GEELY PHILIPPINES (or Sojitz G Auto Philippines [SGAP]) is embarking on a campaign in support of the Okavango, which it positions as a “bold, ingenious, and gorgeous” (BIG) vehicle. SGAP dubs its test drive promo as “Go BIG with Your Test Drive,” wherein customers who book an Okavango test drive in any Geely dealership nationwide from May to June 2021 will have a chance to win an Apple Watch, CTEK MXS 5.0 bundle, and a Shell fuel card loaded with P5,000. A total of 80 winners will be drawn (five winners per Geely dealership).
To enter the raffle, a person must first go to www.geelyph.com and book a test drive by filling out a form and choosing the dealership where he or she will try out the Geely Okavango.
The Okavango is positioned as seven-seater crossover boasting space, technology, design, power, and safety to elevate the driving experience. Geely Philippines said in a release that, “Driving and riding will be a lot easier and comfortable with the Okavango’s vast interior where adults can seat comfortably in all three rows.”
The vehicle is powered by a 1.5-liter turbo engine jointly developed by Geely and Volvo. This is mated to a seven-speed wet-type dual clutch transmission. All Okavango units are equipped with a mild hybrid system called the 48V Electric Motor Synergy (EMS) technology that further boosts the vehicle performance and enhances fuel efficiency.
LONDON — Chocolate and cocoa companies are tracing where more of their cocoa beans come from, as pressure mounts on them to buy beans from growers who are not linked to deforestation or human rights abuses, data from the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) shows.
The industry group said companies can now trace or locate the origin of 74% of the beans in their direct supply chain in top cocoa producer Ivory Coast, and 82% of their directly sourced beans in No. 2 producer Ghana.
Directly sourced cocoa accounts for about half the beans that cocoa and chocolate companies source, while an indirect supply chain — consisting of unaffiliated exporters, traders and farmers — accounts for the other half.
Traceability, which includes measures like GPS mapping and satellite monitoring of farms in order to prevent deforestation, is far more difficult in an indirect chain that includes many middlemen unaccountable to the final bean purchaser.
“To address indirect sourcing through middlemen, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have both launched national systems to achieve full traceability of the entire cocoa supply chain,” said the WCF.
Alain-Richard Donwahi, minister of water and forests in Ivory Coast, said establishing a national cocoa traceability system and national forest monitoring was “an important challenge to be addressed.”
Ivory Coast and Ghana are also under pressure to clean up their cocoa sector because the EU, their biggest customer, is set to propose legislation aimed at preventing the import of commodities linked to deforestation and human rights abuses.
If the legislation is adopted, it could come into effect as early as 2024.
Ivory Coast exports 67% of its cocoa to Europe and its cocoa sector represents 25% of the economy.
Its government has called for increased support from the EU and other donors to help implement the proposed legislation, including a request for more than 2 billion euros ($2.40 billion) to fight deforestation.
WCF represents more than 80% of global cocoa and chocolate companies, including majors like Barry Callebaut, Nestlé and Mondelez. — Reuters
THE NEWEST fidget craze is popping toys. Adults and kids all over the world have been buying up this endlessly reusable version of a longtime favorite fidget activity: popping bubble wrap. Made of silicone and coming in a range of colors, shapes and sizes, they are half-sphere “bubbles” that can be pushed in, making a satisfying soft popping sound. After “popping” them all, you can turn the toy over and start again from the other side.
Some might remember the fidget spinner craze of 2017 and the controversy that these devices caused, with some teachers even banning them from classrooms. Popping toys raise the perennial question of whether and when fidget toys might be useful. Are they a nuisance? Or could having them help you or your children manage pandemic stress and fuzzy thinking?
Over the past several years, my research group has taken a deep look at how children and adults use fidget toys and objects. What we found tells us that these items are not a fad that will soon disappear. Despite sometimes being annoying distractions for others, fidget items seem to have practical uses for both adults and children, especially in stressful times.
Fidgeting didn’t start with the popping toy and spinner crazes. If you’ve ever clicked a ballpoint pen again and again, you’ve used a fidget item. As part of our work, we’ve asked people what items they like to fidget with and how and when they use them. (We’ve been compiling their answers online and welcome additional contributions.)
People often report that fidgeting with an object in their hand helps them stay focused when doing a long task or keeping still and attentive in a long meeting. Objects people fidget with include paper clips, USB thumb drives, earbuds, and sticky tape. But people also buy specialized items such as popping toys for this purpose.
