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Style Never Dies: Designer Criselda Lontok, 81

DESIGNER CRISELDA LONTOK — PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK.COM/ CRISELDA R. LONTOK

By Joseph L. Garcia, Reporter

CRISELDA LONTOK, the designer of choice for Manila high society women’s ready-to-wear outfits, died in the morning of Sept. 22. She was 81.

Her son, John Fernandez, confirmed the news with a Facebook post on Sept. 22. “It truly breaks my heart to announce the passing of the very first queen in my life, my mama, Criselda R. Lontok,” he said.

“God can be so full of surprises that I sometimes wonder why Mama?? But I have humbly learned to accept His will and respect the greater purpose of this very, very sad moment in our family’s lives,” he continued.

Batangas-born Ms. Lontok was a local beauty queen in her hometown, but later became a model and a society swan after being discovered by fashion designer Ben Farrales. In an interview with BusinessWorld in 2018, she said that she modeled for six years in the 1960s before marrying and setting up her own family.

“I’ve always had the idea of giving comfortable clothes, and something that’s very practical, because I’m a very practical person,” she replied when asked how these experiences molded her own style sense.

In 2018, Ms. Lontok celebrated the 35th anniversary of her eponymous label for Rustan’s. She began working for Rustan’s as a merchandising manager in the 1970s, during which she was taken under the wing of Rustan’s co-founder, Gliceria Rustia-Tantoco. Mrs. Tantoco discovered her talents and awarded Ms. Lontok her own line, which began in 1983.

Calling Ms. Lontok an “Esteemed House Fashion Designer for Rustans,” a statement from the Rustia-Tantoco family read: “The management and the staff of Rustan’s wish to express their heartfelt condolences to her bereaved children, grandchildren, and other loved ones, and request the pious readers to join us in prayer for her eternal rest. It was an absolute privilege knowing Criselda. She will always be remembered for her personal touch and incredible attention to detail, as a fashion icon continuously reinventing the Philippine fashion retail industry, and as a loyal and steadfast member of the Rustan family.”

The Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines said in a Facebook post: “(The) Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines is in deep sadness for the passing of Philippine Fashion Icon Ms. Criselda Lontok. It was a colorful and inspiring journey you have shared with us. Thank you so much for all the wonderful memories and for the love and support you have shared with our humble organization.”

Ms. Lontok became known for dressing older women of Manila’s higher social strata, but it hadn’t always been that way. According to her, when she started the line, it wasn’t meant exclusively for older women. She did, however, favor, loose, casual, but elegant tailoring in her clothes, which appealed to bigger customers. It was just incidental that the bigger women also happened to be older.

“These women, they go for elegant styles, which I always carry,” she said. “You know why I got the older women?” she told BusinessWorld after being queried if her line had once been young. “There are so many things to hide.”

Her designs, with flare, flounce, and doses of elegance, seemed to be meant to be worn for photo spreads in society magazines. She kept her designs current by checking out the styles online and on different magazines. “I don’t take [the fashions] as [they are]. I always adjust it to my clients, so they won’t be fashion victims.”

“I want them to look pretty and elegant at all times.”

As late as 2019, Ms. Lontok had been innovating, coming out with her own line of bags and shoes. Asked then if she planned to retire. She said, “No — as long as I’m alive, as long as I’m strong.”

Healthcare firms’ net income nearly doubles

LOCAL health maintenance organizations (HMOs) saw their net income grow by almost double to P1.56 billion in the first quarter on the back of lower benefits and claims, the Insurance Commission (IC) said.

HMOs’ combined net profit went up by 95.6% from P797.6 million in the first quarter of 2020, Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said, citing the latest unaudited financial statements from industry participants.

He attributed the increase to lower expenses reported by companies, which went down by 9.24% year on year, as health benefits and claims fell by 15.6% to P7.6 billion in the first quarter from P9 billion in the same period last year.

The industry’s total equities climbed by 94% to P15.14 billion from P7.8 billion a year ago supported by higher retained earnings, which made up 77.9% of HMOs’ overall equity.

Amid reduced collections from membership and enrollees’ fees, HMOs reported lower revenues at P12.79 billion in the first three months, down by 2.9% from P13.17 billion the year before.

Meanwhile, total liabilities grew by 20.4% to P51.42 billion from its year-earlier total of P42.72 billion.

Combined assets of the industry hit P66.56 billion as of March, rising by 31.8% from P50.51 billion in the first quarter of 2020. 

Mr. Funa said the growth was driven by higher cash and cash equivalents, which accounted for more than half of overall assets.

HMOs released P3.98 billion in coronavirus-related payouts so far, or nearly half of all the pandemic-related payouts issued by the industry worth P8.25 billion from March 2020 to June of this year.

“HMOs have a unique place in our country’s fight against the pandemic as frontliners and have become a strong and dependable partner in ensuring that our country’s healthcare needs during these uncertain times are addressed,” the IC chief said. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Clint Eastwood film opens hybrid 34th Tokyo International Film Festival

A STILL from the film Cry Macho — SCREENSHOT FROM YOUTUBE.COM/WBPICTURES/

CLINT Eastwood’s film Cry Macho will be opening this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) on Oct. 30. The neo-Western drama will be making its Japanese premiere while celebrating Mr. Eastwood’s 50th year as a filmmaker.

The film tells the story of a onetime rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who takes a job to bring a young boy home to Texas and away from his alcoholic mother. On the way, the world-weary horseman finds his own sense of redemption through teaching the boy what it means to be a good man.

Mr. Eastwood directed, starred and produced the film.

Meanwhile, the film adaptation of the hit musical Dear Evan Hansen will be closing the festival on Nov. 8. The Stephen Chbosky film follows the coming-of-age story of the titular character who, in the hope of belonging somewhere, concocts a heartbreaking yet compassionate lie. Ben Platt, who played Evan Hansen in the Broadway musical, reprises the role in the film.

CHANGES IN THE FESTIVAL
The TIFF, considered one of the most prestigious film festivals in Asia, will use a hybrid program for its 34th year — a format introduced in last year’s festival in response to health and safety restrictions needed while dealing with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Last year’s TIFF proved that a meaningful film festival could be held under the various restrictions of COVID-19. And now, TIFF is about to undergo a major transformation. I hope that I can make full use of my experience and knowledge and contribute to that transformation,” Shozo Ichiyama, the festival’s programming director said in a statement.

This year, the festival will be holding physical screenings at theaters in the Hibiya-Yurakucho-Ginza area of Tokyo, a change from its longstanding Roponggi venue.

The festival will also be held concurrently with the Tokyo Filmex, a 21-year-old international film festival that focuses on new and independent feature films from Asia. Filmex will also be held in Hibiya and, according to TIFF, the proximity of the two festivals “will enable enhanced convenience for audiences to watch films at both.”

The Tokyo International Film Festival runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 8. For more information, visit https://2021.tiff-jp.net/en/. — ZBC

PHL banks’ exposure to Chinese assets minimal

LOCAL BANKS have minimal exposure to China as they are largely domestic-oriented, a central bank official said amid the debt crisis faced by Chinese real estate giant Evergrande Group.

“In terms of exposures to China, claims from counter-parties based in China and its Special Administrative Regions is minimal at 0.86% of total banking system assets,” Ma. Cynthia M. Sison, Deputy Director at the Supervisory Policy and Research Department of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), said at an online briefing on Thursday.

Ms. Sison said BSP regulations safeguard banks from overexposure to real estate as they are only allowed to invest in these kinds of assets for two purposes.

“First, they can own real estate for their own use or as banking premises. Second, they are allowed to hold real estate assets which are acquired in settlement of claims or foreclosed real estate property,” she said.

In the case of the latter, Ms. Sison said banks are legally required to sell foreclosed real estate property within five years.

Due to these rules, she said local lenders are unlikely to have significant investments in Chinese real estate. She added that banks have generally limited cross-border exposures.

“Philippine banks are largely domestic-oriented with cross border exposures or claims from counter-parties in other countries at 9.4% of total banking system assets,” she said.

BSP data showed total assets of the banking industry stood at P19.795 trillion as of end-July. Banks’ assets in the form of gross real and other properties acquired amounted to P129.648 billion in the same period.

Evergrande, China’s second-biggest developer and a key player in the country’s housing boom, is facing liabilities worth more than $300 billion. This is equivalent to 2% of China’s gross domestic product.

The People’s Bank of China last month summoned Evergrande officials to order them to reduce debt risks and prioritize stability.

Several projects were left unfinished by the developer due to cash crunch, leaving homebuyers looking for assurance regarding their properties.

Evergrande’s main unit, Hengda Real Estate Group, on Wednesday said it would make a coupon payment on its domestic bonds on Sept. 23, providing some relief to markets that were concerned over a possible default, Reuters reported.

Earlier this week, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez  III said they are assessing if Chinese contractors involved in the country’s infrastructure program are affected by Evergrande’s situation. — L.W.T. Noble

PSE clears Jollibee’s P20-B preferred shares issuance

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) approved on Wednesday the shelf listing of Jollibee Foods Corp.’s (JFC) P20-billion preferred shares, which will be offered by the company within a period of three years from the effectivity of its registration statement.

The company will offer up to 12 million Series A and Series B preferred shares for up to P1,000 each for the first tranche. These shares are cumulative, nonvoting, non-participating, nonconvertible, and redeemable.

Its base offering will comprise of eight million Series A and Series B preferred shares, with an overallotment option of four million shares.

On Thursday, JFC set the initial dividend rate for Series A preferred shares at 3.2821% per annum (p.a.) and Series B preferred shares at 4.2405% p.a.

JFC plans to start its offer period on Sept. 28 until Oct. 4, with a tentative listing date of Oct. 14.

The PSE said its approval on the listing of the preferred shares is still “subject to the company’s compliance with all of the conditions and post-approval requirements of the exchange.”

Series A preferred shares will be traded under stock symbol “JFCPA,” while Series B preferred shares will trade under “JFCPB.”

The company said it plans to use the proceeds for the partial buyback of its senior perpetual securities and for general corporate purposes such as commissary and store expansion.

NEW STORES IN CANADA
Overseas, Jollibee launched a mobile kitchen in Ontario’s Hamilton and a new store in Winnipeg in Manitoba.

The company worked with online food services platform DoorDash to open the mobile kitchen, which started serving customers beginning Sept. 2. The 15-meter mobile kitchen is located at the southwest corner of the CF Lime Ridge Mall.

“As we continue to expand our store network across Canada, the mobile kitchen provides the ideal platform to serve our customers in a more flexible and far-reaching capacity, especially in communities where we don’t have a physical store location yet,” Maribeth D. Dela Cruz, president of the Jollibee group for North America, Philippine brands, said in a separate statement on Thursday.

Hamilton-based customers may order Jollibee meals from the mobile kitchen via jollibeefoods.com, the Jollibee app, and through the DoorDash app.

Meanwhile, its Winnipeg store is the company’s 18th branch in Canada and is part of the company’s plan to expand its stores to 500 in North America within five to seven years.

The Winnipeg store has a drive-thru option and caters to online orders via the jollibeecanada.com website, the Jollibee app, and through the DoorDash app. It also allows call-in and pick-up services.

“The city’s close-knit Filipino community has especially embraced our brand since day one, and we are excited to provide another convenient location for both our fans and newcomers who crave a delicious quick service option that they truly can’t get anywhere else,” Ms. Dela Cruz said.

JFC shares on Thursday rose 3.83% or P7.50, closing at P203.40 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Pandemic touted as window for digitally reskilling workers

REUTERS

THE IMPORTANCE of digital skills in the workforce has been highlighted by the pandemic, according to Senior Economist Yoonyoung Cho of the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.

“The pandemic accelerated and increased the use of technology,” Ms. Cho said in a webinar Thursday organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. As such, “we need to develop our workforce’s digital skills.”

According to Ms. Cho, the Philippines had “one of the fastest-growing economies” in East Asia with an average annual gross domestic product growth rate of 6.4% between 2010 and 2019. In the same period, the country maintained low jobless levels of as employment grew 2.17% annually. 

The Philippine Statistics Authority estimated the unemployment rate at 5.1% in 2019, peaking at 17.6% in April 2020 due to the pandemic. It has since eased to 6.9% in July 2021.

To sustain the decline in unemployment, Ms. Cho recommended a program to develop digital skills, to improve worker employability. Such skills may be incorporated into the education curriculum to prepare students for the workforce, while training and testing may be provided by the government for current workers. 

Ms. Cho views digital skills as belonging to three levels — basic, intermediate, and advanced.

The basic level involves access to and ability to use digital technology to perform basic tasks. The intermediate level entails the ability to use professional software for analysis, creation, management, and design tasks; and the advanced level covers specialized tasks in information and communications technology. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago

BSP to issue guidelines to improve lenders’ fraud management systems

THE CENTRAL BANK will issue new rules to improve lenders’ fraud management systems and regulatory supervision amid evolving cyberattacks.

“The BSP is crafting guidelines with set expectations or the fraud management systems of our supervised financial institutions,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier said at an online forum.

“Our supervised institutions are expected to adapt more robust systems to protect their infrastructure and proprietary in customer data, as well as to ensure continuous delivery of financial services,” she added.

