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Supreme Court of the Philippines partners with UnionBank for Judiciary ePayment System

The Supreme Court of the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) last March 15, 2021 for the Judiciary ePayment System Project, an application designed to provide the Supreme Court, and all the over 2,000 courts in the country, options to receive fees and payments digitally from litigants, their counsels and representatives in a safe, secure, real-time, 24/7 basis from anywhere at their convenience.

Present at the signing were Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta, retired Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, now an Independent Board Member of UnionBank, and Dr. Justo A. Ortiz, Vice Chairman of the Board of UnionBank, who signed the MOA for UnionBank, together with Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, who signed for the Supreme Court. 

Also present were UnionBank officers, Executive Vice President Ana Aboitiz Delgado representing Board Member Sabin Aboitiz, Senior Executive Vice President Henry R. Aguda, Senior Vice President Atty. Joselito Banaag and members of the UnionBank Project Team led by Ma. Cecilia Bernad, Francesca Montes, Alfonso Tanjuatco and Jeraline Canlas as well as Supreme Court officials including Deputy Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva, and Assistant Court Administrator and Spokesperson Brian Keith F. Hosaka. 

In a statement, Chief Justice Peralta thanked UnionBank for “offering its technical assistance to the Judiciary in the form of digital transformation consultancy, process automation, and development of application systems, among others.”

“This offer comes at a very opportune time as the Philippine Judiciary is currently in the midst of its quest for digital transformation and at a time when online service is a great advantage due to the COVID-19 pandemic when face-to-face transactions are discouraged whenever possible. For this, we are profusely grateful to UnionBank,” said the Chief Justice.

Under the agreement, UnionBank becomes the technology and banking partner of the Supreme Court in its digitization journey and is the first universal bank to be onboarded in the Judiciary ePayment System. UnionBank will provide technical assistance, free of charge, to the SC in the form of IT and process advisory, consulting, deployment of mutually agreed IT experts and business process engineers, extension of the use of mutually agreed IT tools that UnionBank will be utilizing in the project as well as provide implementation plans to cover all phases.

This pioneering project aims to standardize rules and assessments for the eleven account types identified by the SC for payments required. It also aims to eliminate reconciliation issues for funds received by automatically correlating the main litigation transaction to the said eleven account types. 

To realize the project’s benefits, UnionBank will deliver two components. First, is the launch of a Judiciary Web Facility that will be used by litigants, their counsels and representatives, to access information, automatically have their fees assessed, do online payments, or get a reference number online corresponding to their online assessment and do over-the-counter payment in their respective courts. Second, is a Judiciary ePayment Portal that will be used by the judiciary staff for accepting over-the-counter payments with online assessments, tracking and reporting of payments from various courts, payments management, electronic audit trails, and financial reporting related to payments. 

UnionBank’s journey to digital transformation has always had the guidance of one of its independent directors, retired Chief Justice Renato Puno, who makes sure that transformation initiatives are relevant to legal conventions, constructs, and traditions. Through this guidance, the Bank is constantly calibrated that it does not do technology for technology’s sake. It uses technology to better its customer experience and community as a whole.  UnionBank now aims to be an active participant-observer in the modernization of the country’s judicial system.

The Judiciary ePayment System will be rolled out around the country to first and second-level courts with pilot courts identified as follows: in Pasig for the National Capital Region, in Malolos, Bulacan for Luzon, in Bacolod City for the Visayas, and in Davao City for Mindanao.  Project completion is expected by 3Q 2021.

This project is in line with UnionBank’s comprehensive strategy called “Tech Up, Pilipinas”, which is utilizing technology to promote financial inclusion for sustainable prosperity, particularly of the unbanked and the underserved, and is a vital component for the realization of the Philippines’ vision to become a G20 country by 2050.

 “We are especially proud of this engagement because the Supreme Court of the Philippines is an institution of great trust with deep historical and psychological roots in Filipino lives as guardian of the Constitution, final arbiter of our laws, and guarantor that we are all equal under the law. So, we, in UnionBank, are very cognizant of the trust the Supreme Court has, in turn, vested in us to deliver on this project and value greatly this opportunity to be of service to the Filipino people and ‘Tech Up Pilipinas’,” said UnionBank Vice Chairman Dr. Justo A. Ortiz. 

In a statement, Ortiz said that UnionBank looks forward to more opportunities to make new traditions in areas such as e-notarization, e-docket system, adoption of blockchain technology, online continuing learning for members of the bar and of the judiciary, and in any technological endeavors that would digitally transform the judiciary.

Globe announces schedule of virtual stockholders’ meeting

NOTICE OF ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the annual meeting of stockholders of GLOBE TELECOM, INC. will be conducted virtually via https://www.globe.com.ph/asm2021 on Tuesday, APRIL 20, 2021 at 9:00 o’clock in the morning with the following

AGENDA

1.Call to Order
2.Notice of Meeting, Determination of Quorum and Rules of Conduct and Procedures 
3.Approval of Minutes of the Stockholders’ Meeting held on April 21, 2020
4.Annual Report of Officers and Audited Financial Statements 
5.Ratification of All Acts and Resolutions of the Board of Directors and Management
Adopted During the Preceding Year
6.Election of Directors (Including the Independent Directors)
7.Election of Independent Auditors and Fixing of their Remuneration
8.Consideration of Such Other Business as May Properly Come Before the Meeting
9.Adjournment

Only stockholders of record as of March 5, 2021, are entitled to notice of, and vote at, this meeting.

Given the current circumstances, stockholders may only attend the meeting by remote communication, by voting in absentia or by appointing the Chairman of the meeting as proxy[1].

Duly accomplished proxies shall be submitted on or before April 8, 2021 to the Office of the Corporate Secretary at 3/F Tower One and Exchange Plaza, Ayala Triangle, Ayala Avenue, Makati City or by e-mail to corporatesecretary@globe.com.ph. Validation of proxies is set for April 13, 2021, 9:00 a.m. at the Office of the Corporate Secretary. Stockholders intending to participate by remote communication should notify the Corporation by e-mail to corporatesecretary@globe.com.ph on or before April 8, 2021.

Stockholders may vote through remote communication, or in absentia subject to validation procedures. The procedures for participating in the meeting through remote communication and for casting their votes remotely or in absentia are set forth in the Information Statement.

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Philippines.

February 9, 2021.

SOLOMON M. HERMOSURA
Corporate Secretary

EXPLANATION OF AGENDA ITEMS

1. CALL TO ORDER. The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, will call the meeting to order.

2. NOTICE OF MEETING, DETERMINATION OF QUORUM AND RULES OF CONDUCT AND PROCEDURES. The Corporate Secretary will certify on the date when written notice of the time, date, place and purpose of the meeting was sent to all stockholders of record as of March 5, 2021 and the date of publication of the notice in the newspapers of general circulation.

The Corporate Secretary will further certify the presence of a quorum. The holders of record for the time being of a majority of the stock of the Company then issued and outstanding and entitled to vote, represented in person or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Pursuant to Sections 57 and 23 of the Revised Corporation Code which allow voting in absentia by the stockholders, the Company has set up a designated online web address (uniform resource locator or URL), which may be accessed by the stockholders to register and vote in absentia on the matters for resolution at the meeting. A stockholder who votes in absentia as well as a stockholder who participates by remote communication shall be deemed present for purposes of quorum.

Unless otherwise amended, the following, are the rules of conduct and procedures at the meeting:

(i) Stockholders may attend the meeting by remote communication through the URL provided. Questions and remarks may be sent via e-mail prior to or during the meeting to corporatesecretary@globe.com.ph, and shall be limited to the items in the Agenda of the meeting.

(ii) Stockholders must notify the Company of their intention to participate in the meeting by remote communication through corporatesecretary@globe.com.ph to be included in the determination of quorum, together with the stockholders who voted in absentia and by proxy.

(iii) In the event that physical attendance will be allowed at the meeting –

a.  Anyone who wishes to make a remark shall identify himself after being acknowledged by the Chairman and shall limit his remarks to the item in the Agenda under consideration;

b.  Stockholders present at the meeting may opt for manual or electronic voting. For manual voting, each stockholder will be given, upon registration, a ballot where he can write his vote on every item in the Agenda or proposed resolution. For electronic voting, there will be computer stations near the registration table where stockholders may cast their votes electronically using a digital version of the ballot.

(iv) Each of the proposed resolutions will be shown on the screen during the livestreaming as the same is taken up at the meeting.

(v) Voting shall only be allowed for stockholders registered in the Company’s Voting in Absentia & Shareholder (VIASH) System or through the Chairman of the meeting as proxy. Detailed requirements and instructions pertaining to the VIASH System and the use thereof are provided in the Information Statement.

(vi) Stockholders voting in absentia, who have previously registered in the VIASH System, may cast their votes electronically at any time using the VIASH System prior to or during the meeting.

(vii) All the items in the Agenda requiring approval by the stockholders will need the affirmative vote of stockholders representing at least a majority of the issued and outstanding voting stock present at the meeting unless the law requires otherwise.

(viii) Election of directors will be by plurality of votes and every stockholder will be entitled to cumulate his votes. Each outstanding share of stock entitles the registered stockholder to one vote.

(ix) The Office of the Corporate Secretary will tabulate all votes received and a firm selected for this purpose will validate the results. The Corporate Secretary shall report the results of voting during the meeting.

(x) The meeting proceedings shall be recorded in audio and video format.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING HELD ON APRIL 21, 2020. Copies of the minutes of the stockholders’ meeting held on April 21, 2020 will be made available to the stockholders before the meeting. Likewise, the minutes of the meeting are available at the Company website, www.globe.com.ph.

