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Stanley unveils two standalone stores in the Philippines

STANLEY’S flagship store at SM Mall of Asia.

DRINKWARE brand Stanley’s signature Quencher cups have been trending online since late last year. As a result, it recently opened standalone stores at SM Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City and SM North EDSA in Quezon City, with the goal of expanding its presence in the Philippines.

At the unveiling of the flagship store in Pasay City on Nov. 25, Gilbert Tang, managing director of Stanley’s Philippine distributor Chris Sports, showed off the range of popular, colorful, and durable reusable cups available at the stores.

Mr. Tang told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of the launch that while the brand has been in the Philippines since 2016, the standalone stores can “better tell the story of Stanley.”

“Sometime last year, Stanley was rebranded from its outdoor, sporty image to more of a fashion statement today. That’s what we want to convey,” he said.

Of the wide selection of statement cups, the most popular among stylish Filipinos is the trendy sippy tumbler known as the Quencher. However, on-the-go athletes and adventurers like Mr. Tang himself tend to go for the Varsity IceFlow jug, perfect for use at the gym.

The products are “built to last a lifetime,” blending “style, functionality, and life’s everyday adventures,” according to Stanley’s official statement.

The 27.74-square-meter flagship store in MOA features a chic design and playful elements, filled with vibrant patterns, dynamic colors, and metallic accents. That branch is offering complimentary Stanley totes and premium stickers to customers, for a limited amount of time.

“Filipinos can also expect new designs almost every two months,” Mr. Tang added. “We had the Olivia Rodrigo design, the Barbie design, and soon we’ll get the [Argentine footballer] Lionel Messi design.”

“Not all designs are here yet, but they will come. There’s a lot to look forward to,” he said.

The flagship store is located at Level 2 of SM Mall of Asia’s Main Mall. The Quezon City branch is located at Level 2 of SM North EDSA’s North Towers. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

JAZA earns spot in Leaders50 list

JAIME AUGUSTO ZOBEL DE AYALA — PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

AYALA CORP. Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (JAZA) has been named to the inaugural Leaders50 list for inspiring organizational leadership.

The list, compiled by London-based Thinkers50, recognizes 50 of the most inspiring and exceptional leaders around the world.

The leaders were evaluated based on various criteria such as character, organizational impact, economic contribution, social purpose, leadership development, organizational resilience and adaptability, and visionary impact.

The nominations were drawn from the Thinkers50 community of global thought leaders.

“This recognition belongs to the dedicated employees of the Ayala group, whose unwavering support and commitment enable us to build businesses that help people thrive,” Mr. Zobel said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

“I also share this achievement with our partners and stakeholders, who share our purpose and vision, working closely with us to foster communities and, ultimately, a country where more people can thrive,” he added.

Other leaders included in the Leaders50 list were Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella, Chanel CEO Leena Nair, General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra, and Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian.

The Leaders50 list cited leaders from over 20 countries, with the United States having the largest grouping.

“The challenges facing the world, organizations, and individuals are enormous. We do not know all of the elements which will be necessary to begin to tackle these challenges. But, we do know that none will be overcome without leadership,” Thinkers50 Cofounder Stuart Crainer said.

“Leaders50 shines a light on some exceptional leaders in the hope that others may learn from them, be inspired by them, and take on the mantle of leadership,” he added

Established in 2001, Thinkers50 is a resource for identifying, ranking, and sharing the leading management ideas. It is the first-ever global ranking of management thinkers. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

InstaPay, PESONet transactions rise to P13.9 trillion at end-Oct.

TRANSACTIONS via the two payment gateways rose to nearly P14 trillion in the first 10 months of 2024. — FREEPIK

THE VALUE of transactions done through InstaPay and PESONet jumped by 34.6% to nearly P14 trillion as of end-October, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Transactions coursed through the two automated clearing houses climbed to P13.99 trillion in the first 10 months of 2024 from P10.39 trillion in the same period a year ago.

In terms of volume, transactions done via InstaPay and PESONet also surged by 62.3% year on year to 1.19 billion from 733.5 million.

Broken down, the value of transactions done through PESONet increased by 27.9% to P8.17 trillion at end-October from P6.39 trillion in the year-ago period.

The volume of PESONet transactions likewise went up by 9.5% to 82.9 million in the first 10 months from 75.7 million the year prior.

Meanwhile, the value of InstaPay transactions stood at P5.82 trillion in the 10-month period, higher by 45.3% from the P4 trillion recorded a year prior.

The volume of transactions that went through the payment gateway skyrocketed by 68.3% to 1.1 billion from 657.8 million in the same period in 2023.

