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Banks maintain strict lending standards in Q2

BW FILE PHOTO

BANKS continued to impose tighter credit standards in the second quarter and could keep these for businesses while ease those for consumers in the coming months, a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey showed.

The BSP’s latest Senior Bank Loan Officers’ Survey published on Thursday showed most respondent banks maintained their lending standards for both enterprises and households in the April to June period, based on the modal approach.

Based on the diffusion index (DI) approach of the study, however, there was net tightening of credit standards for both enterprises and consumers.

A total of 53 banks responded to the survey out of the 64 lenders tapped to participate, representing a response rate of 82.8%. Inputs were gathered from June 2 to July 8.

“The net tightening of overall credit standards was evident in terms of reduced credit line sizes; stricter collateral requirements and loan covenants; and increased use of interest rate floors,” the central bank said.

Meanwhile, there were some indications of easing in terms of narrower loan margins and longer loan maturities.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the quarterly survey reflected banks’ aversion to granting credit.

Bank lending declined for the sixth straight month in June by 4.5%, although easing from the 5% contraction seen in May.

Based on the modal approach, loan demand from both businesses and consumers remained unchanged in the second quarter. However, the DI approach showed overall demand for business loans recorded a net increase, while retail loans registered a net decline.

The slight uptick in loan demand from businesses was attributed by respondent banks to an improvement in customers’ economic outlook and clients’ increased accounts receivable and inventory financing needs.

On the other hand, the net decrease in credit demand from households was attributed to reduced appetite to spend for big ticket items during the crisis and banks’ less attractive financing terms.

OUTLOOK
For this quarter, majority of the respondent banks expect to retain their overall credit standards for both enterprises and households, based on the modal approach.

However, the DI approach showed lenders expect to maintain their tight standards for firms while easing those for households.

“Diffusion index-based results [for businesses] indicated expectations of net tighter standards amid a deterioration of borrowers’ profiles and in the profitability of banks’ portfolio, less favorable economic outlook, and banks’ decreased tolerance for risk,” the BSP said.

Lenders appear to be more bullish on households as they expect a net easing in underwriting standards for loans to the sector, citing an anticipated improvement in borrowers’ profiles and positive economic prospects.

Business and consumer loan demand are expected to increase in the July to September period, based on the DI approach.

Respondent banks expect to see increased demand for credit from businesses due to higher inventory financing requirements along with their improved economic outlook. Higher demand from consumers is also anticipated amid an expected increase in consumption and need for financing due to lower income prospects. — L.W.T. Noble

Amy Winehouse remembered in new film

Amy Winehouse at the Eurockéennes of 2007 — EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/

LONDON — Amy Winehouse’s family and friends look back on her life in a new documentary marking 10 years since the singer’s death, with harrowing accounts of her rise to global fame and struggles with addiction. Narrated by her mother Janis Winehouse-Collins, Reclaiming Amy features home footage, family pictures and interviews with close friends who recall the six-time Grammy Award winner’s happier as well as darker times. Ms. Winehouse-Collins, who has multiple sclerosis (MS), has rarely spoken about her daughter publicly but shares her version of events in the documentary, which was commissioned by Britain’s BBC Two and BBC Music and will air on Friday. Ms. Winehouse, who struggled with drink and drug problems through much of her career, died from alcohol poisoning at her north London home on July 23, 2011. She was 27. Considered one of the most talented singers of her generation with hits including “Rehab” and “Back to Black,” her untimely death shook the music world. — Reuters

AllHome launches 55th store in Batangas

ALLHOME Corp. recently opened its 55th store located along Maharlika Highway in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, along with other Villar-led brands AllDay Supermarket, Coffee Project, Bake My Day, and AllDay RX.

“We are proud to continue our push to bring the AllHome brand to more Filipinos across the country,” AllHome Vice-Chairman Camille A. Villar said in a statement on Thursday.

AllHome offers seven product categories, which are: hardware, construction, tiles and sanitary wares, furniture, appliances, linens, and homewares.

It also has in-house brands under “AllHome Exclusives,” which are imported products said to be priced reasonably.

AllHome currently has 41 stores in “mega” Manila, along with seven in Luzon, three in Visayas, and four in Mindanao.

“As the economy continues to open up, we fully intend to further grow our presence beyond Metro Manila,” AllHome Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr. said.

Shares of AllHome went up by 0.65% or five centavos on Thursday, closing at P7.69 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Employers urged to address young hires’ climate change concerns

REUTERS

JOB APPLICANTS are increasingly querying their prospective employers about the company’s climate-change policies, First Philippine Holdings Corp. said.

