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The Nutella All Day Breakfast Truck: spreading joyful mornings to Filipinos

Nutella®, The Original Hazelnut Spread®, is going to new lengths to inspire as many Filipinos as possible to enjoy Nutella in new creative ways in the morning.

The unique taste of Nutella – made from the highest quality ingredients is a perfect complement to bread.

With the Christmas season rapidly approaching, there is exciting news for the Filipino food enthusiast. The globally popular hazelnut spread, Nutella, is bringing inspiration to the breakfast experience of Pinoys with The Nutella All Day Breakfast Truck.

The All Day Breakfast Truck will introduce delicious ways to incorporate this delicious product with local foods. In Europe, Nutella is enjoyed with French croissants, in the U.S. and Australia it’s spread on waffles and pancakes, and now it’s arrived here in the Philippines! This will be the first stop in the food truck’s Southeast Asian tour, and the good news is that our very own pandesal perfectly complements the taste of Nutella.

“Our mission is to inspire Filipino families to start their day happy with a bit of taste of Nutella”. We see a lot of growth potential here in the Philippines, because of the growing breakfast culture among Filipinos. There’s heightened enthusiasm and appreciation about the fusion of global and local flavors so we see an opportunity to become a part of it,” comments Cheryl Que, Cluster Brand Head of Nutella.

“We are happy to be present here in the Philippines and aim to become a part of the delightful Filipino All-Day breakfast culture. Our products are present and sold in more than 160 countries and most of them, like Nutella, have become part of the collective memory and lifestyles of many countries where they are truly loved and often considered as cultural icons” adds Fabrizio Barbin, Ferrero Sales Manager.

The Nutella All Day Breakfast Truck provides a unique experience to people from the moment they step into the space. Visitors get to choose from a variety of all-day breakfast menu items designed to take their taste experience to new and delicious heights.

The whole family will enjoy putting together fun breakfast creations and can discover how Nutella can help make a breakfast into something exciting and memorable. Adding a little something new to traditional breads across the globe is a great way to reinvent breakfast and making meals tasty and exciting is what Nutella is all about.

The best thing about the arrival of the Nutella All Day Breakfast Truck is the ability to take fun snapshots while enjoying the food. Snap a photo of the Nutella All Day Breakfast Truck or the food, upload it on your instagram, include the hashtag #nutellaPH and tag @NutellaSEA to be in with a chance of snagging some cool Nutella items.

The Food truck will make its exclusive and limited appearance in Metro Manila at a series of different Bazaars, Valle Verde Christmas Bazaar at Valle Verde 1 on December 7-8 and Minkle Bazaar at The Grove on December 14-15. To follow the truck’s journey and updates, follow Nutella on Instagram @NutellaSEA and like the Facebook page – http://www.nutella.com or NutellaPH.

 

PH Startup Week concludes with signing of the Innovative Startup Act’s IRR

Last week, Nov. 22, key stakeholders of Republic Act No. 1137 (or the Innovative Startup Act) came together at Crowne Plaza to cap off the first Philippine Startup Week with a signing of the act’s Implementing Rules and Regulations.

The signing was led by representatives from the act’s three host agencies: Sec. Fortunato dela Peña from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Sec. Ramon Lopez from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Sec. Gregorio Honasan II from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Butch Meily, president of partner organization QBO Innovation Hub, was also present.

The Innovative Startup Act Law, which was signed last April 26 by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, aims to foster an innovative entrepreneurial culture in the Philippines by encouraging the operation and establishment of innovative new businesses.

This will be done in two ways: first, by providing benefits and incentives to startups and startup enablers; and second, by removing constraints to their growth and development.

Among the programs under the act are the organization of startups into Philippine Startup Ecozones by the three host agencies and local government units; provision of subsidies for business registration application costs; and the establishment of a Startup Grant Fund and Startup Venture Fund for startups and venture capital firms, respectively.

Through these efforts, the government hopes to provide a special boost not only to the economy but also to the country’s new generation of entrepreneurs.

“This is a manifestation of our president’s commitment to really level up the production of goods and services being provided, and really creating more innovation and solutions to problems,” said Sec. Lopez. “[It’s also] encouraging the youth to adopt such mindset: the can-do, winning attitude of the Filipinos.”

Six tips to landing corporate clients for your startup

Corporate clients can make or break a startup struggling towards profitability. Logistics providers can struggle for months building a big enough user base for their on-demand delivery platform. But all it takes is one major retailer to take you on as a service provider and you can ride that partnership all the way into your Series A.

