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Gross national savings drop in 2020 as Filipinos had less disposable income

THE COUNTRY’S gross savings fell by more than a quarter last year despite a drop in household spending, as Filipinos had less disposable income, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

Gross national savings, or the difference between gross national disposable income and the combined household and government final consumption, totaled P4.43 trillion at current prices in 2020, declining by 27.9% from P6.15 trillion in 2019.

This figure is equivalent to 23% of gross national income (GNI) in 2020, lower than 29% of GNI the year before.

The country’s economic output slumped last year, with gross domestic product (GDP) and GNI posting declines of 9.6% and 11.4% in real terms, respectively. The latter refers to the sum of the nation’s GDP and net primary income from the rest of the world.

At current prices, GDP and GNI respectively slid by 8.1% and 10% last year. During the period, household spending fell by 5.7% to P13.48 trillion in 2020, while government spending grew 12.6% to P2.74 trillion.

The gross national disposable income sat at P20.65 trillion in 2020, a 9.7% drop from the P22.88 trillion in 2019. This was obtained by subtracting the GNI from the net difference between “current transfers” to and from the rest of the world.

Accounting for population, net disposable income per capita was estimated at P189,884 in 2020, down from P204,058 in 2018 and P213,216 in 2019.

By institution, nonfinancial corporations accounted for the highest gross saving with P3.80 trillion, followed by that from financial corporations with P1.43 trillion and “households including nonprofit institutions serving households” with P210 billion. On the other hand, the general government posted negative savings with P1.01 trillion during the same period.

“This huge decline in the country’s total savings shows that consumers, businesses and other institutions used up precious savings to cope with the impact of the pandemic. It’s a hefty decline and the impact on disposable income levels were huge as well,” UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in an e-mail. 

ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said the strict lockdowns forced work stoppages across the country.   

“As a result, incomes were lost or whittled down with overall compensation to employees falling by 6.9% for the year while household spending fell by 5.7%. Investment outlays or gross capital formation was also hard hit by the recession, plunging by almost 40% in 2020 as households and firms alike held back on making expansion plans as they conserved cash and tightened their belts,” Mr. Mapa said in a separate e-mail.

“Subdued economic activity has definitely forced Filipinos to tighten their belts while also dipping deeper into their savings just to make ends meet,” he added.

In another e-mail interview, University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) School of Economics Senior Economist Cid L. Terosa noted the negative contribution of government in savings, which he said, can be traced to the “extraordinary pandemic-related spending that it had to incur.”

The government’s share to gross savings was -22.7% last year, a sharp reversal from its 8.7% share in 2019.

“To prevent further contraction in the share of government in savings, the government needs to ramp up revenue-generating activities that are ultimately linked to the further opening of the economy,” Mr. Terosa said, adding that gross savings this year will “continue to be held down by sluggish business and economic activities.”

For UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion: “[F]urther contraction can be prevented with more appropriate and targeted fiscal stimulus, which is also being carried out by our neighbors as they further grapple with the impact of the pandemic,” he said. 

Mr. Asuncion said the recovery in gross savings “may take some time.”

“Like our forecast of GDP level returning to pre-pandemic figures by end of 2022, gross savings may subsequently return at the same period. Downside risk to this view is the potential spread of new variants that brings more uncertainty on the table,” he said.

Similarly, ING Bank’s Mr. Mapa said the substantial hit on savings coupled with the “still tenuous” recovery in the Philippine labor market suggests economic recovery “will be a protracted and bumpy one.”

“The rip-roaring pace of household consumption will not likely return soon as households and firms rebuild their depleted savings and cut back on spending amidst the recovery,” Mr. Mapa said.

“Gross national savings will only likely revert to pre-pandemic levels at least a year after we have returned to pre-COVID levels of growth, suggesting that savings will be thin all the way through to 2022. Firms will also likely be holding on to cash in the near term even as the economic recovery takes hold as they await the full recovery of the once vaunted Filipino consumer,” he added.

The latest figures were based on the PSA’s annual Consolidated Accounts and Income and Outlay Accounts. These accounts present a summary of transactions and relationships among the various flows of the economy at current prices, which include production, consumption, income, gross accumulation, and economic transactions with the rest of the world. — Lourdes O. Pilar

Ayala Land develops waterside district in Cebu

SOUTH COAST CITY - SM-AYALA SRP DEVELOPMENT — The 26-hectare waterside development will be home to prime entertainment and commercial concepts and will be complemented by other mixed-uses to serve diverse market needs.

By Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

AYALA Land, Inc. is developing a 26-hectare sustainable waterside district in Cebu called South Coast City with SM Prime Holdings, Inc. and Cebu Holdings, Inc.

“[It is] a contemporary development with the latest urban innovations while at the same time capitalizing on seaside views and having Cebu’s beaches just a short drive away,” Senior Vice-President and Head of Ayala Land Estates Group Anna Ma. Margarita B. Dy said during a media briefing on Tuesday.

The project located within South Road Properties will have nearly two million square meters (sq.m.) of built-out area, 30% of which will be for residential spaces and 70% for commercial centers.

It will feature a 2.7-hectare commercial center called District Square.

The center will have 11 commercial lots for sale, ranging from 1,777 sq.m. to 2,601 sq.m. The block development construction of District Square, which is more than halfway through, is aimed to be completed by June next year.