“The ability to hire the best also depends on them taking a stance that’s for the betterment of the world,” the group’s Chief Executive Officer Federico R. Lopez said during a virtual conference hosted by the Makati Business Club Thursday.

He said younger applicants now prefer firms that have specific positions on mitigating climate change or those with ongoing efforts to do so.

Citing evidence gathered from his industry counterparts, Mr. Lopez said companies have interviewed promising candidates asking about the company’s position on issues like coal mining.

These candidates tend to seek other jobs if the interviewer fails to provide a suitable answer, he said.

As such workers rise up the ranks, their advocacies are expected to come to the fore.

“Imagine that kind of purchasing power putting its bulk behind the issue of climate change? That can change many, many things,” Mr. Lopez said.

The country should prepare for this new wave of employees and consumers, he added.

“If as a country we are not ready for that, we will not be part of the global supply chain as it moves forward. We will be left out and not only that, we will be left with stranded assets,” Mr. Lopez said. — K.C.G. Valmonte

Getting the cap on the bottle: Inside Procter & Gamble’s robot ambitions

REUTERS

CINCINNATI/TABLERS STATION, W.V. — Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) may be best known for laundry detergent and toothpaste, but its secret sauce is arguably figuring out how to do things like get two red bottles of Olay skin lotion into blister packs as cheaply and accurately as possible.

That task is currently done by hand at its factories.

But at one of the conglomerate’s secretive robotics labs on the outskirts of Cincinnati, researchers have programmed a robot to do the job.

It’s a surprisingly tricky maneuver for a machine. The robot arm plucks two bottles at a time from a box and lays them into the dimples with the labels facing forward so they’re visible when the package is sealed.

“That’s the key — getting the labels exactly oriented,” said Mark Lewandowski, director of robotics innovation at P&G’s global engineering center, pointing to the test line he’s set up inside the facility. “We’ll be rolling this out in the next month or two” to P&G’s factories, he said.

Many companies make consumer goods. Yet it’s ones who can make them the most eye-catching for consumers, and do it as cheaply as possible, that do best.

In that regard, P&G is a model and its use of high-speed automation and robots is a key to its success. P&G is the world’s largest consumer-goods maker and dominates many of its businesses. For example, analysts estimate its Bounty brand accounts for 40% of all paper towels sold in the United States. Investors appreciate its steady profits and dividends. The company has raised its dividend 65 years in a row.

To be sure, P&G is mainly known as a branding expert, not a designer of factory machines. But developing key pieces of its own automation has helped it compete in businesses where shaving fractions of a penny off the cost of making each Pampers diaper and Gillette razor blade is essential.

And the pressure to cut costs is stronger than ever. Like other manufacturers, P&G is pushing through price increases to offset a surge in raw material and shipping costs.

“In commodity businesses like P&G’s, price is everything,” said David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies the impact of automation. “For that kind of business, you need scale and efficiency,” and that means staying on the cutting edge of production technology.

GETTING IT INTO A BOX
Lewandowski’s lab, tucked in a nondescript brick building surrounded by suburban shopping plazas, works on robots that could end up in a factory at any one of P&G’s six main business units. The robot that handles Olay bottles, for example, was developed as part of a larger challenge of creating machines and grippers that can handle bottles and tubes of many shapes and sizes and get them into increasingly complex packaging.

“Everyone talks about the Amazon challenge — the gripping and picking,” said Lewandowski, referring to the online retailing giant. But for P&G, it isn’t enough to just get a bottle into a box.

Consumer products designers are constantly dreaming up new shapes and sizes of containers, sometimes adding features like pour spouts or clamp-down lids, to help products stand out on grocery shelves. That can mean costly adjustments to machinery every time a line switches to a new product.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the development of some new automated systems. At many P&G factories, Lewandowski noted, clusters of hourly workers come together — often shoulder to shoulder — to assemble special assortments or the cardboard displays that highlight products at the end of grocery aisles.

“People are still the ultimate machine” for that job, he said. But over the past year, he’s found ways to automate more of it — in part to aid social distancing. This push to automate this hand work is likely to continue beyond the pandemic, he noted, because P&G’s factories are struggling to find workers willing to do these jobs in tight labor markets.

NOT FOR EVERY JOB
In addition to Lewandowski’s lab, P&G operates a network of separate research centers that focus on automation problems unique to each business.

A few miles away, for instance, is a research center devoted to the fabric and homecare business. This lab, with a huge vintage advertising photo of a woman hanging up laundry on a clothesline in the entry, has existed for three decades. But only in the last five years has it created a section that focuses on pure robotics rather than more generic automated machinery.

Roger Williams, the lab’s technical director, estimates that only 20% of the automation in P&G’s factories involves true robots, which are slower than “fixed automation” such as machines that squirt detergent into a bottle or fasten caps. But that is up from 10% a decade ago.

Williams said he always has a “hit list” of 15 projects on the floor of his lab, each aimed at determining the feasibility of using robots for a given task. He was recently asked, for instance, to determine if a robot could stuff bags of powdered detergent into boxes — a relatively new type of packaging for their Tide brand.

“That one didn’t move forward,” he said. While it was possible, the cost to install and program the robots didn’t justify the investment for a relatively small-volume item.

FLEXIBILITY AND AGILITY
Another project, still underway, is aimed at finding a way to move a new bottle cap type onto the detergent-bottle filling assembly line. That is typically done with a “unscrambler,” a mechanism that shakes and turns piles of caps until they are oriented to feed into the filling machine. The new caps can’t go through that because they include a delicate device that could be damaged.

“We’re working on a robot that will pick up 40 caps at a time and index them into the final system,” he said.

At one of the company’s newest plants, in Tablers Station, West Virginia, robots dot the production floor. On a recent day, fast-moving arms were plucking pink Pantene hair conditioner tubes and placing them onto a line to be filled.

“We’re always looking for places where we need flexibility and agility,” said Jim Utter, a project manager at the plant. One of the big opportunities he sees is adding more mobile robots, which could be used to move bundles of parts between different parts of the plant. The newest models can find their way around unexpected obstacles, rather than relying on fixed tracks.

“That’s essential in place like this, where everything is always moving,” he said.  — Reuters

Stuff to do (07/23/21)

The PPO Spotlight: Virtual Pocket Performances

THE PHILIPPINE Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) starts its next series of online concerts called The PPO Spotlight: Virtual Pocket Performances with the first to be streamed on July 23, 8 p.m., through the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ website. The program for the July 23 concert focuses on Indie and Alternative music, and features pop songs performed by the orchestra’s classical musicians. They are: the Eraserheads’ “With a Smile” performed by Ayesa Cruz (violin) and Madeline Jane Banta (Harp); Up Dharma Down’s “Tadhana” performed by Ma. Angelica Uson (violin) and Herrick Ortiz (cello); Wolfgang’s “Halik ni Hujdas” interpreted by Giancarlo Gonzales (cello); The Dawn’s “Salamat” performed by violinists Christian Tan and Jose Carlo Tuazon, Rey Casey Concepcion (viola), Giuseppe Andre Diestro (cello), and Vincent Dela Cruz (contrabass); and Eric Yaptangco’s “Harana” played by the PPO’s brass and percussion section with Abner Cruz (electric bass). The program can be viewed on the PPO Facebook page and the CCP YouTube channel.

Cats for adoption at Robinsons Magnolia

ROBINSONS Magnolia will host “Barrio FURRiesta, MEOWsaya!,” a pet adoption event on July 24 that will feature 14 cats that are ready for adoption plus a fair of pet items, accessories and affordable pet services. All the cats are rescued puspins. A pet parade around the mall will officially start the event, followed by a series of interviews for prospective pet parents at 3 p.m. Pre-registration is encouraged —  visit  tinyurl.com/BarrioAdoption. The Barrio FURRiesta event will also offer low-cost anti-rabies vaccination and microchipping. On sale will be a variety of pet merchandise from Pawssion Project and its partners merchants. Pet parents and adopter candidates can win special raffle prizes by participating in the pet adoption event and purchasing items from the Pawssion Project booth and partner merchants. Gifts await first 30 new Happy Pets Club members. This is the second pet adoption project of Robinsons Malls Happy Pets Club, through its The Gift of Furever Home CSR program, and in partnership with Pawssion Project.

PWDs’ products, services showcased in online bazaar

IN CELEBRATION of National Disability Week, newly established social enterprise Precious Works of Differently Abled Enterprise (PWDe) will put the spotlight on the talents and skills of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) through an online bazaar on Lazada starting July 21. The online bazaar features products made and services to be provided by deaf people, people with Autism and Down syndrome, physically disabled people, and other PWDs including food products (French macarons, no-bake cheesecakes, Korean samgyupsal sets, buko pandan, macaroni); craft and gift items (paintings, customized flower and basket arrangements, table runners, saori weaves, drawstring pouches, T-shirts); and services like encoding, cleaning, sign language classes, graphic design, and photography. Avail of these products and services by visiting the dedicated page for the bazaar on the Lazada website or app Precious Works of Differently Abled Enterprise.

