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Inflation yet to reach peak, analysts say

By Luz Wendy T. Noble, Reporter

HEADLINE INFLATION may remain elevated in the coming months due to continued supply-side pressures and a low base effect, analysts said.

“Inflation may not have reached its peak yet, and we do expect further breaches in the year-on-year headline print — notably in the second quarter of 2021 — as we’re coming from a low base, while the volatile components of the CPI (consumer price index) are at it again,” Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said in a Viber message.

The low base effect from last year may also result in inflation remaining at 4% levels and may peak at about 5% between April and October, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a text message.

Luzon was placed under the strictest form of lockdown from mid-March to end-May to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In 2020, inflation was slowest in May at 2.1%.

Headline inflation rose by 4.2% in January due to higher food and transport costs. This breached the 2-4% annual target set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and marked the fourth consecutive monthly rise since October 2020.

Mr. Roces said spikes in inflation are expected this year, with rising oil prices and disruptions in agricultural food supply. He said upward pressures caused by global oil prices might remain “as this is something beyond the authorities’ control.”

“The increased import volume for pork is meant to account for supply levels as a complementary solution on top of the price freeze,” he said, but warned that officials should continue to monitor how it will affect producers, wholesalers and retailers.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte gave the go signal to expand the minimum access volume allocation for pork imports to lower prices. He also imposed a price ceiling on pork and chicken products in Metro Manila for 60 days.

The central bank expects inflation this year to average 3.2%, faster than the 2.6% average in 2020.

In 2018, headline inflation went beyond the BSP’s inflation target and averaged 5.2% with the peak seen at 6.7% from September to October. This prompted the central bank to raise policy rates by 175 basis points (bps).

“Any breach of inflation above the [2-]4% inflation target in the coming months of 2021 could limit any further cuts in local policy rates and could even lead to some upward adjustments in the key policy rates,” Mr. Ricafort said.

The BSP will likely keep rates steady for now as it gauges conditions that affect the food basket, Mr. Roces said.

“We expect the central bank to refrain from policy adjustments until supply conditions become clear at least in the food basket in the coming months, especially with the harvest season approaching,” he added.

Food prices in January rose by 6.2% from 4.8% in December. Inflation for meat quickened to 17.1% from 10%, while vegetable prices surged by 21.2% from the prior month’s 19.7%.

The central bank is expected to keep the key policy rate at 2% as it waits for fiscal policy to do its part in taming inflation.

“A pause would still provide accommodation for the recovery while not feeding any unneeded inflationary pressure,” ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in a note on Monday. 

“At this juncture, keeping policy rates unchanged would allow BSP to provide the economy support for the recovery while at the same time safeguard against any budding demand side pressure, which appears to be negligible at the moment,” he added.

Seventeen of 18 analysts expect the Monetary Board to keep interest rates unchanged on Feb. 11, according to BusinessWorld poll last week.

Meralco power rates to decline in February

CUSTOMERS of Manila Electric Co. will see lower electricity bills in February. . — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

By Angelica Y. Yang

TYPICAL HOUSEHOLDS in Metro Manila can expect their monthly electricity bills to fall by P14 in February, after Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Monday announced a cut in overall power rates due to lower generation charges.

In a statement, Meralco said the overall power rate stands at P8.6793 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in February, P0.0704 per kWh lower than its January level. This is also P0.1830 per kWh less than the P8.8623 per kWh rate in February 2020.

Typical households are those that consume less than 200 kWh, according to the distribution utility.

This month, customers consuming 300 kWh, 400 kWh and 500 kWh would see a P21, P28 and P35 decrease in their monthly bills, respectively.

The generation charge dipped by P0.0422 to P4.4152 per kWh in February, due to lower fixed charges from power supply agreements (PSAs), which make up 53.4% of Meralco’s energy requirements.

Meanwhile, the rates of independent power producers rose by P0.2013 per kWh due to lower average plant dispatch, higher prices from the Malampaya Deepwater Gas-to-Power project, and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar.

“Wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) rates also increased by P0.9577 per kWh due to higher average plant capacity on outage in the Luzon grid,” Meralco said in the statement.

Meralco Vice-President and head of utility economics Lawrence S. Fernandez told reporters at a briefing on Monday WESM charges rose because of more plant outages in January, compared with December.

He added that the cost of natural gas from the Malampaya plant had gone up as prices were revised to reflect higher global crude oil prices.

IPPs and WESM account for 39.5%, and 7.1% of Meralco’s power requirements, respectively.

Transmission charges dropped by P0.0128 per kWh due to lower ancillary services charges. Taxes and other charges were reduced by P0.0154 per kWh.

Meralco said the collection of the universal charge-environmental charge of P0.0025 per kWh is still suspended, as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

The utility giant’s distribution, supply and metering charges have remained unchanged for 67 months since July 2015. It said it does not earn from pass-through charges, including generation and transmission charges.

“Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges like the universal charges and the FIT-All (feed-in tariff allowance) are remitted to the government,” Meralco said.

It said the February rate included the adjustments on over and under-recoveries for the period covering Jan 2017 to Dec 2019, as directed by the ERC. Residential customers can expect a net refund of about P0.1150 per kWh in their bills due to the adjustments, it said.

On Dec. 29, the ERC ordered Meralco to return P1.4 billion to its customers for over-collecting some charges during the billing periods covering January 2017 to December 2019. The ERC told Meralco to refund the over-recoveries over three months or until the amount was fully recovered.

In its order, the ERC also told the utility giant to recover its P2.38 billion of under-collections in its power generation charge during the same billing periods. The amortization period would go on for 24 months or until fully collected.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

SMC plans transfer of hogs, facilities to raisers

THE FOOD UNIT of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) plans to transfer its nationwide hog inventory and facilities to local raisers, amid high retail prices of pork.

In a statement on Monday, SMC’s San Miguel Foods is looking to shift the inventories of its Monterey brand to local hog raisers, and to allow them to supply the demand in their respective regions and improve biosecurity practices against African Swine Fever (ASF).

SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang said the company wants to give local piggery businesses an opportunity to flourish amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and to entice other smallholder farmers to improve the hog industry.

“This is one way to stabilize the supply of affordable pork in the country. More importantly, it will help boost the local hog raising industry,” Mr. Ang said.

Further, the company said Monterey, which is one of the known industry participants, had been hampered by the ban implemented on the transport of pork and pork products due to the continuous spread of ASF.

As a result, San Miguel Foods, a division of SMC’s listed unit San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., decided to change its strategy, thus the plan to transfer its inventories to local players.

“They can run this business at a lower cost, making it more sustainable. This also opens the doors for more Filipinos to become agri-entrepreneurs,” Mr. Ang added.

On Monday, shares in SMC at the stock exchange fell 0.08% or ten centavos to close at P128.80 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

FDCP gives grants to 22 films

THE FILM Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) announced that it has given P12.1 million worth of grants to 22 films as part of its CreatePHFilms Philippines Cinema funding program that provides funds for development, production, post-production, and distribution.

Of the 22 grantees chosen for the first cycle of the funding program, eight were for scriptwriting, four for script development, three for small budget production, two for large budget production, and five for post production.

“The industry has been clamoring for public funding to support the development of films since 2016. We believe in the importance of public funding, as countries with thriving film industries such as France and South Korea benefit from various government programs and funding. At long last, the Philippines has public funding for film development through CreatePHFilms and now, we have our first batch of grantees,” Mary Liza B. Diño, chairperson and CEO of the FDCP said in a statement.

The domestic funding program was launched in September 2020 as part of the closing celebrations of the Philippine Cinema Centennial celebrations. The first entries were submitted in November and were deliberated on in December.

Eligible applicants must be Filipino filmmakers and companies accredited with the FDCP’s National Registry, while eligible projects must have a Filipino director and 100% of the funds must be spent in the Philippines for qualified expenses.