In her presentation to the UK-ASEAN Business Council on Wednesday, Ms. Fonacier said cyber threats experienced by consumers include skimming, phishing e-mails and text messages, identity theft, as well as voice phishing, among others.

“Illegal activities of fraudsters and scammers have proliferated during the pandemic, allowing them [criminals] an authorized access to consumers financial resources and to address cybersecurity threats,” Ms. Fonacier said.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno earlier said a major cyberattack could affect the stability of the financial system, noting the BSP will keep watch of emerging threats.

The central bank in April released guidelines on reputational risk management, which require BSP-supervised financial institutions to report events that affect their reputation, including cyberattack-related incidents, within five calendar days.

Ms. Fonacier said the central bank has mandated banks to have mechanisms to prevent such threats and is also advocating for digital financial literacy among consumers as “digital has become a ‘necessity’ and not just a mere “matter of convenience.”

“BSP-supervised financial institutions here are expected to subject any access to their digital infrastructures to verification and security screening. So, the BSP has also put in place consumer protection mechanisms,” she said.

She added financial institutions were also advised to “fortify their customer service and redress mechanisms to limit fraud losses.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Fonacier said their digital literacy programs for consumers focus on cyber hygiene practices, such as password protection, use of multi-factor authentication, and accounting for data privacy.

“We are confident that digital innovation can coexist alongside the central bank’s key mandates of maintaining monetary financial stability, and, of course, the efficiency and safety of payments and settlement systems,” she said.

The BSP wants 50% of the volume and value of transactions in the country done digitally by 2023. — L.W.T. Noble

Filinvest Land looks to offer P10-B fixed-rate bonds

Filinvest Land-logo

FILINVEST Land, Inc.’s (FLI) board of directors approved the company’s plan to issue and offer up to P10-billion fixed-rate retail bonds, the Gotianun-led company said in a disclosure to the exchange on Thursday.

“The board of directors of the company has authorized the management of the company to evaluate all aspects relating to the proposed offering of the second tranche bonds, including the determination of the timing thereof and interest rate,” FLI said.

The offer comprises P8-billion fixed-rate bonds with an oversubscription option of up to P2 billion. It will have a maturity period from four to six years.

This forms part of FLI’s shelf-registered P30-billion bonds. The first tranche amounting to P8.1 billion was issued in November last year.

The bonds will be listed at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. when issued.

FLI assigned BDO Capital & Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., East West Banking Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., RCBC Capital Corp., and SB Capital Investment Corp. as the joint lead underwriters and bookrunners to manage the public offer and issuance.

Meanwhile, RCBC’s Trust and Asset Management Group was mandated as the trustee. The Philippine Depository & Trust Corp. was assigned as registrar and the paying agent for the bonds, while the Philippine Rating Services Corp. is tasked to issue the credit rating.

On Thursday, shares of Filinvest Land at the stock exchange went down by 0.9% or one centavos to close at P1.10 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Stuff to do (09/24/21)

Manila History Talk online tour holds fundraiser

WANDERMANILA will stage a fundraiser edition of Manila History Talk online tour for the benefit of someone who has contracted COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). The tour will be livestreamed over the WanderManila Facebook page for free, with WanderManila accepting donations. The Manila History Talk for a Cause will be held on Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. For information, inquiries, and donations, visit https://www.facebook.com/WanderManila/?ref=page_internal. 

PhilKor Cultural Fest to hold online concert

NOW on its 30th year, the Philippines-Korea Cultural Exchange Festival (PhilKor) promises surprises during the We Stand Together online concert on Sept. 25. PhilKor aims to advance the promotion of Philippine-Korea bilateral cultural relations through various arts exchanges and performances. The online concert will be hosted by Catriona Gray, SB19 Justin, and Sam Oh, and will feature performances by SB19, Alamat, MONA, Dasuri Choi, JinHo Bae, TAGO, the PWU INdayog Gong Ensemble, Byeong-in Park, Rachelle Gerodias, and 4th Impact. This virtual celebration will be streamed on the official Facebook pages of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Korean Cultural Center.

2021 Tingin ASEAN Film Fest is on

THE 2021 TINGIN ASEAN Film Festival, with the theme “Remedies for Dis-ease,” will run online from Sept. 24 to 26. The festival uses “dis-ease” to conjure pathology as well as restlessness, or “pagkabalisa” in Tagalog, brought on by the pandemic. A project of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the festival features Southeast Asian short films that explore solutions for rebuilding the world unsettled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Filipino filmmaker Carlo Francisco Manatad’s The Imminent Immanent leads the selections for the first digital iteration of the festival. Mr. Manatad draws a picture of a seaside town before it is eventually engulfed by a super typhoon. New Land, Broken Road by Kavich Neang, is the entry from Cambodia. It contemplates the experience and role of Khmer youth in Cambodia’s rapid development. Set against the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, Loeloe Hendra’s Lost Wonders is about a young boy who leaves the house every night to look for his father, who has disappeared while performing pesugihan, or a way to amass a fortune using magic. Malaysia’s Peon is based on a true story and unfolds through a series of texts, voice messages, and video calls, giving the audience an immersive experience of the daily grind of frontline workers. Vietnam’s Binh follows an alien who arrives on earth on a quest to find assistance to rebuild his home. The festival is free to the public and is hosted on the Vimeo channel of the NCCA National Committee on Cinema (www.bit.ly/Tingin). Aside from the screenings on Vimeo, a series of conversations with select filmmakers will be livestreamed from Sept. 24 to 26, 6 p.m., on the film festival’s official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/TinginASEANFilmFest/)

Kundiman show goes online

KUNG HINDI MAN, A Collection of Musical Treasures, a show focusing on the traditional Filipino love song, will premiere on Sept. 25, 6 p.m., on the Facebook page of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Office of the President. The succeeding episodes of the series will air every Saturday at the same time until December. Written and directed by Dennis Marasigan, each episode will feature well-known artists who will perform songs that can range from the traditional kundiman to the more contemporary interpretations of the genre. Among the artists performing in the musical series are Arthur Espiritu, Cesar Montano, Gian Magdangal, Harry Santos, Lara Maigue, Mariel Ilusorio, Nerissa De Juan, OPM band Orange and Lemons, and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

Language diversity focus of KulturaSerye webinar

IN continuation of the Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa celebration last August, Gateway Gallery focuses on the current challenges faced by Philippine communities that speak indigenous languages as its latest KulturaSerye offering. The webinar, titled “Mga Katutubong Wika ng Pilipinas, Nasaan Na?,” will be aired live on Sept. 25, 2 p.m., on the Gateway Gallery Facebook page. The webinar will feature two speakers from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Professor Eilene Antionette Narvaez of the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature will talk about “Filipino Bilang Pambansang Wika” while Professor Jesus Frederico Hernandez of the Department of Linguistics will discuss “On The Verge of Silence: The Story of Linguistic Fragility and Language Endangerment in the Philippines.” The online discussion will be moderated by KulturaSerye’s John Carlo Santos, who teaches at the UP Los Baños. Gateway Gallery, the art museum of the Araneta Group, is devoted to the promotion of Philippine culture, heritage, and art, and is managed by the J. Amado Araneta Foundation, the social development arm of the Araneta Group. For inquiries on the webinar or other details of its programs, send an e-mail at gatewaygallery@aranetagroup.com. Connect with its social media accounts on Facebook, (GatewayGalleryPH), Instagram (gateway.gallery), Twitter (gateway_gallery), and YouTube (Gateway Gallery).

Dubai turns page on COVID with hottest jobs market in two years

REUTERS

WHAT may have been the steepest population decline in the Gulf region is giving way to the hottest jobs market Dubai has seen since China detected its first coronavirus case in December 2019.

A turnaround in employment took hold this summer and spread as looser travel restrictions revived business. But while headcounts are swelling with freshly recruited cooks and cabin crew, the economy of the Middle East’s commercial center is facing a fraught path to normalcy.

“We’re bringing people back but managing that carefully along with how we see occupancy moving,” Mark Kirby, chief operating officer of Emaar Hospitality Group, said in an interview. “Now we’re ramping up because the fourth quarter for us is an important time of year.”

Owned by the builder of the world’s tallest tower, the hotel company is looking to employ 200 to 300 people for a range of posts and is hiring both within the United Arab Emirates and from Asian countries that have been slow to reopen amid longer shutdowns. 

As Dubai prepares to kick off the World Expo fair next month, the city’s flagship airline, Emirates, is planning to recruit 3,000 cabin crew and 500 airport services employees to join its hub over the next six months. Amazon is meanwhile looking to create 1,500 jobs in the UAE this year.

The lifting of curbs between Dubai and countries such as the UK, the US and Saudi Arabia will have a “massive impact,” with about 27 million people passing through this year alone, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths told Bloomberg Television this week.

While labor shortages and hiring difficulties hold back the labor market in parts of Europe and employment is dropping in countries like Australia after the Delta variant of coronavirus forced lockdowns, the oil-rich Gulf region can lean on foreign workers to fill most private-sector jobs.

Businesses in Dubai’s travel and tourism industry in August saw the sharpest increases in activity and new work in over two years, according to a Purchasing Managers’ Index compiled by IHS Markit.

‘GOOD SUMMER’
In the Middle East, “we had a really good summer, well above expectations” as travel corridors gradually opened amid rising vaccination rates, Mark Willis, Accor’s CEO for India, Middle East, Africa & Turkey.

The hospitality industry “has been rehiring across the board for the past three months,” Guy Hutchinson, president and CEO of Abu Dhabi-based hotel operator Rotana, said in an interview.

In the past three months, Rotana hired about 400 staff across the UAE and will continue to recruit as it opens new hotels, he said. Rotana was forced to lay off less than 5% of its workforce at the start of the pandemic and by the end of February, it rehired 70% of those who were let go.

Research firm STR Global estimated last year that about 30% of jobs in Dubai’s hotel industry were likely to be lost until demand recovers from the pandemic.

Occupancy at Emaar’s hotels is hovering around 54% while the average daily rate has held up at over 1,000 dirhams per night, Kirby said.

EMAAR’S PLANS
Emaar is opening six hotels this year, including its first property in Istanbul and another in Bahrain. It opened three beach hotels in the UAE last year and will open five others in 2022.

It’s having “active discussions” to open three to four Armani hotels in a number of key cities in Saudi Arabia and Europe, Kirby said, declining to elaborate as the agreements haven’t been signed yet. Emaar Hospitality operates two Armani hotels, one in the world’s tallest tower in Dubai and another in Milan.

While Emaar isn’t currently in talks to sell any of its properties, the company is “looking at an asset-light model strategy” for its hotel division, Kirby said. In 2018, Emaar Hospitality Group sold five hotels, including the flagship Address Dubai Mall and Address Boulevard to Abu Dhabi National Hotels. — Bloomberg

DBP grants P50-M loan to water district

BW FILE PHOTO

STATE-RUN Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) extended a P50-million loan to Sipocot Water District (SIPWADI) to rehabilitate its existing water lines and provide services to more barangays in Camarines Sur, the bank said in a press release on Thursday.

The loan agreement was signed on July 30, the bank said in an e-mailed response to queries. DBP said the loan bears a 5.5% annual interest rate.

The bank said the loan will finance the development and rehabilitation of SIPWADI’s water lines and water sources.

The funds will also support the water district’s overall improvement of its existing operations to expand its services to two more barangays in Sipocot, Camarines Sur.

This marked SIPWADI’s first time to sign a loan agreement with a financial institution in its 43 years of public utility service.

The local water district is currently providing clean water supply to eight barangays with nearly 30,000 residents.

DBP is the country’s designated infrastructure bank. It also provides credit to other sectors like small businesses, environment, and social services and community development.

It was the country’s sixth-biggest lender in terms of assets with P1.102 trillion as of March, based on central bank data.

DBP’s net income plunged by 62% to P547.8 million in the first quarter as its operating expenses climbed. — B.M. Laforga

Cebu Pacific increasing flights

BUDGET Carrier Cebu Pacific announced on Thursday that it will increase flights to Siargao, Boracay and Bohol next month, as well as resume several international flights beginning Sept. 30.

“We believe that reopening domestic travel and the promotion of responsible travel is critical to rebuilding the trust and travel confidence in the industry,” Candice A. Iyog, vice-president for marketing and customer experience at Cebu Pacific said at a virtual briefing.

Flights to Siargao will be expanded from five times to six times weekly in October.

The airline will also increase flight frequencies to Boracay from four to five times daily in the coming month.

In the same month, Bohol flights will be increased from nine to 10 times weekly.

“We also know that the situation continues to be fluid, that is why we make it a priority to always make travel convenient for everyJuan, on top of providing the much-needed flexibility during this time,” Ms. Iyog said.

The budget carrier plans to resume its daily flights to Dubai on Sept. 30. It intends to fly twice weekly to Nagoya and Osaka beginning Oct. 2 and 4, respectively.

At the same time, the airline aims to resume flights to Fukuoka on Nov. 5. It will restart flights to Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 4.

The airline said it has an ongoing P99 seat sale until Sept. 26 for flights to and from Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Dipolog, and Iloilo, among others. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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