South Coast City will feature a 1.1-hectare park, a convention center, and Cebu’s first arena, among others.

The estate is also designed to be pedestrian-friendly, with a 4,000-sq.m. park lane pedestrian system to connect areas of the commercial center.

“We believe that our vision of ‘enhancing land and enriching lives for more people’ is now relevant more than ever, as we continue to build spaces that not only raise the quality of life for many, but also generate livelihood and employment for a great number of Filipinos,” Ayala Land President and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Vincent O. Dy said.

The land development construction for South Coast City is ongoing and is slated for completion by May 2022.

Ayala Land will be spending P90 billion for its developments in the estate, which it said might open up to 100,000 job opportunities for the area.

“In terms of employment, one of the biggest drivers for Cebu is actually BPOs (business process outsourcing) at least for the commercial hubs, there’s tourism but for us, it’s really the BPOs,” Ayala Land Estates Visayas Head Iris Josef-Mediano said, adding that BPO firms have remained resilient in their existing estates.

South Coast City is accessible through major highways, such as Cebu South Coastal Road and the upcoming Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).

SM Seaside City Cebu Mall, Cebu South Bus Terminal, Cebu City Seaport, and Mactan Cebu International Airport are said to also be within reach from the estate. It is also near Cebu Ocean Park, UP Cebu SRP Campus, and Alta Vista Golf Course.

On Tuesday, shares of Ayala Land at the stock exchange declined by 1.50% or 55 centavos to close at P36.15 each.

Wolbachia bacteria ‘dramatically reduces’ dengue — study

Public Health Image Library/US Centers Disease for Control and Prevention

By Patricia B. Mirasol

DENGUE FEVER cases have been cut by 77% in a trial that infected disease-spreading mosquitoes with a bacteria called Wolbachia, according to the results of a randomized controlled trial published this June in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study has significant implications for 40% of the world’s population at risk of dengue, according to the World Mosquito Program (WMP) initiated by Monash University, Australia.

Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacteria that exists in around 50% of all insects, but not the Aedes aegypti mosquito until it was introduced in the laboratory by WMP researchers. Wolbachia restricts the amount of dengue that disseminates from the mosquito midgut into the mosquito’s saliva.

“At the cellular level, replication of the viral genome is inhibited when the virus infects cells that are also occupied by Wolbachia,” Katie Anders, WMP’s lead researcher and director of impact assessment, told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview. “This is likely due to competition between Wolbachia and viruses for resources such as energy and nutrients.”

DRAMATIC REDUCTION
In Yogyakarta City, Indonesia, and surrounding areas where the infected mosquitoes were released, the number of cases of dengue decreased significantly compared with parts of the city where they were not, according to the three-year Applying Wolbachia to Eliminate Dengue trial, conducted by WMP in collaboration with Indonesia’s Tahija Foundation and Gadjah Mada University.

Once Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes are released, they breed with wild mosquitoes. Over time, the percentage of mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia grows until it remains high without the need for further releases.

“It takes between three to six months of mosquito releases undertaken every one to two weeks for Wolbachia to become established in the local mosquito population,” said Ms. Anders. “We then see reduced dengue in the years that follow.”

This self-sustaining method is said to offer a safe, effective, and long-term solution to reducing the burden of the disease.

WMP director Scott O’Neill said in a press statement: “This is the result we’ve been waiting for — evidence that our Wolbachia method is safe, sustainable, and dramatically reduces incidence of dengue. It gives us great confidence in the positive impact this method will have worldwide when provided to communities at risk of these mosquito-transmitted diseases.”

The “public health value of Wolbachia against dengue” was recognized by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Vector Control Advisory Group in a December 2020 virtual meeting.

Climate change amplified the distribution of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species that transmit the dengue virus, according to WHO. Other factors including rapid unplanned urbanization, increased humidity, devolved vector control services, and movement of people and goods have also facilitated the spread of the disease.

Dengue is common in more than 100 countries around the world, including the Philippines. And a person can be infected with a dengue virus as many as four times in his or her lifetime.

In August 2020, the Philippines’ Department of Health (DoH) reported that its W.I.L.D. (or water-borne infectious diseases, influenza, and leptospirosis, including dengue) initiative resulted in a drop of dengue cases (59,675 in 2020 from 430,282 in 2019) and mortalities (231 in 2020 from 1,612 in 2019). Among the activities implemented by the DoH is the Wolbachia Project within Bicol’s Center for Health Development as part of a non-invasive way to control the local dengue-carrying mosquito population.

Because the Wolbachia project in Bicol is ongoing, WMP declined to comment until after the results of the study are available.

WOLBACHIA WORLDWIDE
WMP aims partner with national and local governments, corporate citizenship programs, charitable organizations, and non-governmental organizations to expand Wolbachia protection worldwide. To date, the WMP has supported releases in 11 countries in Asia, Australia, Latin America, and the Pacific, with an estimated 6.8 million people benefiting from Wolbachia coverage.

The cost of deployment is currently less than $10 per person, said Ms. Anders, with the organization working towards reducing it to $1 per person. “In high-density urban areas, Wolbachia is expected to be cost-saving over 10 years, returning 2–3 dollars in economic benefits for every dollar invested through averted healthcare costs and lost wages,” she said.