PESONet and InstaPay are automated clearing houses launched in December 2015 under the central bank’s National Retail Payment System framework.

PESONet caters to high-value transactions and may be considered as an electronic alternative to paper-based checks.

Meanwhile, InstaPay is a real-time, low-value electronic fund transfer facility for transactions up to P50,000 and is mostly used for remittances and e-commerce.

Digital payments made up 52.8% of the volume of retail transactions in 2023, up from the 42.1% share in 2022, latest BSP data showed,

In terms of value, 55.3% of retail transactions last year were done online, also rising from 40.1% the year prior.

The BSP wanted at least 50% of the volume and value of retail transactions done online by end-2023 under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.

The central bank also wants online payments to make up 60-70% of the country’s total retail transaction volume by 2028 in line with the Philippine Development Plan. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

Netflix’s Buy Now! shows the toll of the global shopping bonanza

By Zahra Hirji

THE NEW hit Netflix documentary Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy may have you reconsidering where to shop and how much to buy on Black Friday — and beyond.

At least, that’s what the documentary’s director Nic Stacey is hoping happens. With a run time of nearly 1.5 hours, the film shines a light on the common, deceptive online marketing techniques used by big-name brands to get consumers to buy more and more goods. That creates mountains of waste and contributes to climate change, plastic pollution, and other environmental problems.

“Every year, we buy more stuff than the year before, and every year we waste more stuff than the year before,” Mr. Stacey says. “We can’t keep doing that.”

To tell this sweeping story that spans different industries, online and in-person shopping, and countries across the globe, the documentary uses silly animations of talking light bulbs and sneakers, extravagant graphics of cityscapes flooded with stuff, and a narrator called Sasha fashioned after digital assistants like Siri and Alexa.

The film also features a collection of people who used to work for the very companies called out in the film, including former Unilever Plc Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman and former Amazon.com Inc. designer Maren Costa, all sharing similar stories of having their eyes opened to how their past jobs and employers contributed to overconsumption.

In the week after its release, Buy Now! was the sixth most-watched film in English globally on Netflix, raking in 7.1 million views, a company spokesperson said. And as of Tuesday, there were some 2.4 million posts on TikTok with the “buynow” hashtag. Even people “who aren’t environmentalists have come out of the woodwork having watched this and said: This is terrible,” says Mr. Stacey. “And that fills me with hope.”

Ahead of Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Bloomberg Green spoke with Mr. Stacey about his film.

Q: What inspired you to tackle the problem of overconsumption in your documentary?

A: My kind of input for this was Black Friday in the UK. Obviously, in the States, it’s a huge thing. Everyone’s at home; there’s Thanksgiving. In the UK, we have none of that cultural context. Ten years ago, you could have stopped anyone in Britain and asked them what Black Friday was — I would guarantee that 99% of people would’ve never heard of it. Over the last 10 to 15 years, it has gone from nothing to being part of the British DNA. Seeing that happen, it incentivizes you to ask yourself: Who has made this happen? And why has it happened?

Q: No company gets more airtime in the film than Amazon, much of that through the lens of former employee Maren Costa, who lost her job after organizing internally to get the company to take climate change more seriously. Why focus so much on Amazon and Costa?

A: Maren’s just a fantastic communicator and very relatable. I think also the film really fundamentally is about how the rise of the Internet, and online shopping and online advertising, has driven consumption to amazingly greater levels than it was pre-internet. Amazon has been a huge, huge player in that.

Amazon definitely pioneered that concept of — Maren talks about [it in the film] — the magic conveyer belt that will just get an item to your door from where it is. That really was an amazing innovation and it had lots of sort of benefits, but it also unleashed this whole kind of world.

Q: As a reporter I can struggle with how to convey big numbers, especially around pollution, because it can be hard for people to digest. These numbers come up repeatedly in the film and you have some creative animations and visualizations.

A: That was my thing from the beginning: You get bombarded with these statistics all the time, and it is so hard to conjure up what that means in your head. A big part of why this is an issue is because in the places that are consuming the most stuff, we don’t ever get to see that. We’ve made this amazing system to sort of hide it from ourselves.

[While filming] around New York, we kept seeing these locations. What would it look like if we filled this with, you know, the amount of shoes that are produced every hour? So 2.5 million shoes are produced every hour. When you actually put 2.5 million shoes on screen and show someone what that would look like on a New York street, you suddenly realize why this is a problem. This idea that you throw something away or you give something away — “away” isn’t a magic place, it’s just somewhere else on Earth.

