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Tighter rules eyed for new e-money firms

PIXABAY

THE CENTRAL BANK is looking to boost its regulatory oversight of e-money issuers by increasing the requirements for both banks and nonbank financial institutions that are looking to enter the business.

A draft circular posted on the website of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also focused on requiring enhanced due diligence for high value e-money transactions.

Based on the proposal, banks and nonbanks that are also electronic money issuers (EMIs) should prepare a minimum capitalization of P200 million for this function. This is applicable for EMI banks that have a one-year average value of aggregated inflow and outflow transactions worth P25 billion and higher.

Meanwhile, small-scale EMI banks and nonbanks will need to comply with a P100-million minimum capital requirement.

As part of due diligence, the BSP will require EMIs to categorize their clients in order to determine transaction limits and suitable thresholds based on their risk assessment.

Meanwhile, government agencies will not be subjected to such limits for government-to-person and government-to-merchant payment transfers.

Large value, single-transaction payouts from an EMI account breaching P500,000 and its equivalent in foreign currency will be subjected to enhanced due diligence, the BSP said.

EMIs are expected to keep due diligence records for a period of at least five years.

Nonbanks that are looking to enter the business are expected to comply with central bank regulations related to electronic payment and financial services, as well as IT and liquidity risk management. They need to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures, and corporate governance requirements.

The BSP said EMIs should provide clear terms and conditions for merchants and users, noting disclosures should be given to stakeholders 30 days prior to implementation of a change in their system.

Through the proposed regulation, the BSP sets apart e-money from a deposit that earns interest. It also stressed that e-money is only credited to customers at face value and will not be higher than the amount used to purchase it.

The BSP warned that financial institutions that engage in e-money operations without securing a license from the central bank will face penalties and sanctions. A financial institution that has started its EMI operations within a year since receiving its regulatory approval will also have their license automatically revoked.

Stakeholders may send their feedback regarding the BSP’s proposed regulation until March 18.

Latest BSP data showed there are 29 lenders that have an EMI bank license, while 38 are regulated as nonbank EMIs.

In December 2021, the BSP imposed a two-year moratorium on application of nonbank EMIs as it looks to monitor the development of the growing sector. Nonbanks that wish to enter the EMI business can instead go through a regulatory sandbox framework of the BSP where their services will be tested in a controlled environment until they are ready for exit and eventual market participation.

Amid the rise of online transactions during the pandemic, the Anti-Money Laundering Council in a report said suspicious transaction reports from EMIs doubled to more than 140,000 in 2020 from a year earlier. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Dinner and a show

A tiny animated chef provides entertainment at the Grand Hyatt’s special dinner

USUALLY, a little creature scuttling near your dinner plate is quite the nuisance, but at Le Petit Chef, he’s the star of the show.

Le Petit Chef tells the story of a tiny chef, about the size of a finger, who cooks dishes in different settings. His story is projected onto tables and plates precisely lined up below a projector, so it seems as if Le Petit Chef is cooking for you, throwing ingredients on a plate; after which a server arrives and places a close approximation of his work in front of you.

The concept began in 2015, through the Belgian-based company Skullmapping. “In April 2015 we came up with the idea to project a little chef onto your plate. We made a video of ‘Le Petit Chef’ at our studio in Belgium, to show restaurants what the possibilities are with this concept. After we posted the video on YouTube, it went viral and currently has over 30 million views on social media,” the company said on its website. The concept has been exported to several cities from Cairo to Berlin.

BusinessWorld had a chance to sample Le Petit Chef’s offerings at the Grand Hyatt Manila. The restaurant sits on one of the hotel’s top floors, the hotel serving as its only home in Manila.

The concept had been in the works since 2020, according to Grand Hyatt Manila’s General Manager Gottfried Bogensperger, but as we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic halted those plans, along with many others. He said that the hotel never really closed, but they had been opening and reopening outlets as the lockdown situation changed. “Open, close; open, close,” he said in an interview with BusinessWorld last week. He was proud to say, “We never fired anybody. We did not let go of anybody. Everybody who needed a job had a job throughout the two years.”