So how exactly can a B2B startup successfully secure a corporate client? Three startup founders share their tips to help you help seal that deal.

1. Ensure that your business model is suited for B2B.

First things first: assess your business and conclude if it’s really suitable for B2B. If B2C allows for a business model where customers can learn the product by themselves, corporate clients will expect full service.

With this in mind, it’s necessary to take extra steps such as hiring account managers who can really focus on your clients and preparing technical support for your users. These may be challenging, but it will pay off big time in the end.

“It’s hard to get a client, that’s true, but once they’re in, they’re in for the long-term,” said Rio Ilao, founder and CEO of Tarkie, a field force automation solutions platform.

“Based on our experience, B2B customers are not promiscuous like B2C customers, who will switch brands just because of the price.”

“So long as the service is reliable and they’re happy with you, and it’s within the budget, they will not easily switch clients.”

2. In finding initial clients, maximize your own network.

Sometimes what you need could be right in front of you. The right connection could be a former colleague looking to address a particular pain point, or even a friend whose business needs a little boost.

“When you’re in the B2B space, it’s not easy to get clients as opposed to B2C. You can’t just walk into a company and then have them use your product the next day. The sales cycle for B2C is very long,” said Ilao.

“So when you’re a new startup and you don’t have any case study yet, your best bet of getting your first client is really through your own network. Make sure that you exhaust that.”

3. Tailor your presentation to your market…

Not every client is the typical portrait of a polished businessperson. For Au Soriano, co-founder and CEO of online bus booking platform PinoyTravel, she had to deal with a lot of traditional companies whose leaders couldn’t understand why they had to include technology in their operations.

Soriano understood that they had a different culture, so she decided to speak a different language. She used printouts instead of Powerpoint slides and even spoke their native tongue whenever possible. This way, she made her business appear more accessible, and established a deeper level of trust with the client.

4. … but first, find out who the decision makers are.

However, you also have to be strategic about whom you spend your time with. Chino Atilano, founder and CEO of virtual queuing solutions platform TimeFree Innovations, believes there are three types of people that you come across when doing sales: the zombie, the influencer, and the king.

When shown the product, the zombie will tell you that they like it, but they’re probably just doing it out of politeness and therefore have no interest in pushing your services within their organization. The influencer will delve deeper and ask how your product works. This is the person that you want to meet with.

Through the influencer, find out more about the business so that you know how to pitch to the king. Ask if they’ve tried similar solutions before and what pain points they badly need to be addressed.

“If you have that ammunition and you go to the king… [they] will not spend one hour talking to you about how your system works,” said Atilano. “They just want to know, ‘How much does this cost?’”

5. Offer a risk-free way for clients to experience your product.

Presentation is one thing. Execution is another thing entirely. When you finally get a foot in the door, it might be better to show rather than tell. And if possible, try to do so without demanding a fee.

“Back then, we were offering an obligation-free trial,” said Tarkie CEO Ilao. “We needed actual test cases, feedback, and a way to get in, we were offering these things. And it worked for us.”

6. Fix your accreditation documents.

As in relationships, wooing a client is only partly romance. Once the fireworks of the presentations are over, it’s time to deal with the inevitable: tons of paperwork for the accreditation of your startup.

Given this, it’s wise to work on these documents as early as possible. Small partners may require only a simple proposal, but these requirements will get more complicated the bigger the companies that you work with become.

By being organized and prepared with your accreditation documents, it’ll make the process as smooth for you and your client as possible. And that’s sure to help set the tone for your partnership, one that will hopefully last for the long haul.

Toward a data-driven Philippines

Data-Driven Philippines: 2019 PH Data Leaders Summit. held

By Mark Louis F. Ferrolino, Special Features Writer

The pivotal role of digital transformation in realizing the country’s full economic potential is increasingly more evident. Among others, it allows organizations to operate at lower costs, provides better communication for all, improves the quality of life, and brings higher standards for business.

The full adoption of digital transformation, however, is not an easy road to take; it requires the involvement of organization leaders from different sectors, working together in actualizing a data-driven country.

In the Philippines, the journey of achieving such vision is already in progress. Just recently, Cobena Business Analytics & Strategy Inc., together with Analytics Association of the Philippines, and Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines, organized the Data-Driven Philippines: 2019 PH Data Leaders Summit.