Q: There are a lot of good-intentioned people who don’t trash their clothes, or other items, when they are done with them — they donate. But as you reveal in the film, an alarming number of donations end up on the beaches of Ghana, for example. So how are people supposed to get rid of their stuff responsibly?

A: It does, ultimately, come back to the companies involved. We interviewed a clothing manufacturer for the film who explained that 10 years ago, when a new item was made, they would wash it 50 times and then write a report about how that piece of clothing performed. Now they either don’t have to do that or they wash it five times and write a report. So baked into the way that a lot of clothes are manufactured is an inherent sort of short term. That’s not your fault as the consumer.

Then there is a problem of what you do with [old clothes]. What happens is donations are gathered up and they’re sold in these bales to clothing markets in Africa or across the world. They’re able to maybe resell 20% of the clothes that have been packaged up. The other 80% or 70% will be fast-fashion items that by their nature can’t be repaired or made good. These crappy clothes, they end up in Ghana; they can’t be repurposed. That’s a long-winded way of saying it is the brand’s responsibility to try and make better-produced clothing because they would genuinely have an afterlife if you want to pass them on.

Q: It’s the week of Black Friday. What advice do you have for people looking to shop in a more climate-friendly and sustainable way?

A: The biggest behavior change I’ve made myself after making this film has been, if ever I think I would like something, I spend at least five minutes online looking to see if that item or a similar item is available used before I start looking to buy it new. It is not that time-consuming, but it really will make a difference. I would just ask everyone to do that on Black Friday.

The second thing is — just take a pause before you press buy. If it’s something that’s only come up in your head that day or that week, I would suggest that it’s probably something that you might not need. This is the effect advertising is having on you. — Bloomberg

TMP eyes 1,800 next-gen Tamaraw sales monthly

THE CAR MANUFACTURER’S headquarters in Laguna, where it invested P5.5 billion for the production of the new Tamaraw, has the capacity to produce 60,000 cars annually.

By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

TOYOTA MOTOR Philippines Corp. (TMP) aims to achieve monthly sales of up to 1,800 units for its New Generation Tamaraw, according to its president.

“After 2004, we [discontinued] commercial vehicles like Tamaraw. And this market is dominated by Mitsubishi, Hyundai, and others,” TMP President Masando Hashimoto told reporters on Thursday.

“We are quite behind now and quite challenged, so we need to learn more from L300 and H100. This is what we have to do to develop the image of Toyota in this specific category,” he added.

Despite this, he said that the company is targeting to sell around 1,500 to 1,800 units of the new Tamaraw each month.

Alfred V. Ty, chairman of TMP, said that the Next Generation Tamaraw commercial vehicle, particularly the short-wheelbase drop-side gas variant, will have a starting price of below P800,000.

“We need to wait for the January release of sales for the fixed price, but that is the range. Depending on the conversion they want, that can go up to P1.5 million to P4 million,” Mr. Ty said.

“Complemented by flexible financing schemes tailored to the real-life needs of working Filipinos and micro, small, and medium enterprises, we aim to empower businesses and individuals to achieve their dreams and actively contribute to the nation’s progress,” he added.

He said that TMP will already start the production of the new Tamaraw, which is expected to be one of the brand’s top three best sellers, to build the inventory for the release in January.

“Next week the display will start in different locations already,” he added.

PRODUCTION
The car manufacturer’s headquarters in Laguna, where it invested P5.5 billion for the production of the new Tamaraw, has the capacity to produce 60,000 cars annually.

“The production [of the Next Generation Tamaraw] will be around 20,000 in a year. So, we are expecting 1,500 to 1,800 units monthly,” said Mr. Hashimoto.

“But we have a total capacity of more than 60,000 in this facility. So we can adjust and balance between three models,” he added.

Prior to the launch of the Next Generation Tamaraw, TMP produced Vios and Innova in its plant at Toyota Special Economic Zone in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna.

Out of its P5.5-billion investment, the company made an investment of P1.1 billion for the new conversion facility in the plant.

According to the company, the new Tamaraw model has three body-type conversions available: utility van (UV), aluminum van, and drop-side.

Asked which conversion he believes will sell best in the country, Mr. Hashimoto said that it will be the UV “as the car is for both goods and people, so it is really versatile.”

“I think this is our focus model among all the variants,” he added.

Besides the Philippines, Toyota’s Next Generation Tamaraw is also being produced in Thailand.

“Exporting would be a very good opportunity for us,” Mr. Hashimoto said, noting that the initial target of the production in the Philippines is for domestic sales.

