ORTIGAS Malls is pushing through with the fourth year of the Ortigas Art Festival, both on-site and virtually until Mar. 31. The onsite venue is the East Wing of Estancia at Capitol Commons, Pasig City.
Launched in 2018, the Ortigas Art Festival has the goal of “making art accessible to everyone.” Its first run featured over 60 local artists. In 2019, the roster of participating artists grew to over 130 Filipino artists from all over the country. The number of participants increased to over 200 including artists from other Southeast Asian countriesin 2020.
“Aside from the commitment to provide spaces and communities where life, work and leisure integrate, it is also our goal to continue to provide enriching experiences such as the Ortigas Art Festival,” said Jaime E. Ysmael, president and chief executive officer of Ortigas & Co., during the opening ceremonies on Feb. 24, which was also streamed via Facebook Live. “With the goal of democratizing art and supporting the Philippine art community, we decided to work together with renowned artists in different fields to turn Estancia into an art hub for everyone,” he said.
“Art is an important part of society, it is food to the soul. As long as the community continues to remain dedicated to pursuing the craft and enthusiasts continue to support [it], the art industry will thrive,” artist and festival exhibit head Renato Habulan said in a press release.
Adding to photography, sculpture, and painting exhibits, the Ortigas Art Festival ventures into film this year with a contest and workshops.
The first Vertical Cinema Contest done in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). Participants are to submit a two-minute short film in a portrait orientation shot on a smartphone. The film theme is “The Beauty of Everyday.” The top three finalists will win cash prizes. Deadline of entries is on Mar. 11.
The festival will also host virtual and on-ground workshops such as the FDCP Film Talks on “Editing with Cha Escala” on Mar. 7 (online); Agos.studio will have workshops with Renato Habulan on “Materiality and Illusion” on Mar. 13 (online) and “Watercolor for Beginners” on Mar. 27 (on-site); Born on Film will hold online workshops with Franz Lopez on “Visual Storytelling” on Mar. 19 and “Darkroom Developing” on Mar. 26.
One of the on-ground exhibitions showcases photography by the non-profit organization Born in Film. The photos include works by Filipino photographer Alberto Garcia, best known for his photo of the Mount Pinatubo eruption.
Participating galleries and artists include Agos.studio, Art Relief Mobile Kitchen, PhotoNation, Richard Buxani, Arnel Borja, La Maison D’ David Art Gallerie, and vMeme Contemporary Art Gallery.
Visitors must observe health and safety protocols such as wearing a mask and face shield, observe social distancing, and have a Pasig Pass upon entry.
Exhibits and on-ground workshops will be held at Estancia G/F East Wing in Pasig City. For more information and schedule of events, visit Ortigas Art Festival 2021’s Facebook page athttps://www.facebook.com/ortigasartfestival. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
SECURITY BANK Corp. saw its net income drop by 26.7% to P7.4 billion in 2020 as it set aside more loan loss reserves amid the crisis. — BW FILE PHOTO
SECURITY BANK Corp. saw its net income drop by 26.7% last year as it hiked its loan loss provisions to manage risks amid the coronavirus pandemic, the lender told the local bourse on Tuesday.
The bank’s net profit went down to P7.4 billion in 2020 from P10.1 billion it logged a year ago, based on its financial statement for 2019.
Return on shareholders’ equity was 6.16%. while return on assets was at 1.03%.
It set aside P26.4 billion as provisions for an anticipated surge in credit losses last year or over six times as much as the P4.2 billion recorded in 2019.
The lender said it set aside more loan loss reserves in 2020 on expectations that nonperforming assets would surge amid a pandemic-induced economic recession.
Security Bank’s net interest income went up by 14.2% to P30.65 billion last year from P26.84 billion in 2019. It booked a net interest margin of 4.77%, up from 3.93% the year prior.
Its loan portfolio inched up by 1.5% to P456.244 billion from P449.525 billion as retail loans went down by 10% while wholesale loans inched up by three percent.
Security Bank’s gross nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio climbed to 1.97% in 2020 from 0.56% in 2019. Its NPL reserve cover was at 115.47% last year, down from 129.2% previously.
Total revenues, meanwhile, jumped by 48% year on year to P50.4 billion.
On the funding side, the bank’s total deposit liabilities went down 12% to P440.41 billion from P499.61 billion a year ago due to reduced time deposits.
Low-cost savings and demand deposits grew 19% and increased to 60% of total deposits, up from 45% a year ago. High-cost deposits decreased 37%.
Non-interest income also rose by 178% to P19.723 billion from P7.105 billion in 2019 driven by strong gains in securities trading which surged 793% year on year to P13.4 billion in 2020.
It also reported a 249% increase (to P1.7 billion) in miscellaneous income after it sold 50% of its consumer finance arm SB Finance, Inc. to Thailand-based Bank of Ayudhya Public Co. Ltd. (Krungsri) in October 2020.
Meanwhile, income from service charges, gees and commissions went down by 11.1% year on year due to fewer transactions.
Operating expenses inched up by 13.5% to P19.7 billion. Still, its cost-to-income ratio improved to 39.1% from 51.1% a year ago.
The bank’s capital adequacy ratio ended higher at 20.09% last year from 17.88% in 2019, showing that its buffers can support the current level of its risk assets, Security Bank said. The ratio was higher than the 10% minimum requirement of the central bank and 8% based on global standards.
Meanwhile, its common equity Tier 1 ratio rose to 18.84% from 16.39% the year prior.
However, Security Bank’s assets fell by 17% to P653 billion from P788 billion the year earlier
“Our 2020 results reflect the fundamental strength of Security Bank amidst a very challenging pandemic-impacted environment. Our retail and wholesale teams maintained their steadfast support of our core clients. Our financial markets team nimbly navigated significant market movements. We supported our employees through the necessary operating model pivots as well as fortified the Bank’s balance sheet with credit provisions,” Security Bank President & CEO Sanjiv Vohra said in a statement on Tuesday.
Security Bank has a total of 313 branches and 787 automated teller machines to date.
Shares in Security Bank went up by three centavos or by 2.31% to close at P133 each on Tuesday. — B.M. Laforga
AFTER being closed to the public since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic lockdowns in 2020, the National Museum of the Philippines’ three component parts —the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Anthropology, and the National Museum of Natural History —will be welcoming visitors again beginning March 2, albeit with many restrictions and regulations. Also opening are the National Library and the San Agustin Museum in Intramuros.
The National Museum buildings will be open on Tuesdays to Saturdays (9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.). The number of visitors will be limited to 100 guests at a time. Only persons aged 15 to 65 years old will be allowed entry (they must bring a valid ID).
The National Planetarium will remain closed until further notice.
According to a post on the National Museum’s official Facebook page, visitors are required to pre-book online atreservations.nationalmuseum.gov.ph at least one day prior to their planned visit. An online confirmation will be sent through e-mail. A health declaration will also be facilitated along with the online reservation process.
Groups and group reservations are limited to a maximum of five people. Walk-in visitors without prior reservation will not be granted admission.
A temperature scan will be taken upon entry. Persons with a temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius and above will not be allowed to enter. Likewise, any person with a fever and flu-like symptoms will not be allowed to enter.
Guests must observe health and safety guidelines such as wearing face masks and face shield, and a distance of two meters between persons at all times. Hand sanitizers are available inside museum premises.
The use of elevators shall only be allowed for persons with disabilities and senior citizens. Guided tours are not allowed.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF THE PHILIPPINES Meanwhile, the National Library of the Philippines on Kalaw St. in Manila has also reopened, welcoming a maximum of 100 visitors per day.
SAN AGUSTIN MUSEUM The San Agustin Museum in Intramuros has also opened its doors to visitors. It will be open Wednesdays to Sundays (8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.).
Only visitors ages 15 to 65 will be allowed in the museum. The museum will accommodate a maximum number of 100 persons at a time. The museum will also implement a no-touch rule to all museum artifacts and exhibits.
Entrance fees are P200 for adults, and P160 for students, PWD, seniors and frontliners. — MAPS
ABOITIZ Power Corp. has started selling its five-year fixed rate bonds worth P8 billion to retail investors after its receipt of the corporate regulator’s permit to offer the securities for sale.
“The certificate of permit to offer securities for sale was issued in relation to P8 billion in aggregate principal amount, including the oversubscription option, of five-year fixed rate bonds due 2026 with an interest rate of 3.8224% per annum to be offered to retail investors,” the company said in a disclosure on Tuesday.
AboitizPower said that it had received the certificate to sell its first tranche bonds from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.
It opened the public offer on Tuesday, and the selling would end on March 8, Monday. The bonds are targeted to be issued on March 16, and would mature five years from its issue date.
The securities would be issued in scripless form in minimum denominations of P50,000 each, and in multiples of P10,000 after.
“Interest shall be paid quarterly in arrears on March 16, June 16, Sept. 16, and Dec. 16 of each year, commencing on June 16, 2021, until and including the maturity date,” AboitizPower said.
The joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters, and joint bookrunners of the first tranche are BDO Capital & Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., and First Metro Investment Corp.
BDO Unibank, Inc.-Trust and Investments Group was assigned as the trustee, while the Philippine Depository & Trust Corp. will act as the registrar and paying agent of the bonds.
The bonds earlier received the highest rating of “PRS Aaa” from Philippine Rating Services Corp., assuring the obligor’s “extremely strong” capacity to meet its financial commitment on its obligation.
Obligations rated “PRS Aaa” are said to be of the highest quality with minimal credit risk.
On Monday, the SEC also granted an order of registration for AboitizPower’s shelf registration of debt securities of up to P30 billion.
In its disclosure, AboitizPower said that the remaining tranches of debt securities under the shelf registration program may be issued “from time to time” over the next three years, and these would be subject to market conditions and funding requirements.
Shares in AboitizPower at the local bourse inched down 2% or 0.5 centavos to close at P24.50 apiece on Tuesday. — Angelica Y. Yang
SHARPENING the focus on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and blue-collar workers will improve population health outcomes, according to Hilton Y. Lam, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies (IHPDS).
“These populations are important to the public health ecosystem because of their de facto community leader status,” Mr. Lam said — referring particularly to OFWs and seniors — at a virtual event on the health of future Filipinos. As it stands, low infrastructure investments in these populations translate to low reciprocal public expectations.
“Their low opinion of public health will have consequences on the perceptions of people who value their opinions,” he said, adding that health programs that rely on participation by these groups — such as vaccination, nutrition, and blood donation — are put at risk.
Public health in the Philippines also suffers from its reliance on technologies that are not patient-centered, said Mr. Lam, which, in turn, leads to a slow response to epidemiological changes.
“The current programs are myopic due to an over-reliance on biomedical science to the point of rejecting the fields of data science, artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical manufacturing science, engineering science, and others,” said Mr. Lam. “Thus, when the pandemic hit the country, we could not do anything but shut down and pray we get the vaccines soon.”
He cited Taiwan as a country whose surveillance systems, which incorporates data science and artificial intelligence, enabled it to shut its borders as soon as it picked up “pneumonia-like symptoms with an unknown etiology.”
To improve the Philippine public health ecosystem, the IHPDS proposed a proof-of-concept program that develops a set of patient-centered quality assurance tools. The program will describe the baseline health-related quality-of-life of Filipinos; train provincial-level researchers on health technology assessment; and test telehealth innovations to increase the value proposition for OFWs, senior citizens, PWDs, and blue-collar workers.
“We need to do better,” Mr. Lam said. “We don’t know when the next pandemic will hit.”
THE all-digital banking app Diskartech owned by Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) has seen an increase in deposit transactions as more clients continue to join the platform.
The platform saw a 42% rise in savings volume in January from the December level while deposits per user picked up by 38%, RCBC said in a statement.
Pressed for details, RCBC said more than half (52%) of Diskartech users belong to the 21-30 age bracket. This was followed by those aged 31 to 40 (30%), 41 to 50 (10%), 18 to 20 (3%), and 61 to 70 (1%).
Nearly half of their platform’s users reside in Luzon (49%), specifically in Metro Manila (31%). This was followed by customers in Visayas (10%) and Mindanao (9%).
The usage volume of the app also surged by more than four times (274%) in January from the average seen last year.