Philbanda marks 10th year with virtual concert

THE CULTURAL Center of the Philippines (CCP) teams up with the Philippine Band Association (Philbanda) in bringing the latter’s decade-long celebration to the virtual screen through a concert billed as PERFECT 10 on July 24, 6 p.m., on the Facebook page of the CCP Office of the President. Featuring the 60-piece Philbanda Wind Orchestra, PERFECT 10 highlights a decade of symphonic performances from the country’s sole professional wind orchestra. This special virtual concert will also be graced by the Philippine Baton Twirling Association, and will be hosted by OPM artist Ice Seguerra. Herminigildo Ranera of the UST Conservatory of Music is the current conductor of the Philbanda Wind Orchestra. Young talents from Metro Manila and local participants from different regions will also showcase their talents in the premiere performance of Mr. Ranera’s “New Normal Concert March,” a rare opportunity for local musicians to perform alongside professional groups via virtual platforms. For updates and more information, follow the CCP Office of the President on Facebook.

Online kid’s puppet show tackles self-expression

THE FREE public interactive show Ang Red Dress ni Makisig, a 30-minute theatrical children-style hand-puppetry production, aids the youth about breaking gender norms while promoting innovative reading and storytelling. Set in the fictional Catacutan Elementary School, the play follows nine-year-old transfer student Makisig who decides to wear a bright red dress on his first day in class. The puppet show was directed by John Gamboa, and written by Jack Denzel Gaza, Arjay Rosales, and Gabby Serafico, all of whom are members of Sining LABinsiyam (SiLAB), a group of Filipino student-artists and thespians. It is produced in collaboration with the Quezon City Public Library and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Service Learning Team. Shows — to be livestreamed via Zoom and Facebook — are scheduled on July 23, 10 a.m.; July 24, 2 p.m.; and July 25 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. For more information, visit the official Facebook pages of SiLAB (https://www.facebook.com/SiLAB119) or Benilde Theater Arts (https://www.facebook.com/benildetheaterarts)

Gavel&Block ‘Interiors’ auction

EXPLORE Salcedo Auctions’ virtual gallery to view the “Interiors” auction line-up which features a selection of original fine art, decor, and furniture by local and international artists and artisans. The auction is on July 24, 11 a.m. Proceeds from the sale, done in partnership with Hands on Manila, will go to supporting Advancement for Rural Kids’ (ARK) Feed Back program to secure food and provide health benefits to a community in Pililia, Rizal. For more information, visit https://salcedoauctions.com/auction/87/interiors.

Art in the Park returns online

AFTER two successful online art fairs, Art in the Park Online returns for a 15th anniversary special edition on July 25 to Aug. 1 at www.artinthepark.ph. The eight-day online fair will feature over 10,000 works of art from 62 galleries, four special exhibits, and a variety of special online activities. All works are priced at P70,000 and below for this special edition. Art in the Park Online 2021: Special Edition will continue to benefit the Museum Foundation of the Philippines in support of its projects and programs for the National Muse-um of the Philippines and its network. For more information, visit www.artinthepark.ph and follow www.facebook/artinthepark and @artintheparkph on Instagram.

Home items in Casa de Memoria’s auction

AT CASA de Memoria’s Tercero auction — now live online until July 31 — features many items to elevate the home, from paintings and chandeliers to furniture and more. Among the highlight lots at the auction are intricate lamps, some of which have been refreshed by Michelle Lao of Solano and chairs like a pair of 19th century Portuguese mahogany fauteuils upholstered with settees, and a pair of early 20th century Spanish barber’s armchair seats. To explore the auction pieces online, visit bit.ly/CasaDeMemoriaOnline. For more information, visit www.casadememoria.com, call 8253-3994, or e-mail hello@casadememoria.com.