Among those who selected the projects for funding were Ms. Diño, director and writer Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr., director and Directors’ Guild of the Philippines, Inc. representative Raymond Red, Cinema Evaluation Board Chairperson Christine Dayrit, Solar Pictures, Inc. General Manager Butch Ibañez, cinematographer and Lupon ng Pilipinong Sinematograpo President Mackie Galvez, and Pangasinan 4th District Representative Christopher De Venecia.

The grantees for the scriptwriting fund will receive a non-refundable grant of up to P100,000 and will have at least two FDCP-led sessions of script consultations “with international mentors on concept, creative issues, and developing the screenplay,” according to an FDCP statement. The eight grantees for scriptwriting are: Ang Alamat ng Gumamelang Bukid by Richard Soriano Legaspi, Dead Boy by Jules Dan Katanyag, Magiliw (Gentle: A Carnage by the Land of the Rising Sun) by Bor Ocampo, Mother Maybe by Sonny Calvento, Oyayi by Mitzi Delima, Silk Ties by Wilfredo Manalang, The Fighting Filipinos by Honee Alipio, and Strange Natives by Paolo Herras.

Meanwhile, those chosen for project development will be given a nonrefundable fund of up to P200,000 for the production companies. The four selected projects are: In My Mother’s Skin by Kenneth Lim Dagatan, Ninja From Manila by Miko Livelo, Outerspace Filipino Workers by Keith Sicat, and The Tootle & Tina Show by Danzen Santos Katanyag.

Production grantees for small budget films will receive up to P1 million (refundable) for the production companies. The three films selected as small budget fund recipients are: 12 Weeks by Anna Isabelle Matutina, Blue Room by Ma. Anna L. Asuncion-Dagnalan, and Faramanis by Gutierrez Mangansakan II.

Those chosen for the large budget production fund grant will have P3 million to P5 million given to the production companies as an investment equity fund. The two chosen projects are Bansa by Brillante Mendoza and Kidplay by Khavn.

The FDCP has also given five post-production grants as they seek to “enhance post-production services so that they meet international standards.” The fund gives up to P300,000 to the engaged post-production company of a film production. Those chosen for the fund are Ang Pagbabalik ng Kwago by Martika Ramirez Escobar, Gensan Punch by Brillante Mendoza, Kargo by TM Malones, Mirador by Loy Arcenas, and The Brokers by Daniel R. Palacio.

The council has also introduced a distribution grant of up to P300,000 for the local and overseas distribution of Filipino titles, but no grantees have been announced.

“We are proud of the resiliency of our filmmakers and their perseverance to continue the production of their projects in these challenging times. We hope for the government’s continued support to the industry through funding programs,” Ms. Diño said.

For more information about the fund, contact createphfilms@fdcp.ph or visit www.fdcp.ph/CreatePHFilms.  — Zsarlene B. Chua

McDonald’s closes 30 local stores

Financial sustainability, expired leases lead to decision

MCDONALD’S Philippines shuttered 30 stores last year after lease expirations and some concerns with financial sustainability, but opened 16 new stores despite the pandemic.

Golden Arches Development Corp. (GADC), the master franchisee of the McDonald’s brand in the Philippines, posted a net loss of P967 million as of September last year, compared with the P1.2-billion net income in the same period in 2019.

Sales revenues fell 39% to P14.2 billion, with system-wide sales hitting P24.2 billion, mostly due to the impact of the stricter lockdown in the second quarter.

The company in an e-mail said that it opened 16 stores in 2020, and shut 30 as it assessed financial sustainability, leases expired, and lessors made redevelopment plans.

McDonald’s now has 655 stores in the country, down from 669 branches at the start of 2020 and falling short of a pre-pandemic growth pace that had led them to target running more than 700 stores by the end of 2021.

GADC President and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth S. Yang in a forum last month said that the restaurant sector was one of the most affected by the lockdown last year.

Only 38% of the fast food giant’s branches were operating during the stricter lockdown in March and April, and 84% were running at limited capacity by May.