“But in the future, I want to expand our business abroad. Thailand and many Asian countries have the right-hand drive… So we can have a mix. Left-hand for the Philippines, right-hand for Thailand. That would be the possibility in the future,” he added.

However, he said that to make the export happen, the company will have to increase the localization of the Next Generation Tamaraw, which is currently at around 25%.

“As of today, we are importing lots of car parts from Thailand. But to make export possible, we need more localization. Meaning we need to invest more in our facility and the supplier’s facility,” he said.

Moving forward, he said that if the company plans to further expand the models produced in its facility in Laguna, it will be the commercial and heavy-duty vehicles that utilize the chassis for diesel engines that have a higher possibility than other passenger cars.

Real-time payments to boost PHL GDP

INSTANT PAYMENTS are expected to boost Philippine economic output and the number of banked Filipinos, a study showed. — UNSPLASH/NATHANA REBOUÇAS

REAL-TIME PAYMENTS are seen contributing an additional $323 million to the Philippine economic output and providing access to financial services to 20.9 million unbanked Filipinos by 2028, according to a study by ACI Worldwide in partnership with The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).

The report titled “Real-Time Payments: Economic Impact and Financial Inclusion,” which covers 40 countries, shows an empirical link between real-time payments and financial inclusion, ACI Worldwide said.

“By providing citizens with access to affordable financial services, real-time payments drive economic growth and could potentially help lift millions of people out of poverty,” it said.

The Philippines was in third place among the top 10 countries for the projected financial inclusion uplift by 2028 as a result of the growth of real-time payments, only behind Pakistan, which is expected to see 63.5 million unbanked individuals getting access to financial services, and India’s 25.5 million.

The expected increase in the Philippines’ banked population by 2028 represents a 23% growth from the projected end-2023 level, the report said.

“This increase presents a profit opportunity of $28.7 billion for financial institutions by 2028, calculated based on the typical customer lifetime value estimated at $1,375,” ACI Worldwide said.

The Philippines was in second place among the top markets for profit opportunity from instant payments, behind Pakistan ($173 billion) and beating India ($25 billion).

The Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) boost expected to be provided by real-time payments is also equivalent to 29,238 jobs, it added.

“The rise of real-time payments has the potential to open up banking access to millions of new customers, presenting significant growth and profit potential for banks that capitalize on this to modernize and streamline payment technology and services. Real-time payments have asserted their role as a powerful enabler for societal transformation, bridging critical gaps in financial access and empowering millions of Filipinos,” ACI Worldwide Senior Vice-President Leslie Choo said in a statement on Thursday.

“The Philippines’ digital payment landscape is at an inflection point driven by rapid adoption and government initiatives, signaling immense growth potential… As the Philippines continues to charge forward in digital payment adoption, real-time payments are positioned to deliver significant economic and social benefits, building a connected financial ecosystem that supports consumers and businesses alike,” ACI Worldwide added.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data showed the share of online payments in the total volume of monthly retail transactions rose to 52.8% in 2023 from 42.1% in 2022. This was slightly higher than the central bank’s target of digitalizing 50% of the volume of retail payments by end-2023.

Asia Pacific is the world’s largest real-time payments market with 24% of all transactions now done instantly, the report said, and cross-border payment systems provide another avenue for financial inclusion in the region.

“Asia Pacific’s opportunities to benefit from real-time payments — economically as well as socially — should continue their rapid growth. The trajectory elevates the region not only as a model for technological change but as a reimagining of how economies can function more efficiently, competitively, and inclusively,” it said.

GLOBAL ECONOMIC BOOST
Meanwhile, globally, real-time payments are expected to contribute an additional $285.8 billion to economic output and create more than 167 million new bank account holders by 2028, the report showed.

This, as real-time payments boosted GDP by a total of $164 billion in 2023 in the 40 countries covered by the study, generating $116.9 billion in savings for consumers and businesses. These savings are predicted to grow to $245.8 billion by 2028, it said. 

“Our research finds that across the world, the ability to pay instantly for goods and services, often via mobile phones, is driving economic growth at every level of society and providing affordable and innovative financial services to tens of millions of previously unbanked citizens,” ACI Worldwide said.

“By allowing for the transfer of money between consumers and businesses within seconds rather than days, real-time payments improve overall market efficiencies in the economy. This results in substantial net savings for consumers and businesses. Those savings, combined with the increased treasury revenue from formalizing previous cash transactions, are boosting GDP growth for countries that have embraced real-time payments modernization.”

Instant payments are boosting financial and digital inclusion among women, the youth, and low-income citizens, it added.

Other economic advantages from real-time payments are lower transaction costs, faster settlement, and reduction in the cost of failed transactions, the report showed.

