How PSEi member stocks performed — April 6, 2021
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.
Indian firms exploring investment in jeepney, electronics projects
THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it has received indications of interest for possible Indian investments in modern jeepneys and electronics manufacturing.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez met virtually with Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu S. Kumaran Monday to discuss trade and investment cooperation between the two economies.
“Ambassador Kumaran shared India’s plans to penetrate jeepney manufacturing and electronic manufacturing industry in the country,” the DTI said in a statement Tuesday.
“He stated that India is also interested to learn about geothermal energy from the Philippines as part of its objective to further renewable energy trade plans.”
At the meeting, Mr. Lopez reiterated his department’s pitch on the Philippines as a potential site to complement India’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, vaccine, essential medicine, and biologicals industries.
India is one of the potential vaccine technology sources being considered by Philippine companies exploring the possibility of manufacturing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines domestically.
The Philippines and India could also work together in information technology infrastructure, including data centers, Mr. Lopez added.
The DTI is currently in talks with India for a potential preferential trade agreement. India backed out of the 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership signed last year due to concerns about the deal’s possible repercussions on its farmers and small businesses.
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority in its own meeting with Mr. Kumaran last month pitched potential investment opportunities in pharmaceuticals and defense manufacturing in the Philippines. Indian companies registered under the investment promotion agency are in the information technology, outsourcing, and manufacturing industries. India was the Philippines’ 13th top export destination last year, with goods valued at $548 million, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. India was also the Philippines’ 13th largest source of imports in 2020, with $1.5 billion worth of goods. — Jenina P. Ibañez
PSALM extends deadline for Malaya plant offers to May
THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has moved the deadline to submit offers for the negotiated sale of the 650-megawatt Malaya Thermal Power Plant to May 7 to allow for possible disruptions to bid preparation caused by the new Metro Manila lockdown.
Participants were previously required to submit their offers by April 23.
In a statement Tuesday, PSALM said that it is also moving the deadline for the submission of “documentary deliverables” to April 21 from April 7.
“These adjustments in the dates were done in recognition of the challenges that bid participants may face in securing necessary documents while Metro Manila is under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ),” PSALM said.
Late last month, President Rodrigo R. Duterte placed Metro Manila and nearby provinces under ECQ, the strictest quarantine setting. It took effect on March 29, and was extended to April 11.
To date, there are three interested bidders participating in the privatization of the plant and its underlying land in Pililla, Rizal. These are AC Energy Corp., Fort Pilar Energy, Inc., and VBB Trucking, Trading and Consultancy Services, Inc.
PSALM has said that the minimum offer price for the Malaya site has been reduced to around P1.85 billion from P2.01 billion previously, which was the minimum price set for the second round of the negotiated sale.
In September, PSALM announced the failure of the third-round auction to sell the plant and its assets.
The Department of Energy, in its 37th Electric Power Industry Reform Act Implementation Status Report, said that it costs around P1.2 billion a year to maintain the plant, with a sale needed soon due to “increasing substantial losses in the continuous maintenance of the plant.”
Proceeds of the sale will help settle PSALM’s assumed financial obligations. — Angelica Y. Yang
Manila to get 2M more doses of COVID-19 vaccines this month
THE PHILIPPINES will take delivery of about two million coronavirus vaccines this month amid a fresh surge in infections in the capital and nearby cities and provinces, according to the presidential palace.
About 1.5 million more doses of CoronaVac made by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and 500,000 vials of Sputnik V developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute were expected to arrive this month, vaccine Czar Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. told a televised news briefing on Tuesday.
The Sputnik V vaccines could be used to inoculate the country’s senior citizens, he said. The government could start vaccinating economic frontliners, uniformed personnel and indigents by May, he added.
The government initially expected to receive four million doses of vaccines this month but these were trimmed to two million doses due to global supply problems, Mr. Galvez said. Vaccine access could remain problematic in the first half, he said.
“We expect this to go on in the coming months. Global supply is difficult in the first and second quarters,” he said in Filipino.
He also said the government is using diplomatic channels to get about 979,200 more doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc.
More than 854,000 Filipinos have been vaccinated against the coronavirus as of April 5.
The Department of Health (DoH) reported 9,373 coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing the total to 812,760.
The death toll increased by 382 to 13,817, while recoveries increased by 313 to 646,381, it said in a bulletin.
There were 152,562 active cases, 97.5% of which were mild, 1.1% did not show symptoms, 0.5% were critical, 0.5% were severe and 0.31% moderate.
The Health department on Friday reported the highest daily tally at 15,310 cases, which included 3,709 cases that were reported late.
The agency traced the high tally to a technical issue in case collection, which resulted in low deaths in the past week.
“The issue caused incomplete fatality numbers and data to be encoded and as a result, there were 341 deaths prior to April 2021 that went unreported,” DoH said.
The agency said 11 duplicates had been removed from the tally and 166 recovered cases were reclassified as deaths. Ten laboratories failed to submit data on April 5.
About 9.8 million Filipinos have been tested for the coronavirus as of April 4, according to DoH’s tracker website.
The coronavirus has sickened about 132.5 million and killed 2.9 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.
About 106.8 million people have recovered, it said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Vann Marlo M. Villegas
Gov’t to set up more quarantine facilities as infections surge
THE GOVERNMENT will set up more quarantine facilities with as many as 4,000 beds in Metro Manila for patients in the country’s coronavirus hotspot, according to the Public Works department.
Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar on Tuesday said 75% of quarantine facilities for coronavirus patients in the National Capital Region (NCR) had been used. This was 10% higher than the 64.48% occupancy rate reported on March 29.
“We need to boost our intensive care unit capacities,” he told a televised news briefing in Filipino. The government seeks to lower the occupancy rate to less than 60%.
Mr. Villar said a modular hospital for tuberculosis patients that was recently set up in Quezon City would open this week. The facility has 110 rooms dedicated to patients with severe and critical coronavirus cases.
The isolation facility will also have living quarters for health workers, he said.
Presidential spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. said four more quarantine facilities were expected to house more than 700 coronavirus patients this week.
The newly built facilities are in Subic, New Clark City, Manila and Bataan, he told a separate news briefing.
A number of coronavirus patients have reportedly sought treatment outside the capital region after being turned down by hospitals there.
Meanwhile, an inter-agency task force ruled out testing a large portion of the country’s population amid a fresh surge in infections.
The government will continue its “risk-based” and “targeted” coronavirus testing because experts do not recommend broad-scale testing, testing czar Vivencio B. Dizon told a televised press briefing.
He said mass testing is contrary to the recommendations of medical experts, adding that testing 110 million Filipinos was not ideal.
Also on Tuesday, Rontgene M. Solante, a member of the Science and Technology department’s Vaccine Expert Panel said a person infected with the coronavirus should be vaccinated two weeks after recovery.
They will recommend the shorter waiting time in place of the 90 days now being enforced by health authorities, he told an online news briefing. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Vann Marlo M. Villegas
Senators say ASEAN should talk about China bullying at sea
THE PHILIPPINES should talk to neighboring countries about China’s continued incursions in the South China Sea, according to senators.
In a statement, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on Tuesday said diplomatic protests “may not be too helpful anymore” because China continues to ignore these.
“Perhaps China would not be so dismissive if we and our allies, both in the Asia-Pacific and the west, show we can band together to maintain a balance of power in the region, including the West Philippine Sea,” he said, referring to parts of the South China Sea within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel also urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to reach out to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to address Chinese aggression.
“The ASEAN should stand together against China’s bullying,” she said in a statement. “We should put our differences aside and work towards the common goal of opposing unfounded and overambitious Chinese territorial claims in the region.”
“The ASEAN should be able to compel China to reach a consensus on the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea,” she added.
Ms. Baraquel said if ASEAN members do not adopt a common stand on South China Sea issues, “we cannot safeguard our own interests.”
Southeast Asian countries should hold a dialogue to come up with a stance and then engage China to form a framework for an ASEAN-China Code of Conduct, she added.
“An ASEAN coalition is, perhaps, the best way of assuring our territorial integrity, mutual security, and continued peace,” the senator said. “China has committed itself to a strategy based on its individual strength. But we, in the Philippines, with the help of the entire ASEAN, should resist.”
The Philippines last month filed a diplomatic protest against China after more than 200 Chinese vessels were spotted moored at a Philippine-claimed reef in the South China Sea.
The Chinese Embassy said the reef is part of its territory and the vessels had taken shelter due to rough sea conditions.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Saturday urged the remaining 44 Chinese vessels to leave, saying they had no reason to stay there anymore.
The Chinese Embassy reiterated that the reef is part of China’s Nansha Island, adding that the waters around the reef had been a traditional fishing ground for Chinese fishermen for many years.
A Philippine task force earlier cited potential overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to navigation safety because of the Chinese ships. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas