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Coronavirus slams PHL vehicle sales in 2020

Sales of new vehicles plunged in 2020 due to the strict lockdown and economic slowdown. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL ANTONIO N. DE GUZMAN

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter

CAR SALES slumped in 2020, after a holiday demand spike failed to make up for the plunge in demand during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, data from two automotive industry groups showed.

Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released on Thursday showed full-year sales stood at 223,793 units, 39.5% lower than the 369,941 sales in 2019.

Imported vehicle sales declined 41% to 51,719 units in 2020, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc. (AVID) said in a separate report.

Total industry sales of 275,512 exceeds CAMPI’s projection of 240,000 for the year by 15%.

CAMPI-TMA data showed car sales rose 19.1% to 27,596 units in December, from 23,162 units sold in November, due to seasonal demand. However, December sales were still 18.1% lower than the 33,715 units sold in the same month of 2019.

Full-year 2020 and December 2020 car sales
“It is noteworthy that the holiday season has contributed to the uptick in demand for auto sales in December amid the improving business and consumer confidence,” CAMPI President Rommel R. Gutierrez said in a statement.

A decline in car sales was seen as early as January after some plants and dealerships in the National Capital Region and the Calabarzon Region were forced to temporarily suspend operations due to ashfall from the Taal Volcano eruption.

Sales plunged as much as 99% in April, at the height of the strict lockdown in Luzon, but has since slightly recovered as restrictions eased. The pace of decline slowed in September, as the month usually starts off an upward trend in automotive sales due to the upcoming holiday season.

Year on year, commercial vehicle sales in December fell 23.1% to 18,815 units. Asian utility vehicle sales dropped by 11.6% to 3,940 units, while light commercial vehicle sales slipped by 25.1% to 13,962 units.

Passenger car sales in December declined 5% to 8,781 units compared with the same month the previous year.

Year to date, commercial vehicle sales plunged 40.9% to 154,155 units, while passenger vehicle sales sank 36.2% to 69,638 units.

Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. (TMP) remained the market leader with a 44.69% share, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 16.70% and Nissan Philippines, Inc. with 9.72%.

SALES OF IMPORTED CARS FALL
The AVID report showed sales of imported passenger cars slid 46% to 16,588 units, while light commercial vehicle sales fell 37.6% to 34,826 units and commercial vehicle sales dropped 66% to 305 cars.

“Automotive was among the hard-hit sectors in this pandemic and we continue to feel the impact as sales, after-sales and auto-related services remain lackluster,” AVID President Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.

She said the industry must focus on creating more job opportunities, upgrading infrastructure and logistics, and improving the ease and cost of doing business to revive the sector.

Both industry groups have criticized safeguard duties placed on car imports this month, saying that the measure would impede recovery.

The Trade department slapped duties on imported cars to protect local industries after its investigation found a link between a recent surge in imports and declining local employment.

PEZA investments drop 19% as pandemic drags on

Investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) dropped by nearly a fifth in 2020. — REUTERS/CHERYL RAVELO

INVESTMENTS approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) dropped by nearly a fifth in 2020 after stringent lockdown restrictions dented domestic investor confidence.

The investment promotion agency registered P95.03 billion in pledges, falling 19.15% from the P117.54 recorded in 2019. The 2019 figure represented a 16.19% drop from the previous year, which in turn fell 41%.

Last year’s total fell short of PEZA’s target to approve at least P100 billion in investment pledges, which was already downscaled from the 5-10% growth target set before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit.

PEZA last year saw delays in investment approvals as the board failed to meet during the strict lockdown which began in mid-March. Even so, PEZA approvals slid 5.85% in the first two months of 2020.

PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza had said that pending tax reform proposals at the time and the impact of the pandemic on export manufacturers and outsourcing firms caused challenges in attracting investments.

Foreign investments last year jumped 21.26% to P59.73 billion, but local investments plummeted 48% to P35.3 billion, PEZA said in a statement on Thursday.