“As real-time payment systems become pervasive, they are improving the lives of citizens who previously had no access to the formal banking system. For people living day to day on cash, switching to real-time electronic transactions is strongly correlated with a financial inclusion uplift. This correlation holds across multiple countries, making real-time payments a banking “gateway” that brings the benefits of financial inclusion long recognized by the World Bank to millions of citizens, including better financial security, reduced economic inequality, and increased entrepreneurship and community well-being,” it said.

“Through real-time apps, QR codes, and mobile wallets, previously unbanked and underbanked citizens can gain access to useful and affordable financial products and services and, for example, receive life-changing government aid (such as farm subsidies or school fees) at the click of a button,” it added. “The inclusion benefits from real-time payments are particularly evident in the developing world, with its large swaths of unbanked and underbanked citizens.” — AMCS

Moana 2 rides musical wave of Pacific culture and creativity

Moana 2 (2024) — IMDB
Moana 2 (2024) — IMDB

KAPOLEI, Hawaii — For Auli’i Cravalho, returning for the Walt Disney sequel film Moana 2 was a Hawaiian homecoming for both herself as an actor and for her character.

“Moana’s journey will take her very far, but also that growth means coming back home and experiencing that with your community,” the Hawaiian native told Reuters.

“Speaking of community, the connection of all of the people across the Pacific, this feels like a celebration of Pan Pacific, Pan Polynesian culture,” she added.

For the cast and creators of Moana 2, the project was not just professional, it was personal.

“It feels so incredible that my growth as a human seems to be juxtaposed with hers (Moana’s),” Ms. Cravalho said.

Moana 2, directed by David Derrick, Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, is now showing in Philippine theaters.

Nielsen’s movie-research arm, National Research Group, predicts Moana 2 will bring in $145 million in North America  over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend.

The film follows wayfinder Moana, who receives a sudden call from her wayfinding ancestors to travel the seas and break the curse of god Nalo, which prevents the people of various islands from reconnecting.

She forms her own crew, which reunites her with demigod Maui, played by Dwayne Johnson.

The music for the first Moana was written by Encanto songwriter Lin Manuel Miranda, while the sequel introduces the songwriting duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear.

The duo, which rose to prominence on TikTok, won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2022 for The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, attracting a lawsuit from Netflix. It also created an opportunity to take over the songs for the sequel.

While they wanted to “pay homage to the beautiful world” of the first Moana with the music, they also aimed to add their own “flair to it.”

Part of the flair for the entire film was figuring out how to add even more Pacific Islander culture within all aspects of the sequel, which was key for the director trio.

“I think it’s so special that we get to celebrate the Pacific in these films, and that we get to have a heroine who is just so compelling and empathetic and awesome and weird and goofy,” said Ledoux Miller.

“I think we can see a little bit of ourselves in her,” the Samoan director added, noting that many Pacific Islander communities have the same values of family and togetherness that Moana does.

For the directors, it was about going on a “new adventure with old friends” and striking a balance between familiarity and something brand new.

The film is highly anticipated after Disney’s other 2024 animated sequel Inside Out 2 crossed the $1-billion mark at the worldwide box office in less than three weeks of release, reaching that level in the fastest time of any animated film in history.

The first Moana found box office success as well, topping 2016 box office numbers by earning $81.1 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday period and $55.5 million for the weekend. — Reuters

Economic policy reforms and the Philippine economy

(This article is based on the research undertaken by the Research Teams of Regina Capital Development Corp., a member of the Philippine Stock Exchange and Cristina Research Foundation, a public policy advisory company.)

On Oct. 30, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) issued a most unusual report on the Philippine economy entitled, “The Philippines takes off: From Stability to Prosperity.”

It was unusual in the sense that most economic reports deal prospectively with the coming year, while the HSBC report deals retroactively on the Philippine economy over the past 20 years. From that perspective, HSBC asserts that “Fuelled by demographics, digitalization, and services, two decades of reform have prepared the economy for take-off.” And therefore it predicts that “The Philippines will continue to grow in size and influence, creating many opportunities for foreign and local investment.”

This is welcome news for us, absorbed as we are on the trials and tribulations of the moment, not reflecting on how much progress we have achieved.

According to HSBC:

“The Philippines has built a solid runway for takeoff from two decades of hard-earned reform. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the country has embarked on a number of reforms, including the fiscal reforms and trade deals of the Macapagal administration, the Sin Tax and institutional reforms of the Aquino administration, the fiscal and infrastructure reforms of the Duterte administration, and the liberalization and fiscal reforms of today (see summary in Table 1). The country has laid a solid fiscal and economic foundation that could finance the long-term investments needed to lift its economic potential.”