The landmark event gathered around 100 C-suite organization leaders from the different sectors – the government, academe, private enterprises, technology companies, and media – to discuss ways to accelerate the awareness, education, and adoption of data analytics in the country.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES ON DATA ANALYTICS

Speaking on behalf of the government was Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, who shared recently enacted key legislations that will provide further impetus for data analytics to gain ground in the country.

Some of them are the Philippine Innovation Act, which seeks to address the current gaps in the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) ecosystem governance framework; and the Philippine Innovative Start-up Act, which will be of great help in the establishment of innovative and technology-based startups in the country.

National Statistician and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Head Claire Dennis S. Mapa also shared some of the data analytics initiatives of his office, including the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), and the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS).

The PhilSys is a foundational identification system that aims to provide a valid proof of identity for all citizens and resident aliens as a means of simplifying public and private transactions. The CBMS, on the other hand, is an organized technology-based system of collecting, processing, and validating necessary disaggregated data that monitoring at the local level while empowering communities to participate in the process.

Mr. Pernia believes that the country can garner huge benefits from the adoption of digital technology such as data analytics, which can help organizations efficiently identify problems, solutions, and create new goods and services.

Moreover, Mr. Pernia discussed that data analytics can be applied in different fields, including health, agriculture, business, and government in general. For instance, it can improve patient care and farming methods, make data-driven business decisions, and change the way public goods and services are delivered, he said.

“We in the government recognize our primary role of providing an enabling environment for the private sector so that industries, such as the data analytics industry, can flourish,” Mr. Pernia said.

THE NEED FOR COLLABORATION

Similarly, Cobena Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Francis del Val said that digital transformation is crucial to nation-building. Citing the Digital Economy Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released last September, he shared that countries who least likely to take advantage of digital data and convert them into business opportunities are those countries positioned at the greatest disadvantage.

“It is absolutely clear that digital transformation is going to be critical to nation-building,” Mr. del Val said. In the Philippines, in particular, the impact of such transformation is expected to accelerate even more in the coming years.

Meanwhile, for the government to succeed in its digital transformation journey, Mr. del Val said that it needs the support of the private sector. In fact, based on the 2019 PH Digital Transformation Survey, he shared that the government is the sector most behind in digital transformation journey.

Barriers most cited include lack of resources, lack of adoption guidance, and digital transformation not seen as urgent.

As a whole, Mr. del Val emphasized the importance of data in digital transformation and the need to convert them into information and insights. “With digital transformation, there’s a lot of data. What we need to do is to be able to convert the data to information, and information to insights,” he said.

Moreover, aside from addressing the digital transformation gaps in the country, Mr. del Val said that collaboration among organization leaders from different sectors of the country is needed to make the Philippines a fully data-driven nation.

“It’s not going to be easy and we need to be able to work with an ecosystem. No one company can do it on its own… it got to be multisectoral, it got to be an ecosystem of like-minded individuals who are committed to make it happen,” he said.

LOOKING AT THE FUTURE

Meanwhile, in her talk during the event, Kerry Lau, head of marketing for Acoustic across Asia Pacific and Japan, shared some of the trends on data and artificial intelligence (AI) coming forward in the next few years.

Among others, she said that marketing data director will become the hottest new role; while digital marketing agencies will transform into consulgencies who will be equally adept in creative, strategy and technology. She also said that AI and machine learning will make hyper-personalization a reality.

Moreover, Ms. Lau said that customer centricity will what drive constant transformation in the coming years. “IDC (International Data Corporation) predicted that by 2022, companies focused on customer experiences are predicted to generate 50% of their revenue through contextual discovery,” she shared.

With regards to data privacy, Ms. Lau said that General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will help marketers tighten up data hygiene and build more customer trust. “Data matters. But trust determines its value,” she explained, noting that consumers will more likely trust the organization who will be able to take care of their data.

Tisoy leaves trail of destruction

TYPHOON Kammuri, locally named Tisoy, left a trail of destruction as strong winds and heavy rain battered the Bicol region in central Philippines on Tuesday, leaving at least two people dead.

A 59-year-old man died in Baco town in Oriental Mindoro after he was hit by a fallen tree, provincial Governor Humerito Dolor told DZMM radio. Another man died after he was hit by a torn metal roof sheet in the municipality of Pinamalayan, he added.

The victims were clearing their homes when they were hit, Mr. Dolor said. There would have been more deaths “if there was no preemptive evacuation,” he added.