Citicore to use REIT proceeds for 15 solar farms

BW FILE PHOTO

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

RENEWABLE energy company Citicore Power, Inc. said it plans to reinvest the proceeds from its energy-focused real estate investment trust (REIT) offering in 15 projects in Luzon.

“The proceeds will be used to build new solar plants. We have 1,500 megawatts (MW) of solar pipeline projects,” Citicore Power President Oliver Y. Tan told BusinessWorld in an online interview on Tuesday.

The company is hoping to raise P8 billion to P10 billion in proceeds. It targets to have the offering in September or October this year.

“We are talking about 15 locations spread across Luzon, assuming there is an average of 100 MW per location,” Mr. Tan said. The company aims to reach the 1,500 MW by 2025.

Mr. Tan also said the construction of the first 72-MW Arayat-Mexico solar farm project in Pampanga is “ongoing.”

“There’s Phase 2 to it, so Phase 1 and Phase 2 would total to 100 MW,” he noted.

The company will also work on a 60- to 70-MW project in Region 3 and another 150 MW in Region 4.

Citicore Power currently owns and operates eight solar farms with a total capacity of 163 MW.

It has facilities in Bulacan, Clark, Cebu, Bataan, South Cotabato, Tarlac, and Negros Occidental.

“All eight will be included as initial assets of the energy REIT,” Mr. Tan said.

“We are looking at a potential [asset] value of between P15 billion and P20 billion. We target to sell 49% of that REIT company to the public,” he added.

With the completion of its Arayat-Mexico project, Citicore Power expects to become the Philippines’ largest solar power provider by the fourth quarter of the year.

“We believe that the shift to renewable energy will last for the next decade, and we are positioned to take advantage of that cycle,” Mr. Tan said.

Citicore Power has allocated P4 billion in capital expenditures for solar and hydro projects this year.

A string of sounds, lessons, and inspiration

TAGUMPAY MENDOZA DE LEON Rondalla Musician — PHOTO BY STEVE WALAG

US-based rondalla teacher Tagumpay de Leon named a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow

TAGUMPAY MENDOZA DE LEON
Rondalla Musician — PHOTO BY STEVE WALAG

TAGUMPAY de Leon (fondly called “Pi” by his family, friends, and colleagues) teaches a rondalla ensemble at University of California, Riverside (UCR) by first acquainting them with playing open strings.

A rondalla is a plucked string ensemble composed of five main instruments: the bandurria, octavina, laud, guitarra (guitar), and bajo (bass). On occasion, a piccolo also joins the ensemble.

Mr. De Leon uses numbers to teach his students — a method his older brother Bayani devised for teaching rondalla.

During an interview via Zoom with BusinessWorld, Mr. De Leon took his octavina and demonstrated as he explained.

“We start with open strings. No melody yet,” he said. As an example, the numbers 10 or 20 on an instruction would mean “first string, open. Second string, open.” This means that the strings are plucked but no pressure is applied.

The number one refers to the first string, and number two refers to the second string, he explained further. “So, when you see the number 12, you know you have to play the first string in the second fret,” he said. “Rondalla notes are single notes.”

Once the student is familiar with the placement of strings, they proceed with teaching notes.

Tracing its origin to Medieval Spain, the music carries a distinct tinkling sound. In the Philippines, the rondalla commonly performs in festivals and other public gatherings.

MUSICAL FAMILY
Tagumpay Mendoza De Leon was born in 1945 in Nueva Ecija. He grew up with six siblings in a family of musicians. His mother, Illuminada Mendoza, was an accomplished pianist. His father, National Artist for Music Felipe Padilla De Leon, was a composer.

As a young boy, Mr. De Leon first studied the piano, the accordion, and the violin. Later, the siblings went on to play as a rondalla ensemble.

“I remember performing with my siblings, around 1964 to 1965, before I graduated from college,” Mr. De Leon recalled. “That’s when we formed the De Leon Rondalla.”

Their father had the siblings choose which instrument to play. Mr. De Leon chose the bass which is the biggest instrument. He recalled that he chose the instrument thinking, “It might be easier to learn because there [are] only four strings,” he said, compared to the rest which had 14 strings. “So, I took the bass. Little did I know, that I would regret it at that time. Because whenever we perform, I’d carry the big bass. My siblings all have this instrument, that they can carry, but me, I have to carry the big one.”

In the 1960s, the De Leon children performed at family and community functions in Manila.

AS A MUSICIAN AND EDUCATOR IN THE US
Mr. De Leon moved to the United States in 1971 and settled in Burbank, California. From his focus on the bass, Mr. De Leon also began learning the other rondalla instruments.

He first played bandurria (a 14-stringed tenor rondalla mandolin) and guitar with the Pamanlahi Dance Troupe. Then, he also worked with the Fil-Am Cultural Family Group under Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company musical director Nitoy Gonzales.

When universities in southern California started the trend of hosting cultural nights in 1991, Mr. De Leon formed The Rondalla Club of Los Angeles. Among the universities the ensemble played at was in University of California, Riverside (UCR) where Mr. De Leon would eventually teach rondalla instruments.

“I was fortunate because UCR decided to emphasize world music,” he said, “In any university they always want to have a symphony orchestra; they play western music orchestra. So, they decided to shy away from the tradition of orchestra.

“I was playing for the Kayamanan ng Lahi Dance Troupe. They performed at  URC and then the assistant music chairman saw us and got impressed with the music,” he said. Mr. De Leon then took the opportunity to teach Philippine music instruments.

The elective course on Philippine music instruments was established in 2001 after the university procured rondalla instruments from the Philippines.

“You know how many students I started with?” he asked. “Twenty-eight.”

“And we only have 12 instruments. Since that [was] the first batch of instruments, we thought, ‘12 will be good enough’,” he added.

In his two decades of teaching rondalla, Mr. De Leon has had a variety of experiences with students (mostly Filipino-Americans), and some of them have participated in his classes for their entire university life.

“I love teaching these kids, because they’re always enthusiastic to learn — some of them out of curiosity. Once they started learning, some of them became so involved with it, they even bought [their own] instruments,” he said.

It was his colleagues at UCR, and one of his students (now a doctor in ethnic musicology) from his early rondalla courses who nominated him to the National Endowment for the Arts.

THE 2021 NEA NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the independent federal agency established by the American Congress in 1965 which funds and supports Americans in their creative pursuits, announced the 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellows on June 15. Mr. De Leon is one of them.

According to the agency’s official website, the NEA National Heritage Fellowships “recognize the recipients’ artistic excellence and support their continuing contributions to our nation’s traditional arts heritage.”

Mr. De Leon was given the recognition as a rondalla musician. He joins eight other musician fellows who will be awarded in a virtual ceremony on Nov. 17. Each awardee will also receive $25,000 as part of the Endowment Honor.

“I don’t really consider myself a master performer, I just happen to love playing. But I guess, since I’m also teaching, that qualifies for the award,” he said.  “That’s your lifetime goal — to disseminate your culture.”

As a musician and mentor, Mr. De Leon is not after his students’ mastery of the instrument.

“Our purpose is to get acquainted with instrument, and to be exposed to this kind of culture that we have [as Filipinos],” he said. “If you become good at it, then I guess, I taught you well. But the main purpose is to see how cultural heritage [is] preserved through this instrument, and [that] they know the value of this type of music as far as identifying us as Filipinos.”   Michelle Anne P. Soliman

LANDBANK-UCPB merger OK’d

LAND BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES FB PAGE

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has approved the merger of United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), with the latter as the surviving identity.

Executive Order (EO) No. 142 signed by the President on June 25 said all assets and liabilities of UCPB will be transferred to LANDBANK, with the two banks expected to determine the mode of merger in consultation with the Governance Commission for Government-owned or Controlled Corporations and to secure the required regulatory approvals.

The order said the move “will significantly strengthen the capability to deliver financial services to the coconut industry and the entire agricultural sector, contribute to economic sufficiency, foster countryside development and financial inclusion, and promote stability in the country’s banking system.”

LANDBANK and UCPB on Tuesday said the merger will let the smaller bank benefit from the larger lender’s “reach and scale” and give farmers improved access to financial services.

The order will take effect immediately after it is published in the state magazine or in a newspaper of general circulation. The provisions in the EO are expected to be fully implemented within six months from its effectivity.

The merger was considered because of the two banks’ shared objectives and interrelated mandates, the EO said. LANDBANK mainly lends to the agriculture sector, while UCPB was originally acquired by the government for the benefit of coconut farmers.

UCPB has been under rehabilitation following the signing of a memorandum of agreement among the bank, the Republic of the Philippines, the Presidential Commission on Good Government, and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC). This involves financial assistance from the PDIC worth P12 billion in the form of capital notes, which were converted into special preferred shares at the same value.

PDIC’s board of directors on Feb. 8 approved the sale of these special preferred shares to LANDBANK, which are equivalent to 88.91% of voting shares in UCPB, The Monetary Board, in a resolution dated May 20, approved the transaction.

The EO directs the LANDBANK to acquire the outstanding special preferred shares held by PDIC in UCPB, “taking into account the recovery of PDIC’s financial assistance to the UCPB” as well as the valuation of the shares and LANDBANK’s return on equity.

LANDBANK and UCPB were also told to prepare and implement an integration plan “towards the full implementation of the merger, in accordance with existing laws and regulations.”

LANDBANK may likewise adopt a reorganization plan. LANDBANK and UCPB employees who may be separated from service due to the reorganization and merger may be entitled to incentives and benefits.

LANDBANK’s net income grew by 1.67% to P5.48 billion in the first quarter. Its assets stood at P2.405 trillion as of March.

It will remain as the country’s second-biggest bank in terms of assets and deposits once the merger is concluded, it said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, latest central bank data showed UCPB’s assets were at P327.39 billion as of December 2020. — KATA

Philippine healthcare needs to develop digital ecosystems

THE HEALTHCARE industry should embrace the cloud to use data archiving, sharing, and analysis to solve issues such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, said stakeholders at a recent webinar on healthcare innovations organized by the business arm of Globe Telecom, Inc. 

“Ninety-nine percent (of healthcare companies) in the Philippines still uses paper data,” said Marnie Tolosa, the senior partner development manager of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Philippines. 

Instead of reading over a thousand different papers — with each piece of paper data containing different data demographics — a service like Amazon’s can extract what is necessary for the healthcare professional to use. 

Data that is late, according to Mr. Tolosa, makes an impact on how healthcare providers operate, especially during a crisis. “It takes the whole ecosystem to actually serve this universe of customers,” he said. 

