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Realities of Filipino life tackled in 4 films

A STILL from the film Tao Po directed by Mae Paner

Non-competition feature films get first ever screening

THE TESTIMONIES of people affected by extrajudicial killings (EJK), a couple in a turbulent relationship, a media studies student who meets his most admired broadcaster, and a story of a family man who climbs to the peak of the mountain while recovering from a traumatic experience are among the non-competition highlights in this year’s Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the 17th edition of Cinemalaya migrates online via KTX.ph. The pandemic has also resulted in this year’s edition focusing on short films for the competition section, to give more time to the feature films to be made under current constraints. It is planned that the feature films in competition will be shown next year.

The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival — an all-digital film festival and competition “that aims to discover, encourage and honor cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers” — is a project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc.

Alongside the screening of the 13 competing short films, Cinemalaya this year presents the Premieres section, featuring four never before seen feature films by Filipino filmmakers. The feature films will be screening for the duration of the festival, Aug. 6 to Sept. 5 on ktx.ph.

The four films are the family drama Highest Peak, directed by Arnel Barbarona; the drama He Who is Without Sin, directed by Jason Paul Laxamana; neo-noir film Love and Pain In Between Refrains, directed by Joselito Altarejos; and the social monologue Tao Po, directed by Mae Paner (also known as Juana Change).

Highest Peak (screening on Aug. 7 to 14) follows a man who decides to follow through with his family’s plan to climb Mount Apo after losing his wife and son. It is a journey of redemption, closure, and healing. The film stars Dax Alejandro, Mara Lopez, Henyo Ehem, Rowena Caballes, Jea Lyka Cinco, Johnny Hager, Buggy Amplayo, Jun Alcover, Bong Artil and Ferdinand Mesias.

He Who is Without Sin takes (premiering Aug. 15 to 21) follows what transpired during a chance meeting between a broadcasting student and the TV reporter he idolizes. In the days that follow the encounter, the young student shares with his friends three separate versions of what transpired. Through the conversations with friends, he comes to terms with the idea that his idol — a dignified newsman who is supposed to be a paragon of virtue — is not who he appears to be on television. The film stars Elijah Canlas, Enzo Pineda, Pearl Lagman, Migs Campanilla, Lara Fortuna, Gio Gahol, Marnie Lapus, and Iman Ampatuan.

During an online press conference earlier this week via Zoom, the film’s director, Jason Paul Laxamana, said that the film is semi-autobiographical and based on his personal experience as a broadcast journalism student who met one of the broadcasters he admired. “During their meeting, questionable things transpired. The film is an examination of his thought process,” Mr. Laxamana said in English and Filipino.

Love and Pain In Between Refrains (premiering Aug. 22 to 28) deals with a tragedy that feeds on love and co-dependency, and the cycle of abuse and violence. It follows high school sweethearts who lost touch with each other after graduation and meet again after 10 years. Feelings rekindled; they start living together. But what was supposed to be a beautiful relationship turns into a traumatic reunion. The film stars Oliver Aquino, Elora Españo, Richard Quan, Anelle Durano, Suzette Doctolero, Natileigh Sitoy, Anjo Resureccion, and Jill Urdaneta.

“It deals with the psychology of the abused and the abuser in the cycle of violence,” said director Joselito Altarejos.

As an advocate of “Cinema of the Social Consciousness,” Mr. Altarejos —  who directed the 2014 Cinemalaya Best Film Kasal, Tale of the Lost Boys (2017), and Unfriend (2014), among others —  aims to create films that educate and inspire his audience to become more vigilant and conscious of the country’s social issues. “I would like to offer my films to help people see what is happening around us,” he said.

Tao Po (premiering Sept. 3) follows the social awakening of a photojournalist when he covers the tokhang beat. After several immersion trips and in-depth interviews conducted by artist-activist Mae Paner and playwright Maynard Manansala, four monologues were developed that give faces to the issue of extra-judicial killings.

“Ang pelikulang ito ay magandang mapanood ng napakaraming Pilipino para mayroon tayong konting glimpse na makita tungkol sa nangyayari sa atin based on four personal narratives of people affected by extrajudicial killings (It would be good for many Filipinos to watch the film so that they have a glimpse of what is happening around us based on four personal narratives of people affected by extrajudicial killings),” director and producer Mae Paner said.

Tao Po will also premiere at Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Cinema under the Stars or drive-in theater at the Liwasang Ullalim located across the center’s main building on Sept. 3. A talkback session will be hosted after the drive-in film screening. Discussion for the other three films will be hosted online prior to the premiere of each film.

Tickets for the Premieres are priced at P250.

INDIE NATION SECTION
Meanwhile, four full-length feature films will be shown in Cinemalaya’s Indie Nation section.

