The news that 16 of 302 players tested positive for the novel coronavirus is among the biggest pieces accompanying the National Basketball Association’s announcement of the restart of its 2019–20 campaign. Lost in the excitement of pro hoops returning to the mainstream come July 30: the fact that nearly six percent of the base got flagged. It’s a hefty number, particularly when juxtaposed with national and worldwide totals. On the other hand, the sample size is admittedly too small to make a determination one way or the other; for corrective purposes, it holds value only as a reminder of the need for the league to continue taking extraordinary precautions in ensuring the well-being of its stakeholders.
To be sure, the procedure in and of itself underscores the NBA’s commitment to safety from the get-go. Those who tested positive immediately went into quarantine, and only after clearance based on additional checks will they be allowed to enter the bubble environment at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World Florida. Its resolve to finish the season for financial reasons notwithstanding, it understands that under no circumstance will its plan work other than that which keeps the virus at bay.
Make no mistake. More setbacks are in the offing, and, the closer these come to the restart, the bigger the problems that require attention. And there have been significant opt-outs, leading to compounded hurdles. The Nets, for example, are at a crossroads; already without the injured Kyrie Irving and reeling from the decision of Wilson Chandler to sit out the bubble, they’re left to decide their future after Spencer Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan’s positive tests. With the latter begging off from playing and the former possibly staying in the sidelines as well, their competitiveness becomes suspect. Why, then, should the rest risk their health?
Thusly, the decision to travel to Florida has become a deeply personal decision. Money is on the line, and its importance cannot be understated. That said, it’s dwarfed by far more pressing concerns: Quality of life is trumped by life. In the final analysis, there is no right or wrong in staying or playing. Meanwhile, fans know better than to complain; the NBA Playoffs will be a sight for sore eyes whether or not the usual suspects burn rubber. The sacrifice isn’t theirs, but on their hardcourt heroes who crave for some semblance of normalcy amid upheaval on and off the court.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations & Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
For ByteDance, which counts India as its biggest market with over 200 million TikTok users, the banning of the viral short-video service is a particular blow. ByteDance faced a brief ban in India last year, and is being scrutinized in Europe. It also faces mounting questions from US policy-makers over whether it jeopardizes national security.
India banned ByteDance Ltd.’s viral short-video service TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps, citing threats to its sovereignty and security as relations between the world’s two largest populations worsened.
The unprecedented moratorium, announced days after border tensions in the Himalayas left 20 Indian soldiers dead, deals a blow to the most prominent names in Chinese technology. The banned services included e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s UC Web, social media leader Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat and Baidu Inc.’s map and translation platforms.
The move marks another attempt by India to reduce dependence on its neighbor’s products and hampers efforts by China’s largest corporations to expand beyond their own borders — a collective endeavor encapsulated by TikTok’s phenomenal success abroad and particularly in India, ByteDance’s largest international market. The world’s most valuable startup responded by saying it will meet with Narendra Modi’s government to discuss the matter.
“TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government,” said Nikhil Gandhi, the company’s local chief, in a tweet on its official account. “Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so.”
In an e-mailed statement, TikTok also said that its “team of around 2,000 employees in India is committed to working with the government to demonstrate our dedication to user security and our commitment to the country overall.”
The ban threatens to ramp up tensions between two of Asia’s largest economies. As the border standoff that had simmered for nearly two months worsened, customs officials began halting clearances of industrial consignments coming in from China at major Indian ports and airports. The ban announced Monday also includes smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp.’s Mi Video Call and Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like service.
The unauthorized transmission and storage of Indian users’ data in overseas servers and “its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defense of India” is a matter of deep and immediate concern requiring the emergency measures, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said in a statement on Monday. Representatives for Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu didn’t have immediate comment when contacted.
Still, it’s unclear how the ban will be implemented as most of these apps already reside on users’ phones. The government might need to block the app servers and prevent new users from downloading them. One in three smartphone users in India will be impacted by this ban, Tarun Pathak, associate director with Counterpoint Technology, told BloombergQuint.
Meanwhile, the government’s decision to bar the apps began garnering support on social media.
“It’s time to take some hard decisions to get out of China’s cyber clutches,” Nirmal Jain, chairman at financial services conglomerate IIFL Group, tweeted.
While banning other Chinese-made products and hardware is challenging in Asia’s third-largest economy, the blockade of a wide swath of Chinese apps ranging from gaming and news content to music streaming and online retail is particularly significant.
India, with its half-billion internet users, is an emerging arena for global technology companies from the US to China. As hundreds of millions of first-time users come online in India, they do so on Chinese smartphones. Myriad Chinese apps are their doorway to the internet.
For ByteDance, which counts India as its biggest market with over 200 million TikTok users, the move is a particular blow. ByteDance faced a brief ban in India last year, and is being scrutinized in Europe. It also faces mounting questions from US policy-makers over whether it jeopardizes national security.
“Some of these Chinese apps are not just for commerce but have deeply entrenched into the social fabric of our lives,” said Anil Kumar, chief executive officer of technology researcher RedSeer Consulting. “They know what you do, what you say, where you go. In the current context, they can be viewed as a threat to our national security.” — Bloomberg
LONDON/HANOI — Laura Douglas’ tourism start-up, a farm surrounded by snow-tipped mountains in southern New Zealand, was attracting hundreds of mostly foreign visitors a month until the coronavirus pandemic brought it to a sudden halt in March.
“It’s like I’ve been mourning the loss of my business,” Ms. Douglas, 33, said in a phone interview with Reuters, adding she had to take on a second job as a vet to pay the bills during a strict lockdown that included sealing the country’s borders.
The rebound for New Zealanders who are reliant on tourism is expected to be slow, in marked contrast to how the tourism sector is faring in Vietnam, another nation that was hailed as a success story in Asia for containing the coronavirus.
Both countries have emerged from lockdown virtually virus-free, lifting all restrictions except those on international travel. While New Zealand’s tourism sector is struggling pending arrivals from abroad, Vietnam’s has rebounded, according to travel data and industry members.
This is thanks to how much domestic tourism has filled the gap, reflecting in part how badly the coronavirus hit the two economies. While New Zealand’s economy is expected to contract by as much as 20% in the first half of the year, according to the central bank, Vietnam has kept its yearly growth target above 5%.
July is normally a peak travel season in New Zealand, along with Christmas, but scheduled flights are down 40% compared to the same month last year and even many of those are being canceled, according to figures from travel analytics firm Cirium.
Weekly demand for Airbnb and Vrbo properties through July are down 55% from last year and a recovery is unlikely until later this year, according to forward-looking bookings from AirDNA.
Across the ocean in Vietnam, the story is very different. In July, more than 26,000 flights are expected to transport 5 million people, increases of 16% and 24% from last year.
Nguyen Thi Thuy Anh, owner of a travel agency called Minh Viet Booking, says he is handling a surge in bookings as businesses slash prices to attract local travelers.
“Many people who couldn’t afford five-star services before are taking advantage of the programs to experience the services,” he said, referring to central and provincial government efforts to boost mass domestic tourism.
In a country with poor rail and road infrastructure, air travel is already a popular mode of transport, and even more so now, with airlines adding routes and offering tickets for as low as 69,000 Vietnamese dong (US$3).
A Reuters analysis of flight data from FlightRadar24 shows that Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, along with Phu Quoc island and Cam Rahn bay — both tourist hotspots — were top destinations through mid-June after lockdowns were lifted in late April.
WEEKEND ROAD TRIPS
In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is asking people to “experience your own backyard.” She is urging employers to consider four-day work weeks and has said the government is actively considering more public holidays this year so people can travel.
On Friday, Ms. Ardern is launching the country’s ski season in the tourist destination of Queenstown, hoping that will give another boost to domestic travel.
Some New Zealanders appear to be heeding her encouragement and taking weekend road trips.
Demand for hotels and short-term rentals, while depressed overall, still ticks up over the weekends according to STR, an analytics firm that looks specifically at the hotel industry.
But tourism business owners say a pot of NZ$400 million (US$257 million) set aside by the government to subsidise wages and other costs for the industry will not be enough to tide it over while foreign tourists are still barred.
Foreigners account for around half the NZ$16.1 billion (US$10.34 billion) that tourism contributes to GDP in New Zealand, a hole economist Peter Clough says will be difficult to plug with just domestic travelers.
“Whatever we do, we’re not going to fill that hole just by drumming up domestic travel or the Trans-Tasman bubble,” he said, referring to a proposal that was touted last month to allow movement between Australia and New Zealand.