“The decline can be attributed to various causes including the perilous effect of the COVID-19-imposed lockdowns beginning March 2020,” the agency said.

Overall, PEZA approved 326 projects last year, 217 of which came from the manufacturing sector. The sector generated P34.44 billion in investments, or 13.43% higher than the previous year.

The 109 projects under the outsourcing sector brought in P17.41 billion in investments, down just 0.93% from 2019.

Most of the foreign investments came from the United States, European countries like the United Kingdom and Belgium, and Asian countries like China, South Korea, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.

The bulk of the investments will be poured into Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), followed by the National Capital Region, Central Visayas, and Central Luzon.

Meanwhile, the Board of Investments (BoI), which accounts for a bulk of planned projects registered with investment promotion agencies, reached a total of P1.02 trillion in investments, a 10% drop from the agency record P1.14 trillion in 2019.

BoI-approved investments doubled in the first half of 2020 despite the lockdown, mostly led by a San Miguel Corp. subsidiary’s P740-billion airport project in Bulacan. Domestic investments at the time jumped by 166% due to the airport project, but foreign investments plummeted by 73%.

“We hope in 2021, we will be able to attract more foreign direct investments in the country, keep the PEZA brand of service renowned worldwide, and help the Philippine economy bounce back,” Ms. Plaza said. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Lockdown is last resort amid new COVID-19 variant — NEDA

Luzon was placed under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from mid-March to end-May, halting nearly all economic activity. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

By Beatrice M. Laforga, Reporter

REIMPOSING a strict lockdown should be the last resort for the government, according to Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua, despite the detection of the highly infectious variant of the coronavirus in the country.

In his presentation at the Junior FINEX (JFINEX) online forum on Thursday, Mr. Chua said the strictest form of lockdown, where 75% of the economy was shut down, caused 23.7 million more people to go hungry, 4.5 million more to slip into poverty, and roughly 2.7 million to lose their jobs.

“The economy is strong enough to recover if we allow it to do so. But our quarantine restrictions prevent the economy from fully recovering and the answer to that is not to give more subsidies but to open the economy more, because all the subsidies will be expensive for the people,” Mr. Chua said during the forum.

With the new coronavirus variant detected in the Philippines, Mr. Chua said the government should continue implementing its health protocols and travel restrictions but avoid reimposing a strict lockdown or only when desperately needed.

“We need to assess the risks around the new variant. It is part of living with the virus. We can prioritize the enforcement of health standards and proactive travel restriction. Higher quarantine should be the last resort,” he said via Viber on Thursday.

Luzon was placed under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from mid-March to end-May, halting nearly all economic activity. As a result, the Philippine economy fell into its first recession in nearly 30 years with a record 16.9% contraction in the second quarter. Economic managers expect gross domestic product (GDP) to have contracted by 8.5-9.5% in 2020. Official GDP data will be out on Jan. 28.

In late December last year, President Rodrigo R. Duterte warned that another lockdown is possible if the new variant, believed to be more contagious, reaches the Philippines.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing on Thursday that existing policies will remain in effect while waiting for the decision of Mr. Duterte and the task force for infectious diseases on any new measures that will be adopted to contain the new variant.

For Mr. Chua, who heads the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the state should also make sure that the mass transport is sufficient yet safe, while stimulating consumer demand by allowing family activities.

“I was consulting with the World Bank and based on their analysis, no country keeps their children at home 100% and in a young country like ours, where the median age is 25 years old and 40% of the population is below 20 years old, and if the children are not participating in economic activities, the families are not participating and therefore, up to 50% of total sales and demand are not going to recover. These are all the tradeoffs,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development Director Alvin P. Ang said the country could no longer afford another strict lockdown because of its huge impact on the economy.

“We do not have the information to answer that, except that we know we cannot afford another major lockdown. We already know its impact on the economy, they (the government) just have to do very well in contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine,” Mr. Ang said in a Viber message on Thursday.

