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Swiss challenge for NAIA rehab seen completed by Q1

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

MEGAWIDE CONSTRUCTION Corp. expects the Swiss challenge for the P109-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) rehabilitation project to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.

“The last requirement of NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) is actually the submission of financial requirements, so we will be submitting that within the week,” Megawide Director Manuel Louie B. Ferrer said at a press briefing on Monday.

“Hopefully, this gets elevated to the Cabinet Committee level, after which is the Swiss challenge, so hopefully we can wrap up the whole thing by the first quarter of next year,” he added.

As an unsolicited proposal, Megawide’s project will undergo a Swiss challenge, in which other companies are invited to make competing offers while giving the original proponent the right to match them.

Megawide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edgar B. Saavedra said NEDA had raised concerns over the company’s financial capability to undertake the project.

“They were looking at the full P109-billion capital expenditure (capex) while we were looking only at the phase 1 [of the project], which was our understanding,” he said. “The total capex is P109 billion. This is a program of eight to 10 years. Now, 60% of that P109 billion will be by Megawide, 40% by GMR (GMR Infrastructure Ltd.).”

The company expects to spend P12 billion for the first phase of the project and P20 billion for the second phase in the first three to four years of implementation, Mr. Saavedra said.

The project will involve improvements to airside and landside; construction of a new passenger terminal building; and apron and taxilane improvements. Also, the cargo terminal and fuel farm will be moved to accommodate the new passenger terminal building and prevent disruption in operations.

Megawide will also build a bus rapid transit and elevated railway that will ferry passengers within the NAIA complex.

Mr. Saavedra is confident the company could raise the capital needed for the NAIA rehabilitation project.

“We have engaged with a couple of local banks and international bank investors, and we viewed that this asset is a good asset,” he said.

“Many investors and lenders want to support the fund-raising exercise even during the pandemic,” he added.

Since Megawide is a listed company, we have many investors in the capital market — investors or lenders who are very supportive — both local and offshore,” Mr. Saavedra said.

Transportation Undersecretary for Planning & Project Development Ruben S. Reinoso said in August that NEDA’s Investment Coordination Committee had asked the joint venture of Megawide and GMR to clarify issues “on financial capacity and the joint and solidary liability agreement of the consortium.”

Megawide and GMR operate the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) through its subsidiary GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp.

On July 15, the Megawide-GMR tandem was given the original proponent status for the development of NAIA, after the government revoked the one granted to the “super consortium” of the country’s top conglomerates.

Megawide shares on Monday closed 7.89% higher at P9.44 apiece.

GT Capital extends profit dive as pandemic bites

Insurance unit is sole business to record earnings growth

GT CAPITAL Holdings, Inc. reported a net income of P489 million in the third quarter, slumping by about 94% from the P7.99 billion it reported a year earlier.

The Ty-led conglomerate continued seeing the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the July-to-September period, despite a 147% improvement in net income against the P198 million it recorded in the second quarter.

Core net income during the period also increased 71% to P574 million on a quarterly basis.

Year-to-date, GT Capital’s consolidated net income dropped 79% to P3.2 billion, while its core net income declined 69% to P3.7 billion. Revenues were likewise lower by 46% to P85.6 billion.

“While the July results showed early signs of recovery, the return to (a stricter quarantine) in August abruptly reversed the growth momentum,” GT Capital President Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said in the statement.

In early August, the government implemented a two-week strict lockdown to heed the call of healthcare workers, who linked the rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases at the time to the relaxation of quarantine rules.

Nearly all of GT Capital’s business segments recorded lower income contributions for the nine-month period.

Banking unit Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. booked a net income of P11 billion, down by 49% from last year’s P21.6 billion. Its 20% revenue growth to P96.3 billion was weighed down by P35.4 billion in provisions for bad loans, which grew almost five times the P7.8 billion it set aside last year.

Toyota Motor Philippines saw a 71% income contraction to P2.2 billion, which is largely due to the 45% decline in car sales to 63,182 units against last year’s 114,117 units. Its revenues for the period fell 48% to P63.3 billion.

Property development arm Federal Land, Inc. posted a 78% profit drop to P172 million. Its revenues decreased 34% to P6.2 billion, mostly attributable to limitations in construction activity during the strict quarantine.

The operations of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., where GT Capital has a 15.55% stake in, generated 38% lower core net income at P7.7 billion.

