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Vires, AG&P step up plans for LNG vessel, says DoE

Energy department ‘constrained to cancel’ project led by Dennis Uy

By Angelica Y. Yang

THE Energy department has identified Vires Energy Corp. and Atlantic Gulf and Pacific Co. (AG&P) as potential investors in a floating facility for imported gas, as the country prepares for the depletion of its sole supplier of the energy resource.

“Yesterday, we had a pre-application conference with Vires Energy, which plans to bring in an FSRU (floating storage and regasification unit) and also with AG&P, which has… an initial agreement with San Miguel (Corp.). They also intend to bring an FSRU,” Department of Energy (DoE) Assistant Secretary Leonido J. Pulido III told participants of a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

The DoE official made the statement in response to questions from Senator Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, one of the lawmakers who attended the hearing on Senate Bill No. 1819, which seeks to pass the Midstream Natural Gas Industry Development Act.

Vires is a firm owned by Cagayan de Oro-based listed company A Brown Co., Inc. AG&P, which operates globally, is a Filipino company with manufacturing plants in Batangas.

An FSRU contains an onboard regasification plant, which can turn liquefied natural gas (LNG) back to gas. Natural gas is usually liquefied for ease of transport.

The DoE had earlier issued a permit to construct to Lopez-led First Gen Corp., as well as a notice to proceed to Texas-based Excelerate Energy L.P.

During the hearing, Mr. Pulido also gave an update on the planned $2-billion import terminal led by Tanglawan Philippine LNG, Inc.

“We were constrained to cancel their notice to proceed as, in fact, they essentially withdrew their plans as they were not able to reach financial close,” Mr. Pulido said. “They are no longer pursuing their project.”

He added that the withdrawal was caused by a “commercial issue.” Tanglawan is controlled by Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., the oil company owned by Davao City businessman Dennis A. Uy.

Tuesday’s hearing was the second day lawmakers heard energy stakeholders’ comments on SB 1819, which aims to regulate the midstream natural gas industry. The industry covers various operations such as aggregation, supply, importation, receipt, unloading, loading, processing, storage, regasification, transmission and transportation of natural gas in original or liquefied form.

The measure was introduced as the reserves in the offshore Malampaya gas-to-power project face imminent depletion in the coming years.

Last week, the DoE said that it expected the private sector to take the lead in building the country’s LNG infrastructure, which included constructing terminals to receive imported fuel.

The department said this in response to Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian’s previous statement that the government must find ways to encourage private companies to build LNG hubs.

In 2019, the Malampaya project under Service Contract 38 supplied 3,200 megawatts of electricity, accounting for 21.1% of the country’s gross power generation. The DoE projects that its resources will be gone by 2027.

Cebu Landmasters reports 12.5% higher reservation sales

LISTED property developer Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) posted 12.5% increase in its reservation sales for 2020 to P14.25 billion despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, CLI said the amount is equivalent to 5,300 sold units nationwide and is higher than the P12.67 billion in reservation sales recorded in 2019.

“Despite the many challenges posed by the pandemic in 2020, our sales figures indicate strong revenue streams ahead and an upward growth trajectory. We found many opportunities amidst the crisis that contributed to our performance,” Jose Franco B. Soberano, CLI executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said in the statement.

The company revealed that 69% of its sales for 2020 came from its economic brand, Casa Mira, followed by its mid-market Garden Series at 19%, and high-end Premier Masters at 10%.

For 2020, CLI said it had launched nine new projects worth P11.4 billion, equivalent to 4,300 units, and has already sold 70.6% of the new inventory by yearend.

Among provinces, Cebu accounted for 46% of the company’s sales, while the remaining 54% came from other areas in the Visayas and Mindanao such as Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Dumaguete, and Bohol.

Moving forward, the company has 8,000 units in 15 residential projects, worth P17 billion, which are scheduled in 2021. The projects will be located in Cebu, Ormoc, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao.

According to CLI, the 15 new projects scheduled for this year will use properties in its current land bank and plans have already been drawn up for their respective developments.

“We will launch the projects as soon as external factors allow and hope to further contribute to the shared goal of economic recovery,” Mr. Soberano said.

Further, he said the company sees more opportunities in 2021, helped by low-interest rates and as local and global economies continue their recovery from the pandemic.

“COVID-19 realigned spending priorities and stressed the importance of homeownership as a means of securing the future,” Mr. Soberano said.

On Tuesday, CLI shares at the stock exchange rose 2.19% or 11 centavos to close at P5.14 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Auto parts workers call for manufacturing incentives

A CAR parts labor group is urging the government to introduce new incentives for automotive companies manufacturing locally to complement import safeguards designed to protect the local industry.

The Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA), along with its associate Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, said that the import duties set this month “should only be the start.”

PMA had successfully petitioned the Trade department to slap duties on imported cars after it flagged a link between a recent surge in imports and a decline in local employment.

The labor group in a statement on Tuesday said that the government incentives program offering fiscal support to car companies that locally produce 200,000 units of high-volume car models for six years should be “earnestly implemented.”

Car firms Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. are participating in the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS), but Toyota has been asking for a compliance extension after it said the pandemic impeded its ability to meet the required production volume.