This includes telemedicine, which Dr. Bu C. Castro, medical director of Bernardino General Hospital II, said was “extremely important during the pandemic.” 

Digital technologies already exist to make healthcare more efficient, said Mr. Tolosa, citing AWS’s Amazon Comprehend Medical, a machine-learning algorithm that pulls out data based on specific categories. 

Integrated systems may be difficult to set up but they are beneficial in the long run, according to John Dave P. Dueñas, chief executive officer and Founder of HYBrain, a healthcare management software developer partnered with Globe Business. “Consumers increasingly expect seamless management of their information across their healthcare providers, from their doctors to their hospitals to their clinical laboratories to diagnostics and imaging, even up to their pharmacies,” he said. 

Mr. Dueñas noted the healthcare industry’s shift towards value-driven organization, which focuses on the customers’ needs rather than the supply of a particular service, is feasible only if there is an integrated hospital information system that includes doctors, their secretaries, the clinical labs, medical technologists, and pharmacies, among others. 

He cited The Digital Healthcare Leap, a paper by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) published in 2017, that showed the dilemma of deficit globally. “The Philippines was predicted to have a 1.1 million deficit of hospital beds and a 1.2 million deficit of medical healthcare professionals by 2035,” he said, pointing out that this prediction was pre-pandemic and hence much more urgent now, with information technology as a needed solution to bridge these large gaps. 

Quoting the same paper, he said: “In the new digital health era, digitally enabled care is no longer going to be a nice-to-have, but rather a fundamental business imperative.” — Brontë H. Lacsamana 

Hedcor told: Keep running Bakun hydro plants

By Angelica Y. Yang, Reporter

THE Energy department told Hedcor, Inc. to carry on with the operations of three hydropower plants in Bakun, Benguet province after the Aboitiz Power Corp. unit was earlier sent a halt order by the government agency on indigenous peoples for alleged issues in obtaining consent from tribes.

In a statement on Tuesday, AboitizPower said it received a letter from the Department of Energy (DoE) dated June 25 advising its unit to “continue operating the Lower Labay, Lon-oy, and FLS hydro power plants due to the shortage of available capacity from the grid and de-rating of other plants.”

In its letter, the department cited an earlier advisory telling all power generation companies to ensure the maximum dependable power capacities and provide support for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine storage facilities and healthcare sites.

AboitizPower said the DoE pointed out that halting the firm’s hydro operations in Bakun would affect the roll out of Energy Regulation 1-94 (ER 1-94) funds, which depend on the kilowatt-per-hour generated by the plants.

Under the ER 1-94 program, power generating firms are required to give one centavo for every kilowatt-hour of sales to their host communities to fund electrification, livelihood and development projects.

AboitizPower said Hedcor is prepared and willing to sit in a tongtongan or gathering with the Bakun indigenous peoples (IPs) to address the issues.

“We recognize the concerns of our Bakun IP community, and our doors remain open for dialogue. We believe that the tongtongan is crucial to the resolution of this issue, not only to protect the welfare of our IPs, but also to fulfill our contribution to ensuring the availability and reliability of power supply for the country,” Hedcor Vice-President for Corporate Services Noreen Marie N. Vicencio said.

On Tuesday, Marlon P. Bosantog, regional director of National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), said representatives from his office and the DoE met to discuss the issue.

“According to them, that letter (dated June 25) does aim to stop the CDO (cease-and-desist order),” he told BusinessWorld in a mobile message.

“We will implement the CDO. Thereafter, we hope to rekindle the negotiations with Hedcor and the IPs,” he said.

Based on the halt order issued by NCIP-CAR on June 22, its lifting will be made only if Hedcor submits proof that it has secured the certificate precondition (CP) and the free informed prior consent of the Bakun IPs, as required by the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997.

The IPRA states that project developers may acquire permits and licenses only after receiving a CP from the NCIP manifesting consent from the indigenous community hosting the project.

The CDO directed Hedcor to close its three hydro plants within five days after receiving the issuance.

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who heads the Senate energy committee, previously called on the DoE and NCIP to resolve the shutdown of Hedcor’s three hydro plants, saying these are needed to be up and running amid the threat of supply deficiency that could lead to power interruptions.

The three plants have a combined capacity of 11.9 megawatts (MW). Hedcor operates 21 hydropower plants supplying 258 MW of renewable energy.

On Tuesday, shares in Hedcor’s parent firm AboitizPower improved by 0.41% or 10 centavos to finish at P24.55 apiece in the local bourse.

BPI to increase authorized capital stock as part of plan to absorb thrift unit

BANK OF THE Philippine Islands (BPI) has secured approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to increase its capital stock to P50.6 billion ahead of the bank’s planned merger with its thrift unit.

The Ayala-led lender said the 2% increase in its capital stock from P49.6 billion previously was approved by the BSP on June 8. This, as BPI’s common stocks were raised to five billion shares from 4.9 billion previously, still valued at P10 apiece.

“The amendment to the articles of incorporation — increase in authorized capital is related to the proposed merger of BPI Family Savings Bank, Inc. (BFSB) to BPI,” the parent bank said in a filing with the local bourse on Tuesday.

BPI announced its plan to absorb BFSB in January. The listed bank said the reduction in the gap in the regulatory reserve requirements between commercial banks and thrift banks was one factor for the decision.

S&P Global Ratings has said the proposed merger will have little impact on the credit profile of BPI and will help boost operational efficiencies for the surviving lender.

In April, the merger was approved by a quorum or at least two-thirds of BPI’s stockholders.

BPI said they expect the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve its Amended Articles of Incorporation by Oct. 31. Earlier, the bank said its merger with BFSB will be effective once the SEC issues a Certificate of Merger.

BFSB had P286.2 billion in assets as of end-2020, based on data from the BSP. Its loan portfolio is mainly focused on the housing and auto sector.

Its parent BPI’s net income declined 21.64% to P5 billion in the first quarter from P6.381 billion a year earlier. This was due to lower revenues caused by a decrease in net interest earnings.

BPI’s shares closed at P88.95 apiece on Tuesday, up by 95 centavos or by 1.08% from its previous finish. — L.W.T. Noble

Devices to detect diarrhea-causing pathogen ready for field testing — DoST

US NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES/CC BY 2.0

EASY-TO-USE, low-cost, paper-based devices called µPADS (Microfluidic Paper-based Analytical Devices) that detect E. coli, a bacterium that causes diarrhea when ingested by humans, are ready for testing.

“We have developed five devices, all to detect E. coli in contaminated water. Hopefully, we can field these test devices and check their efficiency in the next few weeks,” said µPADS project leader Dr. Lori Shayne A. Busa of Nueva Vizcaya State University, at a recent press conference.

Water-borne diseases like diarrhea are among the most documented outbreaks caused by poor water quality after the onset of disasters. Fourteen municipalities in Nueva Vizcaya have been identified for field testing.

µPADS is one of three ongoing projects under the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in Health (DRR-CCAH) program of the Department of Science of Technology (DoST).

The other two are eSalba, a health index and vulnerability reduction system, and ready-to-eat food products for one- to five-year-old children.

eSalba, a web-based and mobile application, aids emergency responders in decision-making during disasters. The local government units (LGUs) of Calapan, San Jose, Romblon, and Puerto Princesa are looking into rolling out the app, which already serves Marinduque.

eSalba is designed to help LGUs in health monitoring, route planning, defining evacuation policies, and adapting disaster measures. The app is part of a larger project called D-HIVE (Development of Health Index and Vulnerability Reduction System), which was created to improve the resiliency of island provinces.

“The app is designed for various geopolitical units, from households to barangays,” said D-HIVE project leader Dr. Delia B. Senoro of Mapua University. She added that even households can improve their disaster resiliency by checking the indices in the app. “Our end target is to have this used by the whole country… Information at the household level is important.”

The third project is a program focused on developing emergency food reserves that will address the age-appropriate nutrient requirements of one- to five-year-olds. Made from produce in the Davao region and enriched with essential micronutrients, the ready-to-eat (RTE) food products are being developed to treat possible nutritional deficiencies and the acute malnutrition of children during disasters.

The formulation of a fruit-veggie leather with puffed rice and peanuts, as well as a seed-enriched whole grain biscuit, has already been completed. In the works are an all-veggie monggo (mungbean) meal and an all-veggie cornmeal porridge. Food safety tests and the development of production processes for the four products are ongoing.

In Mindanao, no RTEs are formulated for children, said RTE project leader Ma. Christina B. Ramos of the Philippine Women’s College of Davao. “We needed to develop food that doesn’t need to be cooked, doesn’t need to be diluted with water, so in times of disaster kids can have something to eat.”

Natural disasters render us vulnerable,” added Renato U. Solidum, Jr., DoST undersecretary for Disaster Risk Reduction – Climate Change Adaptation. “Research and development is a tool we can leverage to lessen their possible impacts.”

The DRR-CCAH program’s research priorities are as follows: science and technology innovation to improve health services during disasters; food innovations to mitigate the nutritional and dietary effects of disasters; research to ensure the health consequences during disasters are reduced; and climate change adaptation in health.

“If you ask us what our primary motivation is, it’s our tagline: ‘Science for the people.’” said DoST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña. — Patricia B. Mirasol

In a scarred Hong Kong, ‘beautiful things are gone’

GRAFFITI has been removed off a fence in Hong Kong’s financial district, the site of many 2019 protests, Hong Kong, China, April 23. — REUTERS/LAM YIK

HONG KONG —  As documentary filmmaker Kiwi Chow walked through a pedestrian tunnel in Hong Kong on a recent day, he spotted a team of cleaners scraping off glue left by illegal ads and scrubbing the walls clean with mops.

It reminded him of the day he became an activist during the pro-democracy protests that galvanized this Chinese-ruled city in 2019. Back then, he had gathered with his young son and some friends to cover another tunnel wall with Post-it notes scribbled with political messages and drawings.

Strangers joined in.

“I was very happy. It was the first time I was an organizer,” he said.

The next day, as he walked past, cleaners were removing the mosaic of notes, known in Hong Kong as “Lennon walls” after the original John Lennon Wall in communist-controlled Prague in the 1980s that was covered with graffiti, Beatles lyrics, and messages of political grievance.

Urged over the phone by his wife, he collected some of the notes from the ground. “Pick as much as you can,” she told him. “Bring back the drawing by your son!”

The cleaners on that day in Aug. 2019 told Mr. Chow that they needed to clear the tunnel wall and photograph it as proof of their work for their bosses. But then they told him that he could put the Post-its back on the other side of the tunnel.