Insurance unit Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp. was the sole business to generate profit growth, with net income increasing 21% to P2.3 billion. It linked the improvement to a 43% rise in single premium sales, a 12% growth in renewal premiums and a 4% increase in revenues from protection and health insurance products.

“We are confident that with the flattening of the curve in new COVID-19 cases, and the re-opening of more sectors under the existing general community quarantine environment, the last quarter of 2020 will result in a strong finish for our group, paving the way for an even stronger recovery in 2021,” Mr. Bautista said.

Shares in GT Capital closed at P525 each on Monday, down P29 or 5.23% from the last session. — Denise A. Valdez

ABS-CBN swings to loss as ad, consumer revenues fall

ABS-CBN Corp. swung to a net loss in the third quarter as advertising and consumer revenues dropped after the closure of its broadcast and digital TV operations, and amid the public health crisis.

The listed media company reported a net loss of P3.33 billion for the third quarter compared with the attributable net income of P813.03 million it posted in the same period last year.

The company’s third-quarter revenues dropped 66.9% to P3.72 billion. Its total expenses declined 31.5% to P6.92 billion.

These brought the company’s nine-month total revenues to P17.03 billion, down 46.8% from the P32.03 billion it reported in the same period last year.

In the nine months through September, the company’s net loss attributable to parent equity holders hit P7.25 billion compared with the net income of P2.37 billion it earned in the same period in 2019.

ABS-CBN said that for the nine-month period, it generated P17 billion from its advertising and consumer sales, 46.8% lower year-on-year.

“Advertising revenues suffered a sharp decline in the second quarter of 2020 following the issuance on May 5, 2020, by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) of a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) to the company, prohibiting its continuing broadcast operations effective immediately,” ABS-CBN noted.

The NTC also issued on June 30 a CDO against the company’s digital TV transmission in Metro Manila using channel 43. Prior to this, the House Committee on Legislative Franchises voted to adopt a resolution denying the franchise application of ABS-CBN.

“These events, in addition to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic that the country is facing, drove down both the advertising and consumer revenues of the company,” ABS-CBN said.

Shares in ABS-CBN on Monday closed 0.17% lower at P11.62 apiece. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Vista Land plans REIT offering, sees recovery signs as income falls

VILLAR-LED Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. is keen on doing a real estate investment trust (REIT) offering for some of its leasing assets to improve its financial position during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement on Monday, the property developer said it is  “seriously looking at the possibility of doing a REIT with our 1.5 million square meters GFA (gross floor area) leasing portfolio.”

It noted 15% of its leasing portfolio is made up of office spaces occupied by business process outsourcing tenants, which have remained operational throughout the past months of the lockdown.

The rest are from malls, which Vista Land said are occupied mostly by tenants offering essential services.

“Rest assured that Vista Land is continuously making the necessary adjustments to operate effectively in the new normal and is strengthening our financial and operational positions to be able to address the needs of all our stakeholders,” Vista Land President and CEO Manuel Paolo A. Villar said in the statement.

Also on Monday, the company reported that its earnings in the nine months through September dropped 39% to P5.5 billion. It recorded consolidated revenues of P25.7 billion, down by 25% from the same period last year.

Without disclosing details, it said its third quarter-performance improved against the previous quarter, as activity started picking up when the government relaxed quarantine rules beginning June.

“This pandemic continues to impact our performance, both on our leasing and residential businesses. However, as mentioned before, we are glad to have seen encouraging signs of recovery when the economy started to reopen last June,” Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr. said in the statement.

The company plans to launch more residential projects in the fourth quarter to add to the five projects that it launched in the past nine months, which were valued at P5 billion.

It is allocating P25 billion for capital expenditures this year, of which some 71% has already been spent.

Shares in Vista Land closed at P3.82 each on Monday, up four centavos or 1.06% from the last session. — Denise A. Valdez

Profit of Cebu Landmasters slides in Q3, but nine-month total nears pre-pandemic level

By Denise A. Valdez, Senior Reporter

CEBU LANDMASTERS, Inc. posted an attributable net income of P709.78 million in the third quarter, slowing by 11% from last year but growing more than triple from P219.57 million in the second quarter.

In a regulatory filing, the Cebu-based property developer said it generated total revenues of P2.2 billion in the three-month period, down 10% compared to year-ago levels. But on a quarterly basis, its top line improved 57%.

Year-to-date, Cebu Landmasters’ attributable net income stood at P1.5 billion, down 9% from a year ago. Revenues likewise dipped 4% to P5.71 billion.

In a virtual media briefing on Monday, company officials noted that Cebu Landmasters’ nine-month performance has been moving closer to its pre-pandemic level.

“While Cebu Landmasters was affected just like everyone else in the industry during the pandemic…, we could see that we still performed relatively well. And I think this is due to the unique competitive advantages of Cebu Landmasters as a real estate developer in VisMin,” Beauregard Grant L. Cheng, chief finance officer of the company, said in the briefing.

“Just knowing how to navigate the local regulatory environment here to be able to find ways to continue our construction activities (was a huge help)… Because the fundamental market dynamics have not changed, which is that there is a lot of housing backlog here in VisMin in the market segments that we serve,” he added.

Cebu Landmasters reached record-high sales take-up of P10.5 billion in the nine-month period, exceeding last year’s level by 14%. It is also continuing to build up unrecognized revenues, which hit P17.9 billion or 18% higher than last year.

The company noted its buyer mix has changed in the past months of the pandemic, such that overseas Filipino workers (OFW) were replaced by local buyers.

“Before the pandemic, OFWs accounted for 30-40% of our sales. During the pandemic, that went down to about 20-22%. But if you see the amount of sales and revenue we were able to generate, it actually went up. What this means is they were quickly replaced by locally-employed demand from Philippine-based buyers,” Mr. Cheng said.

Heading into the last weeks of the year, Cebu Landmasters said it is planning launch a few more projects located in Cebu, Davao, Ormoc, Cagayan de Oro, and Dumaguete.

“We are on-track to hit our year-end guidance of plus minus 10% versus last year’s performance. I think this speaks of the strength of Cebu Landmasters in this region,” Jose Franco B. Soberano, chief operating officer, said in the briefing.

Cebu Landmasters booked an attributable net income of P2.01 billion in 2019.

Shares in the company closed at P4.70 apiece on Monday, unchanged from its close in the last session.

Aboitiz group gets nod on P7.55-B bonds to partly finance hydro facility

THE regulator has approved Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.’s (AEV) plan to list the P7.55-billion second tranche of its P30-billion fixed-rate bonds that will partly fund the construction of its hydro-powered water treatment plant in Davao.

“While the net proceeds of this bond offering will partially refinance maturing debt obligations, it will also partially finance equity contributions to Apo Agua for the construction of a hydroelectric powered pump water treatment facility in Davao,” AEV Finance Chief Manuel R. Lozano said during a virtual listing ceremony on Monday.

Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc., a joint venture between AEV and JV Angeles Construction Corp., is a bulk water infrastructure company that aims to supply more than 300 million liters of safe water to the Davao City water district.

Mr. Lozano said that the project is one of the building blocks in the firm’s environmental, social and government strategy.

The Aboitiz holding firm secured the approval from the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., which allows qualified companies to engage in the secondary market trading of the bonds.

Based on a disclosure to the local bourse on Monday, the second batch of AEV’s approved bonds, including oversubscriptions, is equivalent to P7.55 billion.

The bonds will be issued in two series, namely: Series C and Series D. Series C bonds have a fixed interest rate of 2.84% per year, maturing in 2023. Series D bonds, on the other hand, have a fixed interest rate of 3.31% per annum, maturing in 2025.

Earlier in October, AEV received the top credit rating from a local debt watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp. for a proposed P10-billion fixed-rate retail bonds.

On Monday, AEV shares decreased 1.69% to close at P48.05 each. — Angelica Y. Yang

Suntrust taps Megawide for hotel casino

SUNTRUST HOME Developers, Inc. is tapping Megawide Construction Corp. to build its hotel casino project in Parañaque City.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, Suntrust said it awarded a P6.29-billion contract to the engineering and construction firm to build the first phase of the hotel casino.

Megawide, in a separate disclosure on Monday, said the contract involves excavation, building the basement substructure and superstructure, and architectural builders works and finishes, among others.

“The company will further update the Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. once the definitive agreements have been executed by Suntrust and the company,” Megawide said.

Suntrust and its partner Westside City Resorts World, Inc. are co-developing a hotel casino at the Manila Bayshore Integrated City, which will be part of Megaworld Corp.’s Westside City.

The 31-hectare Westside City development is described in its website as a “casino-filled entertainment city” with 4,000 residential units, entertainment facilities and luxury mall and hotels.