At least 20,000 people were evacuated even before the typhoon struck the province, the governor said.

Legazpi Airport in Albay province was heavily damaged, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said in an emailed statement. Legazpi flights were expected to resume today.

Busuanga Airport in Palawan province also suspended operations due to strong winds and heavy rain, it said.

Thousands were stranded in the Bicol region, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Meanwhile, three people were hurt as the storm hit Samar province and nearby areas, ABS-CBN News reported, citing local officials.

Two residents were injured by storm debris in Santa Margarita town, while another was trapped in a collapsed wall. All three were safe, the ABS-CBN news website said.

Landslides and floods also hit Motiong and Jiabong towns in Samar, and Lapinig and Mapanas in Northern Samar, it added. About 200 families were evacuated from the coastal areas of Calbayog town.

The Agriculture department said more than 200,000 hectares of rice land and almost 26,000 hectares of corn areas were at risk in regions affected by Typhoon Kammuri.

Crops at their reproductive and maturing stages were the most vulnerable due to strong winds and floods. These cover 156,594 hectares of rice land worth P11.6 billion, the agency said.

The department has set aside P250 million to help the agriculture sector, 104,984 bags of rice seeds, 10,811 bags of corn seeds and another P65 million in recovery assistance.

The storm was expected to pass south of Metro Manila, home to about 13 million people and which is hosting thousands of athletes competing at the 30th Southeast Asian Games, according to the local weather bureau.

The storm was seen off the coast of Occidental Mindoro as of 6 p.m. on Tuesday and continued to weaken as it moved west toward the South China Sea, it said.

Weather was expected to improve on Wednesday and the typhoon will be out of the Philippine area of responsibility by Thursday afternoon, it said.

Kammuri made landfall near the city of Gubat in Sorsogon province on Monday evening, clocking maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, making it a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

It also made landfall over Naujan, Oriental Mindoro at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. — with reports from Vincent Mariel P. Galang and Emmanuel Tupas, Philippine Star

BSP watches inflation for policy cue

THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) will watch inflation data set to be reported on Dec. 5 to see whether the economy will be ripe for another cut in benchmark interest rates and banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) next monthy, BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno told reporters last Monday.

Mr. Diokno had said early last month that the BSP was done with its policy easing cycle for this year after cutting benchmark interest rates by a total of 75 basis points (bps) and banks’ RRR by a total of 400 bps.

“When I said we’re done, we were not expecting na ’yung inflation namin will be very very low. Nag-0.8 (%) tayo (We had a 0.8% inflation in October). So let’s see what will be the actual [inflation for November],” he told reporters on the sidelines of the BSP’s Christmas lighting ceremony on Monday evening.

While October inflation was the slowest in nearly three-and-a-half years, the BSP now expects November inflation to have picked up to 0.9-1.7%, while a poll BusinessWorld conducted late last week yielded a 1.2% median.

“Siguro we’ll look at December and then maybe early January mare-resume namin ‘yung monetary easing,” Mr. Diokno added, saying he was referring to “both” interest rates and RRR.

“Pwedeng by January. We’re looking at the December data. November December [inflation data].”

Benchmark interest rates now stand at 3.5% for overnight deposit, four percent for overnight reverse repurchase and 4.5% for overnight lending, while the RRR is now at 14% for universal and commercial lenders as well as nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions, four percent for thrift banks and three percent for rural lenders.

The BSP’s Monetary Board will hold its eighth and last policy review for this year on Dec. 12.

BUT RRR CUTS DONE FOR 2019
Asked about the possibility of another RRR cut towards yearend, however, Mr. Diokno told reporters: “Closed na ’yun (It’s closed).”

“I’m ahead of schedule… [to cut the RRR by] 2023 to single digit,” he said, referring to the end of his term in July that year.

He added that monetary authorities are now watching how the economy has so far been absorbing RRR cuts, saying: “… we don’t know the impact yet” and noting that the latest cut of 100 bps that was announced late in October and which took effect at the start of this month “will effectively release about a hundred billion” into the system.

Latest BSP data showed that money supply in October edged up by 8.5% to P12.1 trillion, picking up from September’s 7.7% expansion.

Credit growth, however, slowed to 9.3% in October from September’s 10.5%.

Mr. Diokno said that the slower loan growth might be due to policy tightening done by the BSP last year in a bid to rein in successive multiyear-high monthly inflation rates.

“’Yung growth kasi siguro partly ‘yung tightening nung 2018 (Slow loan growth could be partly due to the tightening in 2018 totaling 175 bps)… As I said, monetary policy works with a lag. So may impact talaga ’yun, kaya nga we started unwinding (It really has an impact, that’s why we started unwinding),” he explained. — LWTN

Gov’t hints of changes to water service deals

CHANGES could be in the offing for contracts between Metro Manila’s water service concessionaires and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra signaled on Tuesday.

Mr. Guevarra told reporters via Viber message that the contracts contained some provisions “onerous” for the government.

The review followed President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s order in April for the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to look into all government contracts with companies and other countries.

Mr. Guevarra had said then that “priority contracts for review include concession agreements on public utilities and foreign loan contracts,” adding that “target provisions are those perceived to be onerous, one-sided, disadvantageous to the government, and/or contrary to public order or public policy.”

“Upon instructions of the President, the DoJ reviewed the 1997 water concession agreements of the MWSS with Maynilad (Water Services, Inc.) and Manila Water Company (Inc.) and found a dozen provisions that were deemed onerous or disadvantageous to the government and the consuming public,” Mr. Guevarra said on Tuesday.

“Most notable were the prohibition on government interference in rate-setting and the provision on indemnity for possible losses in the event of such government interference.”

Last Friday, a Manila Water disclosure announed the ruling of the Permanent of Court of Arbitration in Singapore for the government to indemnify the company some P7.39 billion “for actual losses suffered by it” from June 1, 2015 to Nov. 22, 2019 “on account of the Republic’s breach of its obligations” in not implementing tariff increases.

The government was also ordered to pay 100% of the amount paid by Manila Water to the court and 85% of the company’s other claimed costs.

The OSG in a statement last Friday said the award to Manila Water “is not yet final and executory.”

“The OSG is studying all the remedies available to the Republic in assailing the Award,” it said.

In October last year, the Singapore High Court upheld the arbitral award of at least P3.4 billion to Maynilad for losses from March 11, 2015 to Aug. 31, 2016 due to the refusal of MWSS to implement Maynilad’s tariff adjustment for 2013 to 2017 which included recovery of corporate income tax payments.

“The DoJ also found the extension of these contracts to 2037 irregular, considering that the extension was granted 12-13 years before the original expiration of the 25-year concession agreements in 2022,” Mr. Guevarra said on Tueday.

He said certain recommendations to the President were adopted by the Cabinet in its meeting last Monday and that “the president will make his public statement on this matter very soon.”

MWSS in October 2009 and April 2010 has approved the 15-year extension of the Concession Agreement of Manila Water and Maynilad, respectively, or until 2037, years before their 25-year contracts expire in 2022.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo on Tuesday confirmed in a statement that Mr. Guevarra gave an update on his review of government contracts in Monday’s Cabinet meeting.

Manila Water declined to comment while Maynilad officials did not respond to requests for comment. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Congress targets ratification of 2020 budget next week

By Charmaine A. Tadalan Reporter
and Beatrice M. Laforga

THE HOUSE of Representatives and the Senate expect ratification of the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 by next week to enable enactment before the year ends, key legislators said separately on Tuesday, while the Budget department has begun the process of crafting the 2021 spending plan.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Isidro T. Ungab of Davao’s 3rd District said the body’s secretariat completed on Monday its review of the Senate version of the 2020 national budget, in time for his meeting yesterday with his counterpart, Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara.

“The House Appropriations secretariat just finished studying yesterday the figures in Senate’s GAB as approved on final reading. I presented these findings to the House bicameral conference committee panel and will proceed to discuss the details with my Senate counterpart, Sen. Angara,” Mr. Ungab said in a mobile phone message on Tuesday, referring to the general appropriations bill (GAB).

“We will be working this week despite the inclement weather.”

The House approved House Bill No. 4228, or the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2020, on third and final reading on Sept. 20, while the Senate approved its version on Nov. 27.

The 18th Congress aims to submit the budget to President Rodrigo R. Duterte for signing ahead of its Dec. 21, 2019- Jan. 19, 2020 break in order to ensure yearend enactment.

Pressed for a target, Mr. Ungab said, “Hopefully, ratified na by next week to give time for printing.”

‘FEW POINTS OF DISAGREEMENT’
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III confirmed the timetable, saying: “We’re on track.”

“I understand in the bicam(eral conference committee), there will be very few points of disagreement. Tingin ko baka… (I think) on the week of the (Dec.) ninth, baka mai-ratify namin (we may be able to ratify the 2020 budget),” Mr. Sotto told reporters in a briefing in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday.

Mr. Sotto said that, so far, Mr. Angara has not flagged any major contention that could delay passage of the 2020 national budget.

“Ang sabi lang niya sa akin (Mr. Angara told me) ‘everything’s fine, all is well, everything’s fine’,” Mr. Sotto said, adding that he does not expect the House to again make changes after ratification — a controversy that contributed to delayed enactment of the 2019 national budget.

“I don’t expect Speaker (Alan Peter S. ) Cayetano and the Chairman of Appropriation to do something like that.”

Mr. Duterte signed the 2019 budget on April 15, but vetoed some P95.3-billion appropriations deemed unconstitutional, reducing its total to P3.662 trillion.

A review of the Senate Committee report, shared by Appropriations Vice-Chairman Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda of Albay-2nd District, showed differences in Senate and House appropriations for the Department of Transportation (DoTr), Department of Health (DoH) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

House Bill No. 4228 allocated P146.04 billion to the DoTr, P529.75 billion to the DPWH and P88.92 billion to the DoH; while the Senate provided P120.32 billion, P536.58 billion and P100.49 billion, respectively.

WORK ON 2021 BUDGET BEGINS
And with work on the proposed 2020 national budget in the homestretch, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has instructed government offices to start crafting their spending plans for 2021.

The DBM released the national budget call for 2021 through the national budget memorandum no. 133, dated Nov. 29, that was signed by Acting Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado.

In a text message, Mr. Avisado said the Development & Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) will convene on Dec. 11 to discuss the proposed national budget for 2021 and review macroeconomic and fiscal targets.

Under the budget call, the DBM said it will maintain a cash budgeting system (CBS) that forces state offices to spend their allocations on time by limiting project obligation of such funds to within the fiscal year, compared to two years in the previous practice.

“In the third year of the transition towards CBS, there will be greater focus on ensuring the implementation-readiness of proposals through better procurement planning, programming of projects and activities, and coordination among agencies,” it explained.

The DBM also cited the need for closer coordination between officials of national and local government offices to make sure that national plans and projects are relevant to the grassroots and that local plans and projects adhere to national priorities.

“The Department Secretary/Head of Agency shall be held accountable in ensuring that its budget proposals have undergone the proper RDC review process with a duly issued endorsement,” DBM said in the memorandum, referring to regional development councils that have both national and local government representatives.

Asia Disclosure Index 2019

Asia Disclosure Index 2019

Bourse expects more maiden listings in 2020

THE PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE, Inc. (PSE) hopes to increase the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) to six next year amid improved market conditions, PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon told reporters on Tuesday.

“We had four IPOs (this year). I’m hoping to have maybe six (IPOs),” Mr. Monzon said when asked for his outlook for 2020.

The PSE saw four listings this year: Kepwealth Property Phils, Inc. in August; Axelum Resources Corp. and AllHome Corp. in October; and Fruitas Holdings, Inc. last week.

That was an improvement from 2018 when the bourse had just one IPO: that of D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Inc. which raised about P8.15 billion.

Mr. Monzon said he believes the fundamentals are better heading into 2020, considering “very good” projected gross domestic product topping six percent and inflation that has been brought back within the central bank’s 2-4% target after last year’s successive muliyear highs that averaged a near-decade-high 5.2% for 2018.

Mr. Monzon said the only reason the stock market has not taken off this year is better prospects at the fixed-income market.

MORE ON DEBT FOR NOW
“I think what’s happening is a lot of the money that used to go to equity are all in fixed-income ngayon (now),” he told reporters.

“If you will look at the listing history of PDEx (Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.), this is one of their best years. A lot of corporate bonds, bank bonds. So all the capital raising activities were focused on them because of the lower interest rate.”

The PDEx breached the P300-billion mark in bond listings as of November, well above the P256.4 billion raised in 2018.

“That’s the challenge next year. It’s still very attractive to issue debt instruments, but I’m hoping that because they’ve been issuing a lot of debt instruments (this year), hopefully their debt capacity has already reached the maximum. In which case, they have to go to equity again,” Mr. Monzon said.

Also yesterday, the PSE signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Securities and Exchange Commission to be the bourse’s exclusive partner in promoting an Environment, Social and Governance (ESG)-based framework for its PSE Bell Awards.