Webinar spotlights gender, female, trans experiences in architecture

GENDER and diversity of voice in the local architecture scene, amid the growing population of female students pursuing the path, is spotlighted in a free public webinar headlined by female and transgender Filipina professionals. Artist-architects Micaela Benedicto and Isola Tong will discuss their design processes, as well as their respective key project samples and ongoing works that are an extension of their expertise and talent into visual arts and music. Benedicto, a practicing architect through MB Architecture Studio, places emphasis on the relationships between the unique user, the built space and the environment. She is also a visual artist, whose latest exhibition, Volume, is currently on view at Silverlens, and is part of the pop duo Outerhope, with releases under Terno Recordings, Number Line Records, and Shelflife Records. Ms. Tong’s art spans a variety of media portraying a divergence from anthropocentrism towards interconnected biologies. A cum laude graduate at the University of Santo Tomas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture, she is an incoming graduate student at University of California in Santa Cruz, California. Having studied and worked in Osaka, Japan for four years, she currently teaches architectural design, theory and history at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB). Hosted by the Social and Academic Guild for Architects (SAGA), the talk is scheduled on July 30, 1 to 2:30 p.m. For more information, visit the official Facebook page of SAGA at https://www.facebook.com/sagacsb.

First Gen to supply clean energy to Menarco Tower in Taguig

THE Lopez group’s power generation arm First Gen Corp. announced on Thursday that it will be supplying clean power to the Taguig-based Menarco Tower of Menarco Development Corp.

In an e-mailed statement, First Gen Vice-President Carlos Lorenzo L. Vega said that the company will be providing the 32-storey tower with 800 kilowatts of electricity generated from a geothermal plant owned by First Gen’s indirect subsidiary Green Core Geothermal, Inc. (GCGI).

The deal, which was completed this month, will last for two years.

“We are happy that our agreement with Menarco Development will complement Menarco Tower’s image as a very innovative, energy efficient, healthy, safe and hi-tech office boutique tower,” Mr. Vega said.

Menarco Development Founder and Chief Executive Carmen Jimenez-Ong said that the developer is proud to partner with First Gen for its renewable energy needs.

“By consistently walking the talk, we take an active part in the country’s efforts to mitigate climate change and rolling blackouts. Together, we are part of the solution, not the problem,” she said.

Menarco Development is a firm chaired by Menardo R. Jimenez, Sr., a real estate businessman and former president of GMA Network, Inc.

“This partnership may just be another small step. But by repeating these steps and forging partnerships with more like-minded groups, we can help achieve a decarbonized and regenerative future,” First Gen’s Mr. Vega said.

First Gen reported a first-quarter net income attributable to its parent of $84.02 million, up by 29% from $65.16 million in the same period last year, as the economy slowly recovered.

Its shares in the local bourse inched up by 0.34% or 10 centavos to finish at P29.10 apiece on Thursday. — Angelica Y. Yang

Investing in innovation to help insurers expand faster, improve prospects

INSURERS THAT invest in innovation are able to expand faster and improve their operations, boosting their long-term prospects, an official from global insurance ratings agency AM Best Company said.

Greg Carter, managing director of analytics for Asia Pacific at AM Best, said insurance companies that invest heavily in innovation see their businesses expand faster and are able to lower costs and improve their overall operations.

He said these improvements could translate, although not immediately, to better prospects for these insurers and eventually help prop up their credit ratings.

“The insurance industry is, historically, not the most innovative when you look at other sectors, financial services, and other consumer products, insurance tends not to have attracted the major investments,” Mr. Carter said during the second day of the Insurance Summit 2021.

“What’s out there is a huge digital ecosystem of other companies innovating, and providing solutions to all manner of problems that the insurance industry can tap into,” he said.

AM Best measures insurers’ ability to innovate through the efforts and investments they put in — which they refer to as the input score — and the results generated or the output score.

These innovation scores are used to group insurers into five categories. The top players with a score of at least 28 will be considered a “leader” in innovation, followed by those grouped as “prominent” with a score of 23-27, “significant” for insurers with in 18-22 points, “moderate” for scores ranging from 12 to 17, and “minimal” for those with less than 12 points.

AM Best Senior Financial Analyst for Southeast Asia Yuan Tian said its latest innovation assessment showed more than 50% of rated insurers were tagged as “moderate” and only one company was considered a “leader.”

Around 10% were able to reach the second-highest ranking of “prominent,” followed by 20% in the “significant” category, while the remaining 20% were under “minimal.”

The data showed that the output scores of companies were lower than their input scores across categories, proving that investments do not always translate to results, she said.

“A company must be able to demonstrate they have utilized the capital efficiently to create value and to have tangible results to be able to receive higher scores, and higher overall innovation,” Ms. Tian said.

“The companies that have good innovation capabilities are more likely to keep pace with the development of the industry, or to be successful and sustainable in the longer term. The company that fails to innovate may run into the risk of becoming less competitive or less relevant in their market, which could drag out the profile and the performance over time,” she added.

Ms. Tian noted that Asia has a large number of diversified insurance companies, with some more matured than others. However, the highly innovative insurers in Asia are fewer compared to those other regions like Europe.

She said insurers are trying to innovate further as the coronavirus pandemic prompted them to improve their operations and distribution channels, enhance personal and health insurance products and explore digital platforms.

“However, some of those innovation efforts may be limited by resources, human capital, readiness of infrastructure available in those less developed markets,” Ms. Tian noted.

“Overall, we think that majority of the insurers in Asia recognize the importance of innovation, although the level of developments, the pace of adoption of new technology, are quite varied markets by markets and companies by companies,” she added. — B.M. Laforga

Independent directors: How can they create value?

THE Management Association of the Philippine sponsored a webinar on “Governance Champions: How Can Independent Directors Create Value?” It was my privilege to be a panelist together with Fred Pascual, lead independent director of SM Investments Corp., Atty. Nenet Lavares, independent director of Metrobank, and IFC’s Roman Zyla, ably moderated by ICD Trustee JJ Moreno.

My journey as a board director started when I joined government service as Undersecretary of Finance. Coming from Citibank, I was alternate director of then Finance Secretary Jose Pardo in the boards of LANDBANK, PDIC and the BSP Monetary Board. It was in BSP that I became “fully” aware of the board member’s role when Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Jess Estanislao and ADB’s Arvind Mathur presented about corporate governance and the board members’ responsibilities. I realized that a board member cannot just be a “wallpaper” or a plant box in the room, but rather should be active and ask questions especially on critical issues, given the heavy responsibilities involved. A director’s loyalty is to the company and should always act according to the company’s best interest to enhance shareholder value.

I joined as a PNB director in 2001 as a government nominee, and, five years later was approved by the BSP as an independent director (ID), meaning I am independent of management, free from any business or other relationships, and not part of the day-to-day management of PNB. I was an independent director/ chairman for the next 15 years and I stepped down in April this year, with the BSP nine-year term limit for IDs counting from 2012.

Independent directors are critical in boards and play an important role, especially in banks, where IDs chair the Risk, Audit and Compliance, Corporate Governance and Related Party committees. Independent directors with their detached judgment, outside experience and objective view are expected to improve corporate credibility and governance standards.

What are tips for IDs? Here’s a few:

A. Know your role, which is mainly to be involved in the policies and general direction of the company and to leave the day-to-day operations to management.

B. Prepare and know the agenda and topics to be discussed. Ask questions to clarify issues. It is very important to have good knowledge of the company’s operations to make decisions on Board issues.

Provide time and energy. No matter how competent, if you have no time or don’t speak up, you will not be effective. Very critical in banks as IDs are working directors with committees they chair and members of.

C. Continuous learning and improvement — “reskill, upskill.” Know latest developments and trends. There are webinars going on and many are even free.

Network. Hold memberships in associations. FINEX, MAP, BAIPHIL, PCCI, and if you’re a woman, FCC, Business Women, Women in Finance, etc.

D. Be an advocate or a champion for ESG (Environment, Sustainability, Governance). For example, to make a mark in corporate governance, what better way for publicly listed companies to show this than through the ASEAN Scorecard? Happy that PNB was recognized with three Golden Arrow Awards in the 2019 ASEAN Scorecard.

Can one ID create value? It’s very challenging. This was a topic among the panelists. An ID can initiate the idea and follow through, but still you need the support of the rest of the board and of course the  management to implement. Communication is important to have everyone on same page for the value you’re trying to create and teamwork is key.

Indeed, the ID’s role is critical in this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous “new normal” world, especially for an ID without any agenda other than the company’s interest and who wants to make a difference!

On another note, Weedibles Weedicinals Plus Edible Flowers and More, a book collaboration between the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and Flor’s Garden, was recently launched with Agriculture Secretary William Dar, former Health Secretary Jaime Galvez Tan, ATI Director Alfredo Aton, Deputy Director Ana Mula, ATI 4A Director Pia Cosico, Doc Olan Maningas and Planters Products’ President Mat Maderazo, among others. The book aims to help familiarize everyone with weeds that are useful, edible and have health benefits. Copies may be requested from ATI’s QC information office and the e-book is available on the ATI 4A website.

(The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of these institutions.)

 

Flor G. Tarriela was the first chairwoman of the Philippine National Bank. She was the first and only independent director chairwoman in the commercial banking industry. She is a former Undersecretary of Finance and the first Filipina vice-president of Citibank N.A.  She is a trustee of FINEX and an Institute of Corporate Directors fellow. A gardener and an environmentalist, she established Flor’s Garden in Antipolo, an ATI Accredited National Extension Service Provider and a DoT Accredited Agri Tourism Site.

Entertainment News (07/23/21)

BTS, YouTube launch dance challenge

Pop icons BTS and YouTube have officially announced the “Permission to Dance Challenge” starting today through Aug. 14, exclusively on YouTube Shorts. This is the first-ever worldwide dance challenge on YouTube Shorts, following its global expansion. Anyone from across the globe can create a 15-second YouTube Short right from the YouTube mobile app, replicating the core dance moves from the music video of BTS’ new track, “Permission to Dance.” As part of the challenge, BTS will be spotlighting some of their favorite Shorts in a compilation video, so participants should use the hashtags #PermissiontoDance and #Shorts for their creations to be considered.

Docu looks at child labor during the pandemic

On July 25, Atom Araullo gets to know the working children of the pandemic on The Atom Araullo Specials: Munting Bisig. He tries out compressor diving in Paracale, Camarines Norte with 15-year-old “Pancho”, the youngest compressor diver in their barangay. As the pandemic spread throughout the country, many children just like “Pancho” opted to use their time to find work and earn a few pesos to help their family survive. In Cordillera, Araullo discovers why the province has the lowest cases of child labor in the country. In Pasay City, Araullo meets Joshua, a bread winner of his family at the age of 12. Joshua is part of the “lockdown generation” as he finds himself “stranded” in Metro Manila while his ailing father is left behind in Cavite. Joshua sells snacks to his neighbors so that he can bring home earnings to his family. In June 2021, the International Labour Organization released new findings that after a two-decade decline, child labor cases have once again risen all over the world.  Atom tries to find out if this is true here in the Philippines. Watch The Atom Araullo Specials: Munting Bisig on July 25, 2 p.m., on GMA Network. Viewers abroad can catch it via GMA Pinoy TV.

SB19 releases EP, Pagsibol 

Filipino boy band SB19 has released its six-track EP Pagsibol (germination), a metaphorical reference to the band’s journey in the music industry. “In that context, we want our EP to symbolize our beginnings, origins, or simply our roots,” SB19 said in a statement. The EP contains the empowering song “What?,” an inspiration ballad “MAPA,” a new version of its early ballad “Ikako,” electro-pop and R&B track “Mana,” reggaeton and hip-hop song “Bazinga,” and pop track “SLMT.” Pagsibol is out now on Spotify via Sony Music. The boyband will be performing the songs off the EP for the first time live in an online concert, Back In The Zone, on Aug. 1, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at https://www.ktx.ph/events/31606/sb19-back-in-the-zone. 

Legal Wives on GMA

GMA Network’s new romance drama Legal Wives premieres on July 26. Directed by Zig Dulay, the show follows a member of Maranao Muslim royalty Ismael Makadatu (played by Dennis Trillo) and his relationship with his three wives (played by Alice Dixson, Bianca Umali, and Andrea Torres).

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha on Netflix

The new romance series Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha depicts the lives and romantic stories of two residents in a seaside village: Yoon Hye-jin who opens up a dental clinic, and Hong Du-sik who is technically unemployed but takes on odd jobs and helps everyone in the village. Directed by Yu Je-won and written by Shin Ha-eun, the show stars Shin Min-a and Kim Seon-ho. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha premieres worldwide on Aug. 28 on Netflix.

AC Health breaks ground for specialty cancer hospital

AC Health, the healthcare unit of Ayala Corp., broke ground for the country’s first specialty cancer hospital on Thursday.

“With cancer persisting as a critical public health problem with its tremendous impact on patients, the families, and the healthcare system at large, there is an urgent need to develop sustainable solutions” Fernando Zobel de Ayala, board chairman of AC Health, said in his opening remarks.

Located at the FTI Complex in Taguig City, the Healthway Cancer Care Center is aimed to be completed by July 2023. The 100-bed facility will offer its patients services such as screening, diagnosis, and treatment to post-cancer care.

AC Health said it partnered with Cancer Treatment Services International, Inc., which is an oncology services provider under Varian Medical Systems, Inc., to ensure affordable quality cancer care.

Republic Act No. 11215 or the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA) allows the private sector to create cancer specialty hospitals and clinics.

“Now more than ever, there is a need to provide better avenues for cancer patients to seek consultation and treatment. We are delighted that AC Health will be establishing the first specialized hospital for cancer in the Philippines,” Department of Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.

The Healthway Cancer Care center will be part of AC Health’s healthcare portfolio, which includes: Healthway Clinics, Qualimed Hospitals, Generika Drugstores, IE Medica and MedEthix, and the HealthNow mobile app.

Parent firm Ayala Corp. and AC Health also donated over 1,000 doses of a flu vaccine to Taguig City during the groundbreaking ceremony. Taguig City Mayor Lino Edgardo S. Cayetano said these will be used to vaccinate members of the Philippine National Police, Traffic Management Office, barangay health workers, members of the Bureau of Fire Protection, and other city frontliners.

“The Ayala Group is delighted to support the City of Taguig in its efforts to protect the health of its constituents,” AC Health President and Chief Executive Officer Paolo Maximo F. Borromeo said.

AC Health has also collaborated with Taguig City to vaccinate their constituents across the A1 to A5 priority groups against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

As of July 13, AC Health has administered over 193,000 COVID-19 jabs across local government units, the Ayala group, and its partner companies.

Meanwhile, shares of Ayala Corp. at the local bourse closed unchanged at P754 each on Thursday. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

How to solve unequal worker pay

I’m 34 years old, a pioneer regular rank-and-file employee at a small enterprise established five years ago. Recently, my colleague, a 28-year-old man, passed his probationary employment and became regular as well. I felt disappointed when I learned we’re both being paid P650 a day for doing exactly the same job. Clearly, I’m senior and more experienced on the job. Isn’t unfair to receive the same rate as the new guy? — Brown Horse.

You and your colleagues are receiving the same amount of money for doing the same job. The truth of the matter is — you’re not being treated unfairly. Matthew 20:1-16 explains this in the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Perhaps you know this Bible story. The one who worked for only a few hours in the vineyard got the same pay compared to those who worked the whole day.

You can’t complain because we don’t have a law similar to the Equal Pay Act in other countries to ensure that workers who are performing equal tasks are paid uniformly while trying to avoid discrimination. But not in this country.

Technically, it’s about “pay equity,” as the issue is known among human resource (HR) professionals. The thing is — the HR department head and your boss have missed something. Managers worth their salt should be proactive enough to know all the possible things that could demotivate their people.

For one, your management should have made an attempt to give you higher pay in deference to your seniority and experience. If it cannot afford it, at least pay the new worker P537 per day, which is the mandated rate in the National Capital Region.

TWO CHALLENGES
So, what are your remedies? There’s no avoiding bringing the matter to the attention of your direct boss. Your boss should be the first to know of your predicament before you bring the matter to HR. Explore all the possibilities of how your boss could help you. It’s important to do it that way as there are managers who don’t want to be ignored or bypassed, even if they’re partly to blame for it.  

More importantly, both of you would have a unified and powerful voice in bringing the matter up with HR. Now, assuming your boss supports you in your case, then what are the possible responses HR may have for you?

One, absence of a formal salary structure. It’s the first thing that comes to mind in your case. If they had a pay structure, you would not be in this situation. A pay structure means having a system with job descriptions and their corresponding grade levels stated clearly alongside with the minimum, midpoint, and maximum pay for each level.

If that’s the case, then such a structure would have to be established first by HR doing a job analysis with the help of all department managers, among others. It requires writing the job descriptions, defining the standards for each job, listing down the qualifications of people to be hired, and other factors. Further, your management must decide on the number of job classifications according to the required professional level and technical skills required.

Second, absence of a formal performance management system. This means creating a method by which all workers are measured by their actual performance and not only by their physical presence in the office. Why is that important? To create, maintain, and improve competitive advantage in the industry. It ensures that everyone’s efforts are measured objectively and rewarded properly.

In addition, it is equally important to motivate people who are indispensable. You may have a clearly worded employment contract that spells out mutual expectations, but if there is no evaluation system, your problem will be repeated with other workers.

MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVE
These are difficult tasks for HR and other department managers. Imagine the time, effort, and expertise required. The development and creation of these basic and important policies need professional attention. HR needs a minimum of six months to one year, depending on the company’s headcount, job complexity, and other requirements to draft these policies.

To fast-track the creation of those policies, you will need an external consultant to do the job for you. This requires spending significant amounts as the consultant may have to do some investigation to determine whether salary rates are within industry standards.

 If I’m your management, I would increase your salary by an average of 2.5% a year representing an inflation adjustment for five years. It’s the prerogative of management, anyway. But first things first, your HR department must also investigate if there are other workers who are similarly situated so that the pay inequity is resolved in one sweep.

Note, however, that it’s also a management prerogative not to give any adjustment as your current pay is over and above the statutory requirements.

 

Have a consulting chat with Rey Elbo on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter or you can send anonymous questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting

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