4. ANNUAL REPORT OF OFFICERS AND AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. The Chairman, Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Ernest L. Cu, will deliver a report to the stockholders on the highlights of the Y2020 Company performance as reflected in the audited financial statements (AFS 2020), and the outlook for Y2021. The AFS as of December 31, 2020 will be included in the Information Statement to be sent to the stockholders at least 28 days prior to the meeting. The AFS 2020will be released by the Company at least 60 days from the financial year end and available at the Company website, www.globe.com.ph.

A resolution noting the annual report and approving the AFS 2020 will be presented to the stockholders for approval by the affirmative vote of the stockholders representing at least a majority of the outstanding voting stock present at the meeting. Likewise, the stockholders will be given an opportunity to ask questions prior to submitting the AFS 2020 for their approval. Copies of the Information Statement and AFS 2020 will be made available to the stockholders before the meeting.

5. RATIFICATION OF ALL ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND MANAGEMENT ADOPTED DURING THE PRECEDING YEAR. Ratification by the stockholders will be sought for all the acts and resolutions of the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and other Board Committees and all acts of Management of the Company taken or adopted since the ASM on April 21, 2020, until April 20, 2021. The acts and resolutions of the Board and its Committees were reflected in the minutes of the meetings including approval of amendments to the By-Laws, approval of contracts and agreements, projects and investments, treasury matters and acts and resolutions covered by disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Philippine Stock Exchange and applicable regulatory agencies. The acts of Management were those taken to implement the resolutions of the Board or its Committees or taken in the general conduct of business.

6. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS (INCLUDING THE INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS).  In accordance with the By-Laws of the Company, the Manual of Corporate Governance as revised, and the SEC Rules, any stockholder including minority stockholders, may submit to the Nomination and Governance Committee the names of nominees to the Board of Directors. The Nomination and Governance Committee, in the exercise of its assigned task, will determine whether the nominees for the Board of Directors including the independent directors, have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications to sit as members of the Board of Directors of the Company before submitting the nominees for election by the stockholders of the 11 members of the Board of Directors including the 3 independent directors. Copies of the curriculum vitae and profiles of the nominees to the Board of Directors will be provided in the Information Statement and on the Company website for examination by the stockholders.

7. ELECTION OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS AND FIXING OF THEIR REMUNERATION. The Audit and Related Party Transactions (ARPT) Committee will endorse to the stockholders the appointment of the Independent Auditor for the ensuing year as well as the proposed remuneration of the Independent Auditor. The profile of the Independent Auditor will be provided in the Information Statement and on the Company website for examination by the stockholders.

8. CONSIDERATION OF SUCH OTHER BUSINESS AS MAY PROPERLY COME BEFORE THE MEETING. The Chairman will open the floor for comments and questions by the stockholders, and take up items included on the agenda received from stockholders in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission[2].

9. ADJOURNMENT. Upon determination by the Corporate Secretary that there are no other matters to be considered, and on motion by a stockholder duly seconded, the Chairman shall declare the meeting adjourned.

[1] The Corporation shall hold a physical meeting if so requested by stockholders holding at least 10% of our outstanding capital stock and provided that the same is allowed by government regulations and issuances. Stockholders have until 23 February 2021 to submit their requests to corporatesecretary@globe.com.ph.

 

[2] SEC Memorandum Circular No. 14, series of 2020 or “Shareholders’ Right to Put items on the Agenda for Regular/Special Stockholders’ Meetings”: https://www.sec.gov.ph/mc-2020/mc-no-14-s-2020shareholders-right-to-put-items-on-the-agenda-for-regular-special-stockholders-meetings/.

PayMaya brings P1-M ‘grand aguinaldo‘ to QC employee and Gawad Kalinga

For Stefan Ema Mae Corregidor, the joy of going cashless became sweeter when she learned that she won the P1-million grand prize in the PayMayaguinaldo Raffle Promo. With this prize money, the 31-year-old employee from Quezon City is sharing and giving back the joy to her family by building a home for her mother who is currently residing in Davao City.

What made the news priceless for Stefan is also knowing that through the PayMayaguinaldo Raffle Promo, another P1 million worth of “aguinaldo” is being given to the Gawad Kalinga School for Experiential & Entrepreneurial Development (GK-SEED) Philippines to help graduates who have set up their own enterprises accelerate the growth of their business.

As Filipinos celebrated a more somber holiday season due to COVID-19, PayMaya thought of how to make its PayMayaguinaldo promo more rewarding. First, it gave PayMaya users a chance to win P1 million by simply paying via PayMaya QR and their PayMaya registered mobile number at partner merchants or purchasing prepaid load and other treats at the PayMaya in-app shop.

On top of this, PayMaya aimed to share the blessing with agri-entrepreneurs from underprivileged communities through GK-SEED Philippines. For the past three years, PayMaya has chosen GK-SEED as campaign beneficiary because of its track record in helping the youth overcome poverty through education and entrepreneurship.

“Amid the global pandemic, millions of Filipinos have joined the ‘cashless’ revolution for safer and more convenient payments. With our PayMayaguinaldo promo rewards and cashback, we provided a merrier way to pay. The experience was also made extra rewarding as our promo campaign gave our customers the means to give back to the community by helping support student scholars of GK-SEED and overall foster agri-entrepreneurship,” said Mark Dee, head of Growth Marketing and Partnerships at PayMaya Philippines.

For Stefan, she discovered PayMaya during the community quarantine. After using the PayMaya app for government bills payments the first time, she has been continuously enjoying the convenience and rewards every time she pays bills, shops online, buys load, among others. From doing cash transactions, Stefan has also shifted to PayMaya for sending money to her loved ones and family members. It eliminated the hassles of traveling to payment centers and lining up just to send funds.

“PayMaya helped in making my life easier amid the pandemic as it offered a safer, more convenient and rewarding way to pay for my transactions whether online or in-store. With this, I’m able to enjoy the benefits of going cashless and avoid the use of cash which can be the source of the virus,” said Stefan.

Meanwhile, for GK-SEED, PayMaya’s “aguinaldo” will go towards providing a combination of live and virtual mentorship to its graduate scholars and kick-start resources to support their agri-enterprises.

“We’d like to thank PayMaya for the continued support for our young students who are the greatest gems of our institution. This ‘PayMayaguinaldo’ will help strengthen our mission in empowering agri-entrepreneurs to build a better and stronger country,” said Mark Lawrence Cruz, GK-SEED School director.

Getting your own PayMaya account and enjoying the rewards of going cashless is very easy. Just download the PayMaya app at https://official.paymaya.com/CAK1/425eb133 and register an account to find out what it’s like to go cashless with the fastest, safest, and most rewarding way to pay for anything online and in stores! Remember, for your everyday needs, don’t pay cash. PayMaya!

PayMaya is the only end-to-end digital payments ecosystem enabler in the Philippines with platforms and services that cut across consumers, merchants, communities, and government. Through its enterprise business, it is the largest digital payments processor for key industries in the country including “everyday” merchants such as the largest retail, food, gas, and e-commerce merchants as well as government agencies and units.

Through its app and wallet, PayMaya provides over 28 million Filipinos with access to financial services. Customers can conveniently pay, add money, cash out or remit through its over 200,000 digital touchpoints nationwide. Its Smart Padala by PayMaya network of over 37,000 partner agent touchpoints nationwide serves as last-mile digital financial hubs in communities, providing the unbanked and underserved with access to digital services. To know more about PayMaya’s products and services, visit www.PayMaya.com or follow @PayMayaOfficial on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

BoP forecast raised as trade picks up

THE CENTRAL BANK raised its balance of payments (BoP) surplus projection for this year, as it anticipates a pickup in the country’s external trade amid a protracted pandemic.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor (BSP) Benjamin E. Diokno on Thursday said the country’s BoP could reach a $6.2-billion surplus this year, equivalent to 1.6% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“Philippines’ 2021 external position [is] looking up. Both exports and imports growth [are] improving,” Mr. Diokno said in a Viber message to reporters.

The new forecast is higher than the $8-billion surfeit projection the BSP gave in December, which is only 0.8% of the Philippine economic output.

However, this is smaller than last year’s record $16-billion BoP surplus, which is equivalent to 4.4% of GDP.

The BoP sets a picture of the country’s transactions with the rest of the world at a given time. A deficit reflects more funds fleeing the country than what went in, while a surplus means more money entered the economy.

The BSP also revised upward the current account surplus projection to $9.1 billion, equivalent to 2.3% of GDP, this year. This is higher than the previous forecast of $6.1 billion, or 1.5% of GDP. However, it is lower than the $13-billion surplus in 2020, equivalent to 3.6% of GDP.

The current account shows the country’s economic interaction with the rest of the world. It includes trade in goods and services, remittances from migrant Filipino workers, profits from Philippine investments overseas, interest payments to foreign creditors and gifts, and grants and donations to and from abroad.

The BSP also hiked its exports growth forecast to 8% this year from the 5% projection given in December. It also projects imports to grow by 12% this year, from its earlier forecast of 8%.

The country’s gross international reserves is seen to reach $114 billion by end-2021, higher than the $106-billion projection in December.

Inflows from foreign direct investments (FDI) are projected to reach $7.8 billion this year, slightly higher than the $7.5 billion previously estimated. The BSP maintained its growth forecast of 4% for cash remittances.

In a separate note, Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research in a note said that while the country’s external position is still solid, they are less optimistic on the long-term prospects due to downside risks from muted FDI, weak outlook for manufacturing and rising import needs.

With the country facing continued challenges to lure FDIs, Fitch Solutions said such inflows are crucial as they are a more stable form of external funding.

Last year, FDIs slumped to a five-year low as investors fled toward safe havens amid the crisis. Inflows slumped 24.6% to $6.542 billion.