PMA added that there should be new incentives for car companies that have been manufacturing in the Philippines for a long period.

The labor groups have been pushing back against the car industry group’s criticism of the import duties. The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), after a pandemic-driven 41.6% sales drop as of November, said that duties would impede the sector’s recovery and risk employment downsizing.

But the workers groups said that the safeguard protects Philippine workers amid a drive to boost local manufacturing instead of import dependence.

The CARS program, they said, was designed to improve local industry performance.

“(The program is) along the lines of the extremely generous tax incentives being provided by many countries all over the world, including those that would supposedly be affected by the safeguard measures.” — Jenina P. Ibañez

NLEX Corp. reports ‘light traffic’ despite spike in figures

NLEX CORP. on Tuesday said the traffic flow at its toll plazas has improved after it carried out some measures to help control the congestion.

In an e-mailed statement, the tollway company reported that its average daily traffic had reached 323,000 from Dec. 18, 2020 to Jan. 4, 2021, or higher by 3,000 versus the traffic volume it saw in the first two weeks of December.

“We are delighted that even with the recent spike in traffic figures, we have not seen our toll plazas getting jampacked,” NLEX Corp. President and General Manager J. Luigi L. Bautista was quoted as saying.

Mr. Bautista attributed the improvement to the ongoing refinements the company is employing.

To recall, the Valenzuela City government suspended the business permit of the tollway company on Dec. 7 over the heavy traffic caused by the implementation of its cashless toll payment system.

Valenzuela City Mayor Rex T. Gatchalian lifted the suspension on Dec. 16 after both parties agreed to keep the toll barriers up on all lanes for vehicles with RFID stickers.

The tollway company said it is currently “working on some upgrades involving radio-frequency identification (RFID) antennas and account management systems.”

It added that it has already carried out some “enhancements in the RFID system for faster reading, repositioning of RFID installation sites, and relocation of cash and reloading lanes at the right side of the toll plazas for better traffic flow.”

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.’s (MPTC) tollways, including NLEX, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Cavite Expressway, and Cavite-Laguna Expressway, have so far installed a total of 2,076,252 RFID stickers as of Jan. 10, the tollway firm said.

MPTC is a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is one of the three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. The two others are PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

An ‘Uneasy Peace’: Online exhibit visits UP Diliman during quarantine

ONE of the biggest areas of the metro, the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus, was rendered silent by the pandemic. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown closed schools and colleges, and forced students and their teachers to go online — which itself is another can of worms.

Dr. Eloisa May Hernandez, an Art History Professor at the university’s Department of Art Studies, and UP Diliman resident, captured this silence through her iPhone camera during walks she took at the beginning of the lockdowns imposed almost a year ago. The photos are now in an online exhibit with vMeme Contemporary Art Gallery titled “Uneasy Peace.” The exhibit runs until Jan. 24.

The exhibit is composed of  photographs of landmarks in the UP Diliman campus, shown completely empty, unimaginable then when memories flash of cars, jeepneys, students, teachers, vendors, and visitors filled the place. The sense of stillness in a place once so busy might bring a sense of relief, but then one remembers the reason why the streets have been emptied.

“The title was contributed by my colleague and confidante, Prof. Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez. It reflects the anxiety that is evident in the emptiness of the campus during the lockdown,” said Ms. Hernandez in an e-mail to BusinessWorld. “It is also the irony behind these peaceful photographs that I also wish to convey. Beneath the ‘peacefulness’ that one sees in these images, there is the tension that the pandemic has brought upon us.”

It could be said that the deserted campus can stand for many places that have once seen life. “I would not strictly say that UP Diliman per se is illustrative of the community quarantine experience. To a certain extent, there is still a little ‘freedom’’ that we campus residents enjoy since it is not a highly populated space. But of course, being a part of a region under lockdown at that time, the UP Diliman community invariably was subjected to community quarantine as many other places/regions.” Would the same unease have been captured, had Ms. Hernandez worked and lived somewhere else? “Absolutely not. To begin with, UP Diliman campus, even pre-pandemic has always been a tranquil space even on days when teeming with students. The avenues flanked by the acacia trees, the sprawling verdant spaces bestow a sense of peace to many. Photographing the campus devoid of people only heightened this peacefulness. It allowed me to capture the mise-en-scène of the pandemic.”

Ms. Hernandez used a phone camera as her primary instrument. It’s telling in this decade that almost everybody has a smartphone, and this tool is always, always within reach. “In a sense, everybody now has the capability to create art or even news, as we’ve seen for example, in the case of the Tarlac shooting,” she said. “As a photographer, I use the most available tool for my artistic expression. Also, during my walks, I wanted as much as possible to take photographs as naturally as possible, just like anyone is compelled to take photographs with one’s phone in a very spontaneous manner. I also did it deliberately, I really wanted to show members of the UP community — students, professors, alumni, staff — what the campus was like during ECQ,” she said, referring to the Enhanced Community Quarantine, the strictest lockdown level.