The company had to make their products accessible to customers during the lockdown, he added, by expanding their delivery channels.

“In the dine-in component of restaurants, it’s still weak. However, other channels have offset some of that,” he said, noting that drive-thru and delivery services are increasing.

He expects continued lockdown restrictions to impede business recovery this year.

But Mr. Yang said the vaccination program would help improve consumer confidence, noting that the company must modify its operations to meet its customers’ health safety expectations. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Instituto Cervantes pays tribute to Spanish actress Angela Molina

THIS February, Instituto Cervantes de Manila will treat Filipino film buffs to the film series “Ángela Molina,” an online tribute to one of the main contemporary Spanish actresses. The film cycle will be shown through the Instituto Cervantes channel on the Vimeo platform (vimeo.com/institutocervantes) and freely accessible for 48 hours from their start date and time.

Ángela Molina is one of the most outstanding actresses in Spanish cinematography. She started her career in the middle of Spain’s transition to democracy and has kept working until today. Her career has been marked by her participation in numerous international films, of which her collaboration with Luis Buñuel was arguably the peak. On the occasion of such a brilliant career, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will award her the Goya Award of honor at the 2021 edition of these Awards.

The film series, composed of three films that marked Molina’s career, will kick off on Feb. 13 with the screening of La sabina (which will be available for 48 hours until Feb. 15 at 3 a.m.). The movie, a Spanish co-production with Sweden, was directed by José Luis Borau in 1979, about an English writer who moves to a Spanish town with the aim of changing his life. There he decides to investigate the life of a wandering man who lived in the 19th century, since it is said that he was killed by a dragon woman, known as “La Sabina.”

The film series will continue on Feb. 20 with the drama La mitad del cielo (1986), directed by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón — a fundamental director in Molina’s career, who starred in several of the films he made during the Transition years, such as Camada negra (1977), El corazón del bosque (1979), and Demonios en el jardín (1982). La mitad del cielo is about Rosa, a woman who travels to Madrid after the Civil War to open a restaurant that transforms to a political and intellectual center of the capital. The movie bagged the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián Film Festival and Molina received the Silver Shell award for best actress.

Finally, the musical Las cosas del querer (Jaime Chávarri, 1989) will conclude the film cycle on Feb. 27 (the film will be available for 48 hours until Feb. 29 at 3 a.m.). When the Spanish civil war ends, Mario, a homosexual singer, a pianist and his girlfriend Pepita come together to form a group, which will become famous throughout Spain. The trio’s career takes them back to Madrid, where the worst happens: the bored and unforgiving aristocracy goes against Mario for his homosexuality, while Pepita’s mother conspires to separate her from her pianist boyfriend. Aside from featuring Spanish folk music from the 1930s and 1940s, the film depicts the historical setting and makes a poignant criticism of the moral and sexual situation of this post-Civil War period.

The films, presented by Instituto Cervantes in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, will be in Spanish with English subtitles. Admission is free. For further information and updates on this film series, visit Instituto Cervantes’ Facebook site (www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila) or the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/161791552193592. For information on Instituto Cervantes’ cultural program, visit its website (http://manila.cervantes.es) or Facebook page.

Cebu Landmasters maintains market lead in Visayas, Mindanao – SKF study

CEBU LANDMASTERS, Inc. (CLI) has retained the largest market share among real estate firms that establish condominium projects and subdivisions in Visayas and Mindanao in 2020, based on a recent market study.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, the listed property developer cited a market study conducted by Santos Knight Frank (SKF), which revealed that CLI accounted for 12% or 18,683 units from the 86,126 available units in Visayas and Mindanao, based on data from third quarter last year.

The study added that companies trailing CLI were Sta. Lucia Realty and Development at 11,897 units, and Camella Homes at 11,768 units.

In 2019, SKF also placed CLI as the top developer of residential projects in Visayas and Mindanao, with a 12% market share, delivering close to 18,000 units.