The “Main Hotel Casino” of Suntrust, for which it tapped Megawide, is envisioned to have 400 hotel rooms, a casino establishment with 400 gaming tables and 1,200 slot machines, and a parking facility with 960 slots.

Suntrust was previously in the business of real estate development, and started its focus in tourism with the entry of Hong Kong’s Suncity Group Holdings Ltd. as a majority investor last year. The company is now 51% owned by Fortune Noble Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suncity Group. — Denise A. Valdez

Century Pacific starts making plant-based meat alternative

CENTURY PACIFIC Food, Inc. (CNPF) is introducing a vegan meat alternative to cater to Filipinos shifting to healthier lifestyles.

In a statement on Monday, the food manufacturer said it has started to create a meat alternative called “unMeat,” which is made from non-genetically modified organism plant-based ingredients.

The product claims to have zero cholesterol and trans-fat, but preserves the taste of real meat. 

CNPF is only selling the product to institutional customers at present, one of which is its sister company Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures, Inc.

In its statement, Shakey’s said it will be offering a plant-based burger as part of its strategy to introduce healthier menu options.

“We are working towards more plant-based options, making meat alternatives accessible to a wider segment of the Filipino population. The key is to create a product that is affordable, healthy, yet tasty,” CNPF Executive Chairman Christopher T. Po said.

The company said its unMeat product marks the milestone of being the first vegan meat alternative in the Philippines. — Denise A. Valdez

SM shifts to China-style mixed retail

SM INVESTMENTS Corp., the owner of the Philippines’ largest mall operator, is speeding up efforts to develop “omni-channel” options for shoppers as people shift to a mix of online and in-store purchases amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The group is tapping personal shoppers, ramping up delivery and pick-up services, and boosting its online presence, said Steven Tan, president of SM Prime’s mall unit. Last month, the group started operating a virtual mall for Manila residents, which it plans to roll out nationwide soon, he said.

“You have to be present in all channels,” Mr. Tan, 51, said in a virtual interview on Friday. “Retail is all about listening to your customers and moving so fast,” said Mr. Tan.

The group founded by the late Filipino billionaire Henry Sy is adopting the “omni-channel” retailing approach seen in China, where people shop both online and at malls, he said. Although malls need to keep up with changing times, they won’t go out of style, Mr. Tan said.

SM has 75 shopping centers in the Philippines and eight in China. It is opening another in its home country this quarter and about five are planned for next year, he said.

Transactions through social-media channels account for about 11% of sales at SM department stores, Timothy Daniels of SM Investments said at the interview.

“There is no plan to slow down the general retail strategy,” said Mr. Daniels, SM’s investor relations consultant.

Filipinos are returning to malls as virus quarantine curbs ease but shopping habits may have changed, Mr. Tan said. People visiting malls are those purposely buying and not just window shopping, he said, forecasting that by the third quarter of next year, sales of tenants at SM malls will be back at end-2019 levels.

Sales of SM shopping center occupants are at 60% to 70% of pre-pandemic levels, up from about 20% in the early months of Philippines’ reopening in May and June after a two-month lockdown, he said. Foot traffic is about 40% of what it was before the coronavirus. SM plans to gradually restore rents in 2021 after waiving most of the tenant fees this year, Mr. Tan said.

Swedish furniture retailer Ikea will open its store in SM’s Mall of Asia by the third quarter of next year, Mr. Tan said.

SM Group introduced 250 small-format outlets including Alfamart stores this year and plans to open more, Mr. Daniels said. The company’s malls are expanding al fresco dining and lounges to cater for the virus-driven trend toward bigger, open spaces, said Mr. Tan.

Mr. Tan joined the company in 2004 when fashion made up 70%-80% of tenants and restaurants were less than 5%. Food now accounts for 30% of SM mall occupants, services about 15% and fashion is below 50%. — Bloomberg

Gov’t increases T-bill award on strong demand

THE GOVERNMENT increased its award of Treasury bills (T-bills) on Monday as yields mostly declined on the back of strong liquidity in the financial system and as investors continued to favor short-dated debt.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) borrowed P22 billion via the T-bills it auctioned off on Monday, more than the programmed P20 billion, as the offer was over four times oversubscribed, with bids amounting to P80.407 billion.

Broken down, the BTr awarded P7 billion in 91-day papers, higher than the P5-billion program, as tenders reached P24.631 billion. The three-month debt fetched an average rate of 1.019%, down by 0.5 basis point (bp) from the 1.024% seen in the previous auction.

The government accepted more bids from non-competitive investors for the three-month securities to take advantage of the lower average yield.

Meanwhile, the Treasury awarded P5 billion in 182-day T-bills as planned as bids for the tenor amounted to P22.246 billion. The six-month papers were quoted at an average rate of 1.443%, 1 bp lower than the 1.453% logged in last week’s offering.

Lastly, the government borrowed the programmed P10 billion via 364-day T-bills as tenders reached P33.53 billion. The average rate of the one-year securities stood at 1.745%, steady from the previous week’s auction.

At the secondary market on Monday, the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day T-bills were quoted at 1.094%, 1.465% and 1.782%, respectively, based on the PHL Bloomberg Valuation Reference Rates published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the lower yields fetched for the T-bills yesterday indicated ample liquidity among investors and continued strong preference for short-term debt.

“It was a full award with double accepted bids from the non-competitive sector for 91-day papers. Hefty liquidity prevails [in the market] with magnetic appeal of short tenors,” Ms. De Leon told reporters in a Viber message after the auction.

A trader said the Philippines’ soft economic performance and a benign inflation outlook resulted in continued demand for shorter tenors.

“Inflation is expected to remain benign in the short-term. However, as the pandemic lingers, investors are still wary of economic risks in the long run. Stronger indicators for economic growth are still needed,” the trader said in an e-mail.

The overall year-on-year increase in prices of widely used goods rose to its fastest pace in three months in October, the government reported earlier this month.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed headline inflation at 2.5% in October, picking up from the 2.3% pace the month before.

The October inflation result marked the fastest pace in three months or since the 2.7% reading in July 2020.

The latest headline figure is higher than the 2.4% median in a BusinessWorld poll conducted late last week and falls within the 1.9-2.7% estimate given by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for October.

Year to date, inflation settled at 2.5%, still within the BSP’s 2-4% target this year, but above its 2.3% forecast for the entire year.

Meanwhile, the Philippine economy continued to shrink for a third straight quarter, although at a slower pace compared with the previous three-month period, as lockdown restrictions were further loosened amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The economy remained in recession as gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 11.5% in the third quarter after the 16.9% plunge in the second quarter, the PSA reported last week. GDP grew by 6.3% in the third quarter of 2019.

A BusinessWorld poll of 19 economists showed a median forecast of a 9.2% decline in the third quarter.

Year to date, Philippine GDP shrank by 10%. The government expects the economy to contract between 4.5%-6.6% this year.

The BTr will auction off reissued 10-year bonds worth P30 billion on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The papers have a remaining life of four years and nine months.

The Treasury plans to borrow P140 billion from the domestic market this month: P80 billion in weekly T-bill auctions and P60 billion in fortnightly Treasury bond auctions.

It is also offering another tranche of Premyo bonds to raise at least P3 billion. The offer period is set to run from Nov. 11 to Dec. 18.

Premyo bonds are part of the government’s bid to attract more small investors to invest in government securities. Last year, the BTr raised P4.961 billion from the sale of one-year peso-denominated Premyo bonds, up from its initial offer of P3 billion.

Premyo bonds are government securities that have corresponding raffle numbers for cash and non-cash prizes, aside from earning interest. The minimum investment for the bonds stands at just P500 and can be bought in multiples. One Premyo bond is equivalent to one raffle ticket.

The government wants to raise around P3 trillion this year from local and foreign lenders to help fund its budget deficit, which is expected to hit 9.6% of the country’s gross domestic product. — KKTJ

Construction in HK shrinks  habitat of wild buffaloes

REUTERS

HONG KONG — Construction activity on one of Hong Kong’s largest islands is shrinking the habitat of its wild buffaloes, forcing them to search for food in residential areas, where barbed wire and building waste can injure them.

Grazing beneath lush country parks and Hong Kong’s highest peaks, wild water buffaloes have roamed Lantau, 30 minutes from the glitzy finance district by ferry, since the 1970s after being abandoned by farmers taking up industrial work.

Environment activists say the buffaloes are crucial to Lantau’s ecosystem, eating harmful weeds and keeping the wetlands fertile. Floating plants and microorganisms thriving on the buffaloes’ presence also filter out some pollution in Lantau’s rivers before they reach the sea, activists say.

Lantau residents say encounters with the buffaloes have been unusually tense in recent months, as the animals pop up in private gardens looking for food, and sometimes even charge at people.

The angriest residents want the buffalo culled. Activists estimate the animals’ numbers at just over 100, but are unsure how that compares to past years.

“There’s a war happening between landowners and conservationists,” said Ho Loy, an activist for the Lantau Buffalo Association.

The government’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said that it was communicating with the community to reach “appropriate consensus” and that its cattle management focused on sterilization and relocation.

Land scarcity has turned densely populated Hong Kong into one of the most expensive property markets in the world, making construction lucrative, but also leading to more waste, including on Lantau’s wetlands.

Sharp objects such as broken floor tiles have become a hazard for buffaloes, causing deep cuts which can attract fly larvae and lead to infections. “Lantau is nothing without buffaloes and wetlands,” Leung said. — Reuters

14 movies for P14

FOURTEEN Filipino movies for P14 starting Nov. 14 is what movie booking platform GMovies is offering for the next two weeks as part of the lead up to the first online version of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), according to a Globe executive.

“In today’s environment, while we acknowledge the many challenges the pandemic [has given us], we will once again deliver an alternative digital solution for our consumers,” Alfred Larazzabal, chief commercial officer of Globe Telecom, said in a press conference on Nov. 14 held via Zoom.

The program, called GMovies 14on14, was made in partnership with streaming service Upstream. It is meant to provide the moviegoing public a different way of consuming content while staying at the comfort of their homes. It should also be noted that this may well be a dry run of what this year’s MMFF will be like as Globe Telecom and Upstream are the festival’s official partners.

Aside from the MMFF, Upstream and GMovies are also the official partners of the online edition of the QCinema International Film Festival.

The MMFF runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7 while this year’s QCinema runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 6.

Upstream is a new streaming service that was created by film producer Dondon Monteverde and director Erik Matti in March. Mr. Monteverde and Mr. Matti also have their own production company, Reality Entertainment

“After the lockdown, we realized that things will not open up soon for the country… we [Mr. Monteverde and Mr. Matti] started talking about what to do with the films in the can. We probably have five movies in the can and no cinemas to show it [in],” Mr. Matti said during the press conference.

And so they decided to create Upstream, touted as a streaming service for Filipinos by Filipinos.

“We’re pretty sure that there’s a lot of content producers out there that have a lot of content but nowhere to show it,” Mr. Matti added before explaining that “over the years, content producers have been at the mercy of where we could show our films,” and Upstream is a way of taking back that control.

“We envision Upstream as a place where all content producers are welcome. Content in the Philippines is so diverse and we want that diversity to come out in Upstream,” he said.

And that dream of showing the diversity of Filipino content is seen in the 14 films presented in the program. Mr. Matti described the slate as a way of showing the evolution of Filipino filmmaking.

The 14 films are all from Regal Entertainment — Mr. Monteverde is the son of the Regal Entertainment owner Lily “Mother Lily” Monteverde — and cut across several genres including “trendy, campy, serious, and art house,” according to a press release.

The films are: Shake, Rattle and Roll 3 (1991) by Lore Reyes and Peque Gallaga; Ang Babaeng Putik (2000) by Rico Maria Ilarde; The Debutantes (2017) by Prime Cruz; Dahas (1995) by Chito S. Roño; Woke Up Like This (2017) by John Elbert Ferrer; Bala at Lipstick (1994) by Maryo J. Delos Reyes; Starzan: Shouting Star of the Jungle (1989) by Tony Y. Reyes; Daddy’s Little Darlings (1984) by Luciano B. Carlos; Rakenrol (2011) by Quark Henares; Diliryo (1996) by Uro Q. Dela Cruz; Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (2011) by Jun L. Lana; Inday Bote at ang Mahiwagang Bibe (1985) by Luciano B. Carlos; Sinungaling Mong Puso (1992) by Maryo J. Delos Reyes; and Bihagin: Bilibid Boys (1981) by Ishmael Bernal.

Aside from the 14 films, Upstream will be showing a retrospective of MMFF films from Dec. 7 to 24.

GMovies and Upstream will also be donating to the victims of Typhoons Rolly (international name: Goni) and Ulysses (Vamco) via the Ayala Foundation’s Project Pananagutan. Those who are interested to donate can do so by visiting ayalafoundation.org/donate or through GCash and the Globe Rewards App.

Access the films of GMovies 14on14 by visiting Upstream.ph and get your tickets by visiting GMovies.ph or download the GMovies app available on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. — Zsarlene B. Chua

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