These are: Lockdown by Joel Lamangan; Kintsugi by Lawrence Fajardo; Don Filipo by Tim Muñoz; and ECQ Diary (Bawal Lumabas) by Arlyn Dela Cruz Bernal.

Mr. Lamangan’s Lockdown is about a returning overseas Filipino worker who desperately turns to cybersex in the middle of a global pandemic and a struggling economy. The film stars Paolo Gumabao, Max Eigenmann, Allan Paule, Ruby Ruiz, Jess Evardone, Jim Pebanco, Angeline Sanoy, Paul Jake Paule, Sean de Guzman and Alexis Yasuda.

Kintsugi refers to the Japanese method of repairing broken porcelain, wherein shards are reattached with gold. The film follows a Filipino OFW factory worker who develops a close bond with his employer’s daughter. Filmed in Saga, Japan, this is Mr. Fajardo’s second Sinag Maynila full-length entry after 2015’s Imbisibol. JC Santos and a cast of Filipino and Japanese actors star in the film.

Mr. Muñoz’s Don Filipo is about a remote village that is gripped with fear as its residents go missing one by one. Now a young nurse is in town to care for an ailing Don Filipo. Will he be the next victim? The film stars Luis Padilla, Adrian Arias, Rap Robes, and Megan Sharpe.

Bernal’s ECQ Diary (Bawal Lumabas) focuses on two sisters in their sixties who are reunited in one house during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) of 2020. Confined together because of the pandemic, the sisters confront an old issue that kept them apart for many years. Starring in the film are Elizabeth Oropesa, Daria Ramirez, Unica Yzabel, and Danni Ugali.

RETROSPECTIVE OF CINEMALAYA AWARD-WINNING FILMS
The award-winning films in previous editions of Cinemalaya will be show in the Retrospective, streaming on ktx.ph starting Aug. 6, 3 p.m. The ticket is priced at P150.

This Cinemalaya section features six short films – Tokwifi by Carla Pulido-Ocampo, Living Things by Martika Ramirez Escobar, Pabasa Kan Pasyon by Hubert Tibi, Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos by Joanna Vasquez Arong, Quing Lalam Ning Aldo by Reeden Fajardo, and Excuse Me Miss, Miss, Miss by Sonny Calvento.

Tokwifi narrates the story of a 1950s mestiza star who is trapped inside a television. A star falls from the sky and dreams up a romantic romp with a Bontok Igorot man who does not know how to kiss. The film won the 2020 Cinemalaya Best Film for its highly original take on love.

Living Things is about a woman who discovers that her lover has turned into a cardboard standee. Bagging the Best Director award, director Mr. Escobar comes out with a whimsical yet convincing tale of how two people in love confront the challenges of change.

Director Hubert Tibi won the Best Screenplay for his film Pabasa kan Pasyon, which follows a Bicolano family who turns to religion to make both ends meet. The short film has been screened in the Court Metrage section of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos, which received the Cinemalaya Special Jury Prize, has been making the rounds in various film festivals. It tells the story of the ravages of Typhoon Yolanda as seen through the eyes of a child.

The tale of a transgender sampaguita farmer who decides to renovate their neglected kitchen as soon as she hears that her son is going home won the hearts of the viewers, bagging the People’s Audience Choice Award for Quing Lalam Ning Aldo.

Completing the list is Excuse Me Miss, Miss, Miss, which is about a department store sales lady who unearths the ultimate secret to regularization. The fantasy comedy short film was the first Filipino short film to compete in the Sundance Film Festival. 

ACCLAIMED ASIAN INDIES
AWARD-winning Asian indie films will be showcased in the Visions of Asia section of Cinemalaya. Tickets for Visions of Asia films are priced at P150.

Five films, all Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema or NETPAC awardees, will be shown. NETPAC is a worldwide organization managed by cinephiles who promote Asian cinema. Visions of Asia this year offers the following films: A Dark, Dark Man, Bandar Band, Jazz Kissa Basie: Swifty’s Ballad, Mosul My Home, Sthalpuran (Chronicle of Space)

A Dark, Dark Man by Adilkhan Yerzhanov, one of Kazakhstan’s foremost filmmakers, is a drama about the investigation of a boy’s murder. After a phony suspect is “caught” by local police officers, things fall apart when a journalist comes to investigate and the detective on the case must conduct a real investigation for the first time in his career.

Bandar Band by Manijeh Hekmat has been shown in 20 film festivals around the world as part of the main competition or as a special screening. It won the NETPAC Prize in South Korea’s Ulju Mountain Film Festival in April 2021. In this drama, Iranian women singers are going to enter an unofficial competition in Tehran, journeying to the city from a southern province just when they have lost all they had in the flood. However, every road they take leads to a dead-end in a flood-stricken land.