Further, the study said CLI projects in Visayas and Mindanao were the most saleable projects in the two areas, with an absorption rate of 83%, and sales taking up 210 units per month.

CLI previously said that it posted P14.25 billion worth of reservation sales for 2020, which accounted for 5,300 sold units despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The high sales velocity of our projects even at the height of the lockdowns in key cities verify a deeply felt need, especially among Visayas and Mindanao economic and mid-income earners, to own their own homes,” Jose Franco B. Soberano, CLI executive vice-president and chief operating officer, was quoted as saying.

“We intend to continue fulfilling this need in 2021 with 8,000 more units in 15 residential projects in Cebu, Ormoc, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao,” he added.

Meanwhile, CLI cited a market study conducted by Leechiu Property Consultants that showed the housing backlog in Visayas and Mindanao would reach 2.85 million houses by 2022, with an average yearly demand of 475,000 housing units. From the figure, around 200,000 mid and economic housing units are needed every year.

However, the study said only some of the current top 10 developers in Visayas and Mindanao in 2020 are most likely to maximize opportunities in the mid and economic income segment for 2020 and beyond, as some developers extended project completion and turnover dates due to the pandemic.

Mr. Soberano said that CLI, together with local government units and stakeholders, has been able to roll out nine new projects with 4,300 units in Bohol, Iloilo, Dumaguete, and Davao.

“By yearend, 70.6% of the company’s new inventory mostly bearing the flagship brand Casa Mira had been sold out,” Mr. Soberano said.

“The year 2020 opened our eyes further to how high the demand truly is for quality housing in Visayas and Mindanao, and we hope to build on our growth momentum to satisfy this great need,” he added.

On Monday, shares in CLI at the stock exchange rose 0.59% or three centavos to end at P5.13 each. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Gov’t hikes T-bill award as rates continue to drop

THE GOVERNMENT hiked the volume of the Treasury bills (T-bills) it awarded for the sixth straight week on Monday as rates continued to decline across the board.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) borrowed P24 billion via the T-bills on Monday, higher than its initial plan to raise P20 billion, after it accepted more non-competitive bids for the three-month and six-month papers.

Total tenders reached P95.35 billion, making Monday’s offering nearly five times oversubscribed. However, this was smaller compared with the P103.65 billion in bids seen during last week’s auction.

Broken down, the BTr raised P7 billion via the 91-day T-bills, more than the P5-billion program, as tenders hit P21.6 billion. The three-month papers fetched an average rate of 0.846%, down by 7.1 basis points (bps) from the 0.917% seen last week.

The government also borrowed P7 billion from the 182-day papers versus the P5-billion plan, with bids reaching P29.834 billion. The average rate of the six-month papers went down by 11.6 bps to 1.094% on Monday from the previous week’s 1.21%.

Lastly, the Treasury made a full P10-billion award of the 364-day securities on the auction block out of total tenders worth P43.915 billion. The one-year instruments were quoted at an average yield of 1.446%, down 4.6 bps from the 1.492% fetched at the previous offering.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the T-bills auction was met with strong demand despite the spike in January inflation as the market continues to be flooded with cash.

“Liquidity remains strong with P20-billion maturity this week. Price pressures [are] seen as temporary and will be alleviated with measures like price caps and food imports,” Ms. De Leon told reporters via Viber after the auction on Monday.

A bond trader said market players are choosing to put their excess cash in these short-term securities.

“It’s just that funds have nowhere to go, especially for those with limits on tenor,” the trader said in a Viber message.

Headline inflation quickened for the fourth straight month to a two-year record in January after food and transport costs spiked, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday

Inflation climbed to 4.2% last month, faster than the 3.5% in December and 2.9% a year earlier. It was also the fastest since the 4.4% seen in January 2019.

The January print exceeded the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) estimate of 3.3-4.1% for the month and its 2-4% annual target.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno has said this spike in prices will be temporary and is not likely to require policy action. The Monetary Board will meet on Thursday for its first policy meeting for 2021.

Meanwhile, the Treasury will hold on Tuesday the rate-setting auction for the three-year retail Treasury bonds (RTBs) as it looks to raise at least P30 billion. It will offer the bonds in denominations of P5,000 from Feb. 9 to March 4, unless ended earlier.

The government offers RTBs to encourage small retail investors to invest, as these have higher returns than prevailing market rates.

The BTr plans to borrow P110 billion from the local debt market this month: P80 billion via weekly auctions of T-bills and P30 billion from a Treasury bond offer. It canceled a previously scheduled bond auction for its RTB offering.

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

Good grief! Snoopy brings new antics to Peanuts streaming series

LOS ANGELES — Beloved beagle Snoopy and his friends from the Peanuts gang are starring in a new animated series for the streaming TV era. Just don’t expect them to be texting or watching TikTok.

The Snoopy Show debuts globally on Friday on the Apple TV+ streaming service, where viewers can watch via mobile phones, tablets or televisions. Yet the show itself will stay grounded in traditions that have charmed fans for 70 years, said Jean Schulz, widow of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz.

Plot lines are mined from decades of Peanuts comic strips. Some reveal the backstories of well-known characters, including how Charlie Brown and Snoopy met and how Snoopy and Woodstock became pals. Each episode will contain three, seven-minute vignettes. Charles Schulz’s comic strip debuted in 1950 and ran until the day after his death in February 2000 at age 77.

Jean Schulz said the show intentionally avoids modern devices, to stay true to the comic.

“We always felt that to put a cell phone in Charlie Brown’s hand … just didn’t fit,” she said. In the

new series, “it’s the old handset on the table when the phone rings.”

Viewers will see familiar exclamations of “Good grief!,” blunt psychiatric advice from Lucy and friends including Linus, Franklin, and Peppermint Patty grappling with everyday challenges at school and in the neighborhood.

“The characters represent a humanity that is embodied in all of us – our hopes, our fears, our tears, our laughter,” Jean Schulz said in an interview with Reuters. The TV series “still embodies

all these characteristics that people recognize and love.”

Snoopy’s many alter-egos appear in the series, from the hip Joe Cool to World War I flying ace The Red Baron and arm wrestler Masked Marvel.

“Snoopy is irrepressible and never stops coming up with new, animated antics,” Jean Schulz said. — Reuters

Damosa Land eyes two foreign locators for Panabo ecozone

DAMOSA Land, Inc., the real estate arm of the Floirendo-owned Anflo Management and Investment Corp., is in talks with two foreign companies for space at the Anflo Industrial Estate (AIE) in Panabo City.

AIE Corp. First Vice-President Ricardo “Cary” F. Lagdameo said the potential locators are involved in the agro-industrial chain business. He said further details will be announced as negotiations develop.

Mr. Lagdameo said they continue to be bullish about the economic zone after achieving targets last year despite the mobility restrictions and overall economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Year on year, we were able to hit (targets), to completing infrastructure and bringing in foreign investments,” Mr. Lagdameo said during the company’s 2021 kick-off event held online on Jan. 29.

There are currently 15 locators in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority-accredited complex, represented by five nationalities. Employment within the ecozone more than doubled to 600 as of end-2020 from 289 at the start of the year.

Among the locators that started operations in 2020 were Davao Zhenzhi Corp., PMR Pallet Ltd. Co., Southern Harvest, and Connovate Philippines.

“That’s something that we were extremely happy about… when we see that, despite the pandemic, people are being given job opportunities,” Mr. Lagdameo said.

Japanese paper packaging company Packwell, Inc. also started construction on its facility last year.

About 33 hectares of the 63-hectare AIE has so far been developed, according to Mr. Lagdameo, including 2.1 hectares of ready-built facilities and warehouses and over 2 kilometers of roads.

Mr. Lagdameo said they are also considering expanding the ecozone area with surrounding properties.

“We will be looking at acquiring additional land so that we can continue this project. For 2020, we had to stop our developments during ECQ (enhanced community quarantine, the strictest lockdown level imposed by the government), but before that we were in full swing. Some of the projects that we started even before the start of the pandemic, we were able to finish, (like) the spine road from the front gate of the park to the back gate,” he said.

The developed area also covers the container yard for the adjacent Davao International Container Terminal Port, another Anflocor subsidiary. The port’s expanded berth is also expected to be completed by March.

The company will also start with the AIE’s commercial area this year. — Maya M. Padillo

Fruitas to venture in bakery business

LISTED Fruitas Holdings, Inc. will soon offer pandesal and other bread products in its community stores, the company said, citing customer demand for freshly baked bread.

In a statement on Monday, the food and beverage kiosk operator said it plans to open several standalone “Babot’s Panaderya” branches that will offer pandesal and other bread products, with an initial target of four branches in Metro Manila and one branch in the provincial area.

For the bread production, Fruitas said it would be leveraging off the baking capacity of Negril Trading, Inc., which houses the company’s “De Original Jamaican Pattie” brand.

“As a result, Fruitas is initially entering the bakery business with minimal capital expenditure. Fruitas decided to enter the bakery business itself to serve the demand of its customers for freshly baked bread,” the company said.

The bread products will be sold via its community stores, CocoDelivery subsidiary, and in the soon-to-be established “Babot’s Panaderya.”

Its community stores are currently offering curbside ordering and pickup, and home and office delivery via the company’s CocoDelivery unit, which provides for flexible and improved consumer distribution.

The company also disclosed its plan to offer bread products in some of its kiosks and to selected institutional customers.

Fruitas President and Chief Executive Officer Lester C. Yu said baked bread is a perfect addition to the company’s community stores.

“Pandesal is a staple in Filipinos’ daily diet. Our entry into the bakery business is a natural step to achieve our vision of having every Filipino household consume at least one Fruitas product every day,” Mr. Yu was quoted as saying.

According to Fruitas, the total Philippine bread market is projected to be around P200 billion per annum.

On Monday, shares in Fruitas at the stock exchange rose 5.41% or eight centavos to close at P1.56 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

More financial institutions allowed to access credit information system

THE CREDIT Information Corp. (CIC) has on-boarded more financial institutions that will gain access to credit data, which could help borrowers get financing.

Banks and financial institutions that will now have access to the credit history of nearly 23 million borrowers with more than 80 million contract data include Asia United Bank Corp. (AUB), Cooperative Bank of Quezon Province, Philippine Star Development Bank, Kviku Lending Co., Rural Bank of Central Pangasinan, and The Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd., CIC said in a statement on Monday.

“We are glad that these financial institutions are complying with the requirements for accessing entities; they are recognizing the value of the credit registry, and they are seeing an actual solutions partner in CIC,” CIC Senior Vice-President for Business Development and Communications Aileen L. Amor-Bautista was quoted as saying.

Authorized financial institutions can access borrowers’ credit reports either through a direct database report from the CIC or special accessing entities such as the CIBI Information, Inc. and TransUnion Information Solutions, Inc.

“Being an accessing entity of the CIC means that we have ready access to comprehensive credit reports which will then expedite the process of granting loans and other financial services to our wide range of consumers including SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) and even corporations,” AUB First Vice-President and credit card business head Magdalena V. Surdia said in a statement.

To get access to the credit database, a firm must be among submitting entities in production or already submitting live or actual basic credit data of their borrowers to the CIC’s credit information system.

Entities that want access to the credit database can use a web-based application system called Covered Entity Portal. The platform can be used for registration, update, and submission of documents such as memoranda of agreement, accessing entity information sheets, and secretary’s certificates or board resolutions.

Ms. Amor-Bautista said consumers can see a list of institutions that access CIC data on its website to know which entities are using the database to assess borrowers’ creditworthiness.

The central bank is also working on a project meant to bridge the gap in the credit risk database for small businesses to help them secure financing. Data collection for the project started last year and the scoring model and service is expected to be launched this July. — L.W.T. Noble

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