To Mr. Chow, that was the cleaners’ act of resistance, an experience that inspired him to use his own profession for the cause.

“This is the Hong Kong spirit,” he thought, and took his camera out to film the protests. He hopes to finish editing the documentary later this year.

Clearing the Lennon Walls was the beginning of “beautiful things” being destroyed, he said.

“Of course, we feel angry when beautiful things are gone; it’s important, and we need to remember. But the anger can also transfer into perseverance,” said Mr. Chow, now 42. After all, during the protests, the Lennon wall in his tunnel was dismantled many times, but people rebuilt it.

But today, Lennon walls have disappeared. They’ve been risky to assemble since China introduced a sweeping national security law a year ago to crack down on what it deems subversion, secessionism, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

People who want a democratic future for the city are regrouping behind an invisible front line that is harder to disrupt with tear gas and rubber bullets, but still, they say, under attack: the memory of what happened in 2019.

Democracy activists charge that those in power are trying to take control of the narrative, and they fear that future generations will hear only the government’s version of events: that the 2019 protests were illegal riots by a minority of people who were manipulated by foreign forces to undermine the rise of China under the successful leadership of the Communist Party.

Public broadcaster RTHK has removed archives containing shows covering the protests or that were critical of the government and investigating those in power, prompting online activists to move backup copies onto blockchain platforms.

Authorities have declared certain slogans and songs illegal, have removed or reframed sensitive topics in school curricula and pulled democracy books off the shelves of public libraries. Cinemas, universities, and art galleries have cancelled screenings or exhibitions of protest-related works.

The Hong Kong government recently enacted new guidelines that allow authorities to censor films on the basis of safeguarding national security. “The censor should be vigilant to the portrayal, depiction or treatment of any act or activity which may amount to an offence endangering national security … and any content of a film which is objectively and reasonably capable of being perceived as endorsing, supporting, promoting, glorifying, encouraging or inciting such act or activity,” the guidelines state.

Chinese and local authorities deny freedoms have been curbed and say their actions are vital to defend the red line of national security, restore stability, and bring prosperity.

Responding to questions from Reuters, a government spokesman said that “no civil society in the world could accept such violence and vandalism” as occurred in what he called the “riots” of 2019. The government, he said, “has no tolerance for illegal acts and strongly decries any attempt to glorify illegal acts using the excuse of freedom and democracy.”

On censorship rules, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said in June that her government had to strike a balance between respecting creative freedom and safeguarding national security and that officials “will discuss with the industry to allay their concerns and anxiety.”

RTHK, the broadcaster, said its new archive policy for social media platforms matches its practice for the official website, which keeps programs from the past 12 months, and that few media organizations would keep entire archives online permanently.

“We fail to see how our archive policy and arrangements for RTHK programs on YouTube are in any way relevant to your story about attempts by some people in Hong Kong to defend and preserve their version of the social event in 2019,” it said.

China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, which comes under the State Council, or cabinet, and the Hong Kong Liaison Office, Beijing’s top representative body in the city, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

It’s not only a battle over the narrative: Since the protests died down last year, the city’s very landscape has changed, leaving familiar places unfamiliar.

Suspended footpaths that protesters used to launch petrol bombs have been covered with fences and barbed wire. Plastic, water-filled barriers surround and protect administrative buildings, forcing pedestrians to cross to the other side or walk through a narrow corridor in between the barriers and police in riot gear standing guard.

Litter bins throughout the city, which protesters used as shields, have been replaced with plastic bags hanging from a metal loop. Paved sidewalks, from which protesters dug up bricks to throw at police, have been repaired with concrete.

“If Hong Kong is a person, the ground is the skin. It’s like they are doing a laser surgery,” said Jade Chung, a 24-year-old freelance journalist whose work focuses on human rights and pro-democracy activists’ struggle for freedom.

Beyond the physical changes, she said that after the government started to crack down, many things became hard to say out loud. That has led to secret codes of resistance against authoritarian rule, she said.

When Ms. Chung asked for the Wi-Fi password at a tiny Hong Kong restaurant recently, she got an answer that was much more than that: 721831101.

July 21, Aug. 31, and Oct. 1 were three of the most violent days of the unrest in 2019, a password connecting Ms. Chung with a past she feels authorities are trying to rewrite after regaining control.

“I guess it is the only way we can express ourselves now,” Ms. Chung said.

She wants to unlock a version of events that won’t be told in history lessons and is fading from public discourse.

“We do not want to remember, yet do not dare to forget. People do many things on the side to protect our collective memory,” said Ms. Chung, who contributed to Road to Hong Kong, a book about the protests. “We did not forget. We may be waiting for a chance to do something.”

In the year since the security law was introduced, minutes before the July 1 anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule, China has also overhauled the city’s political system, demanding that anyone holding public office is “patriotic” and loyal to Beijing. Most opposition politicians and democratic activists are either in jail, ensnared by the new law or for other reasons, or in exile.

In mid-April, Hong Kong authorities marked National Security Education Day, with school activities, games and shows, and a parade by police and other services performing the Chinese military’s “goose step” march.

In schools and cultural centers, residents were invited to build national security “mosaic walls,” a top-down, organized version of the 2019 Lennon walls. “Supporting the national security law is not an issue. Support! Support! Support! I hope we can be one with the mainland,” one Post-it on a wall set up at the Wong Cho Bau Secondary School read.