Back to Le Petit Chef: a host introduced the little chef, and said that he had flown all the way from Marseilles. A scene projected onto our plates showed him puttering around a garden, battling with moles, while throwing ingredients of red and green onto a plate. The first course was an Italian Burrata (a creamier cousin of mozzarella), with pickled radish, arugula leaves, pink grapefruit, eggplant puree, and a 15-year aged balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. The burrata was predictably delectable, and the grapefruit wakes up the cheese. This was paired with a Cadet d’Oc 2016 Chardonnay (fragrant with a scent of green grass). The eggplant puree had a smokey seriousness immediately tempered by the Chardonnay, while the wine pairing and the grapefruit together cut through the cheese’s inevitable creaminess.

The second course transported us to the chef’s hometown of Marseilles, where the French seafood soup Bouillabaisse was supposedly invented. No surprises there when the chef tossed seafood into a plate with orange broth (angering an octopus in the process — that was also thrown into a plate). The server appeared and put in a real plate of bouillabaisse in front of us. It was very fragrant with a scent of saffron, and was surprisingly tart and light, given its heavier shellfish ingredients.

The third course puts the chef on a camping trip in a forest, where he cooked chicken on a campfire. Le Petit Chef’s menu isn’t static: around the world, the dinners rely on how the chefs interpret what is shown in the projection. In this case, this dish, a Smoked Chicken Foie Gras Ballotine, was truly outstanding, containing a memory of Grand Hyatt Manila’s Executive Chef, Mark Hagan.

He told BusinessWorld that the video reminded him of taking camping trips with his mother, who worked with scouts. “There was something nostalgic,” he said. He relied on his memory of his mother’s own campfire chicken, turning it instead into a ballotine with luxurious foie gras. “Of course, you have to add a little bit of je ne sais quoi,” he said. This had a robust smoky flavor, with a strong earthy taste from the mushrooms. The chicken ballotine wrapped around the foie was deceptively simple, but was artfully complex with several nuances in its flavor —  it shines through, perhaps, because of the very real events that inspired it.

The main course, the Char-grilled Australian Beef Tenderloin, took off from the tiny chef preparing a steak on a grill during a summer afternoon picnic. A sweet treat was introduced with the chef throwing spices into a plate —  this was interpreted as a mascarpone and rice pudding crème brûlée flavored with saffron and cardamom.

Finally, the dessert showed Le Petit Chef in a winter setting, pulling ingredients out of a sleigh and throwing them onto a plate. The result was the Homemade Baked Alaska, which had chocolate and vanilla ice cream under a meringue with raspberry sauce. The flavors played together like a symphony, dominated by notes of chocolate.

The playfulness of the show gives the refined dinner a sort of playful effortlessness (which is a testament to the talents of the actual chef). They both play together, rather than taking away from experiencing the other. Mr. Bogensperger explains that when one dines, one has to have a good time, and not just a good meal: “We believe that dining is more than just eating a plate of food. You want the fun and you want to create memories.”

Le Petit Chef will be performing two shows per night – the first scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m., and the second from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., every Tuesday to Saturday at The Peak’s Veranda Room, which can accommodate 16 people per session. Price starts at P5,800 net per person for the six-course Classic Menu which features Italian burrata, bouillabaisse with fresh premium seafood, smoked chicken foie gras ballotine, char-grilled Australian beef tenderloin, mascarpone crème brûlée, and homemade baked Alaska. For patrons who opt for an Australian wagyu beef in the steak course, they may upgrade to the Premium Menu priced at P6,300. The First Class Menu at P6,800 features a premium set and switches the tiger prawns for lobster tails in the bouillabaisse course. A special six-course set menu is available for kids. — Joseph L. Garcia

Don Papa celebrates the Manila disco scene

I DON’T know about you, but summer somehow feels like it was made for disco. Don Papa’s new lifestyle campaign is anchored around disco — specifically, Manila’s disco scene in the ’70s. Drinks for the lifestyle campaign, along with its shoot, were inspired by the legendary Filipino disco, Coco Banana, which opened in 1977. The campaign was shot by Shaira Luna at A-11: Artellano 11, at the Henry Hotel compound.

Despite the tumultuous years of Martial Law, Coco Banana entertained members of society both low and high, along with a host of celebrities from the Philippines and beyond. Aaron Goodall, the brand’s Manila-based Cocktail Maestro, used these fabulous and wild parties as inspiration for the cocktails. Those will be available at Run Rabbit Run until March 31.

“For the Manila Disco cocktails, I wanted to showcase a range of cocktail styles, along with ingredients used. The concept called for a narrative based on retro luxury blending with urban grit, whilst staying relevant in the context of modern times,” he told BusinessWorld in an e-mail. “The Malate Martini — the hero serve for Manila Disco — features more of the luxurious side; Don Papa Rum, with these notes of pineapple, passion fruit and lemon, lightened with egg white, and playfully topped with a dash of Prosecco,” he said.

To us, it definitely tasted like a prelude to a night of hedonism. It goes well with Madonna’s “Material Girl,” and had a fruity fizz with a little bit of a bite and nibble at the end.

“Our Manila Disco shoot happened to coincide with a winter release, so with our Chocolate Wonderland we have a slightly different style to the other cocktails in the shoot, but still very much relevant to the idea of 1970s Manila. Similar to the Malate Martini, the Chocolate Wonderland features ingredients with that slightly extravagant leaning; our rich Don Papa Rum combines with red wine and cognac, and these notes of spices and chocolate, creating a more spirit forward cocktail that goes great on the rocks, or, for those in colder climates, can be served warm as well,” Mr. Goodall told BusinessWorld. Try it while listening to “Shake Your Groove Thing,” or “You Sexy Thing.” The note of chocolate wakes you up and makes you almost hyper-focused: it’s a drink for someone in a disco looking to have more than a little fun, while not getting screwed over. It also leaves a spicy taste on the lips, so that’s a plus.

Mr. Goodall, meanwhile, explains the headliner, Manila Kiss. “A cocktail on the lighter side, featuring Don Papa Rum with lemon and a dragon fruit syrup, lengthened and made bubbly with a rose lemonade. It features these delightful fruity and floral notes, evocative of the tropical flora found here in the Philippines and the vibrant colors of Manila Disco.”

This goes well with Donna Summer’s “Love to Love” and a cigarette, with some lipstick left behind on the cigarette holder. It smelled like a candy-scented perfume, but despite its light and bubbly introduction, it tasted quite balanced and refined.

Finally, Mr. Goodall discussed the Coco Sour, the drink named after the Coco Banana disco. “It features Don Papa Rum pairing with tropical coconut notes, and spiced notes from the Pimento Dram, along with tart and sour notes of grapefruit juice and lemon juice, to create this refreshing and bright cocktail.”

It smelled like sun and coconuts, and goes well with Boney M’s “Gotta Go Home.” The name is a giveaway for its taste, but the acidity is tempered by the coconut syrup. The pimiento dram (a spicy liqueur), gives the drink excitability and some depth.

“I think the drinks — when taken as a whole — actually take influence from the general drinking culture in the Philippines… This idea of community or gathering, sharing moments with friends or in groups,” said Mr. Goodall. “When you start to explore the drinks on their own, much like disco music of the 1970s, you see a range of styles, each fitting to create the world of Manila Disco.”

The cocktails will be available to order at Run Rabbit Run, 4991 P. Guanzon St., Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City. —  JL Garcia

Airlines move to soften impact of rising fuel prices on fares

PHILSTAR

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

LOW-COST airlines in the Philippines said they continue to seek ways to mitigate the impact of the rising fuel prices — exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict — on airfares.

“The recent surge in pump prices affecting the cost of jet fuel used in all of our aircraft is a concern for all airline companies,” Philippines AirAsia said in a statement to BusinessWorld on Wednesday.

“While we are carefully looking at the possibility of implementing fuel surcharge cost should the situation demands for it, we also want to manage its potential impact on our business,” it added.

At the same time, the airline noted that it is implementing sales and marketing strategies that seek to “circumvent the need to hike prices at the moment as we further study the implications of the year-to-date adjustments of oil prices.”

