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PAL cuts 2,300 jobs as part of recovery efforts

FLAG CARRIER Philippines Airlines (PAL) is cutting about 2,300 jobs, or approximately 30% of its workforce, as part of its recovery initiatives amid the ongoing pandemic crisis, its top official said.

“This has been an extremely difficult and painful decision,” PAL President Gilbert F. Santa Maria said in a statement on Tuesday.

PAL said the total includes both voluntary separations and involuntary retrenchment.

The affected workers have until mid-March as PAL employees.

“For our colleagues who are leaving, rest assured that we are committed to support you through this transition,” Mr. Santa Maria said. “We extend to you our deepest gratitude for your years of hard work and dedicated service, and we will always cherish the ties you have established with the PAL family.”

PAL said it implemented temporary furloughs and flexible working arrangements to hold off job cuts.

According to the company, the retrenchment program, which is part of its overall recovery initiatives, was communicated to employees “as early as October” last year.

PAL noted that it still operates less than 30% of its pre-pandemic number of weekly flights due to travel restrictions and low travel demand.

The company has suspended capital expenditures, reduced management salaries, deferred lease payments, and slashed non-essential expenses since March 2020 when travel restrictions started.

PAL said its reduced workforce should not affect its current operations, reiterating that it would “continue to gradually increase international and domestic flights as demand recovers.”

In February last year, PAL slashed 300 jobs as a way to recover from its 2019 losses, which worsened in the first two months of 2020 due to the public health crisis.

In the nine months through September 2020, the flag carrier’s listed operator, PAL Holdings, Inc., saw its net loss to parent equity holders hit P28.85 billion, or more than three times the P8.49 billion recorded in 2019.

Passenger revenues for the three quarters dropped 65.4% to P35.56 billion. Cargo revenues declined 12.2% to P6.05 billion. Ancillary revenues decreased 55.5% to P3.68 billion, while its other business segments generated P6.93 million, 76.9% lower than the previous year’s figure.

PAL Holdings shares closed 0.31% higher at P6.50 apiece on Tuesday. — Arjay L. Balinbin

CCP holds world premiere of Tarog’s new short film, launches dance video

THE CULTURAL Center of the Philippines (CCP) will host the world premiere of award-winning filmmaker Jerrold Tarog’s new film Ang Kabaligtaran ng Gunaw (The Opposite of the End)” along with the launch of the dance film Hilom: Sayaw Dalangin ng Pag-asa at Pagkakaisa, on Feb. 14, 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. airing on CNN Philippines channels.

Mr. Tarog turned “Ang Kabaligtaran ng Gunaw,” an original poem by playwright Eljay Castro Deldoc, into a cinematic experience, featuring the original concept and choreography by Ronelson Yadao. Mr. Tarog also composed the music for the dance film.

The film stars dancer Eloisa Jessa Tangalin, as well as other faculty members of CCP Dance Workshop including Sarah Anne Alejandro, Monica Amanda Gana, Stephanie Kerilen Santiago, Karla Marie Santos, Victor Maguad, Lester John Reguindin, Earl John Arisola, Al Frederick Abraham, Louise Joh Ababob, Danilo Dayo, Jr., Bonifacio Guerrero, Jr., and Justine Josep Orande.

With a screenplay by Tarog and Deldoc, the eight-minute short feature film brings together the different art forms — literature, dance, music, theater and film — to create a unique collaboration  on the importance of artistic expression and creativity that is much needed in the process of healing and overcoming the pandemic.

Gunaw is also a promise that the CCP will open its doors once again and welcome its artists back because there are still stories to be told, songs to be sung and ideas to be expressed. And as artists always say, the show must and will go on.

Meanwhile, Hilom features folkloric dances associated with Filipino rituals and dance traditions to show how relevant dance is to the lives of the people especially during times of difficulties and challenges.

The dance production engages various folkloric dance groups and communities in working together to produce dance performances that highlight the affinity of Filipinos to connect to the spiritual world for prayer, supplications, thanksgiving, and worship.

The featured dance groups and artists are: Abigail Calma (as Inang Bayan) from the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group; the Kaloob Phil Music and Dance Ministry; the Lyceum of the Philippines University of Batangas – Lahing Batangan Dance Troupe; Leyte Dance Theatre of Jess De Paz Foundation, Inc.; the University of Cebu Dance Company; the Melengas Dance Ensemble; and the Koronadal Hinugyaw Cultural Dance Troupe.

Directed by Stephen Ramos Biadoma, the dance video production follows aa story and concept created by the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, with music by Teresa Barrozo, edited by Ge Aňonuevo, with cinematography by Brandon Relucio, and costumes by Carlo Viray Valderama.

“Hilom is a dance film that forwards the Filipino spirit to the forefront of our fight against the global health crisis. Our differences in culture, language, or ethnicity do not hinder us but rather enrich and unify our call and prayer for healing. We shall move as one nation, one community, one Filipino toward the hope for recovery,” said Mr. Biadoma in a statement.

After the twinbill premieres on CNN Philippines, the CCP plans to hold a hybrid outdoor screening, tagged as Cinema Under the Stars, at the CCP grounds, following strict health protocols. There will also be an online premiere through the CCP social media accounts (official Facebook page and YouTube channel). For more information, visit the CCP website www.culturalcenter.gov.ph and follow the official CCP Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram accounts and YouTube Channel.

ERC denies Mindoro power firm’s bid to recover generation rate for hydro plant

THE ENERGY Regulatory Commission (ERC) has rejected the petition of Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ormeco) for provisional authority to collect an added charge to its customers to recover the cost of generating power from its hydroelectric plant.

Ormeco in its petition dated Oct. 16, 2020, asked the ERC to allow the recovery of cost for the power generated by its 3-megawatt Linao-Cawayan Mini-Hydro Power Plant-Upper Cascade.

It said the ERC’s approval would lessen the effects of retail rates charged to member-consumers who incurred higher energy tariffs.

In an order dated Jan. 29, the ERC said that it denied Ormeco’s petition, citing that the electric cooperative did not secure prior approval from the commission for its generation rate charges. It also cited the substantial delays in the filing of the application, among others.

“The allegations in the application show that Ormeco has been operating the [hydro plant] to supply electricity to its captive customers without an approved generation rate from the Commission,” the ERC said.

It added that the commission did not have the opportunity to evaluate whether Ormeco was supplying electricity “in the least cost manner before charging retail rates.”

Republic Act No. 9136 or Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) mandates distribution utilities to supply power at the “least cost to its captive market, subject to the collection of retail rate.”

The ERC said that because Ormeco charged its member-consumers for its hydro plant’s generation rate, which did not have the commission’s prior approval, the electric cooperative “violated” the law.

The regulator also cited “substantial delays” between the filing of Ormeco’s petition and granting of provisional authority to operate, which the power utility received six years ago.

“It must be noted that it was only 16 October 2020 that Ormeco filed the necessary application for the approval of the generation rate recovery,” the ERC said.

The ERC added that Ormeco had enough contracted power supply to address the surge in demand in its franchise area, as seen in its submitted demand-supply scenario, which included historical data from 2018 to 2019 and forecasts for 2020 up to 2025.

The ERC ordered Ormeco to submit its hydro service contract for the power plant and its water permit issued by the National Water Regulatory Board.

It also directed Ormeco’s management and board of directors to explain under oath why they should not be penalized for failing to secure prior approval from the ERC for the generation rate and provide electricity in the least costly manner.

The ERC said that Ormeco must submit its explanation within 15 days from receiving the order, “under the threat of penalty.”

The order was signed by ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Agnes VST Devanadera on Dec. 17, 2020, and promulgated on Jan. 29, 2021.

In October, Ormeco was identified by the National Electrification Administration as one of the electric cooperatives that sustained losses due to Typhoon Quinta (international name: Molave). — Angelica Y. Yang

In Mexico, amateur find of ancient ‘goddess’ stirs calls for more research

MEXICO CITY — The edge of a mysterious block of limestone began to peek out from the dirt after Cesar Cabrera cleared a stretch of his family farm in Mexico where he  wanted to plant watermelon.

Several weeks later, he and five other men carefully hoisted it out of the ground, and found themselves face to face with a life-size statue that had likely been buried for centuries. The accidental archaeologists had made the country’s first big find of the year.

“Look! It’s the image of a goddess!” said an overjoyed Mr. Cabrera, 52, recalling his first words after seeing her face.

The farmers carefully lifted the statue into a truck and took it to Mr. Cabrera’s house. Some internet sleuthing in the days that followed persuaded Mr. Cabrera that the statue, carved with elaborat ornaments and a flowing feather headdress, resembled the Huastec goddess of lust.

Experts think it’s more likely the more than 500-year-old sculpture represents an elite woman, possibly a queen, from the Huastec culture, one of Mexico’s lesser-known ancient societies du in large part to a paucity of research plus wide-scale looting over a century ago of its uniquely naturalistic art.

For centuries, thriving Huastec population centers dotted Mexico’s steamy southeastern coast, many clustered around rivers that flow into the Gulf of Mexico, stretching across six modern-day Mexican states including Veracruz, Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi.

By the time Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortes arrived on the Veracruz coast in 1519, they had for decades been absorbed into the Aztec empire, derided as drunks and overly sexual by the more proper imperial elites but valued as a crucial link to Gulf coast riches like cacao and especially fine cotton cloth.

Portraying Huastecs as barbarians was probably a ploy to justify submission even as their artistic influence spread, according to historians.

“The Gulf coast region really had one of the most remarkable sculptural traditions,” said Kim Richter, a Huastec art expert at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. She says the tradition emphasized powerful women, often tattooed and almost always nude.

Many statues were looted in the late 1800s and early 1900s by British naval officers and oil industry geologists around the Gulf port of Tampico, Ms. Richter adds, which in part explains why the British Museum has such an extensive collection.

Then as now, careful archeological documentation was absent. “This amazing cultural heritage is not getting excavated and it’s not being properly conserved,” she said, noting that nearly all ongoing research in the region is so-called “salvage” work, legally required before bulldozers can clear land for development.

Over the past couple of years, steep cuts to research funding in Mexico have forced many archaeological digs across the country to close.

Sara Ladron de Guevara, dean of Veracruz University and herself an archaeologist, points to an appreciation of Huastec sculpture outside Mexico. She cited what she describes as a Venus of ancient Mexico, naked and curvy but headless, currently on display through July at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.

She said the discovery of the Huastec “goddess,” found by lucky locals rather than trained archaeologists, and awaiting her fate in storage at Mr. Cabrera’s house, should send a message to Mexico’s government.

“I think this woman has come to remind us that we have a past to safeguard and heritage to investigate.” — Reuters

Gov’t fully awards 10-year bonds

THE TREASURY made a full award of the 10-year bonds it offered on Tuesday even as the tenor’s rate climbed. — BW FILE PHOTO

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of the reissued Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday even as its rate climbed on subdued demand and expectations of quicker inflation.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) borrowed P30 billion as planned via the reissued 10-year bonds it auctioned off on Tuesday as the offering was more than twice oversubscribed, with bids reaching P63.045 billion.

The notes, which have a remaining life of nine years and five months, fetched an average rate of 3.066%, 34.2 basis points (bps) higher than the 2.724% quoted for the debt papers when the issue was last offered on Aug. 11.

The 10-year paper’s average rate climbed mainly due to expectations of faster inflation in January, National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said on Tuesday.

“Good to see strong participation in the long end at relatively low pickup in yields,” Ms. De Leon told reporters via Viber after the auction.

“[We expect] some upward adjustments in the long end, but the front end will remain with abundant liquidity and heavy bias on this segment,” she added.

Headline likely quickened for the fourth straight month in January amid rising prices of food and oil products, a BusinessWorld poll of economists showed.

A poll of 16 economists last week yielded a median estimate of 3.6%, within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 3.3-4.1% estimate for the month but near the upper end of the 2-4% annual target.

If realized, January inflation will be the fastest since 3.8% in February 2019 and will mark the fourth consecutive monthly rise since October. It will also be quicker than 3.5% in December and 2.9% a year ago.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will report the official January inflation data on Feb. 5.

The BSP expects inflation to average 3.2% this year, faster than the 2.6% print last year as it factors in higher food and oil prices.

A bond trader, meanwhile, noted that bids for yesterday’s offering were “not that strong,” which caused the tenor’s average rate to rise.

“One factor is the liquidity of the bond. It is not actively traded,” the trader said via Viber.

The BTr plans to borrow P140 billion from the local debt market this month: P80 billion via weekly auctions of Treasury bills and P60 billion from fortnightly T-bond offerings.

The government is looking to raise P3 trillion this year from domestic and external lenders to help fund its budget deficit seen to hit 8.9% of gross domestic product. — Beatrice M. Laforga

European firm’s consulting services for Kennon Road start

NETHERLANDS-based consulting firm RebelGroup International B.V. has won the consulting services contract for the Kennon Road rehabilitation project.

The government wants to privatize the operation and maintenance of the zigzag road to Baguio City, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar said his department had scheduled a meeting on Feb. 2 with the winning consulting firm, RebelGroup International.

He said the department and the private firm would discuss the pre-feasibility study and project structuring up to the tendering of Kennon Road rehabilitation to private concessionaires.

The privatization of Kennon Road is a long-term solution to the costly maintenance of the 33.7-kilometer road, according to Mr. Villar.

The road “has long been frequented by landslides, which resulted in closures, especially during the rainy season,” the department noted.

“The first meeting would define the roles and expectations of DPWH and the Netherlands-based consultant; identify key focal persons, deadline of deliverables; and work plan of the transaction advisor for the assignment,” it added.

The Public-Private Partnership Center said in its website that the Kennon Road project involves the rehabilitation and improvement of the landslide-prone sections of the mountain road. The establishment of a toll system is also part of the plan. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Black Panther director developing Wakanda TV series for Disney+

LOS ANGELES — Black Panther director and co-writer Ryan Coogler is developing a streaming television series set in the movie’s fictional futuristic kingdom of Wakanda, Walt Disney Co. said on Monday. The new series for the Disney+ streaming service will be created as part of a five-year television deal with Mr. Coogler’s Proximity Media production company, Disney said in a statement. No release date was announced. Mr. Coogler is currently working on a movie sequel to 2018 blockbuster Black Panther which is scheduled to arrive in theaters in July 2022. The original Black Panther, the first Marvel Studios film with a predominantly Black cast and a Black director, took in $1.3 billion at box offices around the world and earned a best picture nomination at the Oscars. The movie starred the late Chadwick Boseman as a proud leader in Wakanda. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has said the role will not be recast following Mr. Boseman’s death in August 2020. Disney said in December that it plans to release 10 new TV series each in the Marvel and Star Wars franchises as it competes for streaming viewers with Netflix, Inc. and others. — Reuters

Fed’s Kashkari says there is a need to do more to support the US economy

THE US central bank and Congress have responded more to the COVID-19 crisis than they did in the last crisis, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said, and they need to do still more to return the economy faster to its pre-crisis footing.

“Right now I’m not concerned about it — this is like wartime spending,” Mr. Kashkari said at an online seminar held by Montanaís Bureau of Business and Economic Research, in response to a question about the risks of government borrowing too much in the face of the pandemic. “We have the capacity to do what we need to do.”

The Fed has said it will keep interest rates at their current near-zero level until the economy reaches full employment and inflation not only reaches 2% but looks set to exceed it for some time. It has also pledged to keep buying at least $120 billion of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities until there is “substantial further progress” toward both of those goals.

“The key now is for the Federal Reserve to keep our foot on the monetary policy gas until we really have achieved maximum employment as we call it,” Mr. Kashkari said. “And I think it’s going to be important for Congress to continue to be aggressive supporting people who have been laid off, supporting small businesses until we really get the pandemic behind us and restore the economy.”

Mr. Kashkari added that the Fed is still far from even thinking about making adjustments to its balance sheet policy. — Reuters

NLEX Corp. says accident at Connector Road project site to be fully investigated

NLEX CORP. said it would conduct a full investigation of an accident at the NLEX Connector Road project site.

“Initial reports show that four workers were injured, and immediately taken to a nearby hospital for treatment,” NLEX Corp. said in an e-mailed statement by late Monday.

It said three of them sustained minor injuries and were eventually cleared to go home.

The accident occurred around 4:50 p.m. on Monday at the NLEX Connector Road project site in the vicinity of the Blumentritt Station, the company added.

The worker who sustained the most injury was still at the hospital as of Monday night.

NLEX Corp. vowed to extend all possible assistance to the injured workers.

“The company is committed to upholding safety standards on all its projects, and will be conducting a full investigation of the incident,” it said.

The NLEX Connector Road project is the eight-kilometer toll road linking the tail of NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 at C3 Road in Caloocan City to Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

NLEX Corp. is under Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Spotify launches music streaming service in South Korea

STOCKHOLM — Spotify Technology SA on Tuesday made a long-awaited debut in South Korea, the sixth largest music market in the world and home to the K-pop music genre. The Swedish music streaming giant is currently present in over 90 countries and has entered into several new markets in the last two years including Russia, India and the Middle East. In South Korea, the company will compete with music streaming companies such as Melon, Genie, FLO, and Apple Music. “We wanted to be super thoughtful in how we approach coming into a market like this as we didn’t want to just take a global service and launch it into South Korea,” Alex Norstrom, Chief Freemium Business Officer of Spotify, told Reuters. The offering is tailored to the market with right relationships with local partners, both on the content side as well as on the distribution side, he said. Spotify will give Korean listeners access to over 60 million tracks along with a wide range of Korean music, including K-pop, Hip Hop, and Indie. K-pop is a multi-billion dollar global music industry with bands like BTS and BLACKPINK building huge fan bases outside South Korea. — Reuters

Small businesses being used as front for ‘dirty money’ activities

case with dollars
THE ANTI-MONEY Laundering Council said suspicious transaction reports involving business entities and legal persons reached P52.328 trillion in 2015 to 2019. — BW FILE PHOTO

GAPS IN MONITORING suspicious transactions performed and channeled through  informal businesses and legal persons still need to be addressed, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said in a report.

From 2015 to 2019, the value involved in 87,190 suspicious transaction reports involving business entities and legal persons reached P52.328 trillion, based on a study conducted by the watchdog.

“The overall risk of legal persons and business entities to money laundering is medium high that requires collective mitigating strategic actions that can be implemented from short to medium term,” the AMLC said in a report published on Tuesday.

The study found that P4.6 billion or around 95% of frozen assets in the sample cases involved cases related to graft, e-commerce violations, and illegal drugs.

It noted that cash-intensive industries are at risk of being avenues for “dirty money” activities of criminals in order to hide the nature of their funds.

“Given the anonymous character of cash, authorities face difficulties in tracing the nexus between the funds and the criminal activities,” AMLC said.

Nearly half (49%) of suspicious transaction reports used in the study involved cash deposits.

The watchdog said they observed a trend that criminals are using businesses like wholesale or retail trading to move illegal funds that will be mixed with legitimate income.

It said some cases involved businesses established by Filipino dummies backed by foreign nationals that have control and ownership of the firms.

Most or 95% of suspicious transaction reports were filed by banks, followed by credit card firms (1.11%), while those from money issuers rose to 1,148 from 2017 to 2019 from having no reports in the preceding two years.

On the other hand, reports filed by insurance and financing companies and investment houses only comprised 0.12% and 1.24%, respectively, of the total.

“Based on the sample suspicious transaction reports, there is low threat involving the insurance sector, while there appears a low-medium threat on the use of financing companies and investment houses by entities suspected to be involved in illegal transactions,” the AMLC said.

The AMLC on Sunday issued implementing rules and regulations following the signing of Republic Act 11521 on Friday that strengthened the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism measures.

This beat the Feb. 1 deadline given by the Financial Action Task Force for the Philippines to address gaps in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures. — L.W.T. Noble

ABS-CBN open to inclusion of TeleRadyo, Cinema One, and ANC in Cignal lineup

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

ABS-CBN CORP. said it is open to a partnership with Cignal TV, Inc. for the inclusion of TeleRadyo, Cinema One, and ANC in its channel lineup.

“Yes, we are open to it. We are open to any partnership that helps grow the audience of any of our channels,” ABS-CBN President and Chief Executive Officer Carlo L. Katigbak said at a special stockholders’ meeting on Tuesday, when asked by a stockholder on the matter.

ABS-CBN stockholders also approved the company’s stock purchase and stock grant plans for its employees and artists.

The media company has two stock purchase plans.

Plan 1 will apply to all regular employees who agreed to a pay reduction from September last year until February 2021, while Plan 2 will be offered to all employees of ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries. “Those who will participate will pay their subscription until December 2021,” Mr. Katigbak said.

Meanwhile, the company’s stock grant plans will be given to employees who were promoted anytime between September 2020 to December 2021, and who did not receive any salary adjustment for the said period.

“There will be multiple award dates depending on the time of promotion,” Mr. Katigbak said.

“In addition to stockholders’ approval, the ABS-CBN stock purchase plans and stock grant plans are still subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission,” he added.

The shares under the plans are also subject for listing with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Asked how the stock grant plans would benefit the company’s minority shareholders, ABS-CBN Chairman Martin L. Lopez said: “The ability to retain employees and continue to benefit them will benefit all shareholders, including the minority shareholders.”

“This is also a recognition for our employees who agreed to take a voluntary pay cut to help the company during this challenging time,” he added.

The former broadcast giant has partnered with Zoe Broadcasting Network, Inc. to show several of its programs on the A2Z channel.

ABS-CBN has also partnered with TV5 for its variety show ASAP Natin ‘To and the FPJ: Da King movie block.

Cignal TV also carries some ABS-CBN channels, such as Kapamilya Channel, Jeepney, Cinemo, and Knowledge Channel, through its pay TV service.

ABS-CBN shares closed 2.08% higher at 12.76 apiece on Tuesday.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., that owns and operates TV5 and CignalTV has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

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