“These numbers are very promising showcasing Filipinos’ resiliency amidst this challenging time. We hope to be a partner of every Filipino in our collective quest towards economic recovery,” RCBC Executive Vice-President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer Angelito “Lito” M. Villanueva was quoted as saying.
Diskartech was launched in July. Its offerings include a basic deposit account that does not require an initial deposit amount and a maintaining balance. It also features card-less ATM withdrawals and allows deposits and cash-outs from agent partners.
The bank hopes to attract more users into using the platform through its 3.25% annual interest on savings.
Mr. Villanueva earlier said they hope to attract Filipinos who are either underbanked or unbanked to the platform which has a Tagalog-English interface.
Central bank data showed only 29% of Filipino adults had formal bank accounts in 2019, leaving behind 51.2 million still unbanked.
RCBC’s net income decreased 7% to P5 billion last year from P5.388 billion in 2019 as the bank ramped up provisioning for credit losses to manage risks during the crisis.
Its shares closed unchanged at P17.50 apiece on Tuesday. — L.W.T. Noble
LOS ANGELES —The man who was shot while caring for Lady Gaga’s French Bulldogs said on Monday he was recovering after nearly dying from the attack by assailants who kidnapped two of the pop singer’s pets.
Ryan Fischer, in his first public comments since the incident last Wednesday evening in Hollywood, detailed his recollections from that night and thanked family, friends, first responders and Ms. Gaga, who has been in Italy to shoot a movie.
The two stolen dogs were turned in to police unharmed on Friday but two men suspected of stealing them remain at large.
“I am still in recovery from a very close call with death,” Mr. Fischer, 30, wrote on Instagram alongside pictures of him in a hospital bed, including one that showed him connected to a ventilator.
Describing the episode, Mr. Fischer said he let out panicked screams as blood poured from his body from a gunshot wound. Kidnappers had taken two of Gaga’s three dogs —Koji and Gustav —but a third, Asia, remained with Mr. Fischer.
“I cradled Asia as best I could, thanked her for all the incredible adventures we’d been on together, apologized that I couldn’t defend her brothers, and then resolved that I would still try to save them … and myself,” Mr. Fischer wrote.
Koji and Gustav were returned unharmed to police on Friday by an unidentified woman and reunited with Ms. Gaga’s representatives. Ms. Gaga had offered a $500,000 reward for her dogs’ return.
To Ms. Gaga, Mr. Fischer said: “Your babies are back and the family is whole … we did it! You have shown so much support throughout this whole crisis to both me and my family.”
“A lot of healing still needs to happen,” Mr. Fischer added, “but I look forward to the future and the moment when I get bombarded with kisses and licks (and maybe even an excitement pee?) from Asia, Koji, and Gustav.” — Reuters
TELCO startup DITO Telecommunity Corp. may start offering home broadband services next year, a company official said.
“Ang balak namin, perhaps by next year, mago-offer na kami ng broadband services. ‘Yung sa bahay (We plan to offer home broadband services next year),” Adel A. Tamano, DITO’s chief administrative officer, told a news briefing on Tuesday.
Mr. Tamano also clarified that DITO’s commercial launch of its mobile services will take place in 15 areas, instead of 17, in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao on March 8.
Ten areas identified in Metro Cebu are: Carcar, Cebu City, Consolacion, Danao, Liloan, Mandaue, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, and Talisay. Areas covered in Metro Davao are Panabo, Tagum, Carmen, Davao City, and Digos.
“DITO will eventually make its way to the rest of the country (located within, of course, the more than 37% population coverage) in just a couple of months,” Mr. Tamano noted.
He said the company chose Mindanao and the Visayas as its priority areas for the commercial launch due to a “sentimental reason.”
“It was actually set up to serve the underserved areas,” he noted.
The National Telecommunications Commission announced last week that DITO was compliant with its commitments to cover 37.03% of the country’s population and provide a minimum average broadband speed of 27 megabits per second (Mbps) in its first year of service.
PHL FIXED BROADBAND Also on Tuesday, Ookla, the company behind Speedtest, said the Philippines’ fixed broadband average download speed for February “registered its highest jump since the beginning of the Duterte administration.”