Jazz Kissa Basie: Swifty’s Ballad by Tetsuya Hoshino is a candid documentary of Shōji Sugawara, whose lifelong pursuit to recreate the best audio sound imaginable has, for years, attracted audiophiles from Japan and around the world to his coffeehouse.

Mosul My Home by Adalet R. Garmiany, which won the NETPAC Jury Prize at the 43rd Moscow International Film Festival in April 2021, chronicles the journey into the peaceful, abundant and warm-hearted past of Mosul, now in ruins. This documentary journey is filled with love and compassion for its city, and is an eloquent manifestation of the power of art, memory and humanity.

Sthalpuran (Chronicle of Space) by Akshay Indikar tells the story of eight-year-old Dighu who is exploring his new internal and external environments after his mother and elder sister moved to his grandparents’ village on the Konkan coast following his father’s disappearance.

DOCUMENTARY SECTION
FIVE award-winning documentary films were selected by acclaimed film director and screenwriter Dr. Clodualdo “Doy” Del Mundo for Cinemalaya’s DOKYU section. Tickets to Cinemalaya Dokyu section are P150.

The films to be shown are: A House in Pieces by Jean Claire Dy and Manuel Domes about the destruction of Marawi; Yugto by Joanna Reyes, Cristy Linga and Ja Turla, a short documentary of the lives of Filipinos during the COVID-19 pandemic; Paraisong Bacao by Adrian N. Manaois, follows a 14-year-old Aeta who lives in a mountainous area that he considers paradise; Last Days At Sea by Venice Atienza, follows 12-year-old Reyboy who lives in an isolated fishing village in the south of the Philippines, but who has to leave for the city to study; Masterpiece by Januar Yap and Kristoffer Villarino, follows a parish priest in Bantayan Island who, inspired by the ceiling paintings of the old churches in Cebu and the Sistine Chapel, embarks on his own epic ceiling painting project.

For tickets, visit ktx.ph. Follow the official CCP and Cinemalaya social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates on the Cinemalaya Film Festival screening schedules andother offerings. For more information, visit the CCP website (www.culturalcenter.gov.ph). — M.A.P. Soliman

Robinsons Land posts P2.6-B profit as core businesses recover

ROBINSONS Land Corp. (RLC) recorded a second-quarter net income of P2.56 billion, up nearly fourfolds from the level a year earlier, the Gokongweis’ real estate company said in a statement on Thursday.

“Despite unstable circumstances, RLC reported increasing customer activity and engagement in its malls, offices, hotels, industrials, as well as property development and residential businesses,” the listed company said.

For the first semester, net income climbed by 48% to P5.45 billion. Consolidated revenues jumped 55% to P26 billion from P16.7 billion.

RLC President and Chief Executive Officer Frederick D. Go described the company’s first-half showing as “a testament to the success of our strategic initiatives.” He said these moves position the firm for recovery and growth.

“Amidst the very challenging business environment, we continue to pursue new opportunities and agile innovations to deliver sustainable value to all our stakeholders,” he said.

RLC said its strong growth during the semester was driven the continued recovery of its core businesses with a 51% climb in net income. It also cited the earnings from its Chengdu Ban Bian Jie project in China and the sale of parcels of land within the Bridgetowne Destination Estate.

The company said its financial position “remains solid” with more than P11.98 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and net gearing ratio of only 0.39x.

During the period, its total assets stood at P214.14 billion while shareholders’ equity was at P106.90 billion.

BuKo Originals targets millennials

AS we in the NCR+ (National Capital Region) find ourselves mostly at home over the next two weeks, a little laughter won’t hurt after long hours of working from home interspersed with chores. A new comedy channel, BuKo, may just do the trick if you are looking for feel-good Pinoy entertainment.

Cignal TV, Inc. has partnered with TV and film production company APT Entertainment, Inc. to launch BuKo (short for Buhay Komedya or “comedy life”), the first 24-hour local comedy channel. BuKo offers both classic and original humorous Filipino entertainment to Cignal subscribers across the country.

The channel, which went live on Aug. 2, also launched its flagship block, BuKo Originals.

“We are happy to announce to our more than 3.6 million subscribers that they will now have a new channel to enjoy,” Cignal TV, Inc. President and CEO Robert P. Galang said at an online press launch on Aug. 2 held via Zoom and livestreamed on Facebook. “Now that we are in the middle of pandemic [and] economic difficulties, we really need programs that will make us happy, that will give us joy, that will give us laughter.”

Featured in the BuKo Originals block are #MaineGoals, a lifestyle-oriented show hosted by comic Maine Mendoza where she will tick off tasks or “goals” from her checklist.