We comment on the following reforms: the Extended VAT reform, the Sin Tax Law, and the Rice Tariffication Law.

The Extended VAT Reform was enacted in the face of a fiscal crisis then besetting the Philippines where the losses of the National Power Corp., among others, were endangering the fiscal stability of the Philippine government. At great political cost, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and then Senator Ralph Recto pushed for the approval in Congress of the Extended VAT Reform Law. The law raised the VAT rate from 10% to 12%, the corporate income tax rate from 32% to 35% and removed certain tax exemptions, thus putting the Philippine government on sound fiscal footing up to this day.

The traditional approach to smoking and drinking is biblical. Those who engage in such activities are considered sinners who must do penance (pay sin taxes) and sin no more. Of course, it is not always clear if the aim is to save sinners or fill government coffers.

Our medical professionals, God bless them, proposed a less moralistic and more realistic framework. The activities of smoking and drinking pose increased medical hazards not only to those who smoke or drink but also to the rest of the population as well. For increasing the health care cost of the medical system, it is but fitting that they carry a heavier burden as enacted in the Sin Tax Law.

In 2024, the programmed contribution of sin taxes to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., better known as PhilHealth, amounted to around P300 billion, an amount which will reduce the premiums that must be paid by the 113 million members of PhilHealth.

The Rice Tariffication Law is based on one simple economic fact: the price of international rice is roughly half the price of domestic rice. Our astute businessmen have always been aware of the arbitrage possibilities, i.e. import international rice and sell domestically. Admirably our government performed the role of equalizer. Under the Rice Tariffication Law, government allowed the importation of rice thus benefitting the 100 million Filipino consumers, while at the same time imposing an excise tax to be used to benefit the one million Filipino farmers who are adversely affected by the importation of rice.

The Bureau of Customs reported on Aug. 15 that since the start of the year, P29 billion in excise tax has been collected on imported rice or around P29,000 in assistance to each of our farmers.

As a result of these reforms, the HSBC report notes:

“The numbers speak for themselves in terms of their impact. Chart 1 shows that since the 1990s, growth consistently increased, inflation declined and became increasingly stable, interest payments shrunk, and gross reserves grew. The Philippines achieved macroeconomic stability.”

From the perspective of an AIM Professor in the 1990s, we now realize the economic progress the Philippines has made. In the 1990s, the Philippines was struggling to achieve a growth rate of 2-3%, now we assume growth rates of 5-6%. In the 1990s the Philippines experienced inflation rates of 10-12%, now we can aspire to inflation rates of 2-4%. Back then interest rates ranged from 12-18%, now they range from 6-8%, then the difference between the interest rate on Philippine government securities and the US 10-Year Treasury Bills was 14%, now it is around 1%. Finally, then our reserves of around $5 billion barely allowed us to meet our importation requirements, now with our $100 billion reserves, we have sufficient buffer not only for our importation requirements but also for our debt service requirements as well.

The HSBC report rightly credits our government officials for these economic reforms. But we argue that the private sector should share in the credit. Private sector groups did some of the policy reform studies and proposals, attended congressional hearings to expound on the benefits of the proposed laws, and provided the political and moral support for the politicians enacting the needed but politically controversial economic reforms.

One such organization is the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) (Full disclosure: I am a Fellow of FEF). From its website, we learn of its history.

“The Foundation for Economic Freedom was established in 1996 by like-minded individuals who all believed that it is their civic duty to make the Philippines a better place. Formalized as an advocacy institution to engage in public diplomacy to enact free market-oriented change, it counts among its roster visible and well-respected business leaders, retired technocrats, and members of the academe. For over two decades, FEF has been the institution of reference for policies to transform the inward-looking Philippine economy into a trading one.”

Over its almost 30 years of history, it has been involved in legislation such the Residential Free Patent Act, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Rice Tariffication Act, and the Public Services Act, among others.

This work has achieved international recognition, with FEF wining the Asia Liberty Awards and the Templeton Freedom Awards.

Unacknowledged in the FEF website, probably due to his modesty, is the major role its president, Calixto “Toti” Chikiamco, played in making FEF what it is today. (His modesty will not deter me, his friend, from singing his praises considering I was present when he recreated FEF.)

Taking over as president in 2010 when FEF was in a financial crisis, he sought and successfully received grants from international funding agencies.

Once FEF was on sound financial footing, he invited a constellation of outstanding fellows to the cause, proving the adage that an outstanding leader is one who has the confidence to enlist people greater than him.

