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Rep returns with online Christmas tale

AFTER a year in hiatus forced on it by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Repertory Philippines (Rep) is back with a holiday-themed showcase — The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-off! — which is an online milestone for both the theater company and Philippine theater.

The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-off! is the Filipino theater production and the first Rep Theater for Young Audiences (RTYA) show to be available on streaming platform Broadway on Demand (BOD).

Screening from Nov. 12 to Dec. 12, The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-off! combines the time-honored tradition of Christmas cookies with the popular phenomenon of reality TV baking competitions. The story follows eight young cookie chefs from all over the country who battle it out for first prize at the Cookie Coliseum. As the chefs are eliminated one by one by three celebrity judges, feelings of intense rivalry give way to the virtues of charity, family, and forgiveness.

“Repertory Philippines is very excited to be the first Philippine theater company to film a production for streaming on an international platform, Broadway on Demand (BOD). This international streaming platform is the streaming partner of the performance rights holders of The Great Christmas Cookie Bake Off,” Liesl Batucan, Repertory Philippines’ Artistic Director, told BusinessWorld through Messenger.

“BOD was the perfect choice and a wonderful and fresh opportunity to bring our young Filipino talent to the global arena,” she added.

Created with the streaming audiences in mind, The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-off! is directed by RTYA Creative Director Joy Virata. The musical’s cast includes Becca Coates, Tim Pavino, Jep Go, Jillian Itaas, Luigi Quesada, Rachel Coates, Justine Narciso, Steven Hotchkiss, Carla Guevara Laforteza, Jamie Wilson, Arnel Carrion, and Hans Eckstein.

“Filmed and rehearsed with the strictest of health and safety protocols, our Rep Theater for Young Audiences’ newest online offering is aimed at bringing much-needed messages of joy, friendship, forgiveness, and love to children of all ages,” Ms. Batucan said.

With video production directed by Treb Monteras, the production’s set design is by Ed Lacson, lighting design is by John Batalla, costume design is by Bonsai Cielo, and choreography is by Deana Aquino.

“We Filipinos love Christmas, and this delightful show is a sweet way for families to bond, especially in these times,” Ms. Batucan said.

Ticket cost P700 (regular) and P1,000 (family/household). Each ticket gives 24-hour access to the musical, which can be accessed via computer or mobile device through a web browser or via tablet or smartphone through the Broadway on Demand app on the App Store and Google Play. Broadway On Demand is also available on AppleTV and Roku.

For updates, log on to www.repertoryphilippines.ph, like and follow Repertory Philippines on Facebook and Instagram. Educators and school representatives who are interested in the show can e-mail the theater company at sales@repphil.org. — MAPS

JFC unit to buy back $250-M perpetual debt listed on SGX

REUTERS

JOLLIBEE Foods Corp.’s (JFC) wholly owned unit Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL) is buying back up to $250-million guaranteed senior perpetual securities in line with JFC’s plans to “strengthen its balance sheet.”

The guaranteed senior perpetual securities forms part of the $600-million securities issued by JWPL in January last year at the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. (SGX-ST).

The tender offer will be partially funded by the proceeds from JFC’s preferred shares offering to consist of the sale of 12 million Series A and Series B preferred shares for up to P1,000 each. This is the first tranche of shares from JFC’s shelf-listed 20 million preferred shares.

JFC said it “expects to have fewer debt obligations, more distributed financial maturities over the next few years, lower foreign exchange risks, and better leverage and debt servicing ratios.”

The company views the tender offer and the issuance of preferred shares this year as instrumental to its plans for store expansions in 2022.

“All these actions will support JFC in maintaining its capability to finance its profitable growth, which is forecasted to accelerate in the next few months and years,” the company said.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, JFC said it launched 11 Jollibee stores across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia in the first half of the year. It is set to open more stores in the coming months.

The new stores include two branches in the United Kingdom (UK) and its first store in Madrid, Spain. Jollibee is eyeing to launch 50 stores in Europe for the next five years, with a focus on the UK, Italy, and Spain.

In Qatar’s capital Doha, Jollibee opened new restaurants at the Villaggio Mall and City Center Mall. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, Jollibee opened a new store at the Riyadh Gallery Mall.

Jollibee also opened two new Hong Kong stores — one in Causeway Bay and another along Wanchai Road.

“As many parts of the world continue opening up, especially in Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia [or the EMEAA region], consumers look for new and unique moments to bond with their family and friends,” said Dennis M. Flores, president of JFC for EMEAA.

“We’re glad that consumers in these markets have warmly welcomed Jollibee,” he added.

JFC said it hopes to become “a major player” in the EMEAA’s quick-service industry.

Shares of JFC at the stock exchange went up by 2.32% or P4.60 on Tuesday, closing at P203 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Star Trek’s Shatner on board for real rocket trip

WILLIAM SHATNER — BLUEORIGIN.COM/ GARY MARSCHKA
WILLIAM SHATNER — BLUEORIGIN.COM/ GARY MARSCHKA

WASHINGTON — William Shatner, the Star Trek actor who found fame by pretending a Hollywood soundstage was a spaceship exploring the galaxy, will be launched to the edge of space for real next week in a rocket built by Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space company.

Mr. Shatner, best known as Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek television series, will be part of a four-person crew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch vehicle on the flight scheduled for the morning of Oct. 12, the company said on Monday.

“I’ve heard about space for a long time now,” Mr. Shatner, 90, said in a statement released by Blue Origin. “I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”

In July, Mr. Bezos, the founder of Amazon, soared about 66.5 miles (107 km) above the Texas desert aboard a New Shepard launch vehicle and returned safely to Earth. Blue Origin said pioneering woman aviator Wally Funk, 82, was the oldest person to reach space when she joined Mr. Bezos on the July flight. Mr. Shatner is set to break that record.

The actor is flying as a guest of Blue Origin, but the company says it has also sold nearly $100 million in tickets to paying customers, though it has not said how many. Mr. Shatner will be joined by Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer; Glen de Vries, a clinical research entrepreneur; and Audrey Powers, a Blue Origin vice-president and engineer. It was not immediately clear whether they were Star Trek fans.

Mr. Shatner first played the role of Captain James T. Kirk in 1966 in a TV franchise that many NASA astronauts credited with igniting their love of space. He also played the role in seven feature films. — Reuters

Singapore court denies Bloomberry appeal on arbitral payment

BLOOMBERRY Resorts Corp. on Tuesday said the Singapore (SG) Court of Appeal dismissed the petition of its two units to overrule the final award of the arbitration tribunal in favor of Global Gaming Philippines LLC (GGAM).

GGAM owns GGAM Netherlands BV, the second respondent in the case.

Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, Inc. (BRHI) and Sureste Properties, Inc. (SPI) filed an appeal against the May 29, 2020 decision of the Singapore High Court, which also denied BRHI and SPI’s appeal to dismiss the final award of the arbitration tribunal in favor of GGAM.

The case involves the management services agreement to operate Bloomberry’s Solaire Resort and Casino.

“We find no merit in the appellants’ submissions and dismiss the appeal. Costs follow the event and the respondents are accordingly entitled to an order for their costs of and incidental to the appeal,” the court decision said.

The Singapore Court of Appeal awarded GGAM and its affiliates $60,000, including disbursements, which should be payable by Bloomberry.

“In the event that GGAM will file an action to enforce the arbitral award in the Philippines where the assets and business of BRHI and SPI are located, BRHI and SPI will oppose such enforcement based on applicable Philippine law,” Bloomberry said.

On Tuesday, shares of Bloomberry Resorts at the stock exchange went up by 0.69% or four centavos to close at P5.87 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

No Time to Die opens with $121 M in int’l box office sales

DANIEL Craig in No Time to Die (2021) — IMDB.COM/

LOS ANGELES —  The latest James Bond movie took a mighty $121 million at the international box office over its opening weekend, Universal Pictures said on Monday.

The British and Irish box office led the way with a total of $35 million, making No Time to Die the biggest movie release there of the coronavirus pandemic and the highest opening three-day weekend ever in the UK and Ireland for a Bond movie.

The film, which marks actor Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as the British secret agent, was delayed three times from its planned April 2020 release date because of the pandemic.

Universal said in a statement on Monday that the film grossed $121 million without being shown in China, the world’s biggest film market. It’s the first Hollywood title in the pandemic to launch to over $100 million without China. No Time to Die opens in China at the end of October.

No Time to Die has yet to open in North America, arriving in movie theaters in the US and Canada on Friday. Universal and studio MGM decided to release the film exclusively in theaters, eschewing the trend this year by many distributors to release movies on their streaming platforms at the same time. The action movie, which cost an estimated $200 million to produce, won warm reviews with many film critics saying it was worth the wait. — Reuters

Doctors outside NCR call for assistance

BARANGAY HEALTH CENTER in San Nicolas, Iriga City

By Patricia B. Mirasol  

WHILE IT IS understandable that the Philippine response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is centered on the capital, where cases are concentrated, doctors called attention to the lack of health services outside Metro Manila. 

“You have to maintain vital services in the peripheries because ang liit ng capacity nila [their capacity is so limited],” said Dr. Raul S. Ting, a community health advocate from Tuguegarao City, in a Sept. 29 webinar organized by the Community Medicine Practitioners and Advocates Association. “Malayo din sa referral centers [They are also far from referral centers].”   

Dr. Ting told BusinessWorld in a separate Facebook message that he has been acting as a bridge between volunteers and rural health units (RHUs) since the pandemic, helping supplies such as personal protective equipment reach those who need them the most. Some of these volunteer initiatives were from Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc., and ManilArt’s CovAID.  

Beneficiaries include Tuguegarao’s ward nurses, who used to buy their own masks for P27 each.  

“Last year’s work evolved into helping out RHUs, because either the local government unit can’t afford to budget more for health services, or it’s not among their priorities,” Dr. Ting said, adding that others only mobilize if there’s income to be earned.  

Other initiatives spearheaded at the community level are Gabay Cagayan, which offered free teleconsultations for COVID-19 patients, as well as the distribution of UV sterilizers by Prolabs Philippines.  

“Malaking bagay [They are very useful],” Dr. Ting said of the sterilizers, “kasi kahit birthing clinics ng RHUs nadi-disinfect na gastos lang kuryente [because even the RHUs’ birthing clinics are disinfected while only needing to spend on electricity].”  

TRICYCLE BIRTHS
“The communities are the frontline and they should be the focus of COVID prevention,” said Dr. Jean A. Lindo, a community medicine advocate in Davao City, at the same event.  

Meaningful education about the importance of wearing masks, she added, trumps forcing violators of health protocols to swim in canal water.  

(Officials of Barangay San Antonio in Davao City were called out last year after nine violators of the curfew ordinance were made to swim in a drainage canal.) 

Dr. Lindo cited Haran, a community of indigenous people with zero cases of infection, as a good example of how the pandemic can be controlled on a smaller scale. 

“Nasa sa kanila mismo ang disiplina [They themselves have the discipline],” Dr. Lindo said. “With the continuous engagement of medical students… and good messaging, the health bubble was maintained.”   

Dr. Marites Betonio-Bacuñata, an obstetrician-gynecologist who owns a birthing center in Cavite, stressed the importance of equipping communities with facilities. 

Hospital beds are fully utilized and COVID-19 patients have bumped off pregnant women on the priority list. “Wala nang mapuntahan ang mga manganganak kaya inaabot ng birth delivery sa tricycles,” she said.  

“Our population in the Calabarzon [Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon] area was around 15 million as of 2015,” added Dr. Bacuñata. “Imagine how many give birth every day. Lying-in clinics only have a one-to-three bed capacity. Sana makarating sa gobyerno at mabigyan ng pansin [I hope our concerns merit the government’s attention].” 

PAL anticipates uptick in ‘Ber’ months, but quarantine is a challenge

REUTERS

THE holiday season, which is usually the busiest time of the year for airlines, will continue to be challenged by government-imposed restrictions, especially the compulsory 10-day quarantine, but embattled Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) remains hopeful that air passenger traffic would increase.

“As long as we are allowed to fly more passengers…, we should have an uptick. We are now entering what typically will be the peak period for travel in the Philippines, the so-called ‘Ber’ months,” PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Gilbert F. Santa Maria said in a recent interview on Net 25, the television network of Eagle Broadcasting Corp.

“The challenge will be, if you are a Filipino living overseas…, and you have two weeks of vacation that allows you to go home for Christmas and New Year, but you have to spend 10 days in a hotel for quarantine, you probably will not travel,” he noted. “If that quarantine is reduced to five days, then you will, and so we anticipate an uptick.”

PAL officials said last month that international travelers find requirements such as testing and quarantine periods to be “very burdensome,” forcing them to put off their travel plans.

They proposed that passengers be tested 72 hours prior to departure, quarantined upon arrival, and required take an RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test on the third day.

Passengers with a negative result should be allowed to leave the quarantine facility on the fifth day so that they can continue their quarantine at home.

PAL said the proposal, which has been presented to Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Ma. “Joey” A. Concepcion III, would enable passengers to save up to P25,000.

PAL has filed for Chapter 11 creditor protection in the United States.

The airline’s listed holding company, PAL Holdings, Inc. (not included in the Chapter 11 filing), had been incurring losses even before the global health crisis. Its attributable net loss widened to P71.91 billion in 2020 from P10.31 billion in 2019.

“The biggest risk remains the nature of the pandemic. We just dealt with the Delta variant, and it looks like we are exiting the surge… We can’t predict whether another variant is in the works… that would create what they call a black swan event that will lead us back to a 2020 level type of lockdowns,” Mr. Santa Maria said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Britney Spears thanks FreeBritney movement

BRITNEY SPEARS — FACEBOOK.COM/BRITNEYSPEARS

LOS ANGELES —  Britney Spears on Monday thanked the fans who have conducted a long campaign to end her conservatorship.

Spears, 39, made the comments on Twitter following a court ruling last week that suspended her father as the controller of her business affairs and set a November date to consider whether to terminate the 13-year-long legal arrangement entirely.

“I have no words because of you guys and your constant resilience in freeing me from my conservatorship. My life is now in that direction!!!!! I cried last night for two hours cause my fans are the best and I know it,” the pop singer tweeted in a message tagged for the #FreeBritney movement. “I feel your hearts and you feel mine… that much I know is true,” she added.

Ms. Spears, who has not performed since late 2018, was on vacation in French Polynesia when Los Angeles judge Brenda Penny last week removed her father Jamie Spears as conservator of her $60 million estate in a major victory for the “Toxic” singer.

The conservatorship was set up in 2008 after Spears suffered a mental breakdown and it controls a vast array of her financial and personal affairs.

The #FreeBritney movement, which was started on social media around 2019 by a small group of fans, has held noisy demonstrations outside court hearings in the case and was highlighted in the Framing Britney Spears documentary in February.

The termination of the conservatorship appears to have the support of all sides and Ms. Penny has set a Nov. 12 hearing to discuss it. — Reuters

PHL AirAsia outlines perks to boost travel in October

REUTERS

PHILIPPINES AirAsia, Inc. said it is offering a P1 one-way fare and a 60% discount on hotel bookings for travel this month.

“More local government units have now relaxed their restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers. Following Tacloban’s initiative, Negros Occidental has now scrapped its RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test) requirement for fully vaccinated individuals,” the low-cost airline said in a statement on Monday.

On Friday last week, the province of Cebu issued an executive order removing a negative RT-PCR test result and requiring only a medical certificate taken within 24 hours of departure, it added.

The airline said passengers can take advantage of its “flight + hotel” promotion from as low as P2,435 per guest for a round trip ticket and three days-two nights stay in Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, and other leisure destinations.

“Guests can also enjoy up to 60% off on hotel bookings in AirAsia partner hotels… A 20% discount will also be given to guests who will pre-book their baggage and seats during the promo period. Travel period meanwhile is from Oct. 4, 2021 to Oct. 29, 2021,” it added.

The airline is hoping that its domestic operations would return to pre-pandemic levels by April or May next year.

The domestic flight frequency of the low-cost airline is currently between 10% and 15% of pre-pandemic levels.

“We are enjoying 78% load factor on a per flight basis. Going to December, we are increasing our capacity for Cebu, Boracay, Tagbilaran, and other major domestic routes,” Philippines AirAsia Chief Financial Officer Ray C. Berja said at a recent virtual briefing.

The airline is hoping to hit around 20% of its pre-pandemic capacity in the fourth quarter of the year. — Arjay L. Balinbin

MPHHI offers remote home care 

CARDINAL SANTOS MEDICAL CENTER/FACEBOOK

METRO PACIFIC Hospital Holdings, Inc. (MPHHI) offers home-care services, including teleconsultation and blood extractions for laboratory tests, and — depending on location — RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) testing, mobile X-ray, physical therapy rehabilitation, and vaccinations. 

“Remote Home Care services have enabled our hospitals to better cope with the current COVID [coronavirus disease 2019] surges by allowing the treatment of mild and moderate patients in the comfort of their homes, instead of waiting and clogging hospitals’ ERs ‘just in case’ they become worse. This allows our hospitals and doctors to allocate limited COVID beds/facilities/resources based on medical need, i.e., for severe and critical cases,” said MPHHI President and Chief Executive Officer Augusto P. Palisoc, Jr., in a statement Monday. 

Cardinal Santos Medical Center, for example, has a service van called “Cardinal-on-Wheels” that brings diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to a patient’s home.  

“For our own sake and for those around us, it is very important that we do not dismiss mild symptoms such as body aches, sore throat or slight fever nowadays,” said Dr. Saturnino P. Javier, chief medical officer of Makati Medical Center.   

According to MPHHI, about 40,000 COVID-19 patients were tested and treated remotely by its hospitals during this year’s surges. In addition, almost 20,000 non-COVID patients were tested and treated without having to visit the hospital. 

For more information on MPHHI and its 18 hospitals, visit mphhi.com.ph.

Hollywood producers, union to meet after vote authorizing strike

LOS ANGELES — Camera operators, make-up artists and other behind-the-scenes workers on Hollywood films and television shows voted resoundingly to authorize a strike if they cannot reach agreement with producers on a new contract, their union said on Monday.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) which represents some 60,000 off-screen workers, said that 90% of its members cast ballots and more than 98% of the votes returned were in favor of authorizing a strike.

The vote strengthened the hand of IATSE leaders in stalled contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The two sides will meet on Tuesday in the first contacts for two weeks, a union source said after the results of the ballot were announced. It was not clear whether the meeting would lead to a full resumption of talks.

“I hope that the studios will see and understand the resolve of our members,” IATSE President Matthew Loeb said in a statement. “If they want to avoid a strike, they will return to the bargaining table and make us a reasonable offer.”

The union is seeking to reduce working hours that can stretch to about 14 hours a day as the demand for TV shows and films has increased, particularly for streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+ and Amazon Video. It also wants raises for workers on streaming projects, who get paid less than for work on mainstream and cable TV shows under an agreement signed in 2009, when streaming and online media was in its infancy.

The AMPTP said in a statement it was “committed to reaching an agreement that will keep the industry working” but said it would require both parties showing “a willingness to compromise and to explore new solutions.”

The last major strike in Hollywood was by film and television screenwriters in late 2007 and early 2008. It lasted three months and shut down all scripted shows and forced television networks to air re-runs of comedies and dramas. — Reuters

BTr partially awards seven-year bonds as rate rises on inflation

BW FILE PHOTO
THE BUREAU of the Treasury made a partial award of the reissued seven-year bonds as its rate climbed. — BW FILE PHOTO

THE GOVERNMENT partially awarded the reissued Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday as the tenor’s rate increased following the release of data showing inflation exceeded the central bank’s target last month.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised just P15.58 billion via the reissued seven-year T-bonds it auctioned off on Tuesday, less than half of the programmed P35 billion, even as the tenor attracted P52.79 billion in total bids.

The notes, which have a remaining life of six years and 10 months, fetched an average rate of 4.207%, 38.1 basis points higher than the 3.826% quoted when the series was last offered on Sept. 21.

Had the Treasury made a full award of its offer on Tuesday, the reissued bonds would have fetched an average rate of 4.276%.

The average rate fetched for the seven-year papers on Tuesday was also higher than the 3.9089% quoted for the tenor at the secondary market prior to the auction, based on the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said in a Viber message to reporters that the tenor’s rate rose significantly following the release of September inflation data.

Headline inflation stood at 4.8% in September, slowing from the 4.9% logged in August but faster than the 2.3% print recorded in the same month last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Tuesday.

The latest figure is below the 5% median in a BusinessWorld poll conducted late last week and is at the low end of the 4.8%-5.6% estimate given by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the month.

Inflation averaged at 4.5%, still above the BSP’s 2-4% target and 4.4% forecast for this year.

A bond trader said in a phone interview that inflation breached the BSP’s target again last month even as the print fell below market expectations, causing the seven-year debt’s rate to rise.

The US Federal Reserve’s hints on its plan to taper its asset purchases and raise rates also affected local yields, the trader added.

The Fed last month said it could start reducing its monthly bond purchases as soon as November and signaled interest rate increases may follow more quickly than expected.

The BTr is looking to raise P200 billion from the local market this month: P60 billion from weekly offers of Treasury bills and P140 billion from weekly auctions of T-bonds.

The government wants to borrow P3 trillion from domestic and external sources this year to help fund a budget deficit seen to hit 9.3% of gross domestic product. — Jenina P. Ibañez

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