“The 5.73 notch up from 32.73 Mbps… to 38.46 Mbps in Feb. 2021 represents a monthly increase of 17.51% and a 386.22% increase from the country’s download speed of 7.91 Mbps back in July 2016,” it said in a news release.
Ookla added that mobile networks’ overall performance also improved last month.
The country saw an average download speed of 26.24 Mbps, an increase of 252.68% from 7.44 Mbps back in July 2016, it noted. — Arjay L. Balinbin
PROJECT MOSES, a health dashboard, aims to address misconceptions and streamline information for Filipinos seeking answers to their coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) concerns.
Apart from its news aggregator feature, the website also includes a self-assessment tool and a hospital directory. All data in Project Moses is open to the public. “It is important to have open data accessible to the public so people can become well-informed and not ill-informed citizens,” said Rejiel “Rage” A. Gonzales, chief executive officer of Bridge360, the social technology enterprise that created the dashboard. “It helps researchers and other app developers build on the ideas of others.”
“Back in March 2020, information about COVID-19 was all over the place. Myths and fake news had been spreading,” she added. “We are trying to create a platform that we hope could streamline information and processes.”
Started solely as a news aggregator, it was named Project Moses because of the company’s collaboration with Catholic Media Network, a network of Catholic radio and television stations.
To scale up the platform, Bridge360 had to join contests to get funding. It won first prize from Stat Zero, an impact investor in Silicon Valley, as well as second prize in Australia’s HackForBetterDays, in partnership with Here Technologies.
But Project Moses’s bigger ambitions are on the back burner for reasons outside the dashboard developers’ control. The platform wanted to help local government units streamline the transfer of COVID-19 patients from Level I hospitals (which aren’t required to have intensive care units) to hospitals with better facilities.
“We consulted several doctors and even collaborated with the Office of the Vice-President to see which hospitals we can onboard there. We were able to present Project Moses with the Philippine General Hospital and Lung Center,” Ms. Gonzales said. “Unfortunately, streamlining hospital transfers from one hospital to another was such a big vision. There were too many factors.”
The World Health Organization and the Department of Health also have online resources that individuals can peruse for accurate information. — Patricia B. Mirasol
BDO LEASING and Finance, Inc. (BDOLF) registered a higher net profit last year despite booking lower revenues on the back of decreased funding costs.
The firm’s net income stood at P252.3 million in 2020, more than eight times or 439% higher than the P46.8 million it booked in 2019, it said in a filing with the local bourse on Tuesday.
Its gross revenues dropped 22% to P2.4 billion amid lower interest income since its operations were scaled down following the sale of most of its earning assets to parent BDO Unibank, Inc.
“This was part of the restructuring of the group’s leasing business where the operations of BDOLF fully transitioned to BDO Finance Corp. (BDO Finance), which was established last year to offer customers continued access to lease products and services,” BDO Leasing said.
“BDO Finance likewise assumed the lease transactions booked in BDOLF to ensure continuity to the latter’s existing clients.”
BDO in January last year entered into an agreement to sell its majority stake in BDOLF for P5.451 billion to restructure its leasing business.
On the other hand, BDOLF’s total expenses fell 34% to P2 billion as interest and financing charges shrank 62% due to the low rate environment and amid declining borrowing levels.
BDOLF’s parent BDO saw its net earnings drop by 36.2% to P28.2 billion in 2020 from P44.2 billion in 2019 due to higher loan loss provisions amid the pandemic.
Trading of BDOLF shares is suspended. Meanwhile, BDO shares closed at P109.30 apiece on Tuesday, down by 10 centavos or by 0.09% from its previous close. — L.W.T. Noble
LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI in 2012 at Caffe Trieste — EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/
LAWRENCE Ferlinghetti, the poet and bookstore owner whose publication of Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl in 1956 led to a landmark obscenity trial that spotlighted the Beat literary movement, died at the age of 101.
He died on Feb. 22 at his home in San Francisco, according to The Washington Post, citing his son Lorenzo. The cause was lung disease.