Psychology research about sensation seeking tells us that people often try to adjust their experiences and their environments so that they provide just the right level of stimulation. Different people function well under different circumstances. Some like total quiet to help them focus, while others are happiest working in a busy, noisy environment.
The optimal level of stimulation varies among people and can change for one person throughout the course of a day depending on what they are trying to do. People fine-tune their environments to get things just right — for example, putting on headphones in a noisy office environment to switch to less distracting noise.
A person who can’t get up and walk around to feel more energized or go have a cup of tea to calm down may find it helpful to use a fidget item to stay focused and calm while also staying put.
Another common reason for fidgeting that we saw among adults in our online study is that some fidget objects — such as a favorite smooth stone – can be used to calm them down and achieve a more relaxed, contemplative or even mindful state. Children also spoke about how fidget items help them manage emotions. For example, they might squeeze a stress ball when they feel angry, or they might stroke a soft, fuzzy toy when they are anxious.
The self-reported data we got from adults and children aligns with anecdotal accounts that fidget toys can help children with attention or anxiety issues stay focused and calm in the classroom. In fact, fidget toys have been available for kids to use for therapeutic purposes for quite some time.
There hasn’t yet been a definitive research study about the impact of these toys. In one preliminary study looking at stress ball use, sixth graders who used these fidget toys during instruction independently reported that their “attitude, attention, writing abilities, and peer interaction improved.”
The closest significant research is a study by University of California, Davis behavioral science professor Julie Schweitzer of letting children with ADHD fidget – wriggle, bounce, or otherwise move gently in place – while they work on a lab-based concentration task called the “flanker paradigm.” She found that more overall movement in children with ADHD, as measured using an accelerometer on the ankle, did help them perform this cognitively demanding task. After I learned about her research, I approached Ms. Schweitzer to join forces, and we’re currently collaborating on the first rigorous study of the effects of fidget objects on people with ADHD, with support from the National Institutes of Health. We aim to better understand how using fidget toys may support people’s cognition.
To do this, my team built a “smart” fidget ball that senses when and how it’s used. Ms. Schweitzer’s team is tracking exactly when study participants fidget as they work, and how this correlates with changes in their performance on challenging thinking tasks. (If you happen to live in the Northern California Bay Area, you can apply to take part in the study.)
My group is also working with specialists in children’s social-emotional learning and technology, including Petr Slovak of King’s College London, to understand whether and how giving kids a “smart” fidget item that can respond to their touch might help calm them down and improve their self-soothing skills. We built a small “anxious creature” that children could hug and pet to calm it down. The creature begins with a fast heartbeat and then settles into happy purring once it is soothed. Early results are promising and have recently been applied by commercial product developers to create an interactive toy for calming kids.
(I served briefly as a paid consultant on the toy’s initial research and development but have no ongoing financial stake.)
If fidget items are so helpful, why were schools banning the spinners, and why did teachers take them away? Not all fidget items are created equal. Some are more distracting than others. The fidget items most therapists recommend can be used without looking and don’t attract other people’s attention too much with motion or noise. Fidget-spinner motion distracted other kids in classrooms.
Popping toys don’t have movement that attracts others’ eyes, but they do make some noise. Kids in our study reported that noise was a reason they got fidget toys taken away in class. For this reason, popping toys might not be as welcome as the world slowly returns to more in-person learning. But they might be great for kids (or adults) who can hit the mute button in online school and meetings.
Though research is still ongoing, therapists’ practical experience and both adults’ and kids’ self-reflections suggest that fidget toys can be helpful for emotional and cognitive support. There may actually be some benefits in getting yourself or your child a fidget toy to power you through a wall of boring Zoom meetings or a stressful school day.
Katherine Isbister is a Professor of Computational Media, University of California, Santa Cruz.
AboitizPower’s 59-megawatt peak (mWp) solar power facility in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental — ABOITIZPOWER.COM
By Angelica Y. Yang, Reporter
ABOITIZ Power Corp. said that it plans to use its existing Cleanergy portfolio and other renewable energy (RE) projects in the pipeline for the country’s green energy option program (GEOP), its top official said on Wednesday.
“For GEOP, we intend to use our existing Cleanergy capacities from our hydro, geothermal, and solar assets. We also have more renewable energy projects in our pipeline that we can allocate to GEOP and even to other RE markets like GEAP (green energy auction program),” AboitizPower President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio told BusinessWorld through the firm’s media relations department in an e-mail on Wednesday.