FEF has for its Board of Advisers, National Scientist Raul Fabella, former Prime Minister Cesar E.A Virata, former Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Gerardo Sicat, and former NEDA Director-General and Central Bank Governor Felipe Medalla.

FEF is currently led by its Board of Trustees composed of former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo, OBE, as Chairman, and investment banker Simon Paterno as Vice-Chairman. Political economist Calixto Chikiamco is FEFs President, Ateneo University Chairman Bernadine Siy is its Treasurer, and lawyer Ricardo Balatbat Ill is its Corporate Secretary.

Other members of FEF’s Board of Trustees include competition lawyer Kristine Alcantara, Angeles University President and UP law professor Joseph Emmanuel Angeles, urban land planning expert Arturo Corpuz, information and technology law expert Jose Jesus Disini, government and regulatory affairs expert Christopher Matthew Ilagan, investment banker Vaughn Montes, real estate developer Jeffrey Ng, corporate lawyer Perry Pe, former Finance Undersecretary Ma. Cecilia Soriano, and former Finance Secretary Margarito Teves.

As President he rides herd over this group of raging incrementalists who do not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. In addition to being an enabler of reformers, Toti is himself an ardent reformer. He was the driving force and guiding spirit in the enactment of the Resident Free Patent Act. His central insight was that the issuance of land titles is not a judicial process requiring cumbersome court rules but rather a documentary process easily and quickly done by experts assisted by satellite photo technology. Prior to the enactment of the law, only around 4,000 residential land titles were issued yearly, now around 55,000 are issued yearly.

The judgement of HSBC on the bright prospect of the Philippine economy was confirmed by Goldman Sachs in its Nov. 17  report entitled, “Asia-Pacific Portfolio Strategy: 2025 Outlook: Navigating a more challenging macro mix:” The report over-weights its investment in the Philippines projecting that it will give the highest return of 19%. Moreover, the PSE Composite Index is expected to rise from 6,810 to 8,000 by December 2025.

 

Dr. Victor S. Limlingan is a retired professor of AIM and a fellow of the Foundation for Economic Freedom. He is presently chairman of Cristina Research Foundation, a public policy adviser of Regina Capital Development Corp., a member of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

ACEN infuses additional capital into unit Paddak

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

AYALA-LED ACEN Corp. is pouring additional investment into its subsidiary Paddak Energy Corp. worth a total of P12 million to provide technical and maintenance services to its local operations.

ACEN signed a contract with Paddak to subscribe to the latter’s 1.2 million common shares and 10.8 million preferred shares at P1 apiece, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The shares will be issued from the unissued portion of the authorized capital stock of Paddak, ACEN said.

“The subscription will allow ACEN to have full ownership of Paddak, which will provide technical operations and maintenance-related services to ACEN’s Philippine operating companies,” the company said.

For its international operations, the company said on Wednesday that its affiliate, ACEN Vietnam Investments Pte. Ltd., had acquired a 49% stake in the Vietnamese renewable energy firm BIM Energy Holding Corp. worth $70.5 million.

The acquisition aims to boost ACEN’s pipeline projects in Vietnam.

ACEN, the listed energy platform of the conglomerate Ayala group, boasts about 6.8 gigawatts of attributable renewables capacity in operation, under construction, and committed projects.

The company operates across a diverse range of markets, including the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Laos, and the United States.

At the local bourse on Thursday, shares in ACEN fell 4.11% to close at P3.97 apiece. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Manulife IM launches new feeder fund for dollar fixed-income issues

MANULIFE Investment Management and Trust Corp. (Manulife IM) has launched a unit investment trust fund (UITF) that provides access to dollar-denominated fixed-income and fixed-income-related securities globally.

The Manulife Global Income Feeder Fund “aims to provide a high-quality, low-volatility income opportunity by seeking the best sources of income across the entirety of the fixed income universe,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

“The Manulife Global Income Feeder Fund offers an all-weather wealth solution that combines the entirety of the fixed-income universe, including traditional and nontraditional sources of income. It provides high and sustainable opportunities that can help investors maximize their financial portfolio’s income generation across economic and interest rate cycles,” Manulife IM Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Aira Gaspar was quoted as saying.

Investors can access the fund for as low as $1,000 or P1,000.

The new UITF is part of the company’s “Better Income” campaign that aims to give clients  more investment options based on their respective financial goals, needs, risk tolerance, and life stages.

Interested investors may open a UITF account online through Manulife’s digital investment platform Manulife iFUNDS.