“[The show is] blog type where we will take our audience with us throughout our journey to achieving different goals every week,” Ms. Mendoza said, adding that the activities will be daring, exciting, unexpected tasks which she will experience for the first time. #MaineGoals airs Mondays to Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

Airing on Saturdays at 8 p.m. is Kusina ni Mamang, a cooking show hosted by comedienne-actress-businesswoman Pokwang (a.k.a. Marietta Subong-O’Brian) who will explore traditional Filipino home cooking.

“Dito ay babalikan natin ang sinaunang pamamaraan ng pagluto (Here we will go back to traditional ways of cooking),” Ms. Subong-O’Brien said in a video. “Magluto tayo habang nagtatawanan (We will cook while having a good laugh).”

APT CEO and President Michael Tuviera noted that comedy and other genres of entertainment evolve through time, citing the slapstick comedy from previous decades may not fly with today’s young audience.

“With a platform like BuKo, you will have a combination of both. You will see a face of what comedy was in different times,” Mr. Tuviera said of the channel’s programs.

“You may have grown up to a certain kind of comedy, this will still be your home for you. You could be a millennial right now, who may not enjoy that kind of comedy but you’re looking for [something with] a newer, more sophisticated twist, and that’s where some of the BuKo Originals come in,” he added.

BuKo channel is on Cignal TV Channel 2 and SatLite Channel 2, and on the Cignal Play app, available via App Store and Google Play. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

CIMB looks to expand its product offerings

CIMB BANK Philippines, Inc. is looking to expand their offerings to include insurance and investment products, its top official said.

CIMB Bank Philippines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vijay Manoharan said their deposit and lending business is already “at scale,” noting they already have close to 800,000 loan customers coming from just about 10,000 in early 2020, so now they are exploring “protection” for their clients.

“Insurance, investment, I think, are the next areas that we will migrate to in a way that we work with partners, as a platform digital bank, to bring a joint solution with the market, exactly like what we have done for deposit and loans,” Mr. Manoharan said in a Zoom interview on Wednesday.

Currently, clients of the bank are eligible for free life insurance coverage worth their average daily balance for those with a minimum of P5,000 in particular accounts. This coverage is capped at P250,000 for every account holder.

“We are going to evolve that from the basic to a lot more offerings — different types of insurance, tailor-made, where you can subscribe and really get protection based on what you need,” he added.

Mr. Manoharan said they have seen a change in customer behavior in their platform amid restriction measures. Prior to the health crisis, he noted most would only use their accounts to deposit their savings monthly.

However, now, clients are using their accounts for bills payment, mobile top-ups and transferring funds, he said. With this, the average transaction per customer has increased by 67% year to date from 2020, he added.

Mr. Manoharan expects customer preference for online transactions is “here to stay” even after the health crisis as people have found convenience in the digital experience.

“I don’t see consumers, after the pandemic, rushing to branches, standing in line. I don’t see that coming back. This adoption is here to stay. Those that have converted will remain converts,” he said.

The central bank wants 50% of transactions, both in volume and value, done online by 2023. Officials are bullish this target could be reached sooner as the restriction measures due to the pandemic have caused digital payments to grow.

CIMB Philippines started its operations in 2019 prior to the release of the digital banking framework of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in November 2020. It currently holds a commercial bank license from the regulator.

Based on the BSP’s framework, digital banks are set apart from other types of lenders because they carry out transactions through an online platform compared with the brick-and-mortar model of traditional banks.

Mr. Manoharan said they are still evaluating if they will retain their commercial bank license or convert this to a digital banking license.

“We are currently going through an extensive deliberation internally and with the regulators. But to us, really, whatever licensing framework we sit on, the most important thing is we are able to provide solutions to the consumers,” Mr. Manoharan said.

BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier earlier said lenders like CIMB Philippines that have purely online services but started operating prior to the establishment of the framework are not required to convert their current permits to digital banking licenses. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

ICTSI exceeds 2019 pre-pandemic income

LISTED port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) reported on Thursday an 89% increase in its second-quarter net income, exceeding its 2019 pre-pandemic performance.

ICTSI’s net income for the second quarter was $118.2 million, up from $62 million in 2020 and $65 million in 2019.

The company’s attributable net income for the quarter climbed 98% to $106.6 million from $53.8 previously. Total revenues rose 28% to $447 million.

“These results have surpassed 2019 pre-pandemic performance and were driven by favorable market conditions and the prudent actions we took at the onset of the pandemic,” Enrique K. Razon, Jr., ICTSI chairman and president, said in an e-mailed statement.

“This is evidenced by the strong organic growth across our terminals underpinned by the strength and resilience of ICTSI and our differentiated strategy,” he added.

As for the first half of the year, ICTSI net income rose 68% to $220.6 million, while its attributable net income climbed 73% to $196.7 million.

The company’s total revenues for the first half improved 22% to $882.6 million.

ICTSI attributed its favorable second-half net income to “higher operating income and significant reduction in equity in net loss of joint ventures.”

“The increase (in the second-half attributable net income) was partially tapered by increase in interest expense on loans, concession rights payable, lease liability and higher depreciation and amortization expenses associated with the new terminals,” it said.

The company said it handled consolidated volume of 5.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first six months of 2021, 14% higher than the 4.8 million TEUs handled in the same period a year ago.

“The increase in volume was primarily due to improvement in trade activities as economies continue to recover from the impact of the… pandemic and lockdown restrictions, and new shipping lines and services at certain terminals,” it added.

The company’s capital expenditures, excluding capitalized borrowing costs, for the first half of the year amounted to $74.4 million.

ICTSI shares closed 1.26% higher at P177 apiece on Thursday. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Asian Americans are poorly represented in Hollywood, study shows

“Dwayne Johnson, who stars in the new film Jungle Cruise, is one of very few actors of Pacific Island descent who are cast in a main role.” — IMDB.COM

ASIAN Americans and Pacific Islanders are frequently stereotyped in major films and are poorly represented in the industry, according to a recent study

More than 90% of respondents in the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment survey said representation is inadequate both on-screen and behind the scenes. And for films that feature Asian-American and Pacific-Islander characters in the main cast, 35% of their characters embody at least one common trope or stereotype, such as “Martial Artist” or “Model Minority,” according to an accompanying analysis from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. The institute analyzed 100 top-grossing US films from 2010 to 2019 and 124 films from studios and streaming services from 2017 to 2020.

In top-grossing US films, female Asian and Pacific Islander characters were verbally and visually objectified at rates that were higher than female characters of other races, the institute found.

According to the survey by the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, nearly 90% said they are often the only Asian or Pacific Islander in the room, while 55% have experienced “blatant racism” at work. Only 43% agreed that their voice is valued by the industry.

The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment surveyed 329 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders working as writers, actors, producers, directors and other roles in the entertainment industry. The survey was carried out in late June.

The study sheds light on “the negative stereotypes that have existed on-screen for decades,” said institute founder Geena Davis. Inaccurate portrayals in entertainment have “profound and insidious consequences,” said Michelle Sugihara, executive director of CAPE, a Hollywood industry association, “which is why this is not just a representation issue, but a social justice issue.”

Of particular concern is the misconception that those of Asian heritage are seen as “successful” and don’t face racism, according to the study. This is “harmful and contributes to violence against Asian people,” the authors found.

The report recommends the entertainment industry produce more varied stories beyond stereotypical topics such as the Asian immigrant experience. For example, “not all Vietnamese stories need to be about the Vietnam War or the trauma of being a refugee.”

The US has experienced a surge in anti-Asian hate crimes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, with incidents climbing 164% in the first quarter from a year earlier. — Bloomberg

DTI links Cebu MSMEs with consultancy services

THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) launched a program Thursday that will assist small businesses in Cebu through academic partnerships.

The “Resilient, Innovative, and Sustainable Entrepreneurs (RISE)” program was developed by the department’s regional innovation center in partnership with a Cebu business group.

The program will link micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to partnerships and services available in the region.

“(The program) will support our MSMEs by providing them direct consultancy and guidance service from partner universities and industry champions. These, in turn, would assist MSMEs in identifying their needs and provide innovative solutions to their problems,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said during the virtual launch.

RISE will assist companies in developing business recovery plans to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Potential partners include universities for technical consultancy and research links, startups for digitalization, government for funding and grants, and financial institutions for new capital loans.

Each business recovery plan will be specific to the firms, making market-oriented or technology-based recommendations.

RISE was also launched in partnership with the Cebu Institute of Technology University, Southwestern University PHINMA, and the Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for Development Program of the United States Agency for International Development. — Jenina P. Ibañez

BSP targets to complete open finance oversight body this year

THE CENTRAL BANK is targeting to finalize within the year the members of the industry-led open finance oversight committee (OFOC) that will formulate the standards and framework for customer-consented data sharing among financial institutions, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said.

The OFOC is set to include representatives from various financial institutions such as commercial, thrift, rural, and digital banks, nonbank financial institutions, electronic money issuers, operators of payment systems, and other relevant sectors.

“It [OFOC] shall promote non-discriminatory membership by ensuring that key areas of interest of the financial industry are adequately represented and that all participants and applicants for membership are treated fairly and consistently,” Mr. Diokno said at an online briefing on Thursday.

The central bank in June released Circular 1122 or the open finance framework, which allows for consent-driven data portability, interoperability, and collaborative partnerships among financial institutions that adhere to the same standards of data security and privacy.

The framework has tiered implementation based on data sensitivity, data type, and data holder type. It has five tiers: product and service information, subscription and new account applications, account information, transactions, and others.

“The tiers are not necessarily sequential and multiple implementations may be undertaken simultaneously,” Mr. Diokno said.

The open finance framework also opens the possibility for easier know-your-customer (KYC) processes.

“It’s possible for us to be able to come up with agreements not only on the electronic KYC but also other ways to benefit from data sharing. It’s a matter of coming up with the rules that will help standardize that across the different players from banks to the other players in the market,” said Anatoly D. Gusto, Bank Officer V at the BSP’s Technology Risk and Innovation Supervision Department.

In June, the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. teamed up for a data-sharing project to help small lenders set up their own online platforms. The partnership came after the open finance framework was approved by the Monetary Board. — L.W.T. Noble

Amazon’s COVID dilemma: Mandate vaccinations and risk losing workers

WHILE MUCH of Corporate America scrambled to adjust COVID-19 policies this summer in response to a surge of cases, Amazon.com, Inc. was dismantling its coronavirus testing sites. Sequestered corners of warehouses and conference rooms where, just a few weeks ago employees were performing nasal swabs, are now blocked off or cleared of equipment.

This may seem counterintuitive as the Delta variant rips through many of the states where Amazon has warehouses. But the company says employees have plenty of other ways to get tested. Amazon, employees say, has been loath to make the tests compulsory for fear of alienating the COVID skeptics in its ranks. The same has held true for forcing workers to get vaccinated.

That in a nutshell is the quandary facing America’s second-largest private employer: how to keep its facilities COVID-free without sparking a mutiny among workers who are desperately needed to keep operations running amid a tight labor market and strong online demand. The company was known for high turnover among frontline workers even during the best of times. Now, with jobs abundant, warehouse employees have more options.

“A lot of the associates do not want to be forced to get something,” said a manager at an East Coast warehouse. If Amazon rolled out a vaccine mandate, “it wouldn’t go over well. They’d lose a lot of employees if they do that.”

Many of the workers at her facility are unvaccinated, said the manager, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she wasn’t allowed to speak to the media. She said many of these workers comply with company guidance to wear masks if they haven’t had the jab. But some unvaccinated employees also occasionally walk around maskless.

The rapid advance of the more-transmissible Delta variant has sparked a reassessment of safety protocols at big companies. In the last week, Facebook, Inc., Google and Microsoft Corp. said employees at their campuses must be vaccinated, Apple, Inc. delayed its return-to-office plans, and Walmart, Inc. ordered workers at its thousands of stores to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

Amazon has so far held to its prior plans, which include a gradual loosening of safety restrictions for the several hundred thousand workers in warehouses and a return of most of the company’s office workers for at least three days a week beginning in September. The company could follow Walmart with some kind of mask mandate for its hourly workers. But there was no sign such a plan was on the table during an earnings conference call last week, when Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky told reporters the company was monitoring local outbreaks and would adjust policies accordingly but had stopped short of requiring vaccination for its workers. He said the company’s priority is to get its employees vaccinated, and Amazon’s logistics group continues to sponsor on-site vaccination clinics for workers.

Big employers like Amazon and Walmart are in a “brutal war for frontline workers,” which makes it impossible to demand workers get vaccinated and keep stores and warehouses open, said Kirthi Kalyanam, director of the retail management institute at Santa Clara University. It’s too easy for workers who don’t want to be vaccinated to quit and find another job with a less strict employer or a gig-job like DoorDash.

Vaccination rates are also lower with workers with lower education levels, a labor pool on which Walmart and Amazon rely, he said. Walmart, the largest private US employer, last week said corporate staff must get vaccinated and that store and warehouse employees must resume wearing masks at work. Kalyanam said that mandating vaccines among leadership to set an example and then encouraging it at the worker level, is a reasonable approach.

“If the president of the United States and Centers for Disease Control are telling everyone to get vaccinated and people still aren’t doing it, an employer isn’t going to make a difference,” he said. “There’s no way for anyone to mandate this. You’ll lose your labor force and business will grind to a halt.”

“We’re working hard to protect our team — making it easy to get vaccines, requiring masks for people who aren’t vaccinated and continuing social distancing where appropriate,” said Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel. “Vaccines are the path out of this pandemic, and we’ve held more than 1,100 free vaccine events, administered close to 200,000 shots on-site, offered payments to employees who get vaccinated whether on-site or off and provided ongoing education and promotions to encourage all employees to get vaccinated.”

After COVID-19 was detected around Amazon’s Seattle headquarters in March 2020, Amazon sent its office staffers home. For warehouse workers who don’t have the luxury of remote work, the company for a time said those worried about their safety could miss shifts without penalty.

Absenteeism surged immediately, even in areas where COVID-19 had yet to be detected, according to someone familiar with Amazon’s response to the crisis. Warehouse managers inundated headquarters with requests to divert orders to other warehouses, which were themselves experiencing the same shortage of workers. The company’s vaunted logistics machine quickly broke down. Shipping times ballooned from days to weeks.

Amazon got things back on track with an unprecedented hiring spree, bringing on hundreds of thousands of new workers and opening hundreds of new facilities. But keeping the new hires coming has grown more difficult as the economy picks up and many employers raise wages and offer bonuses to lure back workers they shed during lockdowns.

As COVID cases plunged in the US this spring, Amazon started to chart a course for normalcy in its warehouses, which had been operating on a crisis footing for more than a year.

Amazon in May started letting employees who showed proof of vaccination take off their masks at work. The vaccinated receive stickers noting their status, so staffers charged with enforcing mask requirements can easily identify those who should still be covering their nose and mouth. That has fueled tension in some facilities, where some unvaccinated employees say they feel the company is singling them out, four warehouse workers said in interviews.

“That is nobody’s business,” said one worker, who requested anonymity in saying he’s unvaccinated and has had COVID-19. “No one deserves to know about my medical history.”

Amazon, which has been collecting fine-grained data about the prevalence of the respiratory disease in its ranks, has a detailed view of vaccination rates among employees, and in the areas where its workers live, down to the zip code. NBC News reported last month that some Amazon warehouses were seeing a rise in COVID cases, mirroring the surge in some cities.

Still, Amazon has continued to relax earlier guidelines it had instituted to keep people from congregating.

Barriers in bathrooms and break rooms have come down. Amazon stopped enforcing some social distancing measures in warehouse corridors, and shifts that used to be staggered to keep people from bunching up at security gates now have dozens or hundreds of employees arriving and departing at once.

In recent weeks, Amazon stopped performing temperature checks on arriving employees. In one Nevada warehouse, the area that used to host kiosks for self-administered COVID-19 tests is now being used as a storage area for safety equipment.

“They’ve almost completely rolled back all COVID-related changes,” said a worker at a Connecticut facility, who said she’s vaccinated but worried about spreading the virus to unvaccinated relatives. “Vaccinated people can still spread it to others, so I do wish they were still being cautious.”

In areas where local rules require masking for vaccinated people indoors, Amazon complies. Some warehouse workers say that the split between company-wide and regional mandates has created confusion, with employees receiving all-employee guidance that is sometimes quickly countermanded by text messages or notices from on-site HR staffers.

Amazon prefers to roll out broad policies that apply to most or all frontline workers and is attuned to the risk of taking a Walmart-style approach that sets different standards for corporate and logistics, said a person familiar with the company’s debate about COVID mandates. “They see the PR risk in saying ‘Oh, we’re going to make it mandatory for corporate, but not warehouses,’” the person said. “They are in a hard spot because they have a huge tech contingent, plus a warehouse contingent. It’s a tough question to answer if you want to do one thing for everybody.”

A poster distributed to Amazon warehouses urges employees to get the vaccine, describing how the shots help the body fight off the virus. Below that, the notice says: “The return to normal is coming.” — Bloomberg

D&L says Batangas plant to start May 2022

D&L Industries, Inc. will delay the earliest start of commercial operations (SCO) for its Batangas plant to May 2022 after its subsidiary was granted an extension by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

“Our existing capacity is still sufficient to serve requirements in the near term, as such the extension in the SCO should have no material impact on current operations,” D&L President and Chief Executive Officer Alvin D. Lao said in a statement on Thursday.

Wholly owned unit D&L Premium Foods Corp. (DLPF) will be manufacturing various food ingredients for the company’s export business. DLPF was originally scheduled to begin its commercial operations by October this year.

PEZA granted DLPF an SCO extension to January 2023, following challenges brought by the recent surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections and the reimposition of stringent lockdown measures and shipping delays for the plant’s equipment.

However, another D&L wholly owned subsidiary Natura Aeropack Corp. (NAC) will start commercial operations in May next year as scheduled. It will be the first plant to operate within the company’s Batangas plant. NAC will be manufacturing coconut oleochemicals for different consumer care products.

D&L said it remains “committed” to its Batangas expansion project. The plant is situated on a 26-hectare property in its First Industrial Township – Special Economic Zone, half of which is covered by the ongoing expansion called Phase 1.

“We see ever-growing opportunities in relevant industries in the new normal that we can tap into with this new plant,” Mr. Lao said.

The plant will be dedicated to D&L’s growing export business in the food and oleochemicals segment. It will give the company capability to manufacture downstream packaging, which will also allow D&L to “pack at source.”

“This means that D&L will have the ability to process the raw materials and package them closer to finished consumer-facing products,” the company said.

D&L has spent around P4.5 billion so far for the project and has some P3.5 billion earmarked in remaining capital expenditures for this year and the next. In June, it filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its maiden P5-billion fixed-rate bond offering to further fund the expansion project.

The company said it is in a “far better position to thrive in an adverse environment and a potentially protracted economic recovery period,” noting strong demand.

D&L recorded a 35% recurring net income growth year on year in the first quarter to P695 million, while its total net income grew 41% to P724 million. D&L believes it can reach its 2019 income levels should it maintain this momentum in the succeeding quarters.

On Thursday, shares of D&L at the stock exchange declined by 2.10% or 17 centavos to close at P7.92 each. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Singer Rihanna is officially a billionaire, Forbes says

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/

POP star Rihanna’s net worth is estimated at $1.7 billion, making her the richest woman musician in the world, but her music is not the primary source of her wealth, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.

The Barbados-born singer, whose birth name is Robyn Fenty, derives an estimated $1.4 billion of her fortune from her 50% stake in the Fenty Beauty cosmetics line, Forbes reported.

The rest of Rihanna’s wealth comes from her share of the Savage x Fenty lingerie company and her income as a singer and actress, the magazine said.

Rihanna’s beauty company, of which LVMH owns the other half, is known for its broad range of 50 skin tones, including dark shades for women of color, which were rare when it launched in 2017. This made it a leader in inclusivity in the industry.

The singer of “Umbrella” and “Love the Way You Lie” ranks second behind Oprah as the richest female entertainer, Forbes said. — Reuters

The business of banking

NOW that the National Capital Region and several provinces are once again placed under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) protocol in the next two weeks, everyone has more free time to indulge in leisurely activities while staying at home. Here are two newly released volumes that are recommended as reading fare during the ECQ.

The Business of Banking: Structure and Profitability; Risks and Controls is a textbook written by retired banker Deogracias Vistan. The book is primarily for Filipino graduates who decide to pursue a professional career in banking or those who choose the management track in such fields as marketing, trading, production, services, and entrepreneurship.

What makes it even more interesting is the author’s inside info on the evolution of the Philippine banking industry over the past 60 years, starting from the 1960s when a dramatic change emerged in how banks are managed. Significant events in the country’s financial sector are listed by decade from the pre-martial law era up to the year when the COVID-19 pandemic started.

This book reflects a banker’s perspective on banking as a profession, an industry, and a business. It discusses liquidity, interest rates, foreign exchange, credit line and loan processing, consumer and trust banking, treasury management, human resource development, audit and compliance, regulatory environment, and the future of Philippine banking. At the end of each chapter, there are practical cases for group discussion.

Mr. Vistan knows whereof he speaks, after more than three decades of management experience in major financial institutions. His career started in the so-called university of banking, Citibank, after which he became President of three commercial banks: Land Bank of the Philippines; the defunct Solidbank; and Equitable PCIBank, which was acquired by BDO. He also served as Chairman of United Coconut Planters Bank, Vice Chairman of Metrobank, and President of the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

Published by Anvil Higher Education, a division of Anvil Publishing, Inc., The Business of Banking is available at National Book Store branches nationwide. Anvil is the biggest tradebook publisher in the country and a nine-time Publisher of the Year awardee cited by the Manila Critics Circle.

PASSION FOR GARDENING
Another ex-Citibanker, Flor Gozon Tarriela, has become a prolific writer of environmental and inspirational books. Her latest volume titled Weedibles, Weedicinals Plus Edible Flowers and More was launched last month with Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar and former Department of Health Secretary Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan as guests of honor.

Weedibles, Weedicinals is basically a book about plants presented in simple language. According to the author, it is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a healthcare professional. Some of the featured plants come from Ms. Tarriela’s nature haven in Antipolo City called Flor’s Garden, a five-hectare bird and butterfly sanctuary just an hour’s drive from Ortigas Center.

Ms. Tarriela recently retired as Chairman of Philippine National Bank. She was the first Filipina Vice-President of Citibank and served as Finance Undersecretary in between her banking stints. Her love for gardening was inculcated by her mother, Carolina Gozon, and nurtured by her Earth School partnership with Dr. Galvez Tan, whom she credits for elevating her medicinal plant advocacy.

Highly recommended for the “plantitos” and “plantitas” who have multiplied all over the archipelago during this prolonged lockdown, this book published by the Agricultural Training Institute in Trece Martires City may be ordered either through atirtc4a@gmail.com or florsgarden@yahoo.com. Indeed, it is an expression of support for the DA’s flagship “Plant, Plant, Plant” program as a pandemic recovery response toward long-term food security and prosperity.

 

J. Albert Gamboa is the chief finance officer of Asian Center for Legal Excellence and co-chairman of the FINEX Week Committee. The opinion expressed herein does not necessarily reflect the views of these instiutions and BusinessWorld.

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