The photos had been posted first on her social media account, which, exhibit notes by Jaime Oscar Salazar observe, is “a gesture that this exhibition, being an online one, seeks to repeat and encourage.” Ms. Hernadez said, “Most, if not all that we see in social media are from phones, images that are deliberately set up or spontaneously taken, which feed visual media. The modes of production, circulation and reception of art has certainly changed because of the emergence of the digital technology.”

The photos are expected to evoke deep feelings, especially among people familiar with the campus. “Whether a viewer is a campus dweller or already familiar with the campus or totally unaware that there is such an environment inside UP campus, I hope that these photographs will evoke a sense of peace for these viewers. During these times, where our lives are ‘simplified,’ we return to the concept of simplicity and nature. The subject of my photographs, in its unpretentious simplicity provides us with solace and relief. I also want to bring this peace that UP campus offers to those many other people confined in their homes,” she said. She added, “The exhibit is also for my freshie students who have not yet been able to physically see and experience the campus. I wanted to let them experience it, albeit digitally. It gives them something to look forward to.”

“Remote teaching/learning is very difficult for both the professors and the students,” she said, as she discussed how the pandemic has changed her life, as both a resident and worker within the university. “No one was ready for this. As one distance educator mentioned, this is not remote learning, this is emergency learning. I miss face to face teaching, I miss seeing and hearing from my students in real time. I miss the kind of interaction and discussion that face-to-face learning offers. As a resident, I definitely miss the ‘circulation’ of people on campus.”

Ms. Hernandez’ works started taking shape almost a year ago. Mr. Salazar, in his exhibit notes, said, “The lockdown has earned the dubious distinction of being among the lengthiest in the world, and without the benefits that its accompaniment by broad and robust testing, contact-tracing, and case-isolation efforts would have produced.” The restrictions may have loosened relatively since early last year, but life definitely moves at a slower pace; a slowness attributed less to peace but tension; as if everyday is a preparation for battle. While she notes that the Academic Oval has since reopened as a green public space, Ms. Hernandez said, “It is definitely frustrating and infuriating that, on the level of national governance, nothing much has changed. I see these photographs as faithful reminders of an entirely different context that was uncertain, terrifying even, at that time.”

“Uneasy Peace” is presented by vMeme Contemporary Art Gallery. Certain photographs in the exhibition are to be reproduced in calendars and other merchandise. The proceeds from the sale of such merchandise will be donated to the Art Relief Mobile Kitchen. — Joseph L. Garcia

RCBC receives fresh summons for Bangladesh Bank heist case

RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp. said it received summons for a new case filed by Bangladesh Bank on the 2016 heist. — RCBC.COM

RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp. (RCBC) received new summons for a case filed against the lender over the $81-million Bangladesh Bank heist in 2016.

RCBC said in a filing with the local bourse on Tuesday that it received a notice from the Regional Trial Court of Makati regarding the case filed against it by Bangladesh Bank.

“The case was filed before the Supreme Court of the State of New York in May [27,] 2020,” the bank said in a filing.

This followed the decision of the Federal Court of New York to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Bangladesh Bank on the 2016 incident.

The dismissed case was filed by Bangladesh Bank to seek compensation for the $81 million it allegedly lost to North Korean hackers who sent multiple remittance orders out of the central bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

These funds were allegedly remitted to accounts in RCBC and were also said to have been channeled into local casinos through gambling.

“The complaint in the state court is for: conversion/theft/misappropriation; aiding and abetting the same; conspiracy to commit the same; fraud (against RCBC); aiding and abetting and conspiracy to commit fraud; conspiracy to commit trespass against chattels; unjust enrichment; and return of money received,” RCBC said.

The bank said respondents for the case include Maia Santos Deguito, who is the former manager of RCBC’s Jupiter branch where the $81 million from the account of Bangladesh Bank was transacted under fictitious names.

Former RCBC President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and incumbent House of Investments President and CEO Lorenzo V. Tan is also included in the summons, together with other former bank employees and officials such as Ismael S. Reyes, Angela Ruth S. Torres, Raul Victor B. Tan, Nestor O. Pineda, and Brigitte R. Capina.

Other defendants are Bloomberry Resorts & Hotels, Inc. as well as its unit, Solaire Resorts & Casino. Also included are Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. Ltd. and Midas Hotel & Casino.

Philrem Service Corp. and its owners, Salud Bautista and Michael Bautista, are also included in the summons. Centurytex Trading and William So Go, which were the names used for the accounts where some funds from Bangladesh Bank were transferred, are also defendants.

RCBC’s net profit slumped 52% to P893 million in the third quarter from P1.851 billion the previous year. This caused its nine-month income to decline 11% to P4 billion from P4.513 billion as it set aside higher loan provisions.

The bank’s shares closed at P18 apiece on Tuesday, down by 50 centavos or by 2.7% from its previous finish. — L.W.T. Noble

Cirtek receives PRS A grade from PhilRatings

CIRTEK Holdings Philippines Corp. has been assigned a PRS A mark by local debt watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) in relation to its commercial papers of up to P2 billion.

In a statement on Tuesday, PhilRatings said it gave Cirtek an issuer credit rating of PRS A (corp.) for the company’s three-year shelf registration for commercial papers. The rating includes a stable outlook for the company, which means it is seen to remain unchanged for the next 12 months.

Companies with PRS A (corp.) rating mean they have above average ability to meet their respective financial commitments relative to other local corporates. However, the rating also means the company is somewhat more susceptible to adverse changes in economic conditions. Cirtek plans to raise up to P2 billion through the issuance of commercial papers to refinance debt and fund working capital requirements.

The local debt watcher said Cirtek received the rating due to its manageable liquidity and capitalization levels, track record, strong management team and customer base, better profit margins despite lower revenues, and on the electronics industry’s competitive and cyclical nature.

“The company’s capitalization level also remained manageable, with its debt to equity ratio stable at 1.1x as of end-2019 and remaining roughly unchanged as of end-September 2020,” PhilRatings said.

“Cirtek is seen to attain a much more conservative capital structure in the future, on account of its planned equity raising activities and the continuous payment of existing debt,” it added.

PhilRatings noted that as of September 2020, Cirtek’s consolidated revenues dropped 14.4% year on year to $59.5 million, primarily caused by lower revenue contribution of the company’s subsidiary Quintel, at $16.5 million.

The local debt watcher added that the net income of Cirtek for the nine-month period declined 1.7% year on year to $3.6 million, while the company’s net profit margin increased to 6.1% from January to September 2020.

“As of end-September 2020, Cirtek’s liquidity position remained satisfactory, with its current ratio and acid test ratio at 1.1x and 0.5x, respectively,” PhilRatings said.

Cirtek is a global technology company that focuses on wireless communication and has business interests in the manufacture and sales of semiconductor packages and other technology products.

On Tuesday, shares in Cirtek at the Philippine Stock Exchange dropped 2.31% or 19 centavos to close at P8.05 per piece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Shakespeare and Cervantes

What similarities between the famous writers reveal about mysteries of authorship

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE and Miguel de Cervantes, two of the most important writers of literature, are surrounded by a halo of mystery related to authorship.

In the case of Shakespeare, the question of whether he is the true author of his plays has circulated for some time. In the case of Cervantes, mysteries about authorship tend to concern who wrote the sequel to the first part of Don Quixote, one of the earliest modern novels.

Cervantes published the first part of Don Quixote in 1605. In 1614, an unofficial sequel by the pseudonymous Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda was published. In response, a year later, Cervantes published his sequel to Don Quixote, denouncing Avellaneda’s version in the prologue. Since then, Avellaneda’s identity has become the greatest mystery in Spanish literature.

Both Cervantes and Shakespeare lived and died at around the same time. Shakespeare was born into a wealthy, rural family and Cervantes had humbler origins, yet both had a passion for the theater and wrote plays.

In both cases, we hardly know anything about their childhoods and education (although it is known that neither went to university).

Great authors lend themselves to speculation. Shakespeare’s lack of education is one of the main arguments against the idea that he wrote his works, which have been attributed to 80 different authors. While Cervantes’ authorship tends not to be under the same scrutiny, questions about who exactly Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda was, remain.

Cervantes’ own educational background, however, suggests that it is possible to write to a high standard without academic training. If this could be true for the Spanish writer, why not for Shakespeare too?

A very large number of authors have also been proposed as candidates for the authorship of Avellaneda’s sequel to Don Quixote.

Social and cultural prejudices have been important in both cases. Shakespeare’s works show a detailed knowledge of the highest social classes, which is why it is thought that they should have been composed by some illustrious person of the time, such as Sir Francis Bacon.

However, Cervantes also had knowledge of the higher social classes and did not belong to them. Some researchers have even proposed that Avellaneda could have been Lope de Vega, the most prominent Spanish playwright at the time, since it is more attractive to imagine Cervantes confronted with a great author than with a mediocre person.

In both cases, figures who died well before both Shakespeare and Cervantes have been proposed as authors: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford as the author of Shakespeare’s plays, and the Spanish writer Pedro Liñán de Riaza as Avellaneda, the unconvincing argument being that their works were left incomplete and were finished by other writers.

That said, it’s important to look at other plausible explanations. At the time of the publication of the first part of Don Quixote, there were no copyright laws protecting writers from continuations or plagiarism of works, which explains how Avellaneda’s version came to be.

Similar confusion has been caused in Shakespeare’s case. The Taming of the Shrew had an earlier anonymous version titled, The Taming of a Shrew, seemingly supporting theories that Shakespeare’s version was co-authored, or written by someone else entirely.

These days, however, following a theory put forward by Shakespearean scholar Peter Alexander in 1926, it is generally accepted that The Taming of A Shrew was simply an attempt to record the live production version of the play from memory.

In the case of Cervantes, I think I have cleared the mystery: we already know what Cervantes thought about Avellaneda’s identity, which should put an end to absurd speculation.

As one popular theory goes, Avellaneda’s sequel to Don Quixote should be read as an embittered response to Cervantes’ parody of two real people: Lope de Vega and Jerónimo de Pasamonte. Pasamonte was a soldier from the region of Aragon who took part — as did Cervantes — in the battle of Lepanto (1571). Cervantes is said to have behaved heroically in the battle since, despite being ill, he insisted on fighting and was wounded several times.