To avoid further lockdowns, sustained adherence to health protocols even during annual Filipino traditions and festivities is key according to Action for Economic Reforms (AER) Coordinator Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III.

“We all want to avoid another lockdown but to do so, the government and private sector must enforce the rules in physical distancing. It does not help either that officials or influencers themselves are seen by the public as violating the rules,” Mr. Sta Ana said via Viber on Thursday.

STAGGERED RECOVERY
Meanwhile, a possible resurgence in COVID-19 cases poses a great risk to the Philippines’ growth prospects this year.

In a webinar on Thursday, Anwita Basu, who heads the Asia region of Fitch Solutions’ Country Risk department, said the Philippines and Thailand are expected to see “staggered” economic recovery this year.

“Both these countries have badly suffered from the pandemic and are set for fairly staggered recovery. [For the Philippines], along with base effects, the Philippine government is counting on a ramped up fiscal spending to support growth this year, however, the outbreak in the Philippines has been devastating and widespread and so risks to growth remains,” she said.

On Thursday, the Health department reported 1,912 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 494,605.

Fitch Solutions Country Risk & Industry Research revised its 2021 GDP outlook for the Philippines to 7.6% from 6.2% in September on base effects and the expected boost from the larger spending plan of the government.

It said the economy may have shrank by 9.6% last year compared with its previous estimate of a 9.1% slump.

FMIC expects PSEi to hit 7,800-8,100 at end-2021

THE PHILIPPINE Stock Exchange index (PSEi) is projected to reach the range of 7,800 to 8,100 at the end of the year on the back of the impending distribution of vaccines against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC).

During a virtual media briefing on Thursday, FMIC Research Head and First Vice-President Cristina S. Ulang said the financial services firm expects the market’s price-to-earnings ratio to be around 18x to 19x for 2021.

She said some of the factors that could boost the market include the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, monetary policy support, and low interest rate.

“Another thing that can affect the market is the proposed Senate Bill 1357 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE), which will lower income taxes for the corporate sector and boost corporate earnings 24%, and can even go higher to 29% or 30%,” Ms. Ulang said.

However, she said a number of risks could affect the local market such as a delay in vaccine distribution, another wave of COVID-19 infections, and a return to stricter quarantine measures.

“We do not know what is going to happen with the virus mutation and how the vaccine is going to be deployed,” Ms. Ulang said.

She noted that the stock index had recovered 57% since the implementation of the lockdown in March 2020 and closed the trading year at 7,139.71.

“It is still low compared to the beginning of 2020, which was 7,815.26, but the one thing that is very remarkable about this market is that there has been very little foreign participation,” Ms. Ulang said.

“This gives us some thought on whether there has been a paradigm shift that the PSEi can move higher because of local participation. This is a new thing for us,” she added.

Further, Ms. Ulang said that $2.5 billion worth of outflows happened in 2020, which means that the market is “under-owned.”

“Foreign ownership is around 23.4% for 2020. It is possible that foreigners can come in due to the need to diversify and look at opportunities in Asia,” Ms. Ulang said.

In the debt capital market, 2021 will continue to be an opportunity for people who were hesitant last year to enter the market, said FMIC Investment Banking Head and Executive Vice-President Daniel D. Camacho.

Mr. Camacho added that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had been clear in using policy tools such as rate cuts when needed.

“Investors are looking for an outlet for their funds with a sweet spot on the shorter end of the curve of up to three years in tenor. However, we are starting to see modest appetite for the five-year bucket, as long as investors are aptly compensated,” he said.

On Thursday, the PSEi closed at 7,273.15, higher by 30.3 points or 0.41% from the previous trading session. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Fruitas sets aside up to P270 million for 2021 capex

FRUITAS Holdings, Inc. has allotted P240 million to P270 million for its capital expenditure budget in 2021 to fund its expansion and future acquisition plans.