“The MoA we signed today seals our commitment to our shared objective of growing a healthy capital market by fostering the adoption of ESG by publicly listed companies as a measuring tool for institutional investors and asset managers,” PSE Director Edgardo G. Lacson said during the signing ceremony at the PSE Tower in Bonifacio Global City in the City of Taguig. — Denise A. Valdez

Court issues TRO vs auction of AboitizPower unit’s properties

ABOITIZ Power Corp. said on Tuesday that the court had issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of its subsidiary Luzon Hydro Corp. (LHC), stopping the municipality of Alilem in Ilocos Sur from auctioning off the unit’s real properties.

“AboitizPower was informed that the Regional Trial Court of the Province of Ilocos Sur has issued a TRO enjoining the Municipality of Alilem from selling at public auction LHC’s real properties located in Alilem, Ilocos Sur for a period of twenty (20) days. Parties were also ordered to submit their position papers with ten (10) days,” the listed energy company told the stock exchange.

The court issuance came after LHC filed a petition for prohibition and mandamus, with prayer for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, to stop the municipality from auctioning its real properties in Alilem.

Before LHC’s filing, it received a notice of real property tax (RPT) delinquency from the Office of the Municipal Treasurer of Alilem seeking to collect a total of P446,029,609.46 in unpaid RPT and accrued penalties from 2002 to August 2019.

“This was followed by a warrant of levy, and a notice of publication and auction sale covering the real properties of LHC, consisting of industrial machineries and buildings,” AboitizPower said.

Before Alilem’s notice of RPT delinquency, LHC had a standing offer to the provincial government of Ilocos Sur that it is willing to pay RPT computed in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order (EO) No. 60, series of 2018. The offer of payment was rejected.

EO 60 allows the reduction and condonation of RPT and penalties assessed on power generation facilities of independent power producers under build-operate-transfer contracts. The reduction and condonation cover all liabilities for RPT, including any special levies accruing to the special education fund for calendar year 2017 and past years.

On Tuesday, shares in AboitizPower slipped by 1.72% to P34.20 each. — Victor V. Saulon

Central Visayas wage orders now under review by NWPC

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) in the Central Visayas, or Region 7, said two minimum wage hikes for separate categories of workers have been decided by the region’s wage board, with the decision awaiting review at national level.

DoLE in Region 7 said in a statement Monday that the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-7) has set new rates for minimum wage earners and domestic workers in Central Visayas.

DoLE Regional Director Salome O. Siaton said that the wage orders have yet to be published. She added in the statement, “Such increase is still subject to the review by the NWPC (National Wages Productivity Commission) and must be approved thereafter by the Secretary.”

Wage Order No. ROVII-22 sets the wage increase for daily prescribed salaries of workers in the private sector while Wage Order No. ROVII-D.W. 02 provides the new minimum wage rates for domestic workers.

According to Ms. Siaton, the wages were set according to a classification defined in RTWPB 7’s last wage order which took effect on Aug. 3, 2018, grouping cities and municipalities in the region by class.

“The reclassification of the wage structure is in line with the thrust of the Board to rationalize the wage structure in the Region. Of course, we did it after taking into account all the recommendations of stakeholders present during the public hearings and consultations conducted.”

Wages for non-agriculture minimum-wage employees in the private sector are set by location. Such workers in Class A cities and municipalities or the Expanded Metro Cebu Area (the cities of Carcar, Cebu, Danao, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Talisay, Naga and the municipalities of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla, and San Fernando), will now receive P404 daily. Agricultural workers in this category will get P394.

The corresponding rates for Class B (Bais, Bayawan, Canlaon, Dumaguete, Guihulngan, and Tanjay in the province of Negros Oriental; and Bogo and Toledo in the province of Cebu and Tagbilaran in Bohol), will be having a daily wage rate of P366.00. Workers in the agriculture sector will have a take home pay of P361.

Class C non-agriculture workers from all other municipalities are to receive P356.00, while agricultural workers will receive P351.

RTWPB 7 Board Secretary Grace G. Carreon said that the new minimum wage for domestic workers also varies by location. The last wage order issued for domestic workers took effect on April 13, 2017.

She said in a statement Monday, “From the existing P3,000.00 minimum monthly pay, domestic workers or the kasambahay employed in the Cities and First Class Municipalities should now be paid P5,000.00 monthly and those working in other municipalities should now receive not less than P4,000.00 per month from… P2,500.00 (previously).” — Gillian M. Cortez

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