Manulife IM is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.) Inc. (Manulife Philippines). It got its stand-alone trust corporation license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in 2017.

The trust firm had assets worth P1.37 billion and liabilities valued at P229.26 million at end-June, based on its balance sheet.

Its total stockholders’ equity stood at P1.14 billion, while its contingent accounts, which were wholly made up of trust accounts, were at P188.75 billion.

Meanwhile, its parent company Manulife Philippines’ premium income stood at P15.54 billion in 2023, while its net income was at P1.899 billion. — A.M.C. Sy

CA rejects illegal dismissal claim filed by temps

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE COURT OF APPEALS (CA) rejected an illegal dismissal charge filed by manpower agency workers against a firearms manufacturer and their agency, upholding earlier rulings by a labor arbiter and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). According to the ruling issued by the third division on Nov. 1, ”Findings of fact of administrative agencies and quasi-judicial bodies, which have acquired expertise because their jurisdiction is confined to specific matters, are generally accorded not only great respect but even finality.”

It added that determinations of fact are beyond the scope of a Rule 65 certiorari petition.

“Where a petition fails to fully satisfy, prima facie, the requirements of the limited, exceptional, extraordinary remedy of a special civil action for certiorari, a resolution for its dismissal should be issued outright,” it said.

The tribunal found that NLRC did not commit grave abuse of discretion, contrary to the petitioners’ claim, finding no evidence of arbitrariness, caprice, or whim on the part of the NLRC.

The case stems from employees who filed an illegal dismissal complaint against the firearms company and the manpower services firm after they were dismissed in September 2023. They alleged the company colluded with the agency to deny them regular employment status and benefits.

The company argued that it entered into a service agreement with the agency for staff responsible for auxiliary tasks at its manufacturing facility.

It said there was no employer-employee relationship, identifying the manpower agency as their employer of records.

The agreement between company and the agency ended in September 2023, a month after, the firearms company received the illegal dismissal complaint.

The manpower agency said upon the expiration of an agreement, it informs employees of options such as redeployment, temporary layoff or resignation. The petitioners refused the options and filed a complaint instead with the NLRC.

The labor arbiter and the NLRC found the complaint without merit, adding the plaintiffs were not dismissed but placed on a floating status instead.

Under the Labor Code, “floating status” may be considered a form of temporary layoff as long as it does not exceed six months. The petitioners filed their complaint after a month of being put in floating status, well within the six-month window. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

Robbie Williams hopes Better Man film will help viewers heal

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LONDON — British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams’ turbulent life story served as inspiration for the musical movie Better Man, in which the pop star is portrayed as a CGI monkey.

The semi-autobiographical drama follows Mr. Williams’ journey from childhood to global stardom. The “Angels” and “Rock DJ” musician, whose biggest hits are incorporated in the movie, lends his voice to the main character.

Attending the film’s premiere in London on Wednesday, Mr. Williams, who was also the subject of a Netflix documentary last year, said sharing his story came easy.

“I never stop opening up about my past. It’s how I socialize. You tell me about your childhood trauma, I tell you about my childhood trauma, and we get along. It’s par for the course for me,” Mr. Williams, who turned 50 in February, said.

“Music heals, entertainment heals. And I hope that in some way this film is a healing process for people. I know it’s a lofty ambition and some people at home could be going ‘ugh, okay, of course’ but I mean it.”

Better Man sees a teenage Mr. Williams joining the 1990s boy band Take That, his substance abuse, and differing views leading to him leaving the group and launching a successful solo career, while crippled by depression and addiction.

It also depicts the highs and lows of his relationship with All Saints singer Nicole Appleton and the feuds with Take That’s Gary Barlow and Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher.

Directed and co-written by The Greatest Showman filmmaker Michael Gracey, Better Man was born out of a series of informal interviews in Mr. Williams’ recording studio not initially intended for a movie.

The idea for the movie’s unusual approach came naturally, Mr. Gracey said. The CGI monkey version of Mr. Williams is played by actor Jonno Davies, who wore a performance capture suit throughout the shoot.

“For someone who sees themselves as a performing monkey, it made a lot of sense,” said Mr. Gracey. “I think you see more of Robbie in the monkey. I think you have more empathy for the monkey and I think creatively it makes it really compelling.”

Mr. Williams, who released a new song from the film’s soundtrack titled “Forbidden Road” last week and will embark on a UK and European tour in 2025, teased more new music was on the way.

“New music is coming out, depending on how well this film does. If the film does really well, sooner, if it doesn’t, later.”

Better Man begins its global cinematic rollout on Dec. 25. — Reuters