Shortly afterwards, in 1574, Pasamonte was taken prisoner and spent 18 years in captivity. Upon his release, he returned to Spain and finished his autobiography, Life and Works.

When writing about the capture in 1573 of La Goleta (where there was in fact no actual battle), Pasamonte claimed to have acted as heroically as Cervantes at the battle of Lepanto.

After seeing how Pasamonte had usurped his heroic deeds in his autobiography, Cervantes satirized it in the first part of Don Quixote. Cervantes turned Jerónimo de Pasamonte into Ginés de Pasamonte, a galley slave, who is presented as a liar, a cheat, a coward, and a thief, and is gravely insulted by characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

The hypothesis that Pasamonte was Avellaneda, proposed by Martín de Riquer, an academic at the Royal Spanish Academy of the Language, is increasingly accepted.

As I have probed in my book, The Two Second Parts of Don Quixote, Pasamonte sought to take revenge on Cervantes, writing a sequel to Don Quixote with the intention of robbing Cervantes of his earnings from the second part. In order not to be linked to Cervantes’ galley slave, he then signed it under a pseudonym.

To get revenge on Avellaneda, Cervantes imitated his imitator and created a masterly scene, making the literary representation of Avellaneda (personified in a character known as Jerónimo) recognize his Don Quixote as the true one.

As attractive as speculation about Shakespeare and Cervantes’ authorship may be, looking closer at their lives shows just how irrelevant class, education, and conspiracy theories are in terms of explaining their genius. — Reuters

Alfonso Martín Jiménez is a Professor of Theory of Comparative Literature and Literature at the University of Valladolid.

Bitcoin’s slide dents momentum

WHILE LITTLE exists intrinsically to judge the fair value of a digitized currency, comparing Bitcoin to other high-momentum assets of the past shows how heated its rally has become — and why it’s vulnerable to swoons like Monday’s.

Last week, for example, Bitcoin managed to trade 179% above its average price over the past 200 days, three times as high as the Nasdaq 100 ever got during the heyday of the dot-com bubble. The digital coin was up 120% over the past 20 sessions, a rate of return that’s also three times the best gain the tech-heavy equities gauge ever saw.

“If we’re just to compare it apples to apples with other commodities, it feels like a huge bubble and you could say it’s crazy expensive,” said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners. “I can’t get involved in something with those kinds of technicals.”

Bitcoin fell as much as 20% Monday, and was down 16% to $33,440 as of 4 p.m. in New York.

Bank of America strategists led by Michael Hartnett say Bitcoin’s rally is one thing, along with recent trends in the IPO and SPAC markets, that makes investor behavior look speculative at the moment.

The digital asset’s 900% advance since 2018 has been so swift that it dwarfs all other boom cycles in financial assets during the past 50 years, from gold’s rally in the late 1970s to the Nikkei 225’s surge in the 1980s to the Nasdaq 100’s run in the 1990s.

In fact, Bitcoin’s velocity is almost two times as intense as the next biggest episode of market froth — the spike in Chinese stocks during the 2000s.

It “blows the doors off prior bubbles,” the strategists wrote in a Friday note, asking whether Bitcoin is “the Mother-of-all-bubbles.”

Many worry the 300% rally last year that persisted into 2021 up until Monday is untethered from reason and fundamentals and is fueled by vast swathes of fiscal and monetary stimulus sloshing around at a time when global economies are still dealing with the fallout from the pandemic.

Up 38% this year through Friday, Bitcoin had its best start to a year since 2012, when it surged almost 60% over the first eight days. Scott Minerd, chief investment officer with Guggenheim Investments, who recently said the coin could be worth as much as $400,000, wrote in a tweet that it was “time to take some money off the table.”

It’s the type of thing many investors have been eyeing wearily in a market that’s been laden with speculative mania, with everything from the dizzying trends in the initial public offerings space to the resurgence in cryptocurrencies igniting worries a comeuppance could be due.

Bitcoin’s weekend action fueled those concerns. The digital asset slid as much as 26% over Sunday and Monday in the biggest two-day drop since March.

Still, Bitcoin’s fans argue its recent rally isn’t comparable to its other euphoric stretches, like the one in 2017 that ultimately resulted in a huge selloff the next year. Many argue the asset has matured with the recent entry of institutional investors who have taken a greater interest as the coin rallied to record after record. In addition, they say, it is increasingly seen as a legitimate hedge against dollar weakness and inflation risk.

“Here you’ve got both fear and greed driving that baby to the moon,” said Bryce Doty, portfolio manager at Sit Fixed Income Advisors. “That does qualify as frothy.”

Other technical signals also suggested a worrying trend. Bitcoin’s drop over the weekend triggered a sell signal according to the GTI Global Strength Indicator, which measures upward and downward movements of successive closing prices. The coin’s 20-day moving average has thus far provided a support level throughout its uptrend, though Bitcoin remains overbought, according to the GTI gauge.

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, says there are good reasons for believing in Bitcoin but, to him, it’s a question of whether or not it constitutes a good place to allocate capital. His team isn’t currently apportioning money toward it, but if they did, they’d view it as a speculative bet rather than as a store of value.