Children were given toy versions of police guns and played with them under the watchful eye of cops in riot gear, including inside a replica of a subway train carriage. To many in Hong Kong, these images were a surreal shadow play of the widely televised scenes of police officers charging onto a train on Aug. 31, 2019, pepper-spraying and hitting cowing youngsters with batons.

BATTLE OF THE SYMBOLS
The fight with the government in the arena of symbols, words, and culture is a sequel to the more chaotic battles of 2019, when petrol bombs were thrown almost on a daily basis for months on end in one of the world’s most peaceful cities, activists say.

This, too, is a battle that authorities are not shying away from.

In early May, as Herbert Chow was ordering dinner, police vans turned up at his new Chickeeduck shop in the Tsuen Wan district. At first, Mr. Chow thought authorities were there to enforce a COVID 19-related lockdown on a nearby building.

But officers wearing “national security department” vests began cordoning the area around his shop, drawing crowds of curious onlookers. They entered the shop, showed him a search warrant and began looking through the items for sale.

“It’s like they were raiding a bar to find drugs,” Mr. Chow recalled, standing near a two-meter-tall bust of a protester wearing a helmet, goggles, and gas mask and holding a yellow rubber duck above his head as if he were about to throw a Molotov cocktail.

Mr. Chow, 57, was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with “Liberate Sausages, Vegetables of our time” and “Five meatballs, no sauce left” imprinted on it — puns that echo slogans of the protests such as “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our time” and “Five demands, not one less.” He said he believed all his ducks were in a row, legally speaking.

Officials have said the “Liberate Hong Kong” slogan is subversive and illegal, a claim that will be tested in coming months in a court case against a motorcycle driver arrested under the new law.

Mr. Chow’s shop also carries “Be water” beers. The product name alludes to a protest tactic of playing cat and mouse with the police to drain their resources, inspired by a quote from Hong Kong martial arts legend Bruce Lee, urging fighters to constantly adapt to the enemy.

Mr. Chow’s food puns didn’t trigger an arrest or any sanction, but the raid was enough to frighten two of his employees, who quit afterward.

“I was very angry — the scale of one to 10, the angry level was nine,” he said. “The remaining one was fear that they scared my colleagues and made them quit, which they did succeed at.”

Police have said officers entered the store with a court warrant after receiving a complaint that the shop was suspected of violating the national security law.

Mr. Chow said he wants his shop to become a place of hope.

“We want to tell people that we still have free space,” he said. “It’s because we see that they might change history.”

Kiwi Chow, the filmmaker, said his children are literal reminders of Hong Kong’s history: His son was born in 2014, the year when protesters of the “Umbrella movement” occupied the main arteries of the financial district for 79 days; his daughter was born in 2019.

“The regime wants us to forget. I hope to use my camera to remember,” he said. “We are resisting in our memories. We are resisting forgetfulness.” —  Reuters

Better infrastructure opens new opportunities for Clark

WITH improvements in infrastructure, Clark in Pampanga province is now seen as an alternative for Metro Manila and as a business opportunity for investors and locators.

“The pandemic has accelerated decentralization and Metro Clark has the necessary amenities and support facilities to support the businesses that needs to be established here,” JLL Philippines Capital Markets Director Ian Perez said in a media briefing to present an overview of the Metro Clark real estate market on Tuesday.

“All roads lead to Clark. We have the improved infrastructure that makes Metro Clark more accessible,” he said.

Around 80 kilometers north of the National Capital Region, Clark may be accessible via major highways such as the North Luzon Expressway and Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3.

Clark, Pampanga includes districts Clark Freeport Zone, Clark International Airport, Clark Global City, and New Clark City. It also has mixed-use developments and residential townships.

JLL said that Metro Clark is offering a diverse supply of office spaces and industrial needs.

“For offices, we see that there’s going to be an additional of at least 280,000 square meters (sq.m.) of space starting first quarter of next year and there’s a dedicated 700 hectares of land across Metro Clark for industrial purposes,” Mr. Perez said.

Offshoring and outsourcing firms remain to be one of the key drivers for the demand in office spaces in Metro Clark, on top of traditional offices.

“There’s still a demand [from] the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector,” Mr. Perez said.

A good number of BPO companies in Clark started their operations in Clark without branching out to Metro Manila, Mr. Perez said. Most of these BPO firms are from Australia.

“The logistics and storage [sector] is also a demand driver, particularly on the last-mile delivery, which has been boosted by our current situation,” Mr. Perez said. “A lot of us are doing a lot of online shopping and that equates to additional spaces and needs coming from these companies.”

There is also a “resurgence” in the demand for spaces to cater to manufacturing firms.

“With all this allocated space and with all the demand and inquiries we’re getting, it’s coming, it will be there soon,” Mr. Perez said.

JLL said rent for space in the area is seen to be steady. Once projects and developments are completed by early next year, a slight dip in rent is expected.

More companies are also expected to look into the Clark or the north Luzon area.

“The entire Northern Luzon region is still untapped in terms of the potential work force that can actually go to those offices,” JLL Philippines Vice-Chairman Joey M. Radovan said.

He said that as Clark builds up more spaces and becomes more attractive for its modern infrastructure and the development’s sustainability, “you would probably see more companies [from Metro Manila locations] put more effort in terms of expanding into the area.” — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte