Gov’t makes full award of fresh 5-year bonds on strong demand

April 7, 2021 | 12:04 am

THE BUREAU of the Treasury fully awarded the five-year bonds it offered on Tuesday as demand for government securities remained strong.

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of the fresh five-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it auctioned off on Tuesday amid strong demand.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) borrowed P35 billion via the five-year T-bonds on Tuesday as the offering was over twice oversubscribed, with bids totaling P80.7 billion.

The notes fetched a coupon rate of 3.375%, lower than the 3.3534% quoted at the secondary market on Tuesday for the tenor, based on the PHL Bloomberg Valuation Reference Rates published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website.

The last time the BTr offered the five-year tenor was on May 27 last year, when it made a full P30-billion award of reissued T-bonds at a lower average rate of 2.676%.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the BTr fully awarded its offer of fresh five-year papers as the tenor fetched a low rate on the back of strong appetite for government bonds.

Meanwhile, a bond trader said the coupon rate fetched for the five-year bonds fell within market expectations but was at the higher end of the range, which reflects the government’s need for fresh funds amid the prolonged and worsening coronavirus outbreak.

“The auction saw a strong demand but at a price the market wanted, so basically, it shows that the government is really set to borrow despite higher rates. It also took them up to the 3.475% bids just to complete the P35 billion, meaning the rest of the “demand” wanted higher rates,” the trader said in a Viber message on Tuesday.

The government increased its borrowing program for the month and is set to tap the US debt market soon before rates spike to help fund an expected increase in spending for its pandemic response.

The hard lockdown enforced in Metro Manila and nearby four provinces was extended for another week until April 11 as coronavirus cases continue to spike. The Health department reported 8,355 new cases on Monday, bringing the total number of infections to 803,398.

The government has already given P23 billion to local government units for P1,000 in cash aid for low-income Filipinos in areas covered by the tighter lockdown.

The Treasury wants to raise P170 billion from the local bond market this month, broken down into P100 billion in Treasury bills to be offered weekly and P70 billion via fortnightly auctions of T-bonds.

The government is looking to borrow 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

Kyoto’s earliest cherry blooms in 1,200 years point to climate change, says scientist

April 7, 2021 | 12:03 am

TOKYO — The famous pink cherry blossoms of Kyoto reached full bloom this year on March 26, the earliest date in the 12 centuries since records began, according to a Japanese university.

The earlier flowering indicates climate change, said Yasuyuki Aono, a professor of environmental science at Osaka Prefectural University, who has compiled a database of records of the full blooms over the centuries.

Global temperatures in 2020 were among the highest on record and rivaled 2016 as the hottest year ever, according to international data compiled by the World Meteorological Organization and released in January this year.

“As the temperatures rise the onset of flowering is earlier,” Mr. Aono told Reuters in a Zoom interview.

Osaka University records include court documents from Imperial Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, as well as medieval diaries.

Cherry blossoms have long historical and cultural roots in Japan, heralding spring and inspiring artists and poets through the centuries. In modern times, people gather under the cherry blooms every spring for hanami (blossom-viewing) parties that are often well lubricated with sake and can last for days.

With a state of emergency to curb coronavirus infections lifted across all areas of the country many people flocked to popular viewing locations last weekend, although the numbers were lower than in normal years.

Kyoto, no longer the Japanese capital but a beacon of Japanese culture and manners, has long been famous for its temples and blossoms, which have been a valuable tool for observing long-term changes in mean temperatures.

Scientists have often pointed to the earlier flowering times of species such as cherry blossoms as indicators of global warming. The Kyoto record is described in one study as “probably the longest annual record” of biological life cycles from anywhere in the world. — Reuters

Pangilinan group to provide meals to gov’t hospitals in Metro Manila

April 7, 2021 | 12:03 am

METRO PACIFIC companies and foundations said they have expanded their daily distribution of meals for medical frontliners to government hospitals in Metro Manila.

“What started out as a simple treat day for Metro Pacific Hospital frontliners, transformed into a daily commitment to provide them with the needed sustenance to continue their fight to save the lives of Filipinos. The initiative expanded to include government hospitals within the Metro to further broaden the warranted gratitude for COVID frontliners,” the group said in an e-mailed statement.

On Sunday, companies and foundations under the “MVP Group of Companies,” distributed over 7,800 meals to nine Metro Pacific hospitals in Metro Manila.

Their beneficiaries also included government hospitals in Quezon City: East Avenue Medical Center, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital, PNP General Hospital, Victoriano Luna General Hospital, and Rizal Medical Center.

“In these uncertain times, we hold on to what we can be thankful for — a prime example of which are our brave frontliners,” Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

“The daily battle they’re fighting is unimaginable and we take it upon ourselves to give them strength, both physically and mentally, as our way of expressing solidarity,” he added.

The group said it intends to carry out the initiative “for the month of April and will continue to do so as needed.”

It also plans to reach out to more hospitals and health-care facilities.

MPIC is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc. — a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

ABIC seals purchase of PNB’s nonlife arm

April 7, 2021 | 12:03 am

ALLIED BANKERS Insurance Corp. (ABIC) has completed its purchase of PNB General Insurers Co., Inc. (PBGen) as it settled the third and last tranche of its payment to the Philippine National Bank (PNB) ahead of the deadline, the listed lender said on Tuesday.

PNB said in a regulatory filing that it received P366.15 million from ABIC for the third and final installment payment for PNBGen on March 31, ahead of the June 21 deadline for the last tranche.

This completes ABIC’s P1.52-billion purchase of PNB’s entire 65.75% stake in PBGen and also marks the bank’s exit from the nonlife insurance space.

ABIC is the nonlife insurance arm of LT Group, Inc. The move to sell PBGen is part of LT Group’s efforts to consolidate its nonlife insurance businesses.

The share purchase agreement was signed on Dec. 29. The proceeds of the transaction will be used for general corporate purposes.

PBGen offers coverage for fire and allied perils, marine, motor car, aviation, surety, engineering, and accident insurance, among others.

PNB has said it will remain involved in the bancassurance business. The bank is also in the life industry via Allianz PNB Life Insurance, Inc., which is a joint venture with German firm Allianz SE.

“The bank will remain in the bancassurance space to support its strategic growth plans and at the same time eliminate insurance underwriting risk,” the lender added.

PNB saw its net income slump by 73% year on year to P2.6 billion in 2020 after increasing its loan loss reserves to P16.9 billion, five times higher than the year-ago level.

It said it allocated loan loss reserves for the worst-hit sectors during the pandemic, including real estate, transportation, wholesale and retail trade to manage risk exposures.

Shares in PNB went up by five centavos or 0.22% to close at P22.85 apiece on Tuesday. — BML

World Health Day 2021: By the numbers

April 7, 2021 | 12:03 am

Globe-health-worker — Image via Jernej Furman/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

THE IMPACT of the global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), “has been harshest on those communities which were already vulnerable, who are more exposed to the disease, less likely to have access to quality healthcare services and more likely to experience adverse consequences as a result of measures implemented to contain the pandemic.”

For World Health Day 2021 (celebrated today), WHO has chosen the theme “Building a fairer, healthier world” to highlight health inequities.

Here is a snapshot of the world’s health and the country’s, as told by numbers.

PRIMARY HEALTHCARE
3.6 billion — the number of people worldwide who still lack full coverage of essential health services, according to a fact sheet released by WHO this April

930 million — the number of people worldwide who are at risk of falling into poverty due to out-of-pocket health spending of 10% or more of their household budget (WHO, April 1)

1% — the additional percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that the WHO recommends every country allocate or reallocate to primary healthcare from government and external funding sources (WHO, April 1)

30,604,466 — the total number of members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) who are direct contributors (or members who pay the monthly premium contribution) as of June 30, 2020 (PhilHealth, 2020 Stats and Charts)

20,807,011 — the total number of members of PhilHealth who are indirect contributors (or members who are indigents and thus do not pay any contributions) as of June 30, 2020 (PhilHealth, 2020 Stats and Charts)

ECONOMIC REPERCUSSIONS
71 to 100 million — the estimated number of people that the COVID-19 crisis pushed into extreme poverty in 2020, effectively wiping out the progress made since 2017 (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Asia Pacific COVID-19 brief, July 16, 2020)

More than 1 billion — the number of people living in informal settlements or slums who are facing increased challenges in preventing infection and transmission of COVID-19 (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2020)

$3.7 trillion — the equivalent amount of global income lost due to the pandemic, equivalent to 4.4% of the global GDP (UN International Labour Organization, Jan. 25)

10.3% — the annual unemployment rate in the Philippines in 2020, twice as high as the rate recorded in 2019. Four and a half million Filipinos do not have jobs but are looking for one (Philippine Statistics Authority’s Annual Labor and Employment Estimates, 2020)

COVID-19 CASES
131,716,054 — the total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide at the time of writing, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center

2,860,100 — the number of people worldwide who died of COVID-19 worldwide at the time of writing, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center

803,398 — the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines as of April 6, according to the Department of Health COVID-19 Case Tracker

13,435 — the number of Filipinos who died of COVID-19 as of April 6, according to the Department of Health COVID-19 Case Tracker

116.79 — the total number of vaccination doses administered per 100 people as of April 4 in Israel, which leads all other countries in administered doses per 100 people, according to Our World in Data

0.67 — the total number of vaccination doses administered per 100 people in the Philippines as of April 4, according to Our World in Data

TOP KILLERS
16% — the percentage of deaths around the world due to ischemic heart diseases, or heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries, making it the top cause of death in the world since the year 2000. Stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are the second and third leading causes of death, accounting for approximately 11% and 6% of total deaths respectively. (WHO, Dec. 9, 2020)

71% — the percentage of deaths globally attributed to noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes (Deloitte’s Global Health Care Outlook, 2021)

17.3% — the percentage of total deaths in the Philippines (or 99.7 thousand deaths) due to ischaemic heart diseases in 2020, making it the top cause of death in the country. Cancers came in at second with 62.3 thousand deaths (or 10.8% of the total) and cerebrovascular diseases came in at third with 59.7 thousand deaths (or (10.4% of the total), according to numbers released this March by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)

NUTRITION GAPS
1 in every 9 — one in every nine people in the world is hungry (Access to Nutrition Initiative’s Global Access to Nutrition Index, 2021)

1 in 3 — one in every three people in the world is overweight or obese (Access to Nutrition Initiative’s Global Access to Nutrition Index, 2021)

1/4 — almost a quarter of all children under five years of age worldwide are stunted (Access to Nutrition Initiative’s Global Access to Nutrition Index, 2021)

350.6 million — the Food and Agriculture Organization’s most recent estimate of the number of undernourished people in the Asia Pacific region, amounting to about 51% of the global total of 687.8 million (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’s Asia Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, 2021)

1.9 billion — the number of people worldwide who are unable to afford a healthy diet even before the pandemic (World Health Organization, Jan. 20)

130 million — the additional number of people worldwide who are at risk of becoming acutely food insecure as a result of the pandemic, with up to 24 million in the Asia and Pacific region (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’s Asia Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, 2021)

MENTAL WELLNESS
1 in 4 — the number of people who will be affected by a mental or neurological disorder at some point during their lifetime (Deloitte’s Global Health Care Outlook, 2021)

$16 trillion — the amount that could cost the global economy between 2010 to 2030 if a collective failure to respond to mental health disorders is not addressed. The pandemic has produced spikes in anxiety and similar challenges. Prolonged isolation and physical distancing measures are demonstrating how social connection contributes to physical, mental, and emotional well-being (Deloitte’s Global Health Care Outlook, 2021)

42% — the number of Filipino respondents in a 2021 Asia-wide report who said they experienced elevated stress, anxiety, and depression as a result of COVID-19 (PruLife’s Pulse of Asia: The Health of Asia Barometer, 2021)

DIGITAL SHIFT
80% — percentage of people worldwide who have used virtual visits and are likely to have another virtual visit even post-pandemic. Consumer adoption of virtual visits has been increasing since 2018. (Deloitte’s Global Health Care Outlook, 2021)

79% — percentage of Filipino respondents in a 2021 Asia-wide report who said that they already use digital health platforms and personal health technologies (PruLife’s Pulse of Asia: The Health of Asia Barometer, 2021) — Patricia B. Mirasol

Sources: World Health Organization, the Department of Health, PhilHealth, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Johns Hopkins University, Deloitte, Our World in Data, Worldometer, UN News, The University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Access to Nutrition Initiative, and Mercer ASEAN.

Paul Simon joins trend to monetize old song catalogs

April 7, 2021 | 12:02 am

PAUL SIMON — MATTHEW STRAUBMULLER (IMATTY35) / EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

LOS ANGELES — Paul Simon has sold his entire song catalog to Sony Music Publishing, joining a string of older musicians cashing in on their life’s work.

Sony Music Publishing said last Wednesday that the deal includes classic songs ranging from “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” to “Still Crazy After All These Years” that Simon wrote and recorded over his six-decade career.

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Mr. Simon, 79, a 16-time Grammy winner who in 2018 announced he was retiring from touring, said in a statement he was “pleased to have Sony Music Publishing be the custodian of my songs for the coming decades.”

The sale is the latest in a string of catalog deals that includes the music of Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young and Carole Bayer Sager in the past year.

Mr. Dylan sold his back catalog of more than 600 songs in December to Universal Music Group and the purchase price was widely reported as $300 million. Other songs have been snapped up by London-based Hipgnosis, which has attributed the deals to a surge in music streaming especially during the coronavirus pandemic when concerts and music festivals have been canceled.

Companies can reap royalties from licensing the songs they have acquired for use in movies, commercials, and branding deals. — Reuters

Lockdown mental fatigue rapidly reversed by social contact, study finds

April 7, 2021 | 12:02 am

mental-health-2019924_1280 — STOCK PHOTO

MANY OF US are looking forward to a summer of relative freedom, with road-mapped milestones that will grant us more opportunities to see our friends and family. But we’ll be carrying the effects of months of isolation into those meetings, including a sense that our social skills will need dusting off, and our wits will need sharpening.

The mental effects of lockdown have been profound. Social isolation has been shown to cause people’s mental health to deteriorate even if they have no history of previous psychological problems. Alongside this drop in mood, loneliness has been linked with a host of cognitive problems, including fatigue, stress, and problems with concentration.

In our recent study, we set out to understand how people recovered from last year’s period of social isolation, tracking their cognitive function as the UK transitioned from a full lockdown to reduced social restrictions in summer 2020. Promisingly, we found that people swiftly recovered from cognitive issues when given the chance to blow away the cobwebs by socializing once again.

Lockdowns have given psychologists a unique opportunity to study the effects of social isolation on the general population. Such effects are normally only studied in older adults, or in very special groups of people such as astronauts, desert trekkers, and polar explorers. But for over a year now, ordinary people of all ages have been experiencing prolonged periods with minimal social contact.

We know that humans derive many benefits from socializing. These range from preventing dementia and enhancing memory to improvements in concentration and the ability to think clearly. When our social lives shrank last March, we lost these cognitive payouts too.

To investigate what happens when these payouts return, we surveyed hundreds of Scottish adults between May and July 2020: a period when strict national lockdown restrictions were gradually eased. It was the perfect time to observe how the benefits of socializing might change how people think and feel.

Unsurprisingly, we found that people’s moods were lowest when we first approached them in May. Those who were shielding or living alone suffered the most and only began to feel better when the final restrictions were eased towards the end of our survey period in July. But our study was most interested in other psychological indicators: those that would show whether people’s cognitive abilities improved when they had more opportunities to socialize.

To measure this, we asked our survey participants to complete a series of online tests to assess changes in their attention, learning ability, working memory — and even their perception of time.

Attention, learning ability, and working memory are all essential for tasks we might perform at work or while studying. They’re indicators of how well we remember things we’ve learned, how long we can concentrate on a task, and how many tasks we can juggle in our heads at one time.

All of these indicators improved rapidly as lockdown restrictions eased, with clear week-on-week improvements each time we returned to our study participants for more data. This suggests that we’re likely to enjoy a similarly speedy boost in our ability to work when lockdown restrictions ease this time around.

We’ve all been experiencing varying degrees of loneliness and isolation, so it’s no wonder that we’re running low on the benefits that socializing can bring. Our findings offer concrete proof that lockdown makes us all a little more distracted, sluggish and fatigued — cognitive problems that may be affecting our performance at work and our social interactions outside of it.

But the speed at which we witnessed cognitive function improve once people began socializing again last summer shows that there’s hope. As days lengthen, the weather improves, and society reopens, our study suggests that renewed social contact will quickly and thoroughly reverse any cognitive decline we’ve experienced during the most recent lockdown.

Our findings extend beyond the unique circumstances brought about by the pandemic. While there’s no denying that humans are social creatures, psychologists are only now beginning to recognize just how integral social interaction is to every aspect of our wellbeing and mental ability — and how isolation, whether for elderly people or those with extreme vocations, can affect our mental health and aptitude across so many measures.

Christopher Hand is a lecturer in psychology at the Glasgow Caledonian University. Greg Maciejewski and Joanne Ingram are both lecturers in psychology at the University of the West of Scotland.

SEC sets up digital company registration system eSPARC

April 7, 2021 | 12:02 am

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is setting up a new company registration platform called the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company or eSPARC, which is expected to go live by April 19.

“Our goal is to provide users with a complete, end-to-end company registration system linked to a unified and centralized company information database that will simplify the company registration process while also refining how we process information,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said in a statement on Tuesday.

The platform will be accepting registration applications of stock and nonstock entities from one person corporations (OPC), corporations with two to four incorporators, to regular domestic and foreign-owned corporations.

Applicants or authorized representatives may use the platform to submit proposed company names, company information, and documentary requirements for their application.

The status of applications may easily be accessed through a “real-time inquiry facility” to be featured in the eSPARC.

The eSPARC is said to be “more secure, transparent, and efficient,” as the platform will be connected to the SEC cashiering system and the SEC payment portal to make payment transactions more convenient.

It will also be integrated with the Central Business Portal, the government’s system where the public may access and fill out registration forms and submit requirements for business registration and other transactions.

“This initiative further strengthens our ongoing digital transformation, as part of our efforts to further improve ease of doing business in the country,” Mr. Aquino said.

The new platform will replace the interim registration system (IRS) being used to register OPCs and corporations with two to four incorporators. The IRS will conduct maintenance activities from 6 p.m. on April 8 to 9 p.m. on April 11 to prepare for the move to eSPARC.

eSPARC will also replace the company registration system (CRS) used by regular domestic and foreign-owned corporations.

Registration applications submitted to the CRS before April 19 will still be processed by the portal, unless otherwise instructed.

However, once the eSPARC is up and running, only the registration applications of foreign corporations and partnerships will be processed through the CRS. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Banks’ loans to MSMEs fail to hit quotas in Q4

April 7, 2021 | 12:02 am

BIG AND THRIFT banks were unable to disburse the minimum credit for small businesses required by law in the fourth quarter of 2020, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Loans disbursed by the banking industry to micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) stood at just P480.501 billion versus their lending portfolio worth P8.412 trillion.

This was also 12% lower than the P547.022 billion lent a year ago but 3% higher than the P464.346 billion recorded as of the third quarter of 2020.

Republic Act 6977 or the Magna Carta for MSMEs requires banks to allocate at least 10% of their loan book for small businesses to boost the sector — 8% to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and 2% to medium-sized enterprises.

Big banks have often opted to pay penalties for noncompliance instead of taking on the risks of lending to small firms.

Broken down, loans disbursed to MSEs amounted to P186.124 billion or just 2.21% of their loan portfolio, lower than the 8% required under the law, which is worth P673.013 billion.

Meanwhile, lending to medium-sized businesses reached P294.377 billion, which is equivalent to 3.5% of banks’ loan portfolio, beyond the mandated 2% allocation.

By type of lender, credit granted by universal and commercial banks to MSEs during the period amounted to P126.334 billion, equivalent to only 1.67% of their P7.574-trillion loan portfolio. They allocated P247.358 billion to medium-sized enterprises, which is 3.27% of their credit book.

Thrift lenders extended P31.582 billion in loans to MSEs or 4.39% of their P719.645-billion loan portfolio. These banks also granted credit worth P32.749 billion or 4.55% of their total lending book to medium-sized firms.

Meanwhile, rural and cooperative banks reached the quotas as their loans to MSEs amounted to P28.198 billion or 23.75% of their P118.722-billion portfolio. Loans to medium-sized businesses reached P14.27 billion or 12.02% of their lending book.

MSMEs made up 99% of the roughly one million business establishments in the country in 2018, based on data from the Department of Trade and Industry. They also accounted for 5.7 million or 63.19% of the new jobs that year.

The central bank provided lenders regulatory relief measures last year in a bid to boost lending to MSMEs as they were among the sectors worst hit by the pandemic. These include counting MSME loans as alternative reserve compliance and the reduced credit risk weight for loans extended to the sector.

Other initiatives are also in the works to bridge the gap in MSME financing, including a credit risk database project spearheaded by the central bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

It has also teamed up with various institutions for a study on small businesses with a gender lens to look into boosting lending to MSMEs. The study will be a maiden national-level report on issues, challenges, and opportunities for businesses owned by women from a demand-side perspective. Its results are expected to be ready by the fourth quarter.

The BSP is likewise exploring supply chain financing for small businesses which will ease collateral requirements by leveraging on the credit profiles of their major customers. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Arts & Culture (04/07/21)

April 7, 2021 | 12:01 am

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Character illustration workshop with Myle Villareal

THE BGC (Bonifacio Global City) Arts Center will hold a character illustration workshop with artist Myle Villareal on April 10 (10 a.m. to noon) via Zoom. Ms. Villareal will share her techniques on how she creates character illustrations using Adobe Illustrator. The workshop is open to participants ages 12 and above. The application to the workshop includes a requested donation of P500 per participant (the contribution will support programs that champion the arts in the community). Register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSek3NSWNuQ7FIztFhPzkwiDrpiA5kPR34EIdT8zWsDbWOWobw/viewform?gxids=7628. For inquiries, e-mail programs@artsatbgc.org.

Webinar on Pigafetta and Philippine history and heritage

THE PHILIPPINE Italian Association presents a webinar on Antonio Pigafetta and Philippine History and Heritage on April 12, 2 p.m. Pigafetta chronicled the first encounter between Europeans and the people who would become Filipinos. Speakers in the webinar are Danilo Madrid Gerona, PhD., from the Magellan-Elcano Studies Center — Partido State University, who will talk about Pigafetta’s participation in the Magellan expedition and questions on his purposes; and sculptor Juan Sajid Imao, son of the late National Artist Abdulmari Asia Imao, who will talk about his father’s stories on when he was working on the monument to Pigafetta mounted in Cebu. To register for the webinar, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TVmAw0cgSNy_XIl0G456OA.

Atlantis’ virtual workshop continues in May

LAST year’s Atlantis Virtual Workshop proved to be a huge success, which is why Atlantis Theatrical is bringing it back with another intensive yet fun-filled training program for young, aspiring musical theater artists. The workshop will tackle the necessary topics and activities to develop and hone children’s talents in performing arts. Kids from ages seven to 12 and teens from 13 to 18 can enter this safe online space. And because it’s online, even kids from different parts of the world can join. Song analysis, storytelling techniques, vocal techniques, and basic jazz are just four of the many topics that will be explored. Classes are an hour to an hour and 15 minutes long, and will only have two to three students per time slot. All classes will be held live via Zoom from Mondays to Fridays. There are two 15-session schedules to choose from: May 10 to 28 with a recital on May 29, and July 5 to 23, with a recital on July 24. Visit www.atlantistheatrical.com/workshops for more details. Contact Atlantis Theatrical at info@atlantistheatrical.com or at 0917-838-1534 to sign up.

The Not So Ugly Duckling dance showcase

A NEO-CLASSICAL version of the literary fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling” takes shape in the form of online film The Not So Ugly Duckling, which encapsulates the beauty of ballet as a performance art. It will be livestreamed for free from April 10 to 17, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on https://www.facebook.com/TNSUD2021. The dance showcase follows the journey of Cacciatore, a duck from a small town in pursuit of her Hollywood dream. The modern interpretation of the iconic story speaks of self-love, acceptance and appreciation. The Not So Ugly Duckling is written by De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Dance Program Chairperson and dancer Nina Anonas-De Santos, directed and choreographed by contemporary dancer Ruthame Hurtado. It features emerging classical ballet dancers and performers including Nika Villarin, Yella Carlos, Jireh Cariaso, Anthony Peñaranda, Agatha Yulo, Jessa Aquino, Jharexa Myze Carvajal, Trisha Galang, Esabel Galang and Athena De Guzman.

Instituto Cervantes presents 4 contemporary Spanish filmmakers

THIS APRIL, Instituto Cervantes de Manila will screen online the work of four contemporary Spanish filmmakers. The film series, Del corto al largo, will be streaming two works (a short and a feature film) by each of the selected filmmakers: directors, Álex Montoya, Belén Macías and Juanjo Giménez, and the producer María del Puy Alvarado. The films will be shown through the Instituto Cervantes channel on the Vimeo platform (vimeo.com/institutocervantes) and will be freely accessible for 48 hours from their start date and time. The series will kick off on April 7, at 2 a.m., with the online screening of Lucas, directed by Alex Montoya in 2016. Available anytime for 48 hours, the short can be watched for free and with English subtitles through this link: https://vimeo.com/519053672. The comedy Asamblea, directed by Alex Montoya in 2018, will be available on April 10 and 11 through this link: https://vimeo.com/518996347. Other films in the series are Mala espina (2001), a short film by Belén Macías; Juanjo Giménez’ Rodilla and Nos hacemos falta (2001); and María del Puy Alvarado’s Pulse (2013) and Antonio Muñoz Molina, el oficio de escritor (2014). The films, presented by Instituto Cervantes in collaboration with ALCINE, the Alcalá de Henares Film Festival (Spain), and the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, will be in Spanish with English subtitles. Admission is free. For further information on the film series, check out the event page on Instituto Cervantes de Manila Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/events/355457229118138.

SMC packaging unit partners with gov’t for milk feeding initiative

April 7, 2021 | 12:01 am

THE PACKAGING unit of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has partnered with the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) for a nationwide milk feeding program that will utilize its new packaging solution.

SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang said in a statement that the company’s San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp. (SMYPC) will be a third-party toll packer that will use its retort process to package 40,000 liters of carabao milk from farmer cooperatives in Nueva Ecija.

Equivalent to 4 million cans of sterilized carabao milk, Mr. Ang said the products will be distributed in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and areas in the Cordillera Administrative Region as part of the school-based feeding program under the Department of Education and Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“We are very happy that almost one year since we promised to help the carabao cooperatives, we will now see both farmers and our school children benefit from this worthy endeavor,” Mr. Ang said in the statement.

Mr. Ang said that with the use of retort process, the shelf life of carabao milk will last up to six months without preservatives, compared to a previous shelf life of seven days using flexible packaging.

He added that carabao milk can reach more children in need of nutritional support due to the longer shelf life of the product, adding that it can be easily transported and can be stored under ambient temperature.

“At the same time, this will boost the livelihood of local dairy farmers who have always been looking for ways to keep carabao’s milk fresh and prevent spoilage,” Mr. Ang said.

According to SMC, carabao milk will be consolidated by PCC from dairy cooperatives in Nueva Ecija and will be delivered to SMYPC’s facility in San Fernando, Pampanga for sterilization and packaging.

From the Pampanga facility, the milk will be delivered to schools division offices to be distributed to the beneficiaries.

In 2020, dairy cooperatives assisted by the PCC committed to give milk to 503,955 children. Currently, some 1.01 million children are benefiting from carabao milk provided by the cooperatives, with supply set to increase after SMC’s initiative.

Previously, SMC also helped dairy farmers by purchasing excess carabao milk used for donation to poor communities and promised to help create a packaging format to make the product more marketable.

“It is through meaningful and sustainable programs like this that we will empower various sectors to not just weather the impacts of the pandemic, but have more opportunities to grow in the future,” Mr. Ang said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

IMF upgrades economic outlook amid vaccine rollouts

April 7, 2021 | 12:01 am

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees the Philippine economy bouncing back slightly faster than previously expected this year, but noted it is “critical” to contain the surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Read the full story.