In a statement on Thursday, the listed food and beverage kiosk operator said that from the amount, some P150 million will be allocated for network expansion, while P70 million to P100 million will be for acquisitions and development of new concepts, and P20 million for commissary expansion.

Fruitas did not disclose how much it spent last year, but in early 2020, the company quoted around the same capital expenditure (capex) range as this year.

Fruitas said it plans to add at least 100 kiosks and 70 community stores to its network in 2021. If realized, it will bring the company’s total store count to 1,100 kiosks and 100 community stores by the end of the year.

The company added that it plans to launch two new concepts by the first quarter of 2021 and targets to expand community stores outside Metro Manila to include key cities across the Philippines.

“The increase in kiosks will come from both additional locations for its existing brands and new kiosks for its emerging concepts,” Fruitas said in the statement.

Further, the company said it was checking prospects to acquire potential targets and expand outside the country, initially within Asia.

“The company is also continuing to fine tune existing processes, from site selection to sales delivery, to improve margins,” Fruitas said.

Meanwhile, Fruitas said it was consulting with potential product partners to include additional items that will be sold in its network, and also with distribution partners to broaden the sales channels of the company’s products.

The company said that it has plans to expand current delivery channels beyond Metro Manila and Cebu in the near-term, adding that a number of community stores will be designated as delivery hubs to reduce turnaround time.

Fruitas Holdings President and CEO Lester C. Yu said the company is confident heading to 2021 due to its stronger footing amid the pandemic.

“We had a temporary setback in terms of operating results in 2020, but we were able to successfully execute numerous initiatives to broaden product breadth and client reach. There are still abundant opportunities to generate growth and improve margins,” Mr. Yu was quoted as saying.

On Thursday, Fruitas shares at the stock exchange rose 0.57% or one centavo to close at P1.75 per piece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Holcim Philippines allots P121.5M to improve alternative fuel processing facility

HOLCIM PHILIPPINES, Inc. has invested P121.5 million until 2022 to improve the alternative fuel processing facility at its cement plant in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

In a regulatory filing on Thursday, the company said the amount aims to improve the efficiency of its shredding operations that turn qualified waste materials to alternative fuels, establish new equipment, and upgrade storage and feeding facilities in its cement plant.

Holcim Philippines said the improvements will let its waste management unit support the company’s Bulacan plant in using more post-consumer and municipal solid wastes as alternative fuels, rather than coal.

According to the company, it has been using qualified wastes such as non-recyclable plastics and biomass as alternative fuels in cement manufacturing since 2003, which is converted via co-processing technology.

“In co-processing, qualified waste materials are pre-processed as alternative fuel and fed into the high-temperature kilns along with other traditional fuels to produce cement,” the company said.

“This process transforms wastes to alternative fuel and converts these into energy for cement production,” it added.

Holcim Philippines President and CEO John Stull said its waste management unit has helped communities and business partners in handling their wastes, while enabling the company to produce building materials with a more cost-efficient and environment-friendly method.

“This investment ensures we can continue being a reliable partner in the country’s sustainable development, while also meeting our objectives of making our operations more efficient and respectful of nature,” Mr. Stull was quoted as saying.

In 2020, Holcim said it had co-processed around 130,000 tons of qualified wastes from local governments, industry partners, and agricultural processors in its plants in Luzon and Mindanao.

On Thursday, shares in Holcim Philippines at the stock exchange dropped 0.84% or six centavos to end at P7.12 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

AirAsia launches e-shopping in PHL; food delivery, e-wallet to follow

AFTER launching its online shopping platform in the Philippines, AirAsia Group Berhad is also hoping to make its food delivery and digital wallet services available to Filipino consumers soon.

The airline group officially launched its AirAsia Shop in the Philippines on Thursday, as part of its strategy to expand its e-commerce presence in Southeast Asia.

AirAsia first launched its online shop in Malaysia in the second quarter of 2020, according to Rose Lam, AirAsia’s head of ancillary.

After its launch in the Philippines, the group will be working towards opening the platform for consumers in Thailand and Malaysia, she said at a virtual briefing.

AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Anthony Francis “Tony” Fernandes said: “I hope AirAsia Food will be launched in the Philippines in the not-too-distant future…”

“We are now actually working to launch BigPay, which is similar to GCash,” he added.

The group is currently focusing on restructuring its business to weather the pandemic crisis, as travel behavior is expected to return to normal by 2022.

The group has also launched a delivery service in the Philippines through its logistics tech venture, Teleport.

Its online shopping platform is an attempt to redefine Filipinos’ duty-free, travel retail, and at-home shopping experiences, according to Philippines AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Ricardo P. Isla.

“As industries shift and continue to be shaped by our current situation, AirAsia will continue to innovate amazing product offerings and experiences for our guests and customers, which is why AirAsia is the leading travel, lifestyle, and digital platform in the region,” he said at the briefing.

Among the product categories found on AirAsia’s online shopping platform are beauty, fashion, electronics and gadgets, and health and wellness. — Arjay L. Balinbin

M3 growth eases on slow lending

Money supply logged its sixth straight month of slower growth in November as lending continued to ease amid the coronavirus pandemic.

M3 — considered as the broadest measure of liquidity in an economy — increased 10.5% year on year to P13.7 trillion in November, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released late Wednesday showed.

The month’s growth print was slower than the 11.6% seen in October. This also marked the sixth consecutive month of easing liquidity growth since June’s 14.9%.

Month-on-month, money supply rose by 0.5%.

“Slower M3 growth in recent months may have partly reflected some of the recent slowdown in loan demand,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a note.

Growth in domestic claims eased to 6.7% in November from 8.07% the previous month as bank lending remained weak, the central bank said in a statement.

Net borrowings by the central government also slowed to 40.7% from 46.6%, while claims on the private sector eased to 0.8% in November from 1.7% in October.

Meanwhile, net foreign assets (NFA) in peso terms rose 22.9%, slower than its 23.3% growth in October.

“The expansion in the BSP’s NFA position reflected the increase in the country’s gross international reserves during the month,” the central bank said.

On the other hand, net foreign assets held by other depository corporations including banks grew by a quicker 75.8% in November from 74.8% the prior month.

“The overall stance of monetary policy remains accommodative. Going forward, the BSP will continue to be vigilant in monitoring domestic liquidity dynamics and stands ready to deploy further monetary measures as needed, in line with its commitment to support domestic economic activity amid the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining price stability,” the BSP said.

BANK LENDING BARELY GROWS
Meanwhile, credit growth slowed to less than a percentage point in November, with banks remaining cautious about lending as the crisis stretched on.

Data released separately by the BSP on Wednesday showed outstanding loans disbursed by universal and commercial banks grew by 0.3% year on year to P8.978 billion in November from P8.950 billion.

This eased from the 1.8% growth in October and is the slowest pace since the 1.9% logged in September 2006.

Inclusive of reverse repurchase agreements, bank lending rose 0.4%, slower than the 2.1% the prior month.

“It’s (slower loan growth) due primarily to banks’ risk aversion. They’ve been very careful in order to preserve not only their liquidity, but also, [they are thinking] would they be able to face up any eventuality,” Victor A. Abola, an economist from the University of Asia and the Pacific, said in a virtual briefing on Thursday.

“It’s not a lack of demand [for loans]. Firms are willing to borrow. It’s just that they have to pass through more rigid screening by the banks,” he added.

Mr. Abola said bank lending could pick up once lenders see solid signs of recovery among businesses.

Borrowings for production activities, which made up 87.3% of total outstanding loans, inched up by 0.5% following a 2% growth in October. This was due to a decline in loans to key industries like  wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-6%) and manufacturing (-4.2%).

On the other hand, increases were seen in loans for real estate activities (5.2%); electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply (2.7%); human health and social work activities (45.3%); transportation and storage (8.1%); and information and communication (6.5%).

Consumer loans also grew at a slower rate of 7.1% in November from 7.9% the previous month. The central bank attributed this to a slowdown in credit card loans (17.9% from 18.7% in October) and the continued decline in motor vehicle loans (-3.3% from -1.3%).

“The BSP notes that its accommodative monetary policy stance, along with sustained fiscal initiatives to safeguard public welfare, should continue to support the economy’s gradual recovery in the coming months,” the central bank said in a statement.

Mr. Abola said with liquidity and lending growth continuing to ease, the central bank will likely “tend to be accommodative.”

“They had to stop because of the spike in inflation but as soon as the fourth-quarter [gross domestic product] figures come up, which will still be negative, there will be reason to ease up further,” he said, noting he expects another 25-basis-point (bp) cut in policy rates.

The BSP last year slashed benchmark interest rates by 200 bps to help support the economy. This brought the rates on its overnight reverse repurchase rate, lending, and deposit facilities to record lows of 2%, 2.5%, and 1.5%, respectively.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno has said they intend to keep rates low until the country resumes its annual growth trajectory of 6.5% to 7.5%. — L.W.T. Noble

Multisys’s StaySafe.ph removes GPS, Bluetooth for data privacy

MULTISYS TECHNOLOGIES Corp., the developer of StaySafe.ph, has removed the GPS and Bluetooth features of the contact-tracing app to ensure “zero surveillance.”

In an e-mailed statement, the software solutions company said the app’s “enhanced” QR code security prevents data exposure.

It noted that some people have been “reluctant” to use the contact-tracing app.

The government’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the management of emerging infectious diseases issued a resolution on Nov. 26 last year declaring StaySafe.ph as its digital contact-tracing app of choice.

The app is mandatory for adoption and use in all government agencies. It is also promoted for use in private establishments or offices.

“These efforts have been done to build public confidence and trust in our digital contact tracing efforts. We appeal for everyone’s participation and support as we continue and reinforce our pandemic mitigation efforts this 2021,” Contact Tracing Czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said in the statement.

MultiSys said it is shouldering all the fees to maintain the cloud services needed by the app.

StaySafe.ph now has more than eight million users, according to its developer.

“More than 700 local government units and over 100,000 companies and establishments have adopted its built-in digital logbook and QR code scanning features to protect their employees, visitors, and customers. This provides an efficient way to replace the manual logging of visitors’ health check, which requires the use of pen and paper that can potentially transmit the virus,” it added.

The government said that all data collected through contact-tracing applications should be submitted to a centralized contact-tracing data repository for integration and linkage with appropriate laboratory results. — Arjay L. Balinbin

BSP advances to gov’t to cease when economy recovers

THE CENTRAL BANK’S direct advances to the National Government are not considered as debt monetization and are temporary in nature due to the coronavirus crisis, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said.

“No it’s not [debt monetization]. We’re not monetizing. This will not be a permanent feature of the fiscal and monetary relationship,” Mr. Diokno said in a briefing on Thursday.

He said the BSP’s direct advances to the National Government are considered as bridge financing to support state spending for its coronavirus pandemic response at a time where tax collections have seen a decline.

“We expect that the economy will fully recover in the middle of 2022. We expect that this accommodation will cease at that time,” he added.

Under Republic Act (RA) No. 7653 or the New Central Bank Act, the BSP is allowed to provide up to 20% of its average annual revenue — equivalent to P540 billion — to the National Government as direct advances.

This ceiling was increased to 30% or about P820 billion through the provisions of RA 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act to help boost government liquidity for its pandemic response.

The BSP Monetary Board in December approved another P540 billion zero-interest direct advance to the National Government. This was after the central bank bought P300 billion in government securities in March and also granted a P540-billion advance in October.

“They have not accessed that [fresh P540-billion advance] yet. I think they will access that anytime soon,” Mr. Diokno said.

The central bank chief said these direct advances from the BSP will help the government save on interest payments.

“That would be less expenditures… That’s why the central bank provided advances to the National Government,” he said.

Mr. Diokno, a former Budget secretary, stressed the need for fiscal measures for economic recovery.

“The good thing about fiscal policies is that they can really target who can benefit from fiscal spending or tax cuts, etc. So there’s still room for more targeted and more intensive fiscal policy,” he said.

Fitch Ratings earlier this week warned that an extension of the BSP’s financing to the National Government “beyond immediate needs of the health crisis could undermine investor confidence and financial stability by raising questions about the independence of monetary policy making.”

The country’s pandemic response reached $21.645 billion or about 5.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, based on the policy database of the Asian Development Bank.

While this was the sixth largest in the region in terms of value, this is small relative to the size of the economy as pandemic packages in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand accounted for about 25%, 23% and 16% of their respective GDPs. — L.W.T. Noble

With move to Viva, singer Mark Carpio to provide movie theme songs

“HILING” hitmaker Mark Carpio is the most recent addition to Viva Records’ growing slate of singers and songwriters, coming shortly after announcements that KPop star Minzy and R&B singer Daryl Ong also joined the recording company.

His transfer from Warner Music Philippines to Viva Records had been a year in the making, according to Mr. Carpio, and the reason for the switch is because “he wanted to go mainstream,” he told reporters during a digital conference on Jan. 13 via Zoom.

This means that Mr. Carpio’s songs will be used by Viva Films as theme songs for its movies. To date, he has two songs ready although the production of the movies the songs will be used for were affected by the pandemic. A third song is in the works.

Mr. Carpio gained popularity on the local music scene in 2016 for the ballad “Hiling,” which earned him two nominations — Best Ballad Recording and Best Performance from a New Male Recording Artist — at the 2017 Awit Awards.

To date, Mr. Carpio has released a handful of songs including what he called his “best song,” “Kay Tagal,” a rock ballad released in the same year as “Hiling.”

Beyond being a singer and songwriter, Mr. Carpio also works as executive vice-president at Grand Monaco Estate Developers, Inc., a business his father Reynaldo Carpio put up.

The younger Mr. Carpio said that his involvement in the family business makes him approach his music career “with business sense,” and that since he is not “here for the money” he is also not here for the short term.

He explained that while he does write songs in other genres, the moment “Hiling” became a hit, he “became a balladeer” and started writing ballads.

“[I focused on] what people like instead of only what I liked… the reason why my songs sound like that is that I want it to be timeless,” he said. — Zsarlene B. Chua

DPWH, China firm sign P19.32-billion bridge contract for Davao City

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Thursday it signed a P19.32-billion contract with a Chinese firm for the design and construction of the 3.98-kilometer Samal Island-Davao City Connector Project.

China Road and Bridge Corp. bagged the design-and-build contract for the project after the procurement activities in November and December last year, the DPWH said in a statement.

DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar said, “With the signed contract, we can now apply for the loan agreement with the People’s Republic of China through China International Development Cooperation Agency to proceed with the detailed engineering design of the Samal Island to Davao City Connector Project.”

He added that the toll-free four-lane bridge is expected to reduce the travel time of approximately 25,000 daily motorists to “only two to five minutes” between Davao City in Davao del Sur and Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte from around 30 minutes via RoRo ferry.

“Its main span measures 250 meters and has a vertical navigation clearance of up to 47 meters crossing over Pakiputan strait. The bridge will also be supported by two pylons with a height of 73 meters,” the DPWH noted.

China Road and Bridge Corp. is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Co., which was “debarred” by the World Bank for eight years beginning Jan. 12, 2009 “for fraud in Philippine roads project,” according to the international financial institution’s website.

Once the detailed engineering design is completed, the construction firm will start the 54-month civil works stage of the China-funded project, the department said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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