Oil prices have increased in recent months due to persistent supply issues and geopolitical tensions. Last week, Brent crude exceeded $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific said it is committed to its core mission of providing “affordable and accessible air travel to all.”

“Despite rising fuel prices, we have continuously offered promo fares such as our ongoing month-long P88 seat sale, and of course, our upcoming trademark piso sale in time for our 26th anniversary,” the budget carrier said in a statement to BusinessWorld.

Philippines AirAsia assured the public that despite the future of global oil supply, it will keep up with its goal of providing “high-quality yet attainable travel for guests ready to re-explore and reconnect with the world.”

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines was also asked to comment.

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it expects travelers globally to reach 4 billion in 2024, exceeding pre-pandemic levels (103% of the 2019 total).

In the Asia-Pacific region, IATA said the slow removal of international travel restrictions and the likelihood of renewed domestic restrictions during the coronavirus outbreaks mean that traffic to, from, or within the region will only “reach 68% of 2019 levels in 2022, the weakest outcome of the main regions.”

It said the 2019 levels should be recovered in 2025 (109%) due to a slow recovery on international traffic in the region.

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the group said that air transport is resilient against shocks.

“This conflict is unlikely to impact the long-term growth of air transport. It is too early to estimate what the near-term consequences will be for aviation, but it is clear that there are downside risks, in particular in markets with exposure to the conflict,” it noted.

“The impact on airline costs as a result of fluctuations in energy prices or rerouting to avoid Russian airspace could have broader implications. Consumer confidence and economic activity are likely to be impacted even outside of Eastern Europe,” IATA added.

World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards dumps Moscow for London

THE WORLD’S 50 Best said it will move its annual restaurant awards ceremony from Moscow to London in an announcement just hours after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the levying of new sanctions.

The event is scheduled for July. The new plans were revealed Thursday last week on Twitter.

The move comes as the US, the European Union and others simultaneously ratchet up sanctions against the Kremlin and Russian oligarchs seen as benefitting from the policies of Vladimir Putin, who announced his decision to attack Ukraine last week. A spokesperson for Worlds 50 Best declined to provide more details on its decision.

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is organized by William Reed Business Media, which is based in the UK. It’s famous for crowning restaurants with the title of No. 1 in the world.  In 2021, the organization named Noma in Copenhagen the top restaurant, based on votes of restaurateurs, chefs, and food writers. The restaurant had won the award four times before. — Bloomberg

Globe enters $350-M deal for data centers

FREEPIK

PLDT partners with RED Engineering for ‘green’ data center

GLOBE Telecom, Inc. announced on Wednesday that it entered into a $350-million joint venture partnership with ST Telemedia Global Data Centres and Ayala Corp. to develop and operate data centers in the country.

Under the deal, ST Telemedia, a global data center company, and Ayala Corp. will subscribe to new shares in KarmanEdge, Inc., which is 100% owned by Globe.

KarmanEdge “will house the carved-out data center business, which has the potential to expand by up to 100-MW (megawatts) capacity in the mid to long term,” Globe said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

“Post execution of the share subscription agreement, Globe will remain the largest shareholder with a 50% ownership, followed by ST Telemedia with 40% and Ayala Corp. taking up the balance,” it added.

Globe said that the capital infusion by the new partners will result in a post-money valuation of KarmanEdge at more than $350 million.

“Globe will receive proceeds of $100 million from the transaction with the remaining capital injected to be utilized by the business for future expansion & growth,” the company added.

The transaction is expected to be completed within the first quarter.

The project is seen to help speed up Globe’s efforts to scale up its capabilities in the data center space.

According to Globe, over 43% of ST Telemedia’s data centers are operating with power derived from renewable sources.

Globe has been operating data centers in the Philippines since 2001 through its subsidiary Innove Communications, Inc.

“We believe that this joint venture will be well-positioned to become the leader in the data center space in the Philippines,” said Ernest L. Cu, president and chief executive officer of Globe.

PLDT DATA CENTER
Meanwhile, the PLDT group said it is partnering with engineering firm RED Engineering for the construction of its data center in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

RED Engineering is a global company of specialist building services and information and communications technology engineers.