“While reforms to address the country’s relatively high corporate income tax rate and restrictive foreign ownership rules are in the works, the delays in implementing them mean the country is failing to benefit from the relocation of low value add manufacturing out of China to South-East Asia, weakening the outlook for its manufacturing base,” Fitch Solutions said.

It stressed the need for the Philippines to continue prioritizing infrastructure, adding the Fitch Solutions’ Operational Risk Team has ranked the Philippines below major regional peers in terms of operating environment specifically in logistics.

“[A] lack of logistical infrastructure and declining domestic power generation will leave the country ever more dependent on imports to supply its growing population and cap the potential for growing its tourism sector.” Fitch Solutions said. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

PEZA approves P13B in new investments

REUTERS

THE PHILIPPINE Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) approved this month P13.19 billion in investment pledges, which are expected to create 2,447 jobs.

In a statement, the investment promotion agency said it gave the go signal for 33 projects in its March 11 meeting. Among these, 29 will be in Luzon while four will be in Visayas and Mindanao, PEZA said in a press release on Thursday.

Among the registered enterprises, 12 are export-oriented projects, while 11 are in information technology. Five are for facilities and one is in logistics and utilities. Three of the approved projects are economic zone developers or locators.

The newest approved projects bring PEZA’s total to P24.5 billion for 2021 so far.

PEZA greenlit P11.308 billion in investment pledges in January, or 139% higher than the P4.726 billion in the same month last year.

To recall, the agency approved P16.5 billion in investments in the first quarter of 2020. This was 28% lower than the 2019 figure after the board failed to meet after the strict lockdown started in mid-March.

PEZA is aiming to reach over P100 billion in investment pledges this year, higher than last year’s P95 billion. Last year’s figure dropped more than 19% compared with investments approved in 2019.

PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza recently said that the board approved an Israeli-Filipino firm’s plan to manufacture coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) oral vaccines in the Philippines. The agency has yet to release details on the name of the company and the size of the investment.

Philippine-based manufacturing will be the Asia-Pacific hub for the pharmaceutical company, she said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

She also said that PEZA is considering new economic zones farther from danger zones amid the alert over the Taal Volcano in Batangas. Lima Technology Center and the First Philippine Industrial Park are both in Batangas, but are farther than the 20-kilometer radius from the volcano.

Ms. Plaza said in the statement that the agency continued to run its one-stop-shop operations amid the pandemic.

“The approval of new projects and investments is the agency’s positive action to continuously support the Philippine economy in our endeavor to maintain our competitiveness for investments despite the impact of COVID-19,” she said.

The Board of Investments, which accounts for the bulk of planned projects registered with investment promotion agencies, has approved P121.9 billion in investment pledges in the first two months of 2021, which is 156% higher than the same period last year. — Jenina P. Ibañez

PHL firms’ gross revenues fall as pandemic persists

GROSS REVENUE generated by local companies continued to slump in the fourth quarter of 2020, as economic activity remained sluggish. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

By Lourdes O. Pilar, Researcher

GROSS REVENUE generated by firms continued to decline in the final three months of 2020 as the economy remained in a pandemic-induced recession, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

The total gross revenue index (GRI) — a measure of sales generated by companies — fell by 12.4% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to PSA’s latest Quarterly Economic Indices report.

This was slower from the 13.1% decline recorded in the third quarter of 2020 but a reversal from 3.2% growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Other services posted the largest fall during the quarter after dropping by 32.1%, a turnaround from 7.9% expansion last year.

Also seeing annual declines during the period were transportation, storage and communication (-29.6%); real estate (-27.3%); electricity, gas and water supply (-10.9%); manufacturing (-9%); and trade (-1.8%).

Bucking the downward trend were the indices for financial and insurance activities (8.8%) and mining and quarrying (6.9%).

“The culprit for the broad-based decline is of course the soft economic activity because of the pandemic,” Robert Dan J. Roces, chief economist at Security Bank Corp., said in an e-mail interview.

“Other services index declined the most as this category contains the sectors that were more vulnerable and sensitive to the ongoing community quarantine curbs and health protocols: recreational, personal services, private education, and hotels and restaurants,” he said.

ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said that the gross revenue index’s contraction reflects an economy in recession.

“Interestingly, the services sector constitutes the bulk of the economy and with the majority of the economy in some form of lockdown or with consumer confidence down, it’s easy to see why these sectors suffered the most,” Mr. Mapa said in a separate e-mail interview.

Meanwhile, the employment index fell by 10.3% in the fourth quarter compared with the 0.05% growth logged in 2019.

Companies in the following sectors shed jobs: transportation, storage and communication (-23.6%); other services (-18.3%); trade (-9.8%); real estate (-3.7%); manufacturing (-3.5%); and financial and insurance activities (-0.9%).

On the other hand, sectors that saw higher employment were construction (12.5%); mining and quarrying (4%); and electricity, gas and water supply (1.1%).

Compensation likewise dropped by 8.7% in the fourth quarter from a 4.9% growth a year earlier, led by construction (-27.1%); transportation, storage and communication (-25.2%); other services (-15.7%); trade (-8.1%); manufacturing (-4.9%); mining and quarrying (-4.7%).

Increases were observed at the indices of electricity, gas and water supply, financial and insurance activities and real estate with 25.1%, 11.4% and 5.5%, respectively.

On a per-employee basis, compensation grew by 1.8%, slower from 4.9% a year earlier using current prices. At constant 2016 prices, however, it shrank by 1.2% from a 3.3% growth last year.

Mr. Mapa expects the index to recover by the second quarter this year.

“As the economy reopens and base effects wash out, we may start to see some gains in GRI by second quarter, but we caution just like in GDP, these headline-grabbing growth prints will be more due to mathematics rather than a true economic rebound or recovery,” he said.

“With the economy stuck in low gear, we can expect GRI and GDP to experience only modest gains after favorable base effects fade.”

Mr. Roces, for his part, cautioned that the rising coronavirus disease 2019 cases will continue to constrain the pace of recovery.

“Gradual improvements in economic momentum are expected until a wider rollout of vaccinations takes place, thus we expect the gross revenue index to remain challenged,” he said.

Bill extending lifeline rate until 2051 gets bicam nod

By Angelica Y. Yang

THE BICAMERAL Conference Committee has approved a measure that will extend the lifeline rate subsidy for poor power consumers for thirty more years, a party-list group said in a statement.

On Thursday, the Power Bloc party-list announced that House Bill (HB) 8145, which aimed to subsidize electricity costs for low-income consumers by extending lifeline rates until 2051, was “positively accepted and unanimously supported” by senators.

A lifeline rate is a subsidized rate for marginalized or low-income end-users who consume power below a threshold level as determined by the Energy Regulatory Commission. The cost will be passed on to non-lifeline consumers.

“Thirty years extension is feasible and will allow the energy sector to make strides in achieving secure and affordable electric power supply,” Power Bloc Rep. Sergio C. Dagooc was quoted as saying in a statement. Mr. Dagooc, who also represents the Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives, is one of the principal authors of the bill.

Citing the Department of Energy (DoE), Power Bloc said that the continued provision of lifeline rates, which will be shouldered by non-lifeline consumers, has very minimal impact on electricity rates.”

The Senate and House of Representatives have yet to ratify the Bicameral Conference Committee report on this measure.

On Thursday, consumer group Laban Konsyumer, Inc. (LKI) President Victor A. Dimagiba said they previously proposed that non-lifeliners stop subsidizing lifeline consumers “since the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) has long removed all forms of cross subsidy.” However, he said that “no one from Congress supported the proposal.”

“(The proposal would bring) about (a) minimum (of) 5 to 10 centavos savings per kWh (kilowatt hour) in the bills for the next 30 years at the current rate,” Mr. Dimagiba told BusinessWorld in a Viber interview.

Asked to comment on DoE’s statement that the imposition of lifeline rates will have a minimal impact on power rates, Mr. Dimagiba said that it was a “very myopic” view.

“You add the universal charges and the FIT (feed-in-tariff) allowance that consumers continue to absorb, and the conundrum of the Murang Kuryente Act, that will add up to almost 20 to 30 centavos per kWh,” he said.

NEDA identifies 4 programs under 2021 national priority plan

PRIVATE sector donations to four government programs under this year’s National Priority Plan will be eligible for tax perks.

THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Thursday released the latest National Priority Plan (NPP), which includes the Malnutrition Reduction Program of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST). 

The program provides direct feeding of rice-mongo based complementary foods for children ages 6 months to 3 years old. It also includes nutrition education for mothers and caregivers.

Also included is the Science and Technology Information Institute’s program that aims to distribute computers to schools and communities, especially in far-flung areas.

DOSTv: Science for The People, a weather and science television program to educate viewers, is also under the NPP.

Also included is the Education department’s Adopt-A-School Program that aims to give Filipinos better access to quality basic education.

“The NPP is a list of government’s priority programs, projects and activities in the areas of education, health, youth and sports development, human settlements, science and culture, and economic development. The NEDA issues this list annually as mandated in the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC),” the agency said.

Under the NIRC, tax perks are given to individuals and companies that donate to programs under the NPP. The full amount of donations will be deducted from the donor’s gross income for the taxable year when the donations were given.

Compared with the 2020’s list, two programs were dropped from the list — the Philippine Rural Development program and an education-related program that trains teachers and students to adapt to the 21st century learning environment. — BML

Nomadland is Disney’s first Best-Picture front-runner in years

NOMADLAND began as a series for Harper’s magazine, and that’s all author Jessica Bruder was thinking it ever would be.

But eventually her work interviewing dozens of Americans who choose to live in campers and travel from state to state chasing seasonal jobs turned into a book. Now a film version —  with its stark portrayal of social isolation and income inequality across America’s vast, stunning landscape — is a contender for multiple Academy Awards in this time of pandemic.

“I think being cooped up in COVID times makes us long for these wide-open places,” Ms. Bruder said in an interview. “To be out on the road, to be in motion, to be meeting strangers, and creating community. There is that pent-up desire that finds its answer in watching this film.”

Nomadland, from Walt Disney Co.’s Searchlight Pictures, picked up six Oscar nominations on Monday. The nods include best actress for Frances McDormand, who plays a widow who leaves her economically devastated hometown to hit the road in a van. Chinese auteur Chloe Zhao, who directed the movie and wrote the screenplay, was nominated in both of those categories.

Disney, which picked up Searchlight through its 2019 acquisition of Fox’s entertainment assets, could claim its first best-picture award since the four it won in the 1990s and 2000s, when it owned Miramax. It’s currently the favorite on GoldDerby.com, which aggregates critics’ picks.

“This movie just has everything going for it in a year that is a really unusual year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with Comscore, Inc.

SCREEN JOURNEY
The journey of Nomadland to the big screen began when Ms. Bruder’s agent gave a copy of her 2017 book to Jasmine Lake, who sells book rights to studios at United Talent Agency. “This would make a great movie,” she said to herself on the flight back home.

Ms. Lake took it to McDormand’s agent, Brian Swardstrom, also at UTA. Originally the actress was to play one of its real-life characters, Linda May, but Ms. Zhao created a fictional protagonist for her instead.

Searchlight agreed to finance the modest $5 million budget. Shooting began in the fall of 2018, using a cast that included Linda May and several more real-life nomads.

In one of the film’s more surprising sequences, Ms. Zhao filmed in an Amazon.com, Inc. warehouse after Ms. McDormand wrote to the company requesting access, according to Mollye Asher, one of the producers. The scenes were among the last recorded, because Amazon wanted to wait until after both the Christmas rush of orders and the “returns season” that followed.

The pandemic shuttering theaters and large events around the world created challenges for Searchlight. When the Telluride Film Festival was canceled, the studio arranged a drive-in screening with the organizers at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Some of the nomads came in their vans.

In an unusual degree of cooperation between normally competitive events, Searchlight also got the Venice and Toronto film festivals to simultaneously premiere the picture, where it won top prizes. Ms. Zhao and Nomadland picked up best director and drama at the Golden Globes last month. In China, Ms. Zhao’s success has drawn a mixed reaction, as the government appears to be wrestling with critical comments she made years ago about the country.

RELEASE DELAY
The picture, which was originally scheduled to hit US theaters Dec. 4, got delayed by cinema closings. Disney decided to release it first in Imax Corp. theaters in January and then in other theaters and on Hulu, the company’s streaming service for general entertainment audiences, last month.

The studio has declined to give out box-office grosses, but it’s not alone in relying heavily on streaming to reach audiences. Several other best-picture contenders, including Judas and the Black Messiah and The Trial of the Chicago 7, were available early online.

Meanwhile, Ms. Bruder’s four-year-old book, which garnered positive reviews initially but nothing spectacular in the way of sales, has now found itself on the New York Times bestseller list.

“This second life that the book is having is not something I ever expected, and it’s pretty amazing,” she said. — Bloomberg

Citicore unit taps China’s Xian Electric for 19.7-MW hydro plant in Isabela

RENEWABLE energy firm Citicore Power, Inc. said on Thursday that its unit Rio Norte Hydropower Corp. signed an agreement with Chinese engineering firm Xian Electric Engineering Co. Ltd. to build the former’s 19.7-megawatt (MW) run-of-river hydro project in Isabela province.

In a press release, Citicore said its top officials — Chairman Edgar B. Saavedra and President Oliver Y. Tan — inked the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Xian Electric’s Deputy General Manager Liu Zhaohua in an online signing ceremony on March 11.

The project is expected to lower electricity costs in the area, and will complement Citicore’s plan of producing 1,000 MW of capacity from renewables in the next five years.

The construction of the hydro facility is scheduled to begin in the second half of the year, and is targeted to go on stream by October 2024.

The hydro project, which will be built at Brgy. San Miguel in Isabela, aims to supply 85 million kilowatts annually to the cities of Cauayan and Santiago and 13 municipalities, according to Citicore.

Mr. Tan said that the pandemic had caused delays to the project, but Citicore and Xian Electric “made a lot of breakthroughs” by initiating value engineering measures to optimize plant performance.

“As we proceed swiftly with the project implementation, the signing of the EPC represents a crucial milestone for the two companies, striving for common development to deliver more benefits to the host communities and power consumers, and further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Citicore and Xian,” Mr. Tan said in a statement.

Mr. Zhaohua said that Xian Electric was honored to be granted the EPC contract.

“We are optimistic that we will deliver this project with very high standard and carry out the construction as planned to help Citicore and the Philippines’ drive to energy reliability and security,” he was quoted as saying.

Rio Norte is a wholly owned unit of Citicore, which develops power and water projects in the country.

