatives.

“We are a VisMin (Visayas-Mindanao) firm. Thus, we are committed to assist Cebu and surrounding provinces get back on track. We are confident that, as in the past, our concerted efforts will pave the way for recovery,” Mr. Soberano added.

CLI posted an attributable net income of P535.96 million in the third quarter last year, down 24.5% from P709.78 million previously. Its nine-month income, however, rose 23.3% to P1.85 billion from P1.50 billion a year earlier.

On Thursday, its shares rose 1.75% or five centavos to P2.91 apiece in the stock exchange. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

Beyond Cyrano de Bergerac’s nose — the real man behind the swashbuckling hero

THERE’s something quite striking missing in Peter Dinklage’s performance of Cyrano de Bergerac. In the upcoming musical film, Cyrano is missing his iconic large nose.

Cyrano’s nose has been integral to popular images of the character ever since Edmond Rostand’s swashbuckling 1897 verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac. This connection became even more so after Gérard Depardieu’s take on the role in 1990.

In every iteration of Cyrano’s tale till now, his large nose causes him trouble and affects how people perceive him. In the new film, Dinklage’s form of dwarfism, called achondroplasia, as one critic wrote, “serves the same purpose the character’s oversize schnoz originally did, lending Cyrano an outsider quality that he must overcompensate for in personality.”

Cyrano is a witty wordsmith and staggeringly proficient swordsman, able to defeat his opponents with both verbal and physical deftness. For instance, in one scene in the Depardieu film, Cyrano duels and vanquishes a vicomte who insults his nose. He does this while improvising an elaborately complex poem called a ballade.

Despite such prowess, his looks limit him. Secretly in love with his dazzling cousin Roxane, Cyrano is held back by shame at his physical appearance. He can only find selfless, vicarious satisfaction by feeding lines of passionate poetry to his rival-cum-alter-ego, the handsome but ineloquent hero Christian, who wins Roxane’s heart.

In each new retelling of the story of Cyrano we see the fragile romantic hero tormented by his own perceived lack — it is easy to forget that another Cyrano lurked still further in the background: the real-life playwright, satirist, novelist, and duellist Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-55). Because of his taste for bluster and grandiose self-mythologization, we know relatively little for certain about the historical Cyrano.

As a young man, the real Cyrano was taught by the idiosyncratic polymath Pierre Gassendi and mixed in free-thinking “libertine” circles. He was known to spend time with writers such as Paul Scarron and Tristan l’Hermite. It’s even believed that perhaps at the fringes of these circles was the great comic playwright Molière.

In his short life, Cyrano proved himself to be a talented and adaptable writer. He never settled down to one genre for long (tragedy, comedy, letters, fiction and more) but maintained a strong intellectually satirical vein throughout. The impressive verbal ingenuity we see in Rostand’s play is also reflected in Cyrano’s various writings, perhaps most cruelly in his witty fat-shaming of the actor known as Montfleury.

The real Cyrano was very adept at self-construction and even self-mythologization. As a young soldier, he fostered rumors that he had routed 100 attackers at once. He claimed some symbolic kinship to classical heroes and warriors by styling himself “Hercule” de Bergerac. Unsurprisingly, both these elements find their way into Rostand’s play.

While the persona Cyrano adopts for himself as protagonist and narrator of his philosophical novel L’Autre monde is somewhat more modest and cryptic (the name of its hero “Dyrcona,” a near-anagram for Cyrano). The first-person, pseudo-autobiographical fiction he spins here is even more outlandish. In this tale of adventure and daring, he claims to have traveled through outer space to visit the Moon and the Sun and to have conversed with the curious inhabitants of both.

As well as inspiring a scene in Rostand’s play, the novel also anticipates the various philosophical travel narratives of Montesquieu, Jonathan Swift, and Voltaire in the following century. Indeed, Dyrcona’s discussions with his various otherworldly interlocutors cover a range of theological, scientific, political, philosophical, and “libertine” topics — from theories of atomism to Biblical accuracy, from cannibalistic orgies to the existence of God. Knowing that the text was philosophically and theologically contentious, he did not publish the work during his lifetime. It was published in a heavily sanitized version entitled Histoire comique (Comical Story) in 1657.

L’Autre monde remains Cyrano’s most popular work and has various quirks to interest the modern reader. Among other things, the novel anticipates caravans (some moon-dwellers own mobile houses) and audiobooks (small boxes which read chapters out loud). Some of Cyrano’s other fabrications are rather more fantastic: hunting weapons that simultaneously cook the game they shoot, intercontinental flight with the help of bottles of evaporating dew, musical communication, and poetry as a means of currency.

One of the most suggestive moments of the novel for many comes when the moon-dwellers explain how a large nose is the marker of someone “spiritual, courtly, affable, noble-minded, [and] liberal.” This leads us back to Cyrano’s actual nose: was it purely Rostand’s invention? Yes and no. Contemporary illustrations of Cyrano show him to be relatively well-endowed nasally but never quite reaching the grotesque extremes we find in Rostand. Even so, in his overall encapsulation of Cyrano’s swagger, ebullience, and creative verve, it is fair to say that Rostand’s depiction was very much on the nose.

 

Joseph Harris is a Professor of Early Modern French and Comparative Literature, Royal Holloway University of London

BSP: Three firms cleared by SEC to buy bad assets

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has authorized three asset management companies to buy nonperforming assets of financial institutions during the crisis, according to an official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“There has been no BSP-supervised financial institution that has availed of the incentives under the FIST (Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer) Act, but the SEC has approved applications of three FIST corporations,” BSP Assistant Governor Lyn I. Javier said in an online briefing on Thursday.

The FIST Act, which was legislated in February 2021, gives financial institutions an avenue to clean their balance sheets by selling nonperforming assets to FIST corporations that are registered with the SEC.

Meanwhile, the BSP has received 11 master list application for non-performing assets that can be disposed through the legislation, Ms. Javier said.

The submission of the master list is only a step prior to the filing of an application for a certificate of eligibility of a financial institution. The certificate will be issued by the BSP to prove the eligibility of nonperforming assets to avail of tax exemptions and privileges under the FIST Law.

Earlier, the BSP has said it expects Philippine banks to offload at least P152 billion in nonperforming assets through the FIST Law to clean their balance sheets.

“We wish to highlight that the FIST Act is a standby facility if and when the increase in nonperforming assets go beyond manageable levels. The level of nonperforming loans in the industry remain manageable,” Ms. Javier said.

Latest central bank data showed bad loans as of November slipped by 0.43% to P481.879 billion from P483.98 billion in the prior month. However, it was still higher by 19% from the P404.687 billion seen in the same month a year earlier.

This brought the November bad loan ratio to 4.35%, the lowest in eight months or since the 4.21% seen in March 2021.

The BSP said the ratio could reach 5-6% by end-2021 before peaking at 8.2% by 2022.

In his weekly virtual briefing, BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said that the local banking industry remained sound and stable despite the crisis.

“The strong initial financial position and sound governance of banks have enabled them to weather this crisis and manage their nonperforming loans. Long before the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, banks have already embedded a strong corporate governance and effective risk management in their lending operations,” Mr. Diokno said.

Preliminary data showed the banking system’s end-November 2021 total assets rose 7% year on year to P20.4 trillion. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Ronnie Spector, girl group icon who sang ‘Be My Baby,’ 78

Ronnie Spector — EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

RONNIE Spector, the pioneering lead singer of the 1960s American “girl group” the Ronettes, whose vocals graced such hits as “Be My Baby” and “Baby, I Love You,” has died at the age of 78, relatives said on Wednesday.

Ms. Spector, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 as a member of the Spanish Harlem-based female trio, died surrounded by loved ones and in the arms of her husband, Jonathan Greenfield, after a brief battle with cancer, the family said in a statement.

“Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humor and a smile on her face. She was filled with love and gratitude,” the family said.

“Her joyful sound, playful nature and magical presence will live on in all who knew, heard or saw her.”

Ms. Spector, born Ronnie Bennett, grew up in the Spanish Harlem neighborhood of New York City. She and her sister, Estelle, and their cousin, Nedra Talley, began performing at a young age, first singing at New York “sock hops,” or informal sponsored teenage dance events, and Jewish bar mitzvah parties.

The trio first performed as Ronnie and the Relatives before becoming the Ronettes and signing on with Colpix Records, a Columbia Pictures subsidiary, in 1961.

In 1963, the Ronettes were granted an audition with Phil Spector, one of the top music producers of the 1960s who went on to work with the Beatles on their album Let It Be, as well as with such acts as Leonard Cohen and Ike and Tina Turner.

Upon hearing Ronnie sing a version of Frankie Lymon’s 1956 hit “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” Phil Spector leapt up from his piano and said, “That’s the voice I’ve been looking for!” according to an account from the Hollywood trade publication Variety.

With Phil Spector producing, the Ronettes dominated music charts with hits such as “Be My Baby” and “Do I Love You,” and “Walking in the Rain.” They also were featured on his holiday album A Christmas Gift to You performing three songs, including the energetic Christmas classic “Sleigh Ride.”

The singer and producer began an affair and married in 1968, with the vocalist taking his last name. Years after the couple’s 1972 split, Ronnie Spector went public with allegations that she had become a virtual captive in their home, subject to the abuse of a possessive husband as she turned to alcohol for escape. Phil Spector died last year at age 81 of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) while serving a life sentence for murder in the 2003 shooting of a Hollywood actress.

Ronnie Spector enjoyed a musical comeback in the 1980s when she was featured in American rock star Eddie Money’s popular hit single “Take Me Home Tonight,” and collaborated with groups including Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. —  Reuters

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