According to the group, RED has led the drive towards the zero-carbon goal for over a decade.

The partnership “advances the PLDT group’s drive to incorporate renewable energy and best sustainable practices in the operations of our facilities moving forward,” said PLDT and Smart President and Chief Executive Officer Alfredo S. Panlilio.

“This partnership further signifies our commitment to constantly improve operational excellence, global competitiveness and ensure sustainable practices within our core,” he added.

The group announced last month that it would build additional 100 MW of data center capacity, starting with a new hyperscale, telco-neutral, and purpose-built facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The project will be carried out by PLDT, Inc.’s information and communications technology arm ePLDT.

The project will be the “first of a series of hyperscale data centers totaling to a power requirement of 100 MW over the medium term,” the group said.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Cannes film festival bans Russia from 2022 event

PARIS —  The Cannes film festival said in a statement on Tuesday it would ban official Russian delegations from its 2022 festival unless the Ukraine conflict ends.

It added the festival will only admit official Russian delegations if the Ukraine conflict ends in a manner acceptable to the Ukrainian people.

The festival organizers however saluted the courage of people in Russia who have taken the risk of protesting against the aggression and invasion of Ukraine.

“Among them there are artists and movie professionals who have never stopped fighting against the current regime and who are in no way associated with these intolerable acts and with those who are bombarding Ukraine,” they said.

Cannes, one of the world’s top film festivals, was started in 1939, partly in protest against Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s interference with the then leading Venice film festival.

“Loyal to its own history, which started in 1939 in resistance against the fascist and Nazi dictatorships, the Cannes Festival will always be on the side of artists… who denounce violence, repression and injustice,” it said. — Reuters

SEC approves Tagum Global Medical’s P1-B public offering 

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cleared the P1-billion initial public offering (IPO) of Tagum Global Medical Center, Inc., which is part of the Allied Care Experts (ACE) Group of Hospitals.

“The intended market for the initial public offering will be medical practitioners and their relatives, as well as the public,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

Tagum Global Medical Center was incorporated in 2018 and is currently constructing a seven-story healthcare facility that can house 116 beds. The facility is being built on a 5,000-square meter lot in Davao del Norte’s Barangay Visayan Village in Tagum City.

The company will be offering 36,000 common shares. Its primary offering will be divided into four series, with 3,600 blocks comprising 10 shares each.

The first series with 1,400 blocks will be sold for P200,000 per block, the second series with 600 blocks for P250,000 each, the third series will have 700 blocks sold for P300,000 per block, and the fourth series with 900 blocks for P400,000 each.

According to the SEC, Tagum Global Medical Center could net up to P997.09 billion from its IPO. Proceeds will be used for the construction and development of Tagum Global Medical Center as well as its pre-operating expenses, debt servicing, and for its working capital.

Those who subscribe to the IPO will be entitled to several privileges like discounted medical and dental services in other medical facilities affiliated with the ACE Group of Hospitals. The benefits may also be availed of by the stockholder’s spouse and dependents. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Hollywood star Sean Penn joins Ukraine exodus to Poland on foot

Sean Penn in The First (2018) — IMDB.COM

DAYS after visiting the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to film scenes for his documentary on Russia’’ invasion, Hollywood actor-director Sean Penn found himself among thousands of refugees fleeing to Poland, joining the exodus on foot.

Mr. Penn, 61, posted a photo to his Twitter feed on Monday showing the movie star wearing a backpack and toting a piece of luggage on wheels as he trudged along the shoulder of a road beside a line of cars stretching into the distance.

“Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road,” Mr. Penn said in a caption tweeted with the picture. “Almost all the cars in this photo carry women & children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value.”

The tweet did not explain why the Academy Award-winning actor and his companions were forced to abandon their vehicle.

A spokesperson in Los Angeles, Mara Buxbaum, told Reuters by e-mail on Tuesday that Mr. Penn had “made it out of Ukraine safely.” She declined to answer other questions about his whereabouts or the circumstances of his departure from Ukraine.