“Bitcoin is in the early stages of its move,” he said. “Whether we are already in a bubble or whether we are in the process of forming one will only be known in hindsight, but we think it will be similar to previous bubbles we have seen in the past.” — Bloomberg

Globe prepares deployment of 5G in more areas

GLOBE Telecom, Inc. is preparing to make its fifth generation (5G) service available in more areas in the Philippines this year, a company official said.

“We are rolling out more 5G areas this year to make this new technology more inclusive. We want more Globe customers to experience the difference of 5G technology in terms of better and faster connectivity. This technology has vast potentials and soon we will start rolling out cases that are best experienced with 5G,” Coco Domingo, Globe vice-president for postpaid and international, said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday.

The telco said its 5G technology is now available in at least 848 areas in Metro Manila and Rizal. There are also 183 5G sites in Visayas and Mindanao, it added.

Some areas in Cavite, Laguna, and Bulacan are also 5G-enabled.

“Overall, 5G is now available in 1,045 areas in the country,” Globe noted.

“Along with expansion, the growing availability of 5G-enabled devices, especially those offered on Globe postpaid plans plus the compatibility of the LTE SIM to the 5G network, makes accessing the 5G technology much more seamless,” Mr. Domingo said.

Globe saw its attributable net income for the first nine months of 2020 decline 10.15% to P15.89 billion from the previous year’s P17.68 billion.

Ernest L. Cu, president and chief executive officer of Globe, has said the company would be building fiber-to-the-homes more aggressively this year to address rising demand.

Globe Telecom shares on Tuesday closed 0.98% lower at P2,020 apiece. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: A wonderful piece of software

VIDEO GAME REVIEWS
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Sony PlayStation 5

WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship
Sony PlayStation 5

Battle Hunters
Nintendo Switch

ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA

From the outset, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla feels like a mish-mash of games, incorporating the very best of its lineage into its makeup. Reminiscent of previous titles in the franchise, there’s the trademark mix of historical plots steeped in science fiction, stealth, action, and drama. There’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag’s fun and exciting ship-to-ship combat, but refined to include Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s fantastical ingredients. In short, it’s everything that makes modern-day Assassin’ Creed releases stand out, cloaked in a beautiful, pre-medieval version of England.

In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, gamers take control of Eivor, a Viking who seeks to avenge the death of his father at the hands of Kjotve the Cruel. What starts out as a simple quest for revenge against one dishonorable warlord soon has him fighting against powers far greater than he even envisioned. Across the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, he is compelled to stand his ground against enemies shadowy and seen en route to claiming the fame, fortune, and glory that befits the greatest of the Norse.

Notably, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has gamers do what every other Assassin’s Creed title before it had them doing: climb, fight, assassinate, hunt, travel. With England as a vast playground, Eivor treads across history. And while figures and settings are played fast and loose, those familiar with the era will find themselves marveling at the amount of detail on the screen. From the lush landscapes to the characters on tap to the weapons used to the armor donned, the intellectual property’s inaugural offering on the Sony PlayStation 5 pulls no stops. The goal is to immerse, and immerse it does at a glorious 60 frames per second. The power under the hood of the latest-generation console is put to excellent use while soldiers are beaten down, castles are laid to waste, monasteries are raided, and Viking are being, well, Vikings in an effort to establish a foothold on the British isles.

The graphical wonders aside, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla features content that sticks close to already-established Assassin’s Creed quest tropes. Gamers will find themselves running from place to place, stalking important figures, dueling tough bosses, and gathering what supplies and coin they can get. Needless to say, the missions have a tendency to be repetitive, but the combat invariably becomes a saving grace. Eivor parrys, dodges, and combines light and heavy attacks at will. He can go loud or quiet, killing up close or shooting enemies down from afar. The builds on hand are variable and viable, providing the option to navigate through three different combat trees of stealth, melee, and ranged combat with their unique benefits and drawbacks.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla parades a wide variety of weapons, from great Dane longaxes to swords, shields, flails, and spears. There’s really no dearth of choices, and all of them prove to be equally fun. And for the first 10 hours or so, the visual splendor coupled with the newness of objects and objectives make it a must-play. Missions are done one after the other with no regard for time passing by just to see what rewards can be garnered and what named gear can be scavenged. These then serve to strengthen character attributes and upgrade weaponry, armor, ship, and settlement. In turn, the progression allows for the dealing of more damage, the taking of more damage, and the performance of stronger abilities in upcoming battles.

As with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is at its core an action role-playing game. How well gamers do depends on personal skill, but also on the gear being used and the abilities gained. In the early story missions, these present no issues. The content is enjoyable and the challenges are somewhat dangerous but still manageable. Ignore the side missions for too long, however, and the problem soon manifests itself. Eivor will wind up straying into areas he’s not meant to be in yet. Enemies are much stronger and much tougher, and if their power level is much higher, dealing damage becomes next to impossible even as death comes in one to two hits. In these areas, combat mechanics completely fall apart.