He said that the firm aims to build and serve the Philippines’ RE market through its existing and future Cleanergy capacities and technologies.
Cleanergy is AboitizPower’s brand for clean and renewable energy. By the end of 2020, the portfolio accounted for 21% of its power generation portfolio, while its thermal capacity accounted for 79%.
Mr. Rubio earlier shared the group’s aspirational target of a 50-50 mix of Cleanergy and thermal capacities in the next 10 years.
In a separate e-mail on Wednesday, the firm’s communication team confirmed to BusinessWorld that the company intends to use over 1,240 megawatts of its existing Cleanergy portfolio for the GEOP.
This comes shortly after the Department of Energy (DoE) declared three of the AboitizPower’s retail electricity suppliers (RES) — Aboitiz Energy Solutions, Inc.; Prism Energy, Inc.; and Adventenergy, Inc. — as eligible to participate in the GEOP.
The program is a voluntary policy mechanism that allows users consuming at least 100 kilowatts of power to source their supply from eligible RES that source power from renewables.
Companies that wish to participate in the GEOP need to first secure an operating permit from DoE. Those holding permits may supply power to end-users, based on a department circular issued in April last year.
In January, the Energy department announced the first batch of firms that qualified for the program: Bacman Geothermal, Inc.; First Gen Energy Solutions, Inc.; SN Aboitiz Power-Magat, Inc.; SN Aboitiz Power-Res, Inc.; AC Energy Philippines, Inc.; and Sparc-Solar Powered Agri-Rural Communities Corp.
GOODYEAR PHILIPPINES, Inc. (GYP) retail and service center Goodyear Autocare was recently recognized as the Gold winner of the 2021 Reader’s Digest Quality Service Award under the Tire Retailer category.
The Reader’s Digest Quality Service Awards (QSA) is “an independent gauge of how customer service is faring in the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia, (and) recognizes those businesses that delivered customer excellence over the previous 12 months.” Winners are selected with votes from consumers who select companies providing the highest level of customer service. “Personalization, understanding, simplicity, satisfaction, and consistency are the five key pillars that this survey addresses in to define scores,” said Goodyear in a release.
The company highlights the commitment and dedication of Goodyear Autocare’s dealership network in delivering the best level of service to its valued customers. The award comes on the heels of a Silver award last year. Goodyear Autocare has over 100 stores nationwide, offering one-stop quick automotive services. In 2020, it implemented the Zero Contact Policy in response to the pandemic to ensure the health and safety of valued customers and associates by minimizing direct contact.
“This Gold Award validates the hard work and innovation on our services of our team over the past year, and we credit this win to the relentless efforts of our dealers and partners in the Goodyear Autocare business. We also extend our gratitude to our valued customers for their unrelenting patronage and trust to Goodyear. As we embrace the new normal, we continue to strive to ensure that we deliver the highest satisfaction to our customers in terms of our tires and services,” said Goodyear Market Director for Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Export Markets Susi Gamers.
To view the list of Goodyear Autocare stores, visit: https://www.goodyear.com.ph/store.
BUENOS AIRES — High international grain and oilseed prices drove Argentine agricultural exports to a record high $9.755 billion in the first four months of 2021, the CIARA-CEC chamber of export companies said.
The previous record was $8.408 billion reported in January-April 2016, the chamber said in a report. The South American grains powerhouse is the world’s No. 3 corn exporter and its top supplier of soymeal livestock feed used to fatten hogs and poultry from Europe to Southeast Asia.
CIARA-CEC said idle capacity of Argentina’s grain processing industry fell to between 38% and 41% in the first three months of the year, after a record in soybean milling was reached in March, when 3.39 million tons of the oilseed were processed.
Many Argentine farmers are opting to hoard crops this year due to instability in the peso and high inflation that makes stockpiling soy and corn more profitable than saving in the anemic local currency.
The central bank needs all the export dollars it can get to help replenish foreign currency reserves strained by a three-year-old recession exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Argentine farmers have sold 16.4 million tons of 2020/21 soybeans, including deals for 869,200 tons registered over the last week, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday in a report with data updated through April 28.
The sales are lagging last year’s tempo. At this point in 2020, some 20.8 million tons of Argentine soybeans had been sold, according to official data.
The government said sales of 2020/21 corn had reached 24.5 million tons, 850,000 tons more than at this time last year. — Reuters
PHILIPPINE gross domestic product (GDP) likely declined at a slower pace in the first three months of 2021 compared with the previous quarters, a BusinessWorld poll showed, as a renewed surge in coronavirus infections and a stricter lockdown imposed in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces dampened recovery. Read the full story.
YIELDS ON government securities (GS) went down last week as investors reacted to April inflation data and the result of the five-year bond auction.
GS yields, which move opposite to prices, fell by 3.38 basis points (bps) on average week on week, based on PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates as of May 7 published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website.
Yields on Treasury bills (T-bills) closed mixed last week. The rates of the 91- and 182-day papers fell by 1.79 bps and 7.53 bps, respectively, to 1.3279% and 1.5691%. On the other hand, the yield on the 364-day T-bills inched up by 0.19 bp to 1.8835%.
Meanwhile, the belly of the curve edged lower as yields on the two-, three-, four-, five-, and seven-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) fell by 8.52 bps (to 2.2807%), 7.91 bps (2.6434%), 5.04 bps (2.9483%), 2.54 bps (3.2051%) and 0.27 bp (3.6209%), respectively.
At the long end, the 10-year debt saw its yield rise by 2.21 bps to end at 4.1508%, while the rates of the 20- and 25-year T-bonds decreased by 2.7 bps (4.8029%) and 3.27 bps (4.7912%), respectively.
ATRAM Trust Corp. Head of Fixed Income Jose Miguel B. Liboro attributed last week’s yield movement to the five-year T-bond auction and the April inflation data release.
“Prior to the auction, we saw yields on the five- and seven-year adjust higher but the lower-than-expected CPI (consumer price index) print appeared to validate the view of plateauing inflation. In addition, a gradual drift lower in global bond yields throughout the week helped spur additional buying interest,” Mr. Liboro said in an e-mail.
“Main factor is the country’s growth story given the quarantine status. With CPI coming out within market and BSP’s (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) expectations, the shift to the growth narrative is imminent. As a result, yields dropped and we may continue to see this move in the absence of bond supply [this] week,” a bond trader said in a Viber message.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) borrowed P35 billion as planned on Tuesday via its offer of reissued five-year bonds, which have a remaining life of four years and 11 months.
Total bids reached P75.716 billion, making the offer more than two times oversubscribed. To accommodate the excess demand, the Treasury opened the tap facility to raise another P10 billion from the papers.
The five-year notes fetched an average rate of 3.295%, slightly lower than the 3.3% coupon quoted when the papers were first offered on April 6.
Meanwhile, inflation remained stable in April, while core inflation eased to a five-month low, leading economists to expect the central bank to keep rates on hold at this week’s policy-setting meeting.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority released on Wednesday showed the consumer price index rose by 4.5% year on year last month, unchanged from March but faster than 2.2% in April 2020. This, as price increases for food staples such as rice and vegetables slowed, helping offset a spike in transportation costs caused by higher oil prices.
The April headline inflation print was lower than the median 4.7% in an analyst poll by BusinessWorld late last week, and settled within the central bank’s 4.2-5% estimate.
Year to date, inflation averaged at 4.5%, slightly above the BSP’s 2-4% target, as well as its inflation forecast of 4.2% for the year. April was the fourth month in a row that inflation went beyond this year’s target.
Mr. Liboro said yields may likely drift gradually lower over the coming weeks.
“With inflation seemingly stabilizing, speculation on potential action on the reserve requirement may come into play once more,” he added.
The government will report first-quarter gross domestic product data on May 11, while the BSP Monetary Board will meet on May 13 to review its current policy settings. — Lourdes O. Pilar
SHOPEE is holding another sale, this time for payday on May 15, so better brace your wallets.
The sale was introduced by a new ambassador, actress and vlogger Alex Gonzaga. Fans could watch Alex Gonzaga’s Shopee Payday Sale commercial on TV and on Shopee’s official Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube accounts beginning May 6.
