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Impact Hub Manila launches record attempt at world’s biggest hackathon

Since the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) were first set in 2015, each participating country has been pulling their own efforts to meet them by the designated deadline of 2030. And while the Philippines has made its progress, the country’s current rank and score signals a need to push even further.

With roughly 10 years left, it’s going to take more helping hands to achieve the UN SDGs. And by gathering the nation’s most brilliant innovative minds, Impact Hub Manila hopes to hack together solutions for the future with their world record attempt at the largest simultaneous hackathon to date.

Increasing relevance

Impact Hackathon is a 24-hour, on-the-spot coding marathon that will be held from October 30 to 31. It’s an official Guinness World Records attempt for the title of biggest hackathon. Currently, that title goes to the Hajj Hackathon, with 2,950 participants. The Impact Hackathon is looking to gather over thrice that number, with estimates at 10,000 participants across the Philippines and Asia-Pacific — 3,500 of which will be stationed at its main venue of Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Aside from the central hubs like Taguig, secondary cities and provinces like Palawan, Iloilo, and Cagayan de Oro were included in a push for countryside development. “We want them to create their own ecosystem so that they don’t have to keep coming to Manila, Cebu, or Davao,” said Ces Rondario, founder and CEO of Impact Hub Manila. “We need to decentralize the opportunities and access.”

The goal of the hackathon is to generate a new crop of innovative solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing the human race today. Impact Hub’s hypothesis is that, as one of the global leaders in tech talent, the Philippines has what it takes to be a tech leader spearheading change towards a better world. The hackathon is set to put that theory to the test.

Participants will be challenged to create sustainable, tech-based solutions for problems anchored on the UN SDGs such as climate change, education, agriculture, smart cities, and health and wellness. In addition to being pressing issues in the Philippines and the region, they were also chosen for their relevance to certain areas. Participants from Visayas, for example, may be tasked with creating solutions towards digitizing coastal communities.

“I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs in the past [that] offer a solution looking for a problem,” said Marc Lepage, technology innovations specialist at Asian Development Bank (ADB). “It’s really putting in front of those very talented youth [the] problems that they face everyday but they would not think about as potential business opportunities.”

Strong solutions today, maximum impact tomorrow

In order to hone the full potential of the winning solutions, Impact Hub created Impact 2050, an entrepreneurial program that aims to accelerate the Asia-Pacific impact entrepreneurship ecosystem. The four-phase program began in September with the Elevate National Startup Roadshow, continuing with the Impact Hackathon.

In November, the hackathon’s winners will present their solutions to a panel of judges at 2050fest, where they’ll compete for seed funding, networking opportunities, and hands-on mentorship.

Finally, the program will culminate with Incubate 2020, a year-long training program by Impact Hub’s mentors and partners.

Patterning the program after the natural progression of a startup — flowing from education, to ideation, to discovery and networking, and finally to incubation — the plan is for winning participants to grow their solutions into sustainable, stable businesses.

“After many years of being part of the ecosystem, we realized that there’s a need to focus on supporting entrepreneurs who not only had a purpose, but could scale their technology,” said Rondario. “And I thought that we needed to answer the question, ‘What solutions do we want to see created by our entrepreneurs by 2050, and how do we truly future-proof today?’”

Understanding breast cancer

Of all the ways to go, cancer is arguably the most insidious. Your own body is rebelling against itself; cancer cells fighting to keep alive, at the expense of everything else.

As the most common types of cancer among women, breast cancer affects more than two million women each year and is responsible for the greatest number of cancer-related deaths among women. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that 627,000 women died from breast cancer — that is approximately 15% of all cancer deaths among women — in 2018 alone.

Not to mention that while breast cancer rates are higher among women in more developed regions, rates are increasing in nearly every region globally. This is because of an overall increase in life expectancy across all regions, an increase in urbanization, and the adoption of western lifestyles. As the world gets more developed, the likelier it is for cancer to strike.

So how do you prevent it?

The Continuous Update Project, an ongoing program to analyze global research on how diet, nutrition and physical activity affect cancer risk and survival, found that the risks towards developing breast cancer are manifold.

The panel found strong evidence that consumption of alcoholic drinks, greater birthweight and adult attained height are causes of premenopausal breast cancer. To protect against it, the panel judged that there is strong evidence that vigorous physical activity helps lower one’s risks.

For postmenopausal breast cancer, evidence pointed towards the consumption of alcoholic drinks, being overweight or obese throughout adulthood, adult weight gain and adult attained height as major causes. Physical activity and greater body fatness in young adulthood, meanwhile, protect against those risks.

In addition, the Panel judged there was strong evidence that lactation protects against breast cancer.

“Breast cancer risk doubles each decade until the menopause, after which the increase slows. However, breast cancer is more common after the menopause,” the World Cancer Research, which partners with the Continuous Update Project, Fund wrote on its Web site.