At present, Citicore has 163 MW of rated capacity from its eight solar plants. It added that it is set to construct a new 72-MW direct current solar plant in Arayat and Mexico, Pampanga, which is targeted to begin its commercial run by the end of the year.

Last month, Citicore said that it had earmarked P4 billion in capital expenditures (capex) for solar and hydro projects, with around P1.5 billion allotted for hydro projects.

Earlier, Mr. Tan said that the capex would be funded through a debt-equity scheme, as the firm plans this year to hold what could be the country’s “first power REIT offering,” referring to a real estate investment trust or an entity with various types of property assets that bring steady earnings for investors. — Angelica Y. Yang

A headbanging good time

By Michelle Anne P. Soliman, Reporter

Music Review
Poster Girl (2021)
By Zara Larsson
Epic Records and TEN Music Group

ON Mar. 5, pop singer Zara Larsson released a new album which had been in the works for three years. After a year dealing with the pandemic, Poster Girl deserves a spot on your 2021 playlist.

Swedish singer-songwriter Zara Maria Larsson was 10 years old in 2008 when she emerged as champion of Talang, the Swedish version of the Got Talent franchise. Her winning cover of Celine Dion’s “My Heart will Go On” was released as her debut single. In 2012, the singer was signed with TEN Music Group. She released her first EP Introducing with her first original song, “Uncover,” in 2013. Among her popular songs are “Lush Life” (2015), “Never Forget You” (2017), and a collaboration with British classical-pop band Clean Bandit called “Symphony” (2017).

Poster Girl is the 23-year-old artist’s third studio album and her second released internationally.

Listening to Ms. Larsson’s new album is like attending a dance party. The album opens to the blaring emergency alarm-like sound of “Love Me Land.” The track feels like you are entering a club or joining a flash mob.

The fifth track, “WOW” (featuring American singer Sabrina Carpenter) stands out for its striking chorus beat drops. For someone who does not dance, unapologetically headbanging to the chorus of a pop song is an option. The song incorporates a hint of techno.

“WOW” is followed by the title track, “Poster Girl,” which starts off slowly at first, but the rhythm builds up to another dance track.

While most of the songs are energetic, the album is balanced by slower feel-good tracks such as “Talk About Love (Ft. Young Thug),” “I Need Love,” and “Ruin My Life.” The slower songs are scattered in among the 12 tracks, creating breaks from upbeat tunes.

The songs’ themes include unrequited love, seeking affection, and finding it. Featuring Ms. Larsson’s striking pop vocals, the 37-minute Poster Girl is a groovy pop and R&B album. The record’s pop sound is consistent with her previous studio albums.

Poster Girl is a good addition to a workout playlist or to a new dance routine (whether filmed on TikTok or not). It is also a feel-good record to listen to after a stressful day. I suggest putting the album on loop, inventing random moves (dancer or not), dropping everything else, and just have fun.

For an enhanced experience of the album, videos of Ms. Larsson’s recent online concert were uploaded onto her official YouTube page. Premiered on International Women’s Day, they show off her charisma as a performer — clean choreographed dancing paired with powerful live vocal control.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ms. Larsson said she likes to dance and incorporating movement in pop songs is “what’s fun about it.”

This writer headbangs in agreement.

Poster Girl is available on Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music, Deezer, Apple Music, iTunes Store, and Amazon Music. For more information, visit https://www.zaralarssonofficial.com/#.

DMCI starts construction of P10.5-B water reclamation facility

DMCIHOLDINGS.COM

D.M. CONSUNJI, Inc. (DMCI) has started the construction of the P10.5-billion Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas water reclamation facility project of west zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc.

In a statement on Thursday, the construction firm said the facility is capable of treating 205 million liters of wastewater daily and is projected to begin operations by the third quarter of 2024.

DMCI claims that the multi-billion-peso water reclamation facility will be the biggest in the country, adding that 1.2 million households situated in south Caloocan, Malabon, and Navotas are set to benefit from the project.

“This is an enormous undertaking because it involves expanding the capacity of a 40-year old facility by over 600%,” DMCI President and Chief Executive Officer Jorge A. Consunji was quoted as saying.

According to DMCI, the water reclamation facility is one of Maynilad’s large-scale and multi-year capital expenditure projects.

The project involves the rehabilitation and expansion of the water provider’s Dagat-Dagatan sewage treatment plant in Caloocan City. The plant was built in the 1980s and currently has a capacity of 26 million liters of wastewater daily.

DMCI expects to hire around 1,000 direct and indirect workers when the project hits its peak during the first quarter of 2023.

“This facility also represents two milestones for DMCI. Aside from being our largest wastewater project, to date, it is our first partnership with JFE Engineering Corp. of Japan,” Mr. Consunji said.

JFE Engineering is the engineering unit of JFE Holdings, which was in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2020.

Maynilad provides water to areas in the west zone of the National Capital Region such as Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, Malabon, Manila, Makati, and Quezon City, as well as parts of Cavite province including Bacoor, Imus, Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has a majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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