Mr. Ferlinghetti’s City Lights became the nation’s first all-paperback bookstore when it opened in San Francisco’s North Beach section in 1953. Since then, it has served as a gathering place for writers, artists and bohemians, from Jack Kerouac and the Beats to hippies, punk rockers and iPhone-carrying hipsters.
He also wrote more than 30 books, including 1958’s A Coney Island of the Mind, a collection of poems that has sold more than 1 million copies. Fluent in French and Italian, Mr. Ferlinghetti translated poetry into English, wrote plays, art criticism, and essays and was a talented painter. In 1998, he was named San Francisco’s first poet laureate. France awarded him the title of Commandeur des Arts et Lettres.
Mr. Ferlinghetti published Howl and Other Poems as part of City Lights’ fledgling Pocket Poet Series, printing 1,500 copies that sold for 75 cents each. US Customs seized 500 books from a second printing, citing the poem’s “obscene” nature.
OBSCENITY TRIAL “It is not the poet but what he observes which is revealed as obscene,” Mr. Ferlinghetti wrote in a column in the San Francisco Chronicle after the books were confiscated in early 1957.
Ten days after the column ran, the Collector of Customs released the books and the US attorney dropped the matter. Still, San Francisco police arrested Mr. Ferlinghetti — and local authorities brought obscenity charges against him.
In a much-publicized trial, defense witnesses including critic Kenneth Rexroth and author Mark Schorer, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, testified to the book’s literary merits.
The trial resulted in a widely hailed decision against censorship. Judge Clayton W. Horn of San Francisco Municipal Court acquitted Mr. Ferlinghetti, declaring that Howl had redeeming social importance and was thus protected under the US Constitution.
BANNED BOOKS “Before Howl, there were so many books that weren’t allowed in the US,” Bill Morgan, author of a history of the beat generation, told the Newark Star-Ledger. “You had to sneak in copies of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Lolita from Paris.”
By the trial’s end, more than 10,000 copies of Howl were in print.
Lawrence Ferling was born March 24, 1919, in Yonkers, New York, the youngest of five sons of Carlo and Clemence Ferling. At age 36, he changed his name to Ferlinghetti, the surname his father had shortened on arriving in the US from Italy.
His childhood was turbulent. His father died before Lawrence was born and his mother, overcome by grief, suffered a breakdown and was placed in a state hospital.
Relatives of Lawrence’s mother, Ludwig and Emily Mendes-Monsanto, took him in when he was about a year old. Soon after, Emily left her husband and brought Lawrence with her to France, according to Mr. Ferlinghetti’s biographer, Neeli Cherkovksi. After returning to New York four years later, Emily took the youngster with her to Bronxville, New York, north of the city, where she’d been hired as a live-in French tutor to a wealthy family’s daughter. When Emily subsequently left, Mr. Ferlinghetti was raised by the family, Anna and Presley Bisland. He chose to stay with the Bislands when his mother, by then a virtual stranger, showed up.
GREENWICH VILLAGE Mr. Ferlinghetti attended high school at Mount Hermon, a boarding school near Greenfield, Massachusetts. He earned a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1941, then joined the US Navy during World War II.
He lived in New York’s Greenwich Village while working on his master’s degree at Columbia University. It was there that his interest in poetry bloomed. He read William Carlos Williams and Marianne Moore and continued to buy any new work by his Village neighbors E.E. Cummings and Kenneth Patchen.
Mr. Ferlinghetti moved to Paris to obtain his Ph.D. at the Sorbonne and met his future wife, Selden Kirby-Smith, on a ship sailing to France from the US in 1949. They were married two years later in Florida before settling in San Francisco.
EARLY BEATS City Lights, named after the 1931 Charlie Chaplin film, was originally a pop-culture journal published in a cramped space above a flower shop by Peter Martin, a transplanted New Yorker. When it folded, Mr. Martin told Mr. Ferlinghetti about his idea to open a book store specializing in paperbacks, which were then a new product. They each put up $500, and City Lights Books was born in June 1953.
“Once we opened the door,” Mr. Ferlinghetti said, “we couldn’t get it closed.”
Mr. Martin sold Mr. Ferlinghetti his interest and moved back to New York two years later. By then, Mr. Ferlinghetti had expanded the store’s scope to include the City Lights publishing imprint.
Mr. Ferlinghetti attended Mr. Ginsberg’s now-legendary reading of Howl at San Francisco’s Six Gallery on Oct. 7, 1955.
The audience erupted in cheers after listening to Howl, whose first line — “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness” — would become indelibly linked to the Beat Generation. The poem lashed out against what Mr. Ginsberg saw as the suffocating forces of materialism and cultural conformity.
‘APOCALYPTIC MESSAGE’ Mr. Ferlinghetti went home that night and typed a note to Mr. Ginsberg paraphrasing one that Ralph Waldo Emerson sent to Walt Whitman upon receiving a copy of the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass: “I greet you at the beginning of a great career. When do I get the manuscript?”
“I knew the world had been waiting for this poem, for this apocalyptic message to be articulated,” Mr. Ferlinghetti wrote in 2006. “It was in the air, waiting to be captured in speech. The repressive, conformist, racist, homophobic world of the 1950s cried out for it.”
A year after Howl, City Lights published Gasoline, a collection of poetry by Beat writer Gregory Corso. To his later regret, Mr. Ferlinghetti turned down an opportunity to publish Mr. Kerouac’s now-classic novel On the Road, though he did bring out his Book of Dreams in 1961.
Mr. Ferlinghetti continued to write poetry and operated City Lights for more than a half-century. In 2003, he was awarded the Robert Frost Memorial Medal and the Author’s Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.
He always tried to de-emphasize the term “Beat Generation,” a phrase coined by Mr. Kerouac, as a description of the San Francisco literary scene of the 1950s. He preferred to call it “an early phase of counter-culture poetry regeneration in America.”
Mr. Ferlinghetti and his wife, who were divorced, had two children: Julie and Lorenzo. — Bloomberg
EAST ZONE water concessionaire Manila Water Co., Inc. registered an 18.2% fall in net income attributable to equity holders to P4.50 billion for 2020, it said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Tuesday.
The water provider said the decline was due to lower contribution from its domestic subsidiaries as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Manila Water’s consolidated operating revenues last year fell 2.4% to P21.13 billion as its domestic subsidiaries Estate Water and Boracay Water had lower contributions.
“The group derived 80% of its operating revenues from the sale of water, while 16% came from environmental and sewer charges. Other revenues, which accounted for the balance, are comprised of supervision fees, after-the-meter services, connection fees and septic sludge disposal, among others,” the disclosure said.
Manila Water said its consolidated costs and expenses for 2020 fell 13.2% to P8.34 billion, versus P9.61 billion the earlier year as all of its expense accounts had posted a decline compared to the earlier year.
The company added that lower costs and expenses were because of fewer septic sludge disposal and repairs due to suspension of activities as part of lockdown protocols.
“Notable is the 25% decline in overhead costs, which was largely due to the one-off expenses in 2019 such as the P534 million in relation to the penalty imposed by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and additional expenses which arose in the ordinary course of business,” the disclosure said.
Earnings of the company before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for 2020 fell 5.7% to P11.94 billion compared to P12.66 billion in 2019.
Meanwhile, Manila Water’s subsidiary Manila Water Philippines Ventures, Inc. (MWPV) posted a net loss of P480 million, a turnaround from the P450 million net income it had in 2019.
MWPV’s consolidated revenues declined 10% to P4.22 billion in 2020 against P4.69 billion in 2019.
Another subsidiary of Manila Water, Manila Water Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (MWAP), posted a net loss of P371 million for 2020, reversing the P172-million net income it had the previous year due to the recognition of additional expenses in Cu Chi, Saigon Water, and East Water.
Manila Water Total Solutions (MWTS) recorded a net loss of P109 million for 2020, an improvement from the P165-million net loss it had in 2019.
In a separate regulatory filing on Tuesday, Manila Water announced that Aqua Centro MWPV Corp. (ACMC) signed a P233-million term loan facility with the Bank of the Philippine Islands.
The disclosure said the term loan will be used to fund ACMC’s capital expenditure projects. ACMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of MWPV.
On Tuesday, shares in Manila Water at the stock exchange rose 0.13% or two centavos to close at P15.38 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