“Studies of women who migrate from areas of low risk to areas of high risk show that they assume the rate in the host country within one or two generations. This shows that environmental factors are important in the development of the disease.”

But risk reduction through prevention will not help the majority of breast cancers that develop in low- and middle-income countries where breast cancer is diagnosed in very late stages. Early detection is vital to improve breast cancer outcome and survival.

The World Health Organization wrote on its Web site, “Limited resource settings with weak health systems where breast cancer incidence is relatively low and the majority of women are diagnosed in late stages have the option to implement early diagnosis programs based on awareness of early signs and symptoms and prompt referral to diagnosis and treatment.”

“Population-based cancer screening is a much more complex public health undertaking than early diagnosis and is usually cost-effective when done in the context of high-standard programs that target all the population at risk in a given geographical area with high specific cancer burden, with everyone who takes part being offered the same level of screening, diagnosis and treatment services.”

How do you know you have breast cancer?

The most common symptom of breast cancer is a new painless, hard mass with irregular edges, but breast cancers can also be tender, soft, round, or even painful. Other symptoms include nipple retraction, swelling, skin dimpling, nipple discharge that is not breast milk, and swollen lymph nodes. The wide range of possibilities is why it remains important for women to regularly receive screenings from their health professionals, even before symptoms appear.

So far, the only breast cancer screening method that has proved to be effective is mammography screening. Though mammography screening is costly and is only feasible in countries with good health infrastructure that can afford a long-term organized population-based screening programs, low-cost screening approaches, such as clinical breast examination, are also available.

Mammography uses low-energy X-rays to identify abnormalities in the breast and has been shown to reduce breast cancer mortality by approximately 20% in high-resource settings. The WHO Position paper on mammography screening concluded that in well-resourced settings women aged 50-69 should undergo organized, population-based mammography screening if pre-specified conditions on program implementation are met.

“In limited-resource settings with weak health systems, mammography is not cost-effective, and early detection should focus on reducing stage at diagnosis through improved awareness. For women aged 40-49 years or 70-75 years, WHO recommends systematic mammography screening in women aged 40-49 years or 70-75 years only in the context of rigorous research and in well-resourced settings,” the organization said.

Clinical breast exams, meanwhile, are an examination of both breasts performed by a trained health professional, and are recommended for settings with limited resources.

Because both screenings requires substantial investment and carries significant potential personal and financial costs, the WHO recommends that the decision to proceed with a screening should be pursued only after basic breast health services including effective diagnosis and timely treatment are available to an entire target group; its effectiveness has been demonstrated in the region; and that resources are available to sustain the program and maintain quality. — Bjorn Biel M. Beltran

Supporting the pink crusade

In most countries, pink is considered as a feminine color that evokes traditional gender roles. However, for the community of cancer victims, survivors and advocates, the color pink — more particularly the pink ribbon — has a deeper significance. It’s a strong symbol of breast cancer awareness and the fight to find a cure against it.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual worldwide campaign to spread information, mount activities, and raise funds for research on the disease. To support the cause, many companies and brands conduct educational campaigns or provide free or low-cost products and services throughout the month that benefit breast cancer foundations and health care institutions.

After lighting up famous landmarks in color pink last year, Avon Philippines has partnered with Color Manila Events, Inc. and Filinvest Alabang, Inc. in organizing the Pink Light Walk and Run 2019 tomorrow, Oct. 19. The event, to be held at the Filinvest City Events Grounds, will gather participants to run through a pink-lit circuit and get caked in pink powder. Proceeds of the event will go to the Philippine Cancer Society, a longtime partner of Avon in its decade-long crusade against breast cancer.

For its part, Marks & Spencer Philippines is offering a 15% discount on all styles of bra from Oct. 1 to 31 of this year. Shoppers can get 20% off from purchases made in the same category when they make a donation of P50 to the ICanServe Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates early breast cancer detection through high-impact information campaigns and community-based screening programs. Donations will be used to raise awareness on early breast cancer detection guidelines.

Considering the utmost importance of a good fitting bra for the overall breast health of every woman, Marks & Spencer has also been offering a Bra Fit service for free.  With the help of its BraFit experts, shoppers can find the perfect fit for their body that would give them maximum comfort and support, all day long.

Meanwhile, the Klean Kanteen Philippines is expressing its support for all women battling against breast cancer by introducing the newest Classic Insulated in Carnival Candy. Parts of the proceeds from this item will be donated also to the ICanServe Foundation. This bottle is available online and in stores at Certified Calm in Bonifacio Global City, The Podium and Power Plant Mall.

The Vamos Performance Apparel, on the other hand, is offering ICanServe t-shirts and caps, with the aim of helping promote awareness for breast cancer and donating all the proceeds to the organization.

Also in honor of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Bridgestone Philippines is bringing back its limited edition pink tire valve caps to help fight the spread of breast cancer. All of the proceeds of this advocacy will be donated to the Together We Save Lives Foundation for the benefit of breast cancer research.

The company also said in its Web site that it is partnering with the ICanServe Foundation to support the battle against breast cancer through raising awareness and funds for research. Moreover, both partners continue to support the education of people about breast cancer and the empowerment of women, affected or otherwise, in hopes of one day finding a cure to the said disease.

Last Sept. 28, ICanServe Foundation organized its fourth “Silver Linings” forum at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. It is the largest gathering of breast cancer survivors in the country, featuring interactive and creatively delivered presentations on various topics to address the different needs of breast cancer patients, their family, friends, and medical support team.

ICanServe Foundation’s flagship project, “Ating Dibdibin” or the Take Your Breast Care to Heart, was launched in 2009 under the auspices of the American Cancer Society and with a grant from Pfizer. It is the country’s first community-based breast cancer screening program that teaches early breast cancer detection techniques so breast cancer is diagnosed at an early stage.

“Most breast cancers in the Philippines are discovered in the late stages. Most women postpone going to the doctor despite knowing they have suspicious breast lumps,” ICanServe Foundation said in its Web site.

The program aims to save lives by teaching early breast cancer detection techniques through free forums and screening sessions conducted by a medical team and cancer survivors. — Mark Louis F. Ferrolino

Progress towards advanced breast cancer treatments

Breast cancer is still considered as the most commonly occurring cancer in women globally, with over two million new cases tallied by the World Cancer Research Fund in 2018. In response to this alarming health issue, scientists have conducted researches that gradually determine how this cancer can be mitigated. Recent studies have discovered novel treatments to breast cancer its various types: the hormone receptor (HR) positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive, and triple-negative (TNBC).

In the United Kingdom, several new drugs for HR-positive breast cancer are being developed and assessed by its National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Scottish Medicines Consortium to decide whether they can be used by the National Health Service.

British research and care charity Breast Cancer Now listed down these newer drugs on its Web site. First in the list are palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib, which are known as CDK4/6 inhibitors. These drugs are “already being used in combination with aromatase inhibitors, as a first treatment for women with ER-positive secondary breast cancer”.

The ribociclib, in particular, has gained the attention of The Guardian. It reported last June the findings by a study led by Dr. Sara Hurvitz of the University of California in Los Angeles that the combination of ribociclib with hormone therapy is “found to cut risk of death by up to a third.”

“The use of ribociclib as a frontline therapy significantly prolonged overall survival, which is good news for women with this terrible disease,” Dr. Hurvitz was quoted as saying.

With this, ribociclib is now considered as “one of the greatest advances in breast cancer research in recent decades”.

In the United States, palbociclib, ribociclib, and everolimus are approved by the country’s Food and Drugs Administration for use with hormonal therapy for treatment of advanced breast cancer, according to US’ National Cancer Institute. Abemaciclib, meanwhile, “can be given with hormonal therapy or alone after treatment with hormonal therapy to women with advanced [estrogen receptor] positive, HER2-negative breast cancer”.

Other drugs that have been tested for treating HR-positive cancer, Breast Cancer Now adds, are taselisib, alpelisib, crizotibib, and chidamide (in combination with exemestane).

For HER2-positive breast cancer, palbociclib and trastuzumab are being tested in the UK with women “with secondary HER2-positive breast cancer, who had already been treated with at least two types of anti-HER2 therapy”.

In the US, meanwhile, trastuzumab and pertuzumab are approved to be used in combination with chemotherapy for both early and advanced breast cancers.

Since TNBC does not respond to therapies directed at HR or HER2, treating it is the hardest and can only be dealt with by chemotherapy. Nonetheless, studies continue to test new treatments for TNBC. 

In the UK, drugs such as atezolizumab and nab-paclitaxel combined and sacituzumab govitecan are being tested.

Also, Breast Cancer Now has conducted the Triple Negative Trial. The test compared which among carboplatin and docetaxel is the most effective chemotherapy treatment for women with advanced TNBC. Its results favored carboplatin for delaying cancer’s progression longer and for being a cheaper alternative. — Adrian Paul B. Conoza

ADB boosts Philippine lending

By Beatrice M. Laforga

THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) has increased its overall lending program to the country to a “record” level up to 2022, with the biggest focus this time on infrastructure projects, the regional lender announced in a press briefing on Thursday.

ADB Country Director for the Philippines Kelly Bird said the bank “scaled up” its lending program for the country by investing at least $2.5-3 billion annually to total up to $12.1 billion from this year to 2022, a “historical increase” compared to $800-million annual amount the lender invested from 2011 to 2018, which totalled to $6.4 billion.

Under the ADB’s Philippines Country Operations Business Plan 2020-2022, programmed lending totals $9.1 billion for those three years.

The lion’s share or 59.5% of ADB’s lending pipeline will be for transportation projects such as railways, bridges, roads and elevated pedestrian walkways.

This is followed by financing for public sector management with a 14% share.

To compare, ADB’s financing for public sector management accounted for more than half or 53.1% of its lending program in 2011-2018, while transport financing accounted for just 7.7% in those eight years.

“You will see not only have we scaled up our program, you can see that we’ve rebalanced it as well, focusing now on transportation, which accounts for 60% of our lending program, again, followed by public sector management,” Mr. Bird said in the briefing in Taguig City.

“But you have also seen agriculture and natural resources now… third largest sector of focus,” with 9.9% from 1.6% previously, he added.

Mr. Bird said that the regional lender “ramped up” support for the agriculture sector to support the government’s push to improve the sector’s competitiveness. Agriculture accounts for about a fourth of the country’s jobs, but contributes just a tenth to national production.

“We’re ramping it up for two reasons: one is the agriculture sector has been a drag on economic growth… and you still have a large segment of the population reliant on agriculture,” he noted.

“So… and if you look at the reasons why it’s been a drag, one is the low competitiveness. There were previous policy restrictions that were drag on agriculture.”

Other sectors in the ADB’ lending pipeline are finance (8.3%), education (4.1%), health (2.5%), as well as water and urban services (1.7%).

‘BIG BANG LENDING’
Mr. Bird also said that if the $2.5-billion annual lending program were realized, the Philippines will climb to become the ADB’s second-largest borrower from being the fifth last year and ninth in 2017.

“I kind of see that this is ADB’s ‘Big Bang’ lending program. The resources that we’re committing to the Philippines, to support the Philippines’ reforms and programs is a historical increase in our limited resources… And if we probably achieve at least $2.5 billion a year, the Philippines will probably be among our top three borrowers,” he said.

For this year, ADB set a $2.6-billion lending program, half of which or $1.3 billion will fund the first tranche of the Malolos-Clark Railway Project that is one of the big-ticket infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program.

With a total of $2.75 billion worth of funding, the project is the largest ADB project financing to date.

“Contracts for civil works for the project are expected to be awarded before the end of the year and construction work may begin in the second quarter of 2020,” the ADB said in a statement.

The agreement on a secondary education support loan program for the year worth $300 million has already been signed.

The ADB is programmed to finance five more projects under this year’s program but is still waiting for approval from either its board or the government. “We have three other programs and projects that are now at the final stages of government approval. And we are aiming for to submit to our board for approval in November and December,” Mr. Bird said.

The Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility, with $200 million additional financing this year, will support engineering designs and feasibility studies and sustain a steady flow of investments for the government’s infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program.

ADB will also set aside $126 million to fund part of the Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project. Mr. Bird said that the financing will support construction of a 15-kilometer aqueduct that will help expand the capacity of Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to deliver water.

“This will be an incredibly important project. We would start procurement very soon for this project and hope that we can commence implementation around the middle of next year,” Mr. Bird said.

He also said that there were two policy loans which will support local government ($300 million) and the Facilitating Youth School-to-Work transition program ($400 million).

“… [T]he project that we’re in the final stages of hearing will be a project to the Philippines Competition Commission (PCC), and that is designed to be a $25 million project and that’s designed to build capacity of the PCC to be able to carry out their mandate drawn on global practices. And that one is scheduled for approval towards the end of the year,” he said.

2020-2021 LENDING
For 2020, transportation and infrastructure will account for the bulk of ADB’s funding program, including the South Commuter Railway Project that will connect Manila and Calamba, Laguna ($1.2 billion) and the proposed EDSA Greenways Project ($100 million) consisting of wide five-kilometer “elevated walkways in four high density traffic locations along the main EDSA highway in Metro Manila,” the regional lender said.

Mr. Bird said that his office aims to bag board approval for the first tranche of the South Commuter Railway Project by mid-2020.

“Construction is expected to be around for more than a year so we can start construction already at the end of next year so by 2021, it can be fully used,” ADB Transport Specialist for Southeast Asia Shuji Kimura said in the same briefing.

Other projects included in the program for next year are the Integrated Flood Risk Management Sector Project ($400 million) which will finance six river basins across the country, and the Metro Manila Bridges Project ($180 million) that will construct three bridges to help ease traffic conditions within the city.

Mr. Bird said that the integrated flood risk management project will improve infrastructure to minimize floods through six river basins: two each in Luzon and Mindanao and one in the Visayas.

ADB’s 2020 lending program for the Philippines will also include financing for the Expanded Social Assistance Project ($500 million) for the government’s conditional cash transfer program as well as for the agricultural competitiveness program.

Other projects in the pipeline for next year are the support for Agrifood System Competitiveness Program ($300 million), the Philippine City Disaster Insurance Pool Project ($100 million), the Sustainable Tourism Development project ($100 million) and Regional Development Facility ($40 million).

Also programmed for financing next year are the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project ($70 million), Local Government Revenue Mobilization Project ($28 million), the Expanded Social Assistance Project ($500 million) and the Inclusive Finance Development Program ($300 million).

Slated for lending in 2021 are the second tranche of the Malolos-Clark Railway Project ($1 billion), Metro Rail Transit, Line 4 Project ($500 million), Bataan-Cavite Bridge Project ($500 million), Laguna Lakeshore Road Transport Project ($500 million) and the Mindanao Irrigation Development Project ($100 million).

Other projects were the Local Government Development Program ($300 million), Facilitating Youth School-to-Work Transition ($300 million) and the support to the Universal Health Coverage Project ($300 million).

Electronics exporters confident of 2019 goal

By Jenina P. Ibañez

THE COUNTRY’s electronics manufacturers expect to hit their conservative export growth target this year, the head of the industry group said in an interview on Thursday, banking on the seasonally strong period for sales this quarter.

Danilo C. Lachica, president of the Semiconductors & Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI), said the sector should easily meet and could even exceed the tempered 0-3% 2019 target set last semester, based on year-to-date data.

Citing data from his group, Mr. Lachica said: “So we’re at 2.6 today. I think we’ll exceed [the target], believe it or not,” noting that “the momentum, the pipeline, is already running.”

“The nature of the industry is [such that] the biggest demand is coming into Christmas.”

Electronics accounts for more than half the country’s total overseas sales of goods.

Preliminary Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data show a slower 1.905% year-on-year rise in value of electronics export sales to $26.054 billion in the eight months to August, easing from the 5.7% growth recorded in the same period last year, again using preliminary data.

Semiconductor shipments, which contributed 73% to total electronics shipments, edged up by 0.441% to $18.96. billion.

The five other electronics segments that increased overseas sales were: communication/radar, by 41.281% to $676.818 million; consumer electronics, by 19.211% to $550.704 million; office equipment, by 46.872% to $505.021 million; telecommunication, by 13.464% to $436.5 million; and automotive electronics, by 4.903% to $92.555 million.

The three electronics segments that sold less than a year ago were: electronic data processing, by -1.058% to $4.255 billion; control and instrumentation, by -7.27% to $541.741 million; and medical/industrial instrumentation, by -25.342% to $35.213 million.

Preliminary PSA data showed total electronics exports growing by 2.828% year-on-year to $37.569 billion, accounting for 55.67% of $67.488-billion total merchandise exports.

Weighing on industry sentiment, however, is uncertainty over the final version of the proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA), now being deliberated in the Senate, that will overhaul fiscal incentives by making them more time-bound, transparent and tied to clear benefits to the economy.

Mr. Lachica said such uncertainty has prompted some investors now operating in the Philippines to consider other countries for their expansion, with one company — which he declined to name — deciding to shut down by yearend.

“Maybe it’s a strategic decision, but obviously some of it is partly related to the concerns with what’s going on in our country,” Mr. Lachica said.

“But it’s just an ongoing concern that if we don’t see refinement of CITIRA, we could see more,” he added.

“We want to prevent that.”

SEIPI’s recommendations for CITIRA include, among others:

• retain the five percent tax on gross income earned (GIE), in lieu of all national and local taxes, after expiration of the income tax holiday for existing investors who meet performance criteria under the new law;

• increase the GIE tax to seven percent, again in lieu of all national and local taxes, for new and expansion projects;

• and remove the five-year cap on import duty exemption of equipment, parts and materials.

Hot money flows out for 2nd month in Sept.

FOREIGN portfolio investments — also called “hot money” due to the ease by which these funds enter and leave the economy — posted a net outflow for the second straight month in September, though by a smaller amount from the preceding month and a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Thursday.

Hot money recorded a $231.71-million net outflow in September, thinning from the $440.3-million net outflow recorded a year ago and the $391.74 million that left in August.

Gross outflows in September amounted to $1.553 billion, surpassing the $1.183 billion level a year ago but smaller than August’s $1.605 billion.

These offset the $1.301 billion poured in last month that was nearly double the $743.31 million gross inflows recorded a year ago and was slightly bigger than August‘s $1.214 billion.

About 80.2% of investments in September were in securities listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange — mainly to property companies, holding firms, banks, food, beverage and tobacco companies, as well as transport firms – while the balance went to investments in peso-denominated government securities, the BSP said.

The United Kingdom (UK), the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and Luxembourg were the top five sources of investments, accounting for a cumulative 72.3% of the total.

The BSP attributed hot money’s net outflow in the past month to “ongoing trade tensions between the US and China; attacks on Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities in Saudi Arabia which triggered the largest jump in oil prices in decades; the US Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates; the BSP’s decision to cut interest rates and the reserve requirements ratio of banks; and the impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump.”

Sought for comment, analysts pointed out to similar factors and also mentioned global developments like the UK impending exit from the European Union at the end of this month and declines in global bond yields.

“Hot money [in]flows improved slightly in September after declines in US and global bond yields while the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) cut interest rates. The protracted trade tensions between the US and China, however, ate up gains leading to a bigger outflow on balance,” Security Bank Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said in an e-mail.

ING-NV Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa noted in a separate e-mail that “[s]entiment has improved significantly since that time with the US and China back on negotiations with an initial swap of concessions coupled with increased expectations for Fed rate cuts in October as economic data heads south.” — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Mobile payments across Southeast Asia facing shakeout as market booms

HO CHI MINH CITY/HONG KONG/SINGAPORE — Just next to Ho Chi Minh City’s financial district, two dozen street vendors’ stalls display colorful adverts for e-wallets backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, ride-hailing firm Grab and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, among others.

Between them, the stalls — selling everything from crab soup to Vietnamese Banh My sandwiches — accept payment from most of Vietnam’s 28 different e-wallets, which also allow users to make cash transfers through their mobile phones.

The wallets, which hope to take advantage of Vietnam’s plan to become a cashless economy by 2027, compete fiercely to gain many users to help them to turn a profit, a battle for market share replicated across Southeast Asia.

Not all of them will survive. Already, the region’s crowded mobile payments sector is starting to shrink, with each national market expected to support only two mass e-wallets, according to consultancy Oliver Wyman.

“The e-wallets spend a lot of money on attracting customers and retaining them, getting them to use the wallet in their daily life,” said Duncan Woods, head of Oliver Wyman’s Asia Pacific retail and business banking practice.

“When you’ve got so many of them out there, it’s about who’s got the deepest pockets,” he added.

Southeast Asia has at least 150 e-wallet licence holders, and firms including Grab, Go-Jek, Tencent Holdings, Ant Financial, Singapore Telecom, AirAsia and dozens of fintech firms are fighting for dominance.

Many have the cash.

Grab plans to invest $500 million in its Vietnam business, with payments a focus area. Softbank’s Vision Fund and GIC invested $300 million in e-wallet VNPAY’s parent company in July, and e-wallet Momo raised $100 million from Warburg Pincus in January, according to news publication DealStreetAsia.

Some are using the cash to build scale, others to buy it, as they race to secure a dominant position in a mobile payments market estimated by Nomura to grow seven-fold to $109 billion by 2025.

Softbank-backed Grab is in talks to merge its Indonesian digital payments firm, OVO, and Ant Financial-backed Dana, both of which are among Indonesia’s top five e-wallets, to bulk up and power ahead of rival Gojek, sources said.

In Vietnam, e-wallet Vimo merged with payment processer mPOS and rebranded as NextPay in June — and kicked off a $30 million fundraising round and an ambitious growth plan.

“We expect to be present across Vietnam and win 50% of the market with 300,000 acceptance points by 2023 from 60,000 merchants now,” NextPay’s Chief Executive Officer Nguyen Huu Tuat said, while noting that getting customers to change their habits was a challenge.

Street sellers in Ho Chi Minh City echoed this view, despite government efforts to change behavior.

Some wallets, including the partnership between local firm Moca and Grab, offer buyers discounts of up to 30% if they use their wallet, stallholders said.

“I want to comply with the government’s cashless plan although I’m not very fond of it, so I offer ‘morning cash, afternoon card’” one merchant, Huong, said when Reuters visited her noodle stall.

Attracting users is essential as a tipping point looms.

“E-wallet consolidation at a regional and local level is highly likely as products mature and consumers migrate to those who offer the most services,” said Phil Pomford, an APAC general manager at fintech firm FIS.

“One likely play would involve one of the big global and/or regional super apps consolidating services across South East Asia.”

The region’s largest players, including ride hailing-turned super apps Grab and Go-Jek, are betting that becoming the main payment method will bind consumers into their networks and offer them higher margin services — a model that Alibaba and Tencent pioneered in China.

“One of the reasons our payments business has seen such success is because we’ve had a very intentional strategy of developing the largest merchant network, whether it’s offline, it’s online or whether it’s on-demand,” Grab’s president, Ming Maa told Reuters.

Others have looked to use an e-wallet as an add-on to their existing businesses. Users of AirAsia’s BigPay wallet can earn AirAsia travel rewards by using the wallet, which they also hope can become a mainstream payment method.

Tencent and Alibaba and its affiliates have primarily focused on Chinese tourists using their wallets in Southeast Asia and have also each invested in wallets in almost every market in the region.

Grab says it is the only digital payments provider in Southeast Asia with access to e-money licences in six major economies, making it the furthest on with a regional approach.

Some observers are still skeptical however.

“Many e-wallets’ business model seems to be: 1) gain a lot of customers and their data. 2) question mark. 3) be very profitable,” said Dmitry Levit a partner at VC firm Cento, which has invested into several payment-processing companies, but stayed away from wallets.

Go-Jek is not worried about competition from other wallets or incumbents, said Aldi Haryopratomo, CEO of Go-Pay, the company’s payment platform.

“By being the payments provider that connects the driver to the bank, we are able to make sufficient margin. And if you always think about competition and threat from the banks, then you are thinking that the pie is fixed,” said Haryopratomo.

“But in Indonesia, the pie is actually getting bigger.” — Reuters

MMFF’s final four films named

A PERIOD film about women looking for the cure for leprosy, a feel-good romantic comedy, a Brillante Ma. Mendoza film, and Rodel “Coco Martin” Nacianceno’s second feature film complete this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) lineup as the final entries chosen from among finished film submissions.

The announcement was made on Oct. 16 at Club Filipino in San Juan City.

The final four entries are:

• Mindanao by Brillante Ma. Mendoza, a film about a mother, played by Judy Ann Santos, who is caring for her child who has terminal cancer while having a husband on active duty as a soldier;

• Culion by Alvin Yapan, a film about three women who all have leprosy and are looking to cure the disease, starring Iza Calzado, Meryll Soriano, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith;

• 3pol Trobol: Huli Ka Balbon stars Coco Martin the director, Jennylyn Mercado, and Ai-ai delas Alas;

• Finally, Write About Love by Crisanto Aquino, is a romantic comedy starring Rocco Nacino and Miles Ocampo. This is Mr. Aquino’s directorial debut.

Write About Love producers, TBA Studios, noted in a release sent shortly after the announcement that the film is about “honoring the unsung heroes of filmmaking — the scriptwriters.”

Mindanao, meanwhile, was one of the Filipino films shown during the recently concluded Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. It was presented in the festival’s Icons section.

The four films join the first four entries announced in July which were chosen from script submissions: Miracle in Cell #7 by Nuel Naval and starring Aga Muhlach and Bela Padilla; Mission Unstapabol: The Don Identity by Mike Tuviera starring Vic Sotto and Maine Mendoza; Sunod by Carlo Ledesma starring Carmina Villaroel, Mylene Dizon, Susan Africa, and Kate Alejandrino; and The Mall, The Merrier by Barry Gonzales starring Vice Ganda and Anne Curtis.

Sunod replaced the Kris Aquino-starrer (K)Ampon after it was pulled out for changing its main actor beyond the deadline. The Mall, The Merrier earlier working title was Momalland.

The film festival runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7 in all cinemas nationwide. Its annual parade of stars will be held on Dec. 22 and will be hosted by Taguig City.

The MMFF is arguably the country’s largest film festival meant to promote Filipino films. It is now on its 45th year. Last year, the festival grossed P1.60 billion. — Zsarlene B. Chua

8 PHL films join Tokyo International Film Festival

EIGHT FILMS form this year’s Philippine contingent at the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival including Paul Soriano’s Mañanita which will be featured in the Competition section of the festival, and Bradley Liew’s Motel Acacia which will be included in the Asian Future section.

Mañanita is an emotional drama film about a former soldier who spends her nights getting drunk in a bar until a phone call changes everything.

“This superb film turns a series of unassuming shots into an emotional drama,” the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) noted in a press release.

Meanwhile, Motel Acacia is a horror film about a man confronting a demon haunting a motel he has taken over from his father. This is Mr. Liew’s second feature film.

The other Filipino films to be featured in the festival, which starts on Oct. 28, are Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay by Antoinette Jadaone, Untrue by Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo, Mindanao by Brillante Ma. Mendoza, Food Lore Series — Island of Dreams by Erik Matti, The Entity (Kuwaresma) also by Mr. Matti, and The Halt (Ang Hupa) by Lav Diaz.

“It has been a fruitful year for Philippine cinema, especially now that we are celebrating its hundred years. FDCP takes pride that our films consistently make a mark in world cinema, especially in the prestigious Tokyo International Film Festival,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Mary Liza B. Diño in a press statement.

The 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival runs from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5 in Tokyo, Japan. — ZBC

BSP cuts to boost loans

RIZAL Commercial Banking Corp. sees the cuts in policy rates boosting lending.

RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp. (RCBC) expects the cumulative policy rate cuts by the central bank to boost loan demand.

“That will result in interest rates easing, particularly the lending rates. That will now attract more business customers. They will be encouraged to resort to more borrowings for their consumer financing,” Rommel S. Latinazo, RCBC Consumer Lending Group head, said in a briefing on Thursday.

Mr. Latinazo said RCBC’s consumer lending book grew close to 14% in 2018.

“So expect more traffic because of banks supporting the auto industry. And then of course, we’d like to continue supporting our countrymen in terms of the need for shelter for their home needs. With the easing of rates, demand should further grow,” he added.

RCBC’s consumer loan book is currently at P90 billion, according to Mr. Latinazo. This is against the bank’s lending portfolio of P480 billion.

The official said RCBC is betting on the consumer sector to boost its lending business noting that the bank has consistently seen double-digit growth in the segment.

“The intention is to sustain our double-digit growth in terms of consumer lending. Consumer lending together with SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) lending will be the pillars of growth for the bank moving forward,” he said.

Mr. Latinazo said RCBC is looking to utilize technologies such as data science, online loan applications, and credit scoring to attract more customers and to ensure efficiency in their credit processing.

“We’re targeting to launch it (online loan applications) once we get approval from regulatory bodies by first quarter of next year,” said Emmanuel K. Valdez, RCBC’s deposit products and promotions division head.

Aside from this, RCBC has also rolled out car and home loan products that come with insurance coverage for the duration of the loan.

RCBC shares lost 15 centavos or 0.57% to close at P26 each on Thursday. — LWTN

Wanted: Intimacy coordinators. Hollywood’s fastest growing job

TWO YEARS after a sexual harassment scandal roiled Hollywood, one of the fastest growing jobs in the entertainment industry is that of the intimacy director.

Fueled by the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, demand is soaring for intimacy directors or coordinators who help choreograph TV and movie scenes involving sex or nudity and ensure that actors are not exploited or made to feel uncomfortable.

Interest in the specialized job is high, but training can take months.

“We have stunt coordinators. We really take care of people in those kind of scenes. But scenes of intimacy have kind of been left a little too alone,” said Jessica Steinrock, managing director of the non-profit Intimacy Directors International (IDI).

HBO now has an intimacy coordinator on all its shows involving intimate scenes, while Showtime uses one on The Affair and other series.

Elsewhere, IDI and groups like Theatrical Intimacy Education and Intimacy on Set run multiple workshops in the United States and the UK that empower actors to speak up.

IDI, founded in 2016, says the number of its intimacy instructors has mushroomed to 29, from just four two years ago. More than 70 people applied for 10 places with IDI earlier this year to train for the role.

THE POWER OF NO
“It is absolutely growing at a rapid pace,” said Gabrielle Carteris, president of the US actors union SAG-AFTRA. “There are a plethora of shows and not enough intimacy coordinators right now.”

Intimacy directors act as a liaison on movie and TV sets between producers or directors and actors to ensure that actors are treated with respect, whether the script calls for a first kiss or a rape scene.

Before sexual misconduct allegations involving multiple actors, directors and producers swept Hollywood in 2017, actors were often left to fend for themselves in establishing boundaries at work.

Steinrock, who has also worked as an actor, recalled feeling vulnerable one time, when the hand of a fellow actor slipped lower than usual during a scene.

“I found myself thinking, ‘is it because he likes me? Is it because he is more in the moment today?’ Even though my character might be ok with that, me — the actor — was not. But I found it really difficult to have that conversation,” she said.

Steinrock and Carteris said there has been some resistance from directors who fear shooting of some scenes may be slowed down. But those who have tried it have mostly embraced the practice.

David Simon, co-creator of HBO’s porn industry drama The Deuce, told Rolling Stone magazine in an interview last year that he would never work without an intimacy co-ordinator again.

CREATING A BIGGER POOL
Finding the right people for the work takes care.

“We’re looking for people that have an interest in sensitivity, consent and mental health but also people that have movement experience,” said Steinrock.

SAG-AFTRA is currently working with several groups to establish common protocols for the work of intimacy coordinators and the training they undergo.

“There are actors who are older now and who want to pay back, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are qualified. There are dancers who have been talking to us about aging out of their careers and they want to be able to come into the next thing,” said Carteris.

“We do have to create a bigger pool and then we have to create that training ground so that there is a standardized way of working that we all understand what is expected,” she added.

Independent actor, writer and educator Heather Maria Acs decided she wants to train as an instructor after taking part in a recent intimacy workshop in Los Angeles with some 20 other people.

It’s a career she never could have envisaged three years ago despite her 20 years in show business. “I had no idea and yet it makes so much sense. I’m excited to share it with other people,” she said.

Acs said the skills she had learned in just one afternoon workshop were “not only skills for performers but they are life skills.”

“The one thing I will take away… is how powerful a ‘yes’ can be when there is an option to say ‘no.’ And how powerful a ‘no’ can be when we know it’s safe to say ‘yes,’” she said. — Reuters

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