For the Shopee 5.15 Payday Sale on May 15, shopping does not include the extra fees. There is a free shipping promotion, with no minimum spend required. There will also be P15 flash deals for health, home, and work-from-home must-haves: for example, one will be able to buy an iCare Digital Blood Pressure Monitor, originally priced at P813, for only P15; a TP-Link Home Security Camera, originally priced at P1,850, and a Mobile Phone Ring Light, originally priced at P3,973, will also be available for P15. There will also be cashback rewards at Shopee’s Payday Sale, with 20% cashback when the shopper checks out from midnight to 2 a.m., and 15% cashback for the rest of the day. Some Shopee Mall brands are offering discounts of up to 90%, including Tecno, SC Johnson, Huawei, Issy & Co., Nature’s Spring, SM Store, Betadine, Del Monte, and more.
Through ShopeePay, the shopping platform’s online wallet, new users get 25% cashback when they use it to pay their bills, while existing users get 15% cashback. New users can also enjoy deals such as P10 worth of data for only P1, inclusive of free access to Facebook, YouTube, and more. There will also be P1 deals on snacks from brands such as McDonald’s, Jollibee, Red Ribbon, and Big Guys Pizza.
There will be Payday Sale segments on the TV shows Tutok to Win, It’s Showtime, Lunch Out Loud, and Eat Bulaga from May 10 to 15 where viewers will have a chance to win prizes. Shopee will also hold its first Payday Sale TV Special on GMA 7 on May 15, 10:30-11:30 a.m.. Viewers can claim over P4 million in cash, ShopeePay credits, merchandise, and more by playing the games Shopee Shake, Shopee Milyonaryo, and Watch and Win.
INVESTORS sold off Megaworld Corp. shares last week following news of the property developer’s decision to increase capital expenditures (capex) for the year.
A total of 165.68 million Megaworld shares worth P508.98 million were traded from May 3 to 7, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed.
The stock closed at P3.01 apiece on Friday, down 4.4% from the P3.15-per-share closing price a week ago. The stock has declined 28% since the start of the year.
“Megaworld ended as one of the most actively traded stocks [last] week as the company earmarked a higher capex of P36 billion this year, with the bulk set aside for the construction of new residential properties,” Charlene Ericka P. Reyes, officer-in-charge of trading and research at First Resources Management and Securities Corp., said in an e-mail.
Ms. Reyes added that while the company’s capex program this year “reflects the sustained strength” in Megaworld’s balance sheet, investors sold off their shares following the news.
“We think that the performance of [Megaworld] this week can also be traced back to the reimplementation of strict quarantine restrictions, which may continue to affect the company’s mall and hotel operations, and thus offset the improvements the company has already experienced during the fourth quarter of 2020,” she said.
In a separate e-mail, Regina Capital Development Corp. Equity Analyst Anna Corenne M. Agravio also noted the news on the company’s capex this year.
“[A]lthough higher than last year’s, [the capex] is still lower than its pre-pandemic spending figures. This was probably one of the factors that caused the downturn in [Megaworld’s] share price,” Ms. Agravio said.
“On top of this, overall market sentiment remained muted. Most blue chips, including Megaworld, saw a drop in price,” she added.
In a disclosure on Thursday, the company said it increased its spending budget this year by 29% to P36 billion from P27.9 billion in actual capital capex in 2020. Of this year’s budget, around 76% will be used for real estate developments “particularly on the construction of new residential properties.”
Meanwhile, the remainder will be used for investment properties. The company said it did not set a budget for land banking activities this year.
Megaworld reported a net income of P9.9 billion to parent firm equity holders last year, down by nearly 45% despite the uptick in the company’s office leasing business.
Revenues slid to P43.5 billion, declining by 35% from P67.3 billion the previous year.
“Megaworld continues to benefit from its status as the country’s premier township developer. This provides increased synergies across its property businesses, despite the pandemic. Given the protracted lockdown measures, however, there is increased downward pressure on the firm’s [bottom line] this year,” Regina Capital’s Ms. Agravio said.
For First Resources’ Ms. Reyes: “The gradual economic recovery towards the latter part of the year, and the potential increase in the company’s office occupancy levels amid the continued demand from the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector serves as the foundation of our net income forecast of around P12.5 billion for 2021,” she said.
Ms. Reyes placed the stock’s immediate support at P3 per share, while resistance is at P3.16 per share.
For Regina Capital’s Ms. Agravio, support and resistance levels are pegged at P3 and P3.20 per share, respectively. — AMPY
THE CENTRAL BANK is widely expected to keep policy unchanged when it announces its decision this week, amid uncertainty over the pandemic and its impact on economic recovery, a BusinessWorld poll of analysts showed. Read the full story.