Mr. Penn was in Kyiv last Thursday attending a press briefing at the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky on the first day of Russia’s invasion, recording footage for a documentary chronicling the crisis, Zelensky’s office said in a statement at the time.

“Sean Penn is among those who support Ukraine in Ukraine today. Our country is grateful to him for such a show of courage and honesty,” the statement said.

It said Mr. Penn had interviewed Ukrainian political and military figures as well as journalists as part of the production, for which he initially visited Ukraine in November.

In a statement last week, the actor acclaimed for Oscar-winning roles in Mystic River and Milk praised the Ukrainian people as “historic symbols of courage” and called Ukraine “the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams.”

“If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost,” Mr. Penn wrote.

Mr. Penn, whose directorial credits include Into the Wild and The Crossing Guard, is also known for his political activism and involvement in various humanitarian causes, including relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake of 2010 and Pakistan floods in 2012.

He made headlines in 2016 when Rolling Stone magazine published an interview Mr. Penn had secretly conducted with Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman at his jungle hideout prior to the arrest of the cartel boss.

Mr. Penn is producing the Ukraine documentary for Vice Studios, a US-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company, according to Hollywood trade publication Variety. —  Reuters

Yields on BSP’s term deposit facility rise as demand drops

BW FILE PHOTO
THE CENTRAL BANK’S term deposits fetched higher rates on Wednesday as demand weakened. — BW FILE PHOTO

YIELDS on the central bank’s term deposits inched higher on Wednesday amid lower bids following the government’s retail Treasury bond offering and ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Demand for the term deposits of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) amounted to P456.539 billion, lower than the P500-billion offering as well as the P571.048 billion in bids a week earlier.

Broken down, the BSP’s offer of seven-day papers was undersubscribed, with bids at P186.711 billion against the P220-billion offer. This was also lower than the P259.007 billion in tenders last week.

Lenders asked for yields ranging from 1.65% to 2.39%, higher than the 1.625% to 1.6995% a week ago. This caused the average rate of the one-week papers to increase by 5.41 basis points (bps) to 1.7286% from 1.6745% in the prior auction.

Meanwhile, the 14-day term deposits fetched bids worth P269.828 billion, lower than the P280 billion auctioned off by the BSP and the P312.041 billion in tenders the previous Wednesday.

Accepted rates were from 1.68% to 2.39%, a narrower range compared with the 1.659% to 2.39% band a week ago. With this, the average rate of the two-week deposits increased by 10.96 bps to 1.8978% from 1.7882% previously.

The central bank has not offered 28-day term deposits for more than a year to give way to its weekly auction of securities with the same tenor.

The term deposit facility (TDF) and the 28-day bills are used by the BSP to mop up excess liquidity in the financial system and to better guide market rates.

TDF yields increased this week following the RTB offering, which siphoned off some liquidity from the financial system, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.

The government raised P457.8 billion through the five-year RTBs which were offered for two weeks until Monday. The bond fetched a coupon rate of 4.875%.

The amount raised was bigger than the P360 billion borrowed by the government last year through an offering of 5.5-year RTBs.

Mr. Ricafort said the market is also still concerned about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian military invaded several areas on Thursday last week, following an announcement by President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.

Earlier this week, the two sides agreed to talk without pre-conditions. However, Russia continued to intensify its military invasion in Ukraine. — Luz Wendy T. Noble with Reuters

ACES launches Atletang Ayala to support Olympic hopefuls

THE AYALA Vermosa Sports Hub — AYALA GROUP OF COMPANIES

Ayala Group will hire athletes training for Asian, Olympics Games

THE recently-launched Ayala Center for Excellence in Sports (ACES) announced on Wednesday the creation of the Atletang Ayala program, which has been designed to provide holistic support to the country’s Olympic hopefuls.

Under the Atletang Ayala program, participating Ayala Group companies will provide full-salaried employment opportunities at part-time hours to Filipino national athletes training for the 2022 Asian Games and the 2024 Olympics. This arrangement will allow the athletes the flexibility they need to fulfill their grueling training and competition requirements while receiving a steady income. Athletes selected for the program will also be given free access to the world-class training facilities of the Ayala Vermosa Sports Hub. Finally, ACES has partnered with De La Salle University to offer free enrollment in a selection of courses for Atletang Ayala athletes who wish to continue their education.

“The Ayala Group of Companies has long recognized the special qualities athletes bring to the workplace. A number of our executives, in fact, competed as national athletes, and they have been noteworthy for their commitment, resilience and ability to work in teams. At the Ayala Group we will continue to look for ways to support our national athletes so that hopefully, we can encourage more Filipinos to pursue their sports dreams,” said Jan Bengzon, ACES Program Director.

“We are excited to open the program application process to all qualified national athletes and look forward to working with them to advance their athletic careers towards qualifying for the upcoming 2022 Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games, and hopefully the 2024 Olympics as well. At the same time, we would also like to work with them to advance their careers beyond sports,” he added.

The Atletang Ayala program will be launched after it has identified eight athletes for its inaugural class. All applicants are required to be members of the pool of national athletes in their national sports associations that are competing in medal sports at the 2024 Olympics. Atletang Ayala athletes will be offered a yearly contract that provides for the above benefits and can be renewed annually until the 2024 Olympics, contingent on the attainment of clear performance measures.

“The success of this program will not be determined by the number of athletes who bring back medals, but by the impact these young men and women will have in their communities as they aspire to reach the pinnacle of their respective sports on the global stage,” Mr. Bengzon added.

Interested applicants are encouraged to apply by filling in the form at the following link: https://bit.ly/AtletangAyala. Deadline for application is on March 18, 2022.

For more information, please contact ACES via the following e-mail address: aces@ayala.com

IT-BPO group wants more support from next administration

THE next administration should provide additional support and address issues to sustain the growth of the local information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry, according to the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

IBPAP President Jack Madrid said the next administration should further strengthen the digital infrastructure of the Philippines to allow further expansion in other areas across the country.

“Much progress has been made during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but more work needs to be done to allow our telecommunications partners, private sector, and the government giving us more incentives to make internet connectivity more cost-efficient and available across the countryside,” Mr. Madrid said in a television interview on Wednesday.

“We are seeing our big industry players expanding to the countryside and helping [to] propel those local economies. We have the advantage of a very young population and we should seize that demographic advantage,” he added.

Further, Mr. Madrid said the next administration can help implement a permanent work-from-home (WFH) law after practicing the said work arrangement for about two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[We can] help the government to enact a more permanent, long-term WFH, work-from-anywhere law. This is essential to maintain our country’s competitiveness. This is the big thing that we would like to see as we welcome the new administration,” Mr. Madrid said.

“WFH or what we are now beginning to call hybrid work arrangement is not unique to our industry here in the Philippines. The future of work is happening now and I think what makes our industry unique is that it is work that can actually be performed anywhere. We need to not just defend our sizable market share of the industry, but actually to seize more of the growing demand for talent amongst Filipino employees in our industry,” he added.

According to Mr. Madrid, IBPAP is crafting a plan to allow a smoother transition for BPO firms in terms of adjusting their work arrangements.

“Currently, we are crafting a plan to [create] a smoother transition, providing our member companies a smoother [and] longer runway because after all, we have been working from home for the past two years. We just need a little bit more time securing a healthy and well-organized transition back into what we hope to be a hybrid work environment,” Mr. Madrid said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Madrid said the next administration should also change the current educational curriculum to teach skills required for digitized work.

“More of our work is increasingly complex and increasingly digital and we need to match the expectations of our customers to the needs of the industry for more digitized work. The more complex tasks that are needed, we need to match those skills with the current curriculum of our universities,” Mr. Madrid said.

With the recent implementation of Alert Level 1 in Metro Manila from March 1 to 15, the government has been encouraging the return of employees to onsite work in a bid to boost the country’s economic recovery.

Recently, the Fiscal Incentives and Review Board (FIRB) rejected the proposal of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to allow the extension of the WFH arrangement of IT-BPO firms while enjoying tax incentives until September this year.

Based on a FIRB resolution issued last year, IT-BPO firms are allowed to conduct a WFH arrangement at up to 90% of its total personnel until March 31 this year while still having tax incentive privileges. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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