In short, side quests aren’t really just side quests in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. They’re mandatory objectives. Gamers basically have to do them if they want to be up to speed for the next areas. To be fair, the game does try to strike the right balance, and if Eivor is properly leveled, satisfaction is guaranteed. The big damage numbers that come from hitting enemies and the slow but gradual character progression from mission successes feel great once they’re attained. En route, however, the hours can drone on and the numerous side quests can grate.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a wonderful piece of software. Its historical slant, combined with its amazing visuals, fluid combat, and decent character customization will hold the interest of even those new to the genre. On the flipside, it runs the risk of overstaying its welcome with its insistence on grinding. While its main missions are fun and its decent array of side quests are entertaining for the first 30-odd hours, its insistence on rinsing and repeating for the sake of length may well turn off the more impatient gamers. It pads out its latter half with the same array of side missions to be done over and over again.

Make no mistake. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla remains a hearty recommend in the final analysis. If there’s one thing the franchise would do well to consider moving forward, however, it’s the abandonment of the notion that 70 or 80 hours of gameplay are required before the end can be in sight. Any new title in the series just needs to feel meaningful by standing out while staying true to its roots.

THE GOOD:

• Amazingly detailed visuals that really bring the period to life

• Fun if easy combat and stealth system

• Varied character progression through three distinct paths

THE BAD:

• Side quests can be repetitive compared to their more unique main missions

• Grinding become a requirement given the unlocks and upgrades needed to progress

• Occasionally stiff animations

RATING: 8.5/10

WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship

Racing games aren’t for everybody. In fact, conventional wisdom pegs them as part of a self-limiting genre. Outside of thematic choices, they are constrained by an intrinsic need to be about, well, racing. For all the challenges, however, WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship proves to be a transcendent title. The smooth, easy gameplay mechanics serve to make it appealing to a wider audience base, not to mention holds its attention far longer than envisioned. And on the Sony PlayStation 5, it makes full use of the stronger, faster engine at its disposal and shows off its strengths proudly, leading to an outstanding experience overall.

WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship isn’t complicated in what it intends to do. Broken down to nuts and bolts, it’s really just a game revolving around the driver, the road, the elements, and the vehicle in use. With different tracks to conquer and different locations to race through, gamers are expected to drift, speed, and blitz their way through to the finish line in the fastest time possible. And, given the glorious graphical and aural presentation, they’ll no doubt feel good doing so. Cars are responsive, the interface is topnotch, and the general design of the game is one that would make even the most discriminatory hardcore racers proud. It lets gamers live the life of a WRC competitor, in the process losing themselves in a high speed fantasy of tires, gas, and dirt.

The PS4 version of WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship, previously reviewed on this space, earned glowing marks. For those out to double dip, here’s the bottom line: The PS5 version is even better. As well as it looks and sounds on the previous-generation console, its latest iteration is by far the best. And as a launch title on the hottest gaming hardware currently on the market, it’s more than happy to show off how well it runs. Alongside its still-top-shelf handling, the smoother framerate gives it a decided edge. Boasting of a 4K resolution running at a crisp 60 frames per second, it provides a visceral and aural feedback that wholly complements its gamer interactions. The difference is noticeable; the enhanced details, superior performance, and the heightened sense of speed the game imparts is nothing short of phenomenal. Blazing down the track amid a photorealistic environment, the car models look stunning, period.

Meanwhile, the PS5’s DualSense controller further enhances gameplay. Marketed as one of the PS5’s unique selling points, it lays claim to the trigger buttons that rock and tremble as gamers negotiate the challenges before them, resisting or giving in to their presses at certain points depending on what’s happening. This might seem like a small thing; controller vibrations aren’t exactly a new invention. Then again, the way the buttons react to situations elicits a surprising level of immersion. Its variable resistance adapts to in-game occurrences; the seemingly simple change to its programming design helps amplify the experience — from mimicking the screech of the brakes to highlighting the roar of the engine to accentuating the feedback from the road.

Simply put, WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship is at its finest on the PS5. Previous owners of the title on the PS4 and Xbox One get this next-gen upgrade free of charge. Racing fans won’t want to miss it, while those new to the genre could do much, much worse than pick it up and bask on the unparalleled high it provides. Highly recommended.

THE GOOD:

• Smooth 4K graphics playing at a constantly high framerate

• Comes as a free upgrade for previous owners to enjoy

• Retains all the content of the previous release, guaranteeing hours upon hours of gameplay

THE BAD:

• Mainly a graphics and performance update

• Contains minor glitches that can pull gamers out of the moment

RATING: 9/10

BATTLE HUNTERS

Released by independent developer Phase Two Games on mobile in 2019, Battle Hunters proved to be a surprisingly polished title that transcended the limitations of its platform through its unabashed display of the passion of those behind it. No doubt, the pedigree of creative director Dan Tonkin and technical director Tony Charlton helped; the co-founders of IronMonkey Studios and EA Melbourne drew from their experience and wealth of knowledge in providing gamers with guilty pleasures dating back to the industry’s eight-bit days. The result: an engrossing role-playing game well worth the 15 or so hours required to see it through.

Considering the success of Battle Hunters on the go, porting it over to the Nintendo Switch was but a matter of time. True enough, it found itself on the hybrid console in November. And, as with the source material, it’s worth its salt. It’s essentially the same immersive title, but enhanced to take advantage of current-generation specs. While it does manifest its mobile origins in its soft graphics and relatively shallow audio, gamers who play through it will appreciate it’s far better feel. Whether through the Joy-Cons or the Pro Controller, navigation is a breeze; in this regard, the integrated tutorial providing on-screen directions is a boon.

Story-wise, Battle Hunters on the Switch stays true to its roots. Gamers initially take control of three from a roster of up to 28 heroes. Devon Highcastle, a soldier, Galador Stormwarden, a wizard, and Martin Swiftbow, an archer, have banded together in an effort to help keep evil from overrunning the kingdom. They go on a journey to meet the Old One, still able to hold the enemy at bay but slowly weakening over time, and, en route, they aim to overcome danger with their unique skill sets and special abilities. And even as the challenges presented before them become more and more difficult to overcome, they manage to recruit others to their cause.

With greater processing power comes greater promise, so gamers — even those who did not experience it on mobile — not surprisingly expect more from the Switch version of Battle Hunters. The good news is that it delivers for the most part. The interface is smooth, and the additional screen real estate of Nintendo’s tablet does help in reading text and selecting command options faster. Loading times are quick, but there remains no fast-forward option to skip animations and cutscenes in favor of decision points.

That said, Battle Hunters features excellent turn-based combat mechanics; after the issuance of instructions to each member of the party of three through simple clicks, the action unfolds in real time. Victories provide experience points with which to upgrade character skills. Meanwhile, the exploration of the fantasy role-playing game is propped up by variety; five regions are on tap, with non-playable characters serving as starting points for quests that yield objects deemed crucial to progress. En route, more heroes are recruited, thus increasing the range of options available to gamers.

Significantly, Battle Hunters likewise retains its engaging, occasionally overwhelming, soundtrack. For the more sensitive gamers, a tweak of the settings to control its volume is all that needs to be done. Indeed, the option is one example of the receptive nature of Phase Two Games to user feedback; it wasn’t initially isolated from sound effects in the mobile version. Which is why it’s an easy recommend, its humble origins notwithstanding. Developer support is continually guaranteed a rarity for indie titles, and a decided plus for a release that’s already among the better ones on the Switch.

THE GOOD

• Immersive

• Integrated tutorial enables even neophyte gamers to pick it up with ease

• Smooth interface

• Excellent combat and exploration mechanics

THE BAD:

• No fast-forward option to skip animations and cutscene

• Soft graphics and relatively shallow audio

• Does not provide for equipment and weaponry upgrades

RATING: 8.5/10

THE LAST WORD: Nintendo of America and the Starlight Children’s Foundation have been ramping up their partnership to allocate Nintendo Switch gaming stations to more hospitals and health care facilities across the United States. The tie up, which led to Mary Bridge Children’’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington’s receipt of the first Switch gaming station in December 2019, has provided “millions of seriously ill children with the healing power of play, entertainment, socialization, and emotional support, and have helped to normalize an otherwise scary situation or setting for families,” per Adam Garone, Starlight chief executive officer.

Distributed under the Starlight Gaming program, the Switch station is customized for use in a hospital setting. It can be completely cleaned with disinfectant to meet strict safety infection protocols and includes a mounted playback monitor that can roll anywhere in a hospital so children can enjoy some of their favorite Nintendo video games from the comfort of their own hospital beds.

Since launching the partnership in 1992, Starlight and Nintendo of America have delivered more than 7,200 Starlight Gaming stations to close to a thousand health care facilities in the US, “bringing smiles to an estimated 11.6 million seriously ill children.” Previous versions of the gaming stations involved the use of the Super Nintendo Entertainment, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo Wii U systems.

AUB to redeem Tier 2 notes

ASIA UNITED Bank Corp. (AUB) will allow the early redemption of its unsecured 10-year Tier 2 notes maturing in 2025 following approval from the central bank.

“Notice is hereby given by AUB to its noteholders exercising the early redemption option and hereby redeems all of the outstanding notes amounting to P5 billion on the redemption date,” it said in a filing with the local bourse on Tuesday.

“AUB shall pay the redemption amount, which shall be 100% of the face value of the notes plus accrued and unpaid interest to all noteholders as of book closure date,” AUB said.

The bank said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Monetary Board approved the early redemption option for the notes in its Resolution No. 1263 dated Oct. 3.

The book closure date for the papers is set on Feb. 23 while redemption is on Feb. 25.

Following the book closure date, the notes will not be up for secondary trading and there will be no more modifications in the accounts.

“Principal and accrued interest shall be paid through the paying agent to all noteholders on record as of the closed period as appearing in the pertinent books of the registrar,” AUB said.

The notes up for redemption were issued by AUB in 2015 to build up its capital base while complying with Basel III regulations. They are set to mature in 2025.

The unsecured subordinated notes were priced at 5.625%.

AUB’s net profit rose 19% to P1.456 billion in the three months ended September from P1.223 billion the year prior. However, its nine-month net income was down 0.8% to P3.752 billion from P3.786 billion as it boosted loan loss provisions amid the crisis.

The bank’s shares closed at P44.90 apiece on Tuesday, up by 90 centavos or 2.05% from its previous finish. — L.W.T. Noble

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