For Ms. Douglas, the downturn means digging deep in her own pockets and pivoting as much as possible to attract local travel to her 15,000-hectare (37,000-acre) farm.
“The farming mentality is that you’re not always going to have good seasons,” she said. “Right now, Kiwis are going to be the best gift for us and I’m hoping they will come with their gumboots on.” — Reuters
The economy continues to suffer large opportunity cost due to COVID-19. Until a vaccine will be discovered, the community must adapt to the new normal. As we enter this phase, what are the sectors foreseen to be winning the game? What are the areas for innovation? And what investments are seen to be generating more returns?
Catch the second and last leg of BusinessWorld Insights SparkUp Entrep Series and join the discussion of Mitch Locsin, PLDT Enterprise first vice president and sales head; Bit Santos, Kickstart Ventures portfolio director; Winston Damarillo, Talino Venture Labs CEO and Amihan Global Strategies executive chairman; Eunice Braga, IdeaSpace external relations manager; James Lette, Manila Angel Investors Network executive director; and Katrina Chan, QBO Innovation Hub director moderated by Carlo Calimon, StartUp Village director on the topic, “The Next Frontier in Innovative Business”.
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NEW YORK — The Empire State Building has been a symbol of America’s economic might for almost 90 years. Of late, it’s also become a symbol of its struggle with the coronavirus.
The once jam-packed 102 stories of the 1,454-foot Art Deco skyscraper sit mostly empty in a city in shock from the country’s worst outbreak of COVID-19. Its spire has been lit up with red-and-white flashes to honor emergency workers, a siren in Midtown Manhattan.
A week into New York’s second phase of post-lockdown re-opening, dozens of the companies with office space in one of the world’s most famous buildings are trying to figure out when, how — even whether — to come back.
The same quandary is being played out across the United States, and the world. Something so normal as working in a big office block has abruptly become almost unimaginable for many.
The June 22 reopening allowed office buildings to invite tenants back, as long as maximum occupancy stayed below 50%. But most companies based in the Empire State Building, which range from tech firms like LinkedIn Corp. and luxury watch brand Bulova to nonprofits like the World Monuments Fund, have opted to extend work-from-home arrangements.
Based on a tenant poll, management expected just 15% to 20% of the building’s usual 15,000 worker population to return at the second phase of reopening.
Yet even among those who plan to maintain a presence when the time comes, few expect to ever return to a workplace like the one they knew before coronavirus, according to Reuters interviews with several people who work or run companies there.
Global Brands Group, which licenses the likes of Calvin Klein, signed a 15-year lease for six floors of office space in 2011 but has already told employees based in New York that they will never be required to come back to the office.
The allure of working in “unbelievable corporate headquarters” has been dulled by the pandemic, Rick Darling, chief executive of the apparel and marketing firm, told Reuters.
“I think they become less important,” he said. “If your people are dispersed, really the performance of your company becomes the prestige point.”
The company has not yet made any decisions on office space and will need showrooms for fashion launches, Mr. Darling said.
The Empire State Building is preparing to open to more tenants and visitors following the outbreak of COVID-19 in New York City. — Reuters
‘GO BACK TO WAY IT WAS’
Such shifting attitudes could spell trouble for Empire State Realty Trust Inc., which owns and manages the building, as well as for other major commercial real-estate companies across the city and beyond.
New York City office property values have likely fallen 10% during the pandemic, said Daniel Ismail, lead analyst at real-estate research firm Green Street Advisors.
Empire State Realty shares are down nearly 53% since the end of 2019, versus a 25% fall this year in the FTSE Nareit Equity Office index which tracks office real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Mr. Ismail pointed to pressuring factors for the company, including the COVID-19 shutdown of the Empire State Building’s observatory — a tourism magnet that last year generated more than a fifth of revenue for the group, which also has other office and retail spaces across the city.
Even so, CEO Anthony Malkin remains optimistic.
His family has been involved with the Empire State Building since the 1960s, and he is convinced its status as a famed piece of the New York skyline will outlast the temporary, if painful, impact of the coronavirus.
“Since COVID, we’ve only had people sign leases, we haven’t had anyone move out,” Mr. Malkin said in an interview, noting that Starbucks Corp. signed a lease for a three-level store on March 15. “In a post-COVID treatment, vaccine, herd-immunity world, everything’s going to go back to the way it was.” Empire State Realty drew down $550 million from a revolving credit facility in the first quarter to make sure it would have cash on hand if tenants fell behind on payments, but so far it has received the bulk of dues.
April rent collection dropped to 73% initially but rebounded to 83% by June 1, according to an investor presentation. The company offered deferral to a small portion of tenants which helped keep overall occupancy stable at around 96%.
‘YOU’RE REAL, HAPPENING’
Some tenants say they have no intention of leaving.
For instance, Shutterstock Inc., which signed an 11-year lease in 2013, is following orders from authorities about when and how to return, said Heidi Garfield, the company’s general counsel and interim chief human resources officer.
The creative content platform has 85,000 square feet, with an open-plan layout that includes a large café, a library, a terrace, an exercise studio and lounge areas. Before coronavirus, employees’ main gripes were when taps for cold-brew coffee or kombucha went down, Ms. Garfield said.
Officials from smaller non-profit tenants like the Human Rights Foundation and Human Rights Watch said the iconic building lends credibility with donors and potential partners, regardless of where staff work.
“Being in the Empire State Building was a solid component of our reputation,” said Human Rights Foundation President Thor Halvorssen. “People immediately assume that you’re solvent and you’re real and you’re happening.”
But other tenants are less confident. Unsure what the future of work might look like, they questioned whether it makes sense to spend big dollars for office space when remote operations have been working just fine.
It cost an average of $65.19 per square foot to lease space in one of Empire State Realty’s Manhattan buildings pre-COVID-19, according to the company, compared with an average of $81.64 across Manhattan as of late May, according to US real estate firm CBRE Group Inc.
Pricing has not changed much during the pandemic because of few new listings, said CBRE Director Nicole LaRusso, adding the reopening process might see “more revisiting on pricing.”
NO MASK? YOU CAN’T COME IN
Visitors to the Empire State Building are immediately confronted with the new reality.
Anyone entering the building must wear a mask and carry their own hand sanitizer, Mr. Malkin said.
An employee wears a protective face mask and face shield in the main lobby of the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan, as the iconic tower prepares to open to more tenants and visitors following the outbreak of COVID-19 in New York City. — Reuters
Management closed non-essential entrances and retrofitted retail space downstairs as temperature-check and sanitization stations, tenants said. The elevator lobby has stickers on the floor that people waiting must stand on to ensure social distancing.
Similar stickers line the sidewalks outside the main entrance, in preparation for the re-opening of its observatory next month. The attraction, which allows visitors to take pictures on top of the building, raked in over $125 million in revenue for the company last year.
Some companies are reevaluating leases.
This month, for example, beauty-products company Coty Inc. signed over 50,000 square feet of its Empire State Building space to LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft Corp.
Travel site Expedia Group Inc, which occupies 9,000 square feet on the 72nd floor, said it had deferred “several real estate capital projects” to preserve liquidity.
Representatives for Coty, Expedia and LinkedIn did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Even once the pandemic is past, the office market is likely to remain irrevocably changed, according to analyst Mr. Ismail at Green Street Advisors.
“Major companies have found an increased level of comfort with people working from home, which I think will likely accelerate in the future.” — Reuters
GENEVA — Tracing contacts of people with coronavirus infections is the most important step in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and countries that are failing to do so have no excuse, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said on Monday.
“Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing.
“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over,” he said. “Most people remain susceptible, the virus still has a lot of room to move.”
Countries such as South Korea managed to contain the disease by tracking down the contacts of those carrying infection, Mr. Tedros said. This was possible even under extreme conditions, as the WHO itself showed by halting an outbreak of Ebola in eastern Congo, tracing 25,000 contacts a day in a remote area where some 20 armed groups were fighting, he added.
“No excuse for contact tracing. If any country is saying contact tracing is difficult, it is a lame excuse.”
TEAM TO INVESTIGATE ORIGINS IN CHINA
In a move sought by the WHO’s biggest critic, the United States, Mr. Tedros announced that a team would be sent to China next week to investigate the origins of the outbreak.
“We can fight the virus better when we know everything about the virus, including how it started,” Mr. Tedros said. “We will be sending a team next week to China to prepare for that.”
US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both said the disease could have escaped from a lab in Wuhan, although they have presented no evidence of this, and China denies it. Scientists say the virus emerged in nature.
Mr. Trump has announced plans to quit the WHO, which he says is too close to China. He has repeatedly emphasised the Chinese origins of the virus, calling it “Kung Flu” at two rallies this month, a term the White House had previously described as unacceptable and which Asian-American groups say is racist.
Asked about Trump’s use of the term, the director of the WHO’s emergencies program, Mike Ryan, called for an “international discourse that is based on mutual respect”.
“Many people around the world have used unfortunate language in this response,” he said.
Mr. Ryan said there had been tremendous progress towards finding a vaccine, but there was no guarantee of success. In the meantime countries must use the strategies available, such as social distancing and contact tracing.
“Many, many countries through applying a comprehensive strategy have reached a very low level of virus transmission in their countries but always have to remain vigilant in case there are clusters or small outbreaks.” — Reuters
MANY business process outsourcing (BPO) companies expect flat growth or a contraction this year, while some big businesses still hope to grow by single-digits amid the pandemic, according to an informal poll conducted by the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).
The IBPAP polled more than 70 member companies earlier this month, wherein 18% of the respondents said they expect revenues to contract and 36% see business to remain flat this year.
The companies that expect contraction represent four percent of the total employee headcount of the polled companies.
On the other hand, 46% of the companies polled anticipate about 3-7% growth this year.
IBPAP Chief Executive Officer and President Rey E. Untal in an online interview on Wednesday said they conducted this “pulse” survey, which does not serve as an official projection in the absence of a formal study.
“The smaller companies are the ones that are having a difficult time,” he said. “It’s understandable. When you are small and you have a few contracts, when you get hit in one contract, it’s very difficult to get them covered by other contracts,” he added.
Smaller companies, have struggled as the lockdown caused disruptions in their operations.
Mr. Untal noted bigger companies can better cope with the challenges, because they can shift their workforce to other projects after they lose contracts.
“‘Travel, hospitality and tourism have been really hit hard,” he said. “But healthcare companies continue to hire, while telecommunication companies thrive because of collaboration tools, he added. “People are hungry for internet capacity.”
The growth in the logistics, financial services and e-commerce industries are also contributing to outsourcing growth.
Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises represent 42% of the industry’s 1,300 companies, Mr. Untal said. The industry employs more than a million Filipinos.
The healthcare outsourcing sector, as signaled by industry group Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines in May, is growing and boosting its automation capabilities.
IBPAP in November tempered its targets to a 3.5-7.5% compounded annual growth rate for revenue for 2020 to 2022, revisiting its projections after geopolitical changes, automation, protectionist policies, and rapid transformation of business models. The goal was originally set at nine percent in 2016.
With the easing of lockdown restrictions, more employees are able to return to work at outsourcing companies.
The June survey found 81% of outsourcing employees are productive, with 59% under a work-from-home scheme while 22% work on site.
At the beginning of the lockdown in March, 40% of employees were working from home while 10% were working on site, increasing to 58% work from home and 15% on site by May.
Mr. Untal said companies are restricted from scaling to full capacity by limitations in internet and data protection.
“There’s a limit also to how much a company can do in a work-from-home setup, because of several considerations. One consideration obviously is the infrastructure whether the reliability and speed of the internet at the location of the employees are sufficient,” he said.
Outsourcing companies also face problems with data security, as some clients are reluctant to approve a shift to a work-from-home setup.
“Those are typically the kinds of work that continued in the on-site skeletal setup,” Mr. Untal said. — Jenina P. Ibañez
THE GOVERNMENT is hoping more common towers will be built in the next few years to improve network coverage. — BW FILE PHOTO
By Arjay L. Balinbin,Reporter
THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has eased the documentary requirements for common tower providers as the country remains in a state of public health emergency due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
DICT Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II issued Department Circular No. 011 on June 8 that relaxes the registration requirements for firms seeking to build telecommunication towers during the pandemic.
The new circular allows documentary submissions, in relation to application for registration as an “independent tower company,” that are “not notarized, authenticated, or true copy certified.”
Tower companies may also submit application documents to the DICT via e-mail.
Electronic documents must be accompanied by a cover letter “e-signed” by the company’s authorized representative.
Applications for registration and those who were registered as independent tower companies based on the provisions of this circular will be required to submit the “original, notarized, authenticated, and certified true copies” of their application documents within 30 days after the state of public health emergency is lifted.
The DICT may invalidate the certificate of registration issued to a tower company if it fails to submit such documents.
In an e-mailed statement on Monday, the DICT said it targets to reduce by 52% the permitting requirements for the construction of common towers.
Mr. Honasan signed on May 29 the policy guidelines on the co-location and sharing of telecommunication towers for cell sites.
Under the rules, tower companies engaged in the business of building or operating one or more shared towers must secure a certificate of registration from the DICT. Existing telecommunication companies with legislative franchise and certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) are exempt from the requirement.
Tower companies should have relevant construction experience, registration, license, and financial capacity, equivalent to a category A contractor or higher of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board.
The department also said it has been “actively collaborating” with the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and other government agencies in streamlining permitting requirements and procedures for tower companies.
“With streamlined procedures, we expect to speed up the rollout of common towers which will help us achieve our overall objective of enhancing wireless network coverage and the quality of ICT services across the entire country,” Mr. Honasan said in the statement.
To address this matter, the DICT said it expects to sign a joint memorandum circular with ARTA, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Interior and Local Government, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development “within the next months.”
Former Undersecretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. told BusinessWorld in a phone interview last month there were at least “27 requirements” that telecommunication companies must comply with to get permits to build cell sites.
He said only about five of those requirements are the responsibility of the National Government.
Only about 400 cell sites were built in the first quarter , Mr. Rio said, well below the government’s target of building 1,785 each quarter to meet the broader goal of 50,000 cell sites nationwide in seven years.
MANILA — The Philippines’ anti-money laundering agency on Monday said it would conduct a “swift and thorough” investigation into scandal-hit German payment firm Wirecard AG and that it has drawn up an initial list of people and entities of interest.
Wirecard’s collapse last week and admission that $2.1 billion of its cash probably didn’t exist came after auditor EY refused to sign off on accounts for 2019, adding there were clear indications of an elaborate fraud involving multiple parties around the world.
The Southeast Asian country became involved after the German firm initially claimed it kept the $2.1 billion in two Philippine banks.
Mel Georgie Racela, executive director of the Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), said entities of interest include three local firms — Centurion Online Payment International, PayEasy Solutions and ConePay International.
“As we continue to monitor developments and dig further, we may be able to identify more entities and individuals,” he told Reuters.
The Financial Times in March 2019 said the three firms were Wirecard partners.
Reuters could not determine their relationship to Wirecard. PayEasy did not immediately respond to e-mails and its telephone number was disconnected. Centurion’s number was out of service and ConePay could not be reached for comment, with no contact details on its website or its annual filing with the corporate regulator.
Wirecard Philippines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Philippine central bank governor, Benjamin Diokno, who heads the AMLC, declined to say who else the probe might look at.
The central bank has said no money from Wirecard had entered the Philippine financial system. The local lenders named by the German firm — Bank of the Philippine Islands and Banco de Oro Unibank — have also said it was not a client.
Wirecard Chief Executive Markus Braun was arrested in Germany last week and has been released on bail. German media have reported that German prosecutors will also seek the arrest of Jan Marsalek, its former chief operating officer.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told Reuters on Friday that Mr. Marsalek was in the Philippines on June 23 and immigration records showed he flew to China from Cebu the next day.
But Mr. Guevarra added that Mr. Marsalek was not captured, leaving the country on airport surveillance cameras and there is no record of a flight to China from Cebu on June 24, suggesting he may still be in the Philippines. — Reuters
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $26.5-million (P1.32-billion) loan to help local governments generate more revenues by digitizing property tax valuation and collection.
In a statement on Monday, ADB said the loan would fund the Local Governance Reform project, which seeks to improve property valuation systems of local government units, deploying digital tools for transparent reporting and updating tax maps.
“Local governments play a critical role in poverty reduction. Mobilizing local revenue in an efficient, equitable, and transparent manner is vital to local governments’ goal of delivering accessible, quality public services,” ADB Senior Public Management Specialist for Southeast Asia Robert Boothe said.
Under the project, local assessors will be trained to make them more competent through capacity development and knowledge partnerships.
“This new project will provide the digital tools, systems, and local staff training needed to help local governments raise revenue,” Mr. Boothe said.
The ADB said the project supports the government’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, particularly in raising the revenue-generation capacity of local governments.
The Finance department has been pushing for valuation reforms in the real property sector since last year, noting that local governments were losing P30.5 billion of revenues due to outdated real property values.
In November 2019, the lender approved a $300-million (P15-billion) loan for the first phase of the Local Governance Reform Program that aimed to improve the public service of local governments, enhance revenue collections and lower the cost of doing business.
“The new project will support the implementation of these policy reforms at the national and local levels,” ADB said.
FRANCE LOAN
Meanwhile, the Department of Finance (DoF) confirmed it has signed two loan agreements worth €250 million (P14 billion) with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) or the French Development Agency to support programs that will expand the reach of financial services and boost private sector participation in infrastructure projects.
The government obtained loans for the Inclusive Finance Development Program worth €100 million (P5.6 billion) and the Expanding Private Participation in Infrastructure Program worth €150 million (P8.4 billion).
The loan agreements were signed on June 9 by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and French Ambassador to the Philippines and to Micronesia Nicolas Galey.
DoF said the two programs were co-financed with the ADB and will also strengthen the Philippine economy’s resilience post coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The Philippine government is grateful to the AFD for co-financing with the ADB two programs supportive of President Duterte’s overriding goal of accelerating infrastructure development in order to spur high growth, attract investments, create jobs and achieve financial inclusion for all Filipinos,” Mr. Dominguez said.
DoF said the €100-million loan for the first sub-program of the IFDP will help finance efforts of the government to expand financial services in the country, help consolidate the institutional and regulatory environment as well as improve financial infrastructure and financial services across officials and regulatory agencies.
AFD will also extend €1.5 million in technical assistance to boost digital transformation of the country’s financial institutions especially in rural areas. The program will be implemented jointly by the central bank and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, DoF said the €150-million policy-based loan for the infrastructure program would develop sustainable public-private partnership (PPP) projects, boost government’s support for PPPs, widen the pipeline of private sector-led projects and enhance legal and regulatory frameworks.
Meanwhile, the DoF said there are discussions for the Philippine government to secure more funding from the European Union’s Asian Investment Facility via a grant through the PPP Center.
“The proposed grant aims to facilitate and encourage the development of sustainable PPP projects at the local level, both in terms of promoting resilient infrastructure and in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Stimulating the development of health infrastructure will be a key component of the forthcoming European Union support,” it said.
The government borrows from local and foreign sources to plug its budget deficit, which is expected to hit 8.4% of gross domestic product this year. — Beatrice M. Laforga
THE National Telecommunications Commision (NTC) committed to the House of Representatives that it would order ABS-CBN Corp. to stop airing programs through digital television receivers or digiboxes.
During the joint hearing of the House Committees on Legislative Franchises, and Good Government and Public Accountability on Monday, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba said that ABS-CBN’s airing through digiboxes is part of the cease-and-desist order issued by the agency on May 5.
“Iyong pag-ere ng ABS-CBN ng digital TV sa Channel 43 ay kasama sa cease-and-desist order dahil ang franchise na ginamit nila for digital broadcasting ay ‘yung ABS-CBN,” he said, referring to the media network’s franchise that expired on May 4.
(ABS-CBN’s airing of digital TV on Channel 43 is part of the cease-and-desist order because the franchise used for digital broadcasting is that of ABS-CBN.)
To clarify, Anakalusugan Party-List Rep. Michael T. Defensor asked, “Kaya ang ibig mong sabihin, nu’ng ‘nag cease-and-desist ka, ‘yung frequency na ‘yan, kahit anong program na nandiyan, dapat huminto. At ang commitment mo ngayong hapon, ihihinto mo lahat ng programa?”
(What you’re saying is when you issued the cease-and-desist order, whatever program is in that frequency should stop. And your commitment this afternoon is to stop all programs?)
In response, Mr. Cordoba replied, “Yes, your honor.”
The digibox transmits channels exclusively airing cartoons, music videos, movies, Asian dramas and reruns of ABS-CBN programs, as well as a pay-per-view service called Kapamilya Box Office (KBO).
Mr. Cordoba said the NTC had received guidance from the Office of the Solicitor General that the agency must issue an alias cease-and-desist order against the continued broadcast of ABS-CBN programs through the digibox.
“Ang advice po ng SolGen (Solicitor General) is for us to issue an alias cease-and-desist order reiterating po ‘yung aming naunang cease-and-desist,” he said.
(The SolGen’s advice is for us to issue an alias cease-and-desist order reiterating our previous cease-and-desist [order].)
ABS-CBN Chief Executive Officer and President Carlo Joaquin Tadeo L. Katigbak said that the network is willing to submit to the judgment of the NTC.
“Of course, we are willing to submit our judgment to the regulatory agency. ‘Yung hinihingi lang po namin (What we’re just asking for) is to make sure we are given due process so we have the right venue to express our position on this matter. And then whatever decision the NTC comes up with, we will respect the regulatory agency po,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cavite Representative Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said there is a “ripe” Ombudsman case against Mr. Cordoba for allowing ABS-CBN to operate through digibox eight weeks after its franchise expired.
“Mr. Chairman, I believe that we found a ground for this committee to file a case with the Ombudsman against Commissioner Cordoba because he has willfully disobeyed the power of Congress to issue franchises and allowing an entity to operate without a franchise and earn money at the same time,” he said.
Bulacan Rep. and Chairman of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Jose Antonio R. Sy-Alvarado said that the committee had taken note of Mr. Remulla’s remark, adding that the panels will take up the matter in the succeeding hearings.
To aid their decision in granting a new franchise to ABS-CBN, the two panels were discussing whether the media network committed a violation when it continued to air programs through digibox. The committees will convene again on Tuesday.
AN AFFILIATE of Ayala-led AC Energy, Inc. and Spanish distribution utility Iberdrola, S.A. are now in a bidding war to take over an Australian energy company after both firms have raised their offer prices.
Infigen Energy Ltd. apprised the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday of separate disclosures on the offer revisions made by both companies.
In its second supplementary bidder’s statement, UAC Energy Holdings, which holds a 13.4% stake in Infigen, said it increased its bid by A$0.06 to A$0.86 per security and removed all its conditions, making it wholly unconditional.
It gave security holders an option to accept the offer for all or some of their securities. It also said that security holders accepting its bid will be paid immediately within 10 business days.
Moreover, it said it intends to obtain an unsecured loan from AC Energy Australia Pte. Ltd. on arm’s length terms to help Infigen refinance its corporate facility should it be needed.
Later on, Iberdrola came up with a revised offer of A$0.89 per security, topping UAC Energy’s offer anew by A$0.03. It has yet to provide full details on this in a supplementary statement.
Presented with the improved bids, security holders were told by Infigen’s board to abstain from accepting any of the two offers.
“The board advises that, at this stage, Infigen Security Holders should take no action,” the company said in another disclosure.
Infigen’s board said it is “currently considering developments” and will provide a detailed response in an additional target statement soon.
Previously, it told company security holders to accept Iberdrola’s A$841-million offer, which was then 7.5% higher compared with UAC Energy’s A$777-million bid.
So far, between the two companies, the indirect Ayala firm has secured the Foreign Investment Review Board’s approval, which is one of the conditions of the takeover bids.
Still, Iberdrola had gained an upper hand in taking over Infigen as it entered into a pre-bid agreement with Infigen’s biggest security holder, London-based The Children’s Investment Fund Management (TCI), which agreed to sell 20% of its shares to the Spanish company if no higher bid emerges.
UAC Energy’s offer will close on July 24, while Iberdrola will receive acceptance to its bid until July 30.
Both companies swooped in to buy the renewable energy firm after its share price fell due to declining power prices in Australia and the challenges faced by renewables companies in connecting to a “shaky” grid, according to a Reuters report.
Iberdrola is one of the biggest global energy players having over 55 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity in Spain, the United Kingdom, South America, and the United States. It powers around 34 million power consumers worldwide.
Meanwhile, UAC Energy is 75% owned by AC Energy. The remaining 25% is held by UPC\AC Renewables Australia, a joint venture of the Ayala unit and Hong Kong-based UPC Renewables Group.
The joint venture is currently developing four renewables projects in Australia.
Philippine-listed Ayala Corp. earlier in the month said that the Infigen investment is a “crucial move” for AC Energy’s regional expansion as it commits to reaching over 5 GW of attributable capacity, half of which will come from clean energy, in the next five years.
On Monday, shares in Ayala Corp. went down